《The Legend of the Luminaires [Volume III Begins!]》 Vol. 1, Ch. 1-2: Dragons, Gaming, and Wild Dreams ¡°Hey Drenar, pick three superpowers, and I''ll tell you what mythical creature you''d be.¡± The words come through the staticky headset and an athletic teenager sits straighter as he contemplates his response. He gazes at the screen with deep green eyes and taps his lip. She could be going anywhere with this one this time. ¡°Any superpowers?¡± he asks. He and his friend are up late. On a school night. With a first-period teacher who¡¯s developed an ear-killing habit of singing out to sleepy teens on a recurring basis. ¡°Yes, any one of them! I have a book here that''ll give me your secret magical creature identity!¡± his friend entices him with her sweet-talking. ¡°C¡¯mon Drenar, I know you wanna answer!¡± ¡°Give me a minute,¡± he pushes back lightly. He really has to give this one some thought. ¡°Superpowers, still waiting on you!¡± she reminds him. On webcam, it¡¯s clear that he¡¯s distracted: he¡¯s stretching out before their last battle of the night. ¡°Alright, alright. First power¡­flight.¡± ¡°An oldie, but a goodie. What else?¡± she asks while he grabs a small nectarine and chews loudly. ¡°Are you eating again? Do you ever stop?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not eating if it¡¯s healthy,¡± he retorts. ¡°Okay, the second one, I¡¯d have a utility elemental ability. Like moving objects over a distance. Oh, like a gravity gun!¡± ¡°Okay, good thinking! What''s the last one?¡± ¡°Um¡­highly adaptive armored skin.¡± he''s a fan of that one, seeing as most people try to make mythical creatures into stuffed heads on walls. Or a loot drop for crafting armor bits. She murmurs for a few seconds and then lets out a sound of delight. ¡°Perfect! You''re a dragon!¡± He furrows his brow, in contrast to her delight. ¡°Look, you asked for wings, some super elemental ability, and adaptive skin, which in my creative world, equals armor scales!¡± ¡°Julia, dragons don¡¯t have telekinetics. Or feathers.¡± ¡°They do now!¡± she cackles. ¡°Why feathers?¡± he asks, deciding to indulge in her zaniness. ¡°Why not? Dinosaurs had feathers! Isn''t a dragon just a super overpowered dinosaur? They''re birds, but only a few links down the evolutionary chain!¡± ¡°You make a fair point.¡± He nods thoughtfully at this. ¡±I suppose it would make sense they''d have feathers, instead of bat-like wings. Feathers are technically more durable.¡± He has a wayward thought and spins in his chair before answering again. ¡°Alright, my turn. I¡¯ll guess¡­you''re a magical fox girl,¡± Drenar grins. ¡°What.¡± Julia''s tone instantly turns to confusion. He takes a swig from his water bottle. ¡°Drenar, don¡¯t leave me hanging on that, that¡¯s such a downgrade!¡± ¡°Fox girls are, to a tee, athletic, and have superhuman springy legs. And they''re almost always charmers with a shining personality. They''re very bold and flirtatious, like you. And, cause mischief.¡± She growls in response. ¡°You know it¡¯s truuuee,¡± he sings. ¡°Man, I wanted to be a Raijin!¡± she protests. ¡°That would also fit!¡± ¡°So you wanted to be a Pok¨¦mon?¡± ¡°You dunce, it''s from Japanese mythology! A god of thunder shaped like a wolf! I know you know this!¡± she accuses. He can picture her tapping at her desk, glaring at the screen as if she could metaphysically bore a hole through him. ¡°But fine, fox girl works.¡± ¡°Magical fox girl,¡± he corrects. Julia laughs uproariously at this. ¡°Charm, athletics and wile, all rolled into one!¡± ¡°Fates Drenar, don''t ever change. You are as adorkable as they come.¡± He swivels in his seat and smiles. ¡°Guilty as charged. Are we ready?¡± ¡°Hell yes! Let''s get in there and man-fight some monsters!¡± she says in eagerness. He leans forward, ready for this epic fight. Fifteen minutes later, he and Julia groan in ignoble defeat. Julia leads the post carnage with a sigh. ¡°Well, we won¡¯t be man-fighting spiders for a while. That was bad. I think I¡¯ll take point next time, fearless leader.¡± ¡°Yeah, a new strategy is needed. Guess we''ll take your lead next time, Julia.¡± There¡¯s a pause, and a contented, hidden smile that he pictures on her end. ¡°You know something Drenar, imagine a game world like this, but in real life. Dragons, monsters, sinister companies trying to take over the world. If I had to pick anyone to fix that kind of mess, I¡¯d want it to be you." ¡°Careful what you wish for,¡± he grins. ¡°You know I¡¯d be there if things went full-tilt crazy in the world. There¡¯s no way I wouldn¡¯t be there alongside ya.¡± ¡°If you stopped flexing and trying to be normal, and stop eating like health matters, sure, you could tag along!¡± Even her taunts are disarming. ¡°Plus, we¡¯d need Angela and James. I¡¯d hate for them to feel left out.¡± There¡¯s a slight gasp on her end. ¡°Ah, crap, it''s almost one AM,¡± she groans. ¡°I¡¯m gonna peace out, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow, baka-san!¡± ¡°Heh, you too.¡± Julia leaves the chat client with a zinger, and he lets out a breath of contentment before resting the headset against his neck. Drenar spends a minute reflecting on life as he lazily stretches his arms. He''s a seventeen-year-old kid living in Opechea Falls, Colorado. A town of utter mediocrity that he calls home. He slouches in his beaten-up chair, before taking his glasses off, and rubs the bridge of his nose in a moment of silent reflection. Everything is lining up. Almost. ¡°Late night?¡± Drenar spins the chair to see his adoptive brother Evan leaning on the doorframe. His verdant eyes gleam in the dim glow of his monitor. He¡¯s a shade taller than Drenar, even though he is younger by a year and a half. While Drenar has a small group of close friends and interests in many physical sports, his brother is reserved, and quiet-spoken. Even though they aren¡¯t related by blood, it always feels odd to him that they almost seem like two random jigsaw pieces that somehow match together. ¡°My eternal bad influence was keeping me up late,¡± Drenar explains to him. Evan smirks. ¡°Gods Drenar, just marry her already! You two bicker like an old pair,¡± he says with a soft chuckle. Drenar responds by throwing a crumpled draft of an old application letter at his head, and he lazily dodges. ¡°Weak.¡± ¡°Evan, I¡¯m ninety-five percent sure I would not survive five minutes on a first date with Julia. She doesn''t date anyone, actually! Which probably has more to do with her appearance as a goth chick built like a Viking, than any lacking personality." Evan sighs and looks at Drenar like he''s made a bold statement. "Yeah, she''s got you, she''s all set, at least in her mind. Everyone else is lacking in durability. And a willpower to resist her crazier ideas." "Evan, give it a rest. We are like, hetero life friends category. So, why are you up this late?" "Can''t sleep. Figured I''d walk around for a bit." Evan shrugs lightly before stretching gently, his knuckles grazing the ceiling. "No really, why wouldn¡¯t you marry her?¡± ¡°Skip dating and marry my best friend? That would be weird. Plus marriage is like a forever thing, you know?¡± Drenar scowls at him, hoping he¡¯ll drop the subject. ¡°Dude, you don¡¯t need more boring in your life. Boring is what you do, if we leave you to your own devices. You¡¯d continue to be an utter square, watching crappy old anime and looking up houses you could never afford. You''d never take risks, or allow yourself to have fun! You need life in your life. And Julia brings that, in bountiful quantities!¡± ¡°Oh come on, this again?¡± Drenar sighs while tapping the chair arm impatiently. ¡°Look, me and Julia will always be friends in that kind of¡­life-long buddies kind of way?¡± Evan gets fed up and just scowls at him, his posture tense. "Drenar, just listen for a spell? Life isn''t a fixed thing, it''s not formulaic. Things can change rapidly for no reason whatsoever, you know? Don''t let opportunities slide by. Because you might not get another chance to say the right thing to the right person when it matters,¡± he states quietly. Drenar doesn''t respond, what is up with Evan right now? "You never know when the next life disruption could be right around the corner." That sets him off, and he rubs at his wristwatch while glaring at his adopted brother. "We''ve already had one, thanks, Evan. I think I''ve had my life quota on disruptive things, and I would hope you felt the same way." Evan doesn''t flinch at that reminder. "Just keep it in mind?" The fact that he''s peering at him contemptuously is killing his good mood from only a couple of minutes earlier. ¡°Fine. Night, Evan.¡± He doesn''t dwell on the comment, and hops into bed a couple of minutes later after Evan leaves. he doesn''t know what he did to set his brother off like this. If anything, it feels like things just got back to normal. And it had taken too long, in his mind. Sleep doesn¡¯t come easily for him after he retreats to bed a moment later. But eventually, he closes his eyes, drifting off to thoughts of the future. Is this what it¡¯s like to have a normal life again? After six years? Is it¡­okay to be okay? Be a light to guide the way... He still remembers that day. Those words. It still comes back to him, every night. No matter how exhausted he is, he can still hear her, immortalized in his mind, along with the last few things she said. It makes sleep tough some nights. Back then...sleep was nonexistent. The air around him feels chilly. Damp. Sleep shouldn''t be this uncomforting. He feels himself turning in bed. But the bed isn''t comforting, either. It''s hard. Unyielding. Damp, too. Why is he unable to just fall asleep? A dribble of something cold hits him in the face. One, then two, then ten icy pinpricks. Dampness. A steady thrum of drips of something hitting the bed, all around him. Is it¡­raining in the house?! The jarring thought breaches through his mindscape, and a split second later he feels the shock of cold water snap him awake, and he gasps. His opens his eyes to the sting of freezing water on his face. He wipes his eyes and looks around, trying to figure out where he is. There is a dampness to the air, and the feel of wet earth and grass below him. He examines his surroundings, and has no idea how he got here. The bed is gone. His room with nerdy posters of Magic and New Retro bands is gone. His wristwatch is gone. That last one is particularly incensing. Nothing even remotely familiar is nearby, and the sky is shrouded in dark gray clouds. Gnarled oaks, towering pines, and conifers surround him. Rain patters down steadily. He looks around for landmarks¨Canything he can recognize. But the forest is dense, the skyline obscured by vegetation. This is an unknown place. There¡¯s just something not right with it. He is very far from home, at the very least. This rain feels too cold, and miserable, to be something of a figment of his imagination, when he feels the icy cold drops slowly soaking into his clothes. Then, he hears it. Is someone there? He looks around cautiously, wondering if he had just heard someone. There¡¯s no one here, no signs of civilization, not even a footprint in the damp earth. Who are you? A whisper reaches his ears. He did hear a voice that time. ¡°I¡¯m Drenar. You?¡± He doesn¡¯t know why he says it aloud. I don¡¯t remember. It still sounds like it¡¯s right next to him. Hang on. I¡¯m standing. But I can¡¯t move my body. It¡¯s also¡­different than what I remember? It finally clicks. That voice is inside his head. ¡°Great. Voices in my head. I¡¯m right around that age aren¡¯t I? Schizophrenia kicks in around twenty-one. Nah, I''m going to peace out now, time to wake up. Wake up.¡± He pinches his arm as hard as he can. The forest and the voice are still there. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s try that again?¡± He digs his nails into his arm hard enough to bite into flesh. The result is the same: Pain. Hey, don¡¯t do that, that hurts! The voice protests. Of all the reactions he¡¯s expecting, that certainly isn¡¯t one of them. Wait. Can you do me a favor? Where are my wings? ¡°Your what?¡± My wings and tail. I don¡¯t feel them. ¡°Because I haven¡¯t gotten any!¡± He huffs indignantly. ¡°And you¡¯re absolutely sure you have no control over my body? Because it¡¯s mine.¡± I¡¯m trying. Let me know if you have the urge to slap yourself. ¡°Great. A ghost with a dose of snark.¡± He almost lets a chuckle escape while taking a step around. Something feels weird with his leg, it feels¡­off. Like the stride is too long. ¡°Man, is this a dead world or something? Where is anything?¡± He feels something now that he didn''t before by his spine, and he feels a motion of air on his back. He slowly swivels his gaze to the right, and his stare widens. He¡¯s looking at a wing. It¡¯s large, easily two meters long, with bright silver and azure scales running along the length of the limb portion. There¡¯s a knuckle with two semi-formed claws, and they wiggle slightly. The wing itself is composed of layered feathers of incredible size, with white, silver, seafoam, and azure color bands. He follows the wing, and then he realizes that it is attached to his back. Hey, there¡¯s my wings¡­wait, those aren¡¯t mine! Wrong color! Mine were seafoam and silver, they didn¡¯t have blue! ¡°There is a wing attached to me, and you¡¯re complaining about the color?¡± he shrills in disbelief. He reaches out with his hand to touch it. He feels it. It¡¯s a part of him, and is attached by a joint that feels like another set of shoulders, but isn''t. He turns his head and sees the other one. The foreign limbs connect to his back seamlessly. When he flexes his body, he feels something else. An extension of his lower spine. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Oh. There¡¯s also a tail.¡± He moves one wing out of the way to see the tail that¡¯s extended past the lower portion of his spine, slowly twitching left and right. It¡¯s long and slender and is about half his height, and covered in silver and azure colored scales that gleam brightly, even in the dim light. Patterned blue and silver feathers interrupt the scales occasionally. He doesn¡¯t even have the faintest on how to react, except to ask questions. ¡°Uh, why do I have a tail and wings?¡± Because I did? Do keep up. When he shrugs his shoulders, he also shrugs his wings¨Chow did he even know how to use them? It feels like an extra pair of arms. Hmm. Are you also like me? ¡°Guy. I came here without them. I have no idea how to answer that.¡± It doesnt help that this freezing rainfall is breaking his focus. Body transformation and being miserable is just not fun. Oh. Then this might be your first transformation! But it¡¯s strangely not playing out the same. He¡¯s tapping his now-clawed leg on the ground impatiently¨Cevery time he takes his eyes off of himself, there¡¯s another part of him that isn¡¯t the same. He can see, and feel, his body slowly reorganizing and twisting and expanding into a new form. ¡°So you have no idea who you are, how you got inside my mind, or why I¡¯m starting to look a little¡­feathery?¡± he responds irately. Well, no. ¡°Fantastic,¡± he mutters. His jaw has now reworked into a snout, and he has to cross his eyes to see where his nostrils are, and he gingerly pats it with clawed hands. It¡¯s real, as are the razor-sharp teeth he gently pokes at. It suddenly dawns on him just what he looks like. ¡°Ah okay, I¡¯m a dragon. What a fitting spirit animal,¡± he says in slight awe¨Cexcept his words are slurred and it doesn¡¯t sound like that at all. ¡°Wait. Were you a dragon?¡± he asks after finally snapping his claws. His words don''t come out the right way again¨Chis mouth shape and tongue don''t seem to work the way they used to. Of course, I was. What, you were expecting something less? That voice is coming in clearer now¨Csomething that hovers as a slight masculine voice. ¡°Guy¡­we don¡¯t have dragons where I come from.¡± The words still don¡¯t come out right. He opens and closes his jaw, and is mildly impressed by how much further it hinges open than a human ever could. His tongue feels longer and more flexible, and he ponders a few things internally. Alright, I need to work on speech. This is going to be a major holdup at some point. Yes, your speech is absolutely terrible, when¡¯s the last time you took this form? This immediately set off Drenar¡¯s curiosity. He taps a claw on what would be his hip. Hang on. You can hear me thinking? Drenar gets a soft grunt as a response. There¡¯s an audible grunt. This is getting weird here. Your change of form didn¡¯t already qualify this as weird? ¡°Point taken.¡± Those are the first few words he¡¯s able to get out coherently, once he tries speaking from the throat. He tries to balance on his new digitigrade legs and take a step forward, and stumbles and goes chin-first into the wet earth, with a squishy splat sound. Ow. That was not graceful, Drenar thinks unhappily. I¡¯m not used to the way this body moves. How can I process what a ¡®new¡¯ body would feel like, if I¡¯ve never been in one? We¡¯re still here, tasting mud. Can we fix that? the voice groans. ¡°Blech.¡± He spat out a trickle of mud. It tastes far too real for his liking. He turns around and taps a claw impatiently on a rain-slicked rock, trying to experiment for a moment. He wiggles each talon a few times. He flexes the elongated ankle, and then his knee joint. His range of motion is different, as is the overall length of the limb. He can''t stand straight up, but perhaps with a slightly coiled, relaxed stance, he could? He hauls himself up after a moment of contemplation, and spreads his talons widely and flexes his elongated ankle. It feels stable this time. He shifts his increased body weight, then the other leg is up and he slowly rises. Finally, some progress, though the stance leads him to wobble, like balancing on his tiptoes. Okay great, we¡¯re standing. That¡¯s a start. We¡¯ve got mysteries to unravel. Like why you¡¯re here. And why do you look like me? Sort of. Drenar takes a relaxed stance and leaves his forelegs in a slightly coiled state, his clawed toes spread over the rock and grass. He breathes a sigh of relief. His body structure allows for him to stand on two legs¨Cand his hands are still human-like in arrangement, with an opposable thumb and fingers. The claws and scales, not so much. ¡°Okay, this is cool. I should¡­examine myself?¡± He scratches the back of his head¨Cand promptly bumps into one of two short horns, and a plumage of feathers, when he pulls one forward and sees it just out of the corner of his eye. ¡°Why is this dragon form so birdlike?¡± he questions with enthusiasm. Or, maybe you *are* a dragon and don''t remember? I mean, I am one too, but I look a little different than this. ¡°Nah, I''ve been human my whole life,¡± Drenar replies casually while shrugging his new wings. He glances at each one, and focuses on flexing them¨Cit is very much like another arm, and he wriggles the two semi-claws. Guess I won''t be hanging five with the wings. Maybe hanging two. They do feel pretty strong. We still have no idea what is going on! Focus on our surroundings. We need to figure out where here is, or ¡®what¡¯ here is. A toothy smile comes to Drenar''s face. ¡°You know, that''s a pretty good idea. Hey, spirit dragon, let¡¯s fly on this one. I just need to run full tilt and launch off and flap my wings, while not crashing headfirst into a tree. Easy.¡± Um, there¡¯s a bit more to it than that, give me a moment?! Drenar huffs impatiently, but sees the wisdom to wait. He¡¯s never flown with wings before. ¡°Before I risk breaking my neck, I have one question! In what world do humans turn into dragons, anyway?¡± That¡¯s a fundamental ability of all dragons. It also made interactions with humans while we tried to guide their civilization to greatness a little less¡­intense. ¡°No need to boast,¡± he mutters before hoisting himself to his feet. ¡°Seriously, can you go back and forth between the two forms? Like a shapeshifter?¡± Well, yes. So can a few other species. Your education is lacking, and we must fix that! Well, uh, once I can remember. ¡°I guess I don¡¯t mind a plus one for a bit,¡± Drenar huffs. He tenses and flexes his wings, trying to find some kind of analog for motion. He might have an idea as he slowly tests the limbs¨Cit¡¯s like his brain is rewiring for the additional appendages, slowly. That¡¯s a good point¨Chow did I get in your head? Where exactly we are¨Cuh, why did I feel a shudder through the fabric of reality just now? Drenar feels it too, a vibration of existence that seems to shake him down to his soul. There¡¯s a burst of light above him, and he glances skywards. A primal trickle of fear creeps down his spine and tail, because he can¡¯t understand what he¡¯s witnessing. The sky has ceased to exist. Where there had been a sky, there is nothing but a kaleidoscope of light and darkness. He sees shades of light that simply can¡¯t exist. There is nothing but the whirl of energy arcing above, and all the lights are circling a¡­void of some kind. ¡°Uh, this feels like a bad thing,¡± he utters nervously. Ah, bleeding Odin, that thing''s back. Not sure what it is, but those little bits of light orbit around it. And I was, too, up until just a few minutes ago. I¡¯ve got no idea how long I¡¯ve been looking at it, or what it is, and I''ve been staring at it for a long time. "You neglected to mention the hole in the sky till just now?!" Well, it was there, and then it wasn''t when you showed up! ¡°Way to understate the disintegrating world around us!¡± Drenar shouts out. The ground beneath him is breaking into clumps of dirt, rocks, roots, and trees are being pulled upwards. Small limbs break off, then branches, until entire trees uproot and are pulled toward the orbiting lights. He desperately claws deep into the earth to try to hold on with every limb, but he finds himself being lifted, flapping his nascent wings in a futile attempt to get away. ¡°This is just a dream, right?!¡± He exclaims worriedly. Do we really want to bank on that idea?! The entire world is disintegrating into blobs of earth, stone, and bits of trees, and he flails around in the void, watching light streak past and he tries to fly in the opposite direction. He thrashes his tail wildly, but it''s a rudder, not an extra bit of lift. Drenar, I don¡¯t know how you got here, but this is new! ¡°Then we need a plan, right now!¡± Instinct kicks in, and he extends his wings to their full length and veers down under a tree, twisting in a nonexistent wind. He picks a direction and pumps his wings with all his might in rapid motion. Thrust. Draw. Thrust. Draw! Muscles burn from untrained use, but adrenaline covers the gap. He knows how to do this as if it''s all muscle memory, and uses slight deflections in his wing wrist to adjust his heading. It¡¯s as exhilarating as it is terrifying, because there¡¯s debris the size of boulders and chunks of mountains now serving as a deadly debris field. He dodges gracefully above and below it on feathered wings. A single miscalculation could be deadly. ¡°Okay, nameless dragon dude, we need a plan, right now!¡± I have a name, it¡¯s Alexander! The light orbiting the void is picking up speed, growing brighter, and the void in reality is now brimming with crackling energy. Huh, I guess primal fear does have a way of knocking loose a memory. Drenar angles around, toward the void in reality, with a new plan in mind after he makes a theory from his observations. Uh, what are you doing? ¡°Something a little crazy. That thing up in the sky might ironically be our ticket out of here. Otherwise, reality might keep crumbling to include us!¡± he bellows out before taking in a panting breath and arching his wings. He feels a lurch in his stomach, and not from the notion of being instantly disintegrated like the rest of the world around him. Gravity is no longer working, and he doesn''t feel the pull of the earth. There¡¯s still air, but there¡¯s no force pulling him ¡®down¡¯ anymore. He angles his wings and uses his leg feather flaps and tail as rudders. He flexes a muscle in his arm, and a small flap of feathers arches off his forearm, forming a shorter airfoil that gives him even more maneuverability. ¡°Damn, dragons are biological fighter planes!¡± He skids by a floating tree and digs his hind claws into it, before redirecting and springing off it, and changing his heading. Flying is now just like swimming in the absence of gravity. With careful maneuvering through the debris, he can start to see the lights surrounding the void are streaking away as if trying to flee. They¡¯re not lights¨C ¨CThey¡¯re dragons! Thousands and thousands of them, all shapes and sizes and colors beyond his imagination. ¡°Hey, uh, Alex? Friends of yours?!¡± Are you serious? I haven''t been stewing in this place alone?! Well, that would have been nice to know one eternity ago! Alex seems just a little bit furious at the impromptu discovery. They¡¯re all trying to fly away from the void; we¡¯re the only ones flying towards it! This is a bad idea! ¡°Bad ideas with flawless execution can still work!¡± he responds with a toothy grin. Alex groans in disgust. You¡¯re either a genius, or insane. Possibly both, and I¡¯ve known you for five minutes! ¡°Put it up to a vote if we survive this!¡± he shoots back and course-corrects under a pile of tumbling boulders. A few dragons crane their necks to look at him and let out roars of surprise. If they are trying to warn him, it¡¯s lost in translation. His focus and thoughts are on this giant void thingy. Theory and observation become his sole focus. Okay, think! Black holes pull things in, but also give off radiation. Pretty sure I¡¯m not feeling nauseous from a lethal dose of radiation. I can¡¯t feel a gravitational pull, what¡¯s another word for this? It¡¯s a wormhole! He can see something or somewhere on the other side. Energy arcs out, and he can feel a charge that permeates his scales. Something exists on the other side! It''s almost like a teleportal, but not¨Cduck! Alex¡¯s warning almost comes too late, and Drenar clips his shoulder and wing tip on a rocky outcropping, barely avoiding a lethal collision. That void, the way it distorts reality, looks like the signature of a teleportal. It¡¯s a gateway to somewhere! ¡°Then strap in!¡± he barks out, dipping and weaving not only the nebulous debris, but darts of light that zip by with force. One cracks apart a boulder just to his right in a cloud of debris. He thrusts forward with his wings, even with the burn of fatigue starting to trickle in. His breath is coming in ragged gasps¨Cthere seems to be a headwind almost pushing back out of the void. This place¡­is it the aether? The stranded lands? It can¡¯t be! It''s a theory! Why do I remember that and nothing else?! Damn wasted lessons, Hanna! ¡°Alex, you need to recall faster, or we might not live long enough for you to go down memory lane!¡± Drenar shouts back. The only sound is a gale of unimaginable volume building as he closes on the void, and more energy arcs outwards¨Ceach near-miss too close for comfort from the beams of destruction. The void is breaking apart with more streaming light, and he beats his wings, his eyes watering from the impossibly bright light. The energy burns on his scales, and he bursts forward with the last of his stamina, and hopes for the best when he closes his eyes. He feels the world burning bright, from the tips of his wings to the core of his being. And a feeling of unimaginable energy flowing across him. He feels himself falling through space¡­ And then there¡¯s a throbbing pain in his side and his eyes shoot wide open. He¡¯s covered in sweat, his heart is racing and he gasps for breath, crumpled next to his bed, the sheets in disarray. His movements feel twitchy, and he takes a moment to control his breathing. He rubs his side where he had just fallen out of bed, and winces when he tries to move. He looks upwards, and the ceiling still exists, as does the sky outside the window. There''s the hint of dawn approaching in glowing purple and red notes on the horizon, and atrickle of clouds. He breathes a sigh of relief. There¡¯s no disintegrating world. Just the mountains in the distance, the dawn sky, and a sprawling forest adorned with colorful autumn colors, and a hint of a pond hidden behind the leaves. The world continues to exist for him. Along with him, sprawled on the floor of his less-than-tidy room, and the uncaring music posters. He hears a tap at the door. ¡°Drenar, are you alive in there? We need to leave in like ten minutes!¡± Evan announces. "Well aware of it!¡± He grabs the first pair of jeans and long-sleeved shirt he can find in his drawers, nearly trips getting his pants on, then dashes to the bathroom to tidy up. A quick glance at the mirror gives a less-than-glowing impression. His hair is a right mess like usual, and he looks sleep deprived with baggy eyes. He spends about twenty seconds getting his hair into a slightly less tousled appearance before dashing down the stairs. Evan stares at him from the kitchen counter, a mug of coffee in hand. ¡°Oh, hello. I guess you can be motivated to go fast,¡± Evan poses after a few seconds before taking a sip. ¡°What was that huge thud, earlier?" "I uh, just fell out of bed," Drenar answers. Evan raises an eyebrow. ¡°You fell out of bed. You know I heard you shout before I heard that giant thud.¡± ¡°Just a dream. It startled me.¡± Startled is a criminal understatement. What Drenar doesn''t tell him is the fact that he swears he can still hear the crackle of energy, and the thrush of wind of that ominous void in the sky. He rubs at his wrist anxiously. Human skin. Okay. Everything is perfectly normal. Just a normal dream. "Hey, uh, did you get in a fight with a blue jay or something in that mess of tangles you call your hair?" Evan asks. "...Why?" Evan reaches to the side of his head, and plucks something out, and shows him a small, azure feather. Even he''s puzzled. "Ah, that. Knocked over that stuffed bird I did when I was in scouts," Drenar says quickly. Evan gives him a sidelong glance before handing him the feather. "Uh, okay." Drenar examines the feather. It''s not the same color as that silly stuffed bird he¡¯d made years ago. How did that get there? He stuffs the feather in his bag before he opens the beat-up car and hits the garage door opener. Um¡­ why does that feather look like the ones that were on my arm and wings? He glances anxiously at his bag on his shoulder, and dares not to reopen it. It¡¯s not going to be a normal day. Vol. 1, Ch. 3: The Raven Haired Viking Julia DeVerdra narrows her eyes at Drenar, this boy wonder, messy-haired teen, who is trying to set a speed run record straight into after-school lessons with the teacher by dozing off. It''s nine in the morning, and they''re in the brick and mortar school that barely passes her litmus test for practical education. The sterile white walls, black-laminated tables, buzzing fluorescent lights, and rows of cabinets filled with all things chemistry makes her groan inwardly. This place has managed to make something subtle and awesome, utterly boring. ¡°Psst. Drenar, hey, wake up. Barton¡¯s gonna steamroll you.¡± She¡¯s not doing this lesson twice, and gives a gentle kick at Drenar¡¯s ankle under the table. He snaps to attention in an instant--just in time for the teacher to notice. ¡°Mr. Rashalda, are you paying attention?!¡± she scolds him and shakes her head. ¡°Oh, er¡­yes, sorry. Was up late. Doing homework!¡± He flips open the instruction page for the lab assignment. He does manage to get the answer correct. ¡°Don¡¯t make me break out my singing voice or anything," she huffs before continuing with the instructions. Julia glances at him, puzzled by his lack of alertness. Why is he so out of it today? ¡°Classy, Drenar. Is your angle to pretend to only be a mediocre student?¡± He lets out a hissing exhale when he looks her way. She greets him with a bemused expression behind her thin frame glasses and long black hair. Her azure blue eyes flicker with interest at his attempt to just ignore the comment, and she leans towards him, almost to the edge of her chair. ¡°Heeey, sleepyhead. Did someone stay up late, and is now suffering from bad time management?¡± she whispers slyly. Don¡¯t make this too easy for me or anything, you goober. ¡°You mean if you had a helping hand in that, sure,¡± he whispers back. He can¡¯t help but hide a smile from Julia, poorly at that. He¡¯s still a kid at heart, even if he wears the ¡®so serious¡¯ look far more often than she¡¯d like. Julia only has two modes for him: cheery, angry, and occasionally both at once. She¡¯s earned it¨Cshe¡¯s known him since they were both three years old. She even wears her hair in the same ponytail as back then. He¡¯s likely still looking right back at the same old her, with the same pale complexion--with a toned muscle set that put most of the track team to shame. Drenar can mostly compete with her on a dead-even level, but she¡¯s still proud of her one-inch height advantage over him. And there¡¯s nothing that¡¯s been more fun than the amount of times she¡¯s gotten him in, and out of trouble¨Cmostly playful mischief, and a few jokes taken a little too far. He can be lighthearted, but sometimes, it takes her a little effort and more than a little nudge. He¡¯s also the only person she lets call her the raven-haired Viking and live, too. She¡¯d qualify as more Viking than ninja, because she¡¯s got half Scandinavian heritage and only a quarter Japanese. She looks more like her mom, but with faint oceanic traces. American is the remainder. Either way, she can throw hands with pretty much anyone if she chooses, and win. ¡°Personal question.¡± he¡¯s gazing at her outfit with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Do you only wear three colors?¡± ¡°Yep. Black, purple, and nerdy memes,¡± she whispers slyly. She doesn''t mention her typical black-painted nails, and ripped jeans. But hey, she¡¯s a radiant ray of sunshine on the inside, and her exterior needs just a hint of dimming for the convenience of the rest of the world¨Cor so she thinks. ¡°You look amazingly disheveled today.¡± ¡°We have to set a hard limit on our late-night gaming,¡± he says with a contented sigh. ¡°Wish I had your confidence in this class.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all in the manual," she replies. The teacher prattles on about the lab instructions, and he¡¯s dozing off again a short time later. She gives him another nudge with her shoe. He swivels in his seat, knocks over a beaker, and it rolls to the edge. Whoops! Julia manages to catch the glass beaker in an impressive display of lightning reflexes. She then hands it back to him. ¡°Uh, sorry. That might have been excessive.¡± ¡°I think you just enjoy that,¡± he accuses. ¡°You¡¯ve dozed off twice now. What¡¯s up?¡± he looks...dazed, even. "Okay, want to hear something weird?" She leans in, and grins. This should be good after a quick nod. "So last night, I had a dream. I turned into a dragon, there was this big void in the sky that tried to tear the world¨Cand me¨Cinto bits and pieces, and there was voice in my head giving me crap for flying towards said giant hole in reality. I made it to the void¨Cand then I fell out of bed,¡± he sums up. ¡°Crazy, right?¡± Then she grins wildly. ¡°Yep! Just like you. Now, was I in this dream of yours?¡± ¡°No. It was just me, I guess,¡± he replies. ¡°Oh, and some voice claiming they''re a dragon, and that I hijacked his body. His name was Alexander." She laughs a little too loudly at this, and a few students turn to stare. She tones it down to just above a whisper. No need to attract too much attention. "What a delightful imagination Drenar, even the voices in your head in a dream get names, too!" she teases. His imagination is criminally underutilized! "You''re right. Smith or Bob would have been too suburban. So, why the interest, anyway?¡± "I''ve...been having trouble sleeping lately." She doesn¡¯t know why, either. ¡°I don''t know, maybe it''s just the last year of high school jitters.¡± Except my vision has been going screwy, like I can see light where there isn¡¯t. What¡¯s up with that? And I feel like I¡¯m statically charged all the time. I think I need to change the fabric types on my clothes. "Well, there you go.¡± He continues to jot down notes from the test. ¡°It isn''t just that.¡± ¡°What isn''t?¡± ¡°Do you ever get the feeling you''re different from other people?¡± It should be a casual question to Drenar. But, ever since she found that book in her mom¡¯s room a month ago, she¡¯s started to notice stuff that doesn¡¯t add up. Not just now¨Cin the past, too. She has to be reading into it too deeply. Drenar answers before she can explain further. ¡°Me? No. There¡¯s nothing about me that stands out as extraordinary. Well, maybe the subtle nudging I got from Angie that I should see if I could get on the Olympic team for fencing,¡± he adds. ¡°Or, do you mean something intrinsically different?¡± ¡°Something like that.¡± She jots down a few notes as the lab experiment finishes. ¡°Being someone...greater than the rest." ¡°Something greater,¡± Drenar repeats. ¡°Can you specify?" ¡°I dunno. At face value, nothing noteworthy.¡± Which for her, means there¡¯s more, and she wraps her hair around her finger gently. "It''s not any one thing, it''s just...a feeling. Do you know how I can anticipate moves on the mat when doing judo? Or the time I punched a hole into a brick wall? Or lately, it''s just...I feel like I look at the world and I see something else there, just out of sight, like there''s an undercurrent to what I see." "See what, exactly? There¡¯s a broad swath of optical maladies or neurotrauma that could be attributed to that.¡± ¡°Hey, my vision is mostly fine,¡± she adds when he points at her thin-framed, rectangular-shaped glasses. She barely needs them. ¡°Sometimes I swear I can tell when someone throws a circuit in my house." She¡¯d also been getting that static zap feeling more often¨Cand she swears she left a tiny scorch mark on her jeans yesterday. "That¡¯s not that strange. A few people can be sensitive to EM fields." He ticks off each one as logical. "Name one truly impossible thing you''ve seen or done lately.¡± "I flung Nick five meters one time when he tried out at the training center?" This one legitimately surprises him. Yeah, he shook his head like he couldn¡¯t believe it. I couldn¡¯t believe it, either, and Nick¡¯s no pushover. A heartthrob maybe, but not for me. "You''ve always had berserker strength, but that''s pretty impressive," he finally admits. "Look, Julia, I know you think something''s off with the world. But last I checked, we live in Opechea Falls, Colorado. A bastion of unimportance, where nothing important happens. It is literally the most boring town I''ve ever known." "You''ve only lived in one town," she replies in annoyance. A glance out the window to the scene of trees slowly turning to autumn colors and rolling hills is a start contrast to the mundaneness of this building. It needs more colorful murals! "Okay, fair point. But seriously, the last I checked, the laws of physics haven¡¯t broken down, gravity still pulls us to the earth''s core, and James still can''t do track and field to save his life. If any of those cease to be true, then yeah, you might be onto something," he assures her. "Any other things I should put on the bingo card describing the breakdown of reality?" she asks while giving him a droll look. He starts rattling a list like he has it memorized. "Dragons, real-life dungeons, ancient evils, world-spanning conspiracies, James Bond villain companies, and my favorite, some chosen hero running around trying to save the world," he responds. "Of course, I put the odds of any of them being real at zero." "I''ll be sure to send a text if I observe any of the above," she replies heartily.
¡°It¡¯s your move, Drenar.¡± She has to get his attention again, what is with this kid today? He responds with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m busy running calculations." ¡°Speed it up, slowpoke! I want you to crush him beneath your feet, and listen to the lamentations of his¨Coh wait, forever alone. Sorry, James.¡± James is peering over the board with a look of annoyance. "Two of you geniuses can''t beat one of me? Sheesh." It''s like he deliberately goes out of his way to feign annoyance, she notes. Drenar¡¯s rival of the day is James Shalinde¨Cwho is also her friend, too. James has a thin but sturdy frame, medium-length wavy brown hair, and brown eyes. She wouldn''t call him gaunt, but he looks like his face is held tight against his skull. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°You¡¯ve been staring at that board as if you expected the pieces to move themselves,¡± James directs to Drenar. ¡°Hey, I¡¯d take telekinesis as a superpower, it''s got tons of utility. A magical fox girl told me that,¡± Drenar pushes a pawn, and earns a death glare from her. He smiles right back unflinchingly. "I have no patience for chess. Let''s go back to Magic cards next week." "Bah, I can''t keep up with the newest sets, it''s getting so pricey lately. Pok¨¦mon, maybe?" "Too kid-friendly. Magic it is," James finally agrees. ¡°Man, remember how we met? When Pok¨¦mon was newer?¡± ¡°I distinctly recall saving your scrawny hide at the tender age of eight,¡± Drenar grins. ¡°Chuck and his cronies were beating you up because you wouldn''t give them your cards. Chuck broke my nose, and I busted two of his front teeth, and Julia¡­well¡­let''s just say she can be utterly savage at times.¡± ¡°I¡¯m right here, sleepyhead,¡± she growls. ¡°Plus, Drenar was pulling punches. He should have caved Chuck¡¯s skull in, and posed with his foot on his destroyed body, like some gruesome pulp historical brawler movie!¡± ¡°You tried to gouge Zach''s eyes out!¡± James declares with a roll of his eyes. ¡°He had it coming. He bit me.¡± She will never apologize for giving that bully the beating of a lifetime for mugging James. ¡°We got detention, and they both almost got expelled. Man, has it been a while since I thought about that,¡± Drenar laughs. ¡°I can''t believe my mom was able to talk down to the principal like that. We should have all gotten suspended.¡± ¡°Worth it, though. We got to meet Angela.¡± They had both met her through James several years ago, and she''s become good friends with both of them over time. They¡¯re besties, which is a cut above friend level. ¡°Eh. She can do worse than you Drenar, but you''re alright Julia, she¡¯s your bestie. You still owe me for covering for movie night, by the way,¡± he says slyly to Drenar. ¡°Oooh, what¡¯s the scoop! Angie said some words, but I think she was holding back!¡± Julia practically sings. Drenar looks like he wants to crawl under a rock right now. It¡¯s so adorable when he gets that embarrassed look. ¡°Well, your parents showed up out of nowhere, and probably would not have looked well upon us being in the house alone.¡± Drenar decides to skip to the point. ¡°What favor do I owe you?¡± ¡°Spill it, you two!¡± They both ignore her, and she folds her arms in annoyance. When James is around, she can¡¯t push Drenar quite as easily. ¡°Just see if you can get me a date with Julia.¡± ¡°The sun will become a red giant and incinerate the planet before Julia agrees to that,¡± Drenar states dryly before crossing his arms. ¡°Yes, it will,¡± she adds with a smug look. ¡°You know I¡¯m right here, manling. I can still crush you.¡± ¡°But Drenar¡¯s the only person that can talk you into seeing reason at times.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a perk of being a bestie! Try harder, you might make the list! And smile more often James, it helps!¡± she beams. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± The bell rings, and she and Drenar head to her sleepy-time class, History. She''s both good at reading, and inferring conclusions of the past--but it''s still boring as sin. Meaning, she¡¯s going to spend the entire period watching Drenar doodle on his notepad¨Che¡¯s not up to Angie''s level of sketches, but he¡¯s decent. Except he seems to be trying to take a nap. Again. ¡°Drenar, if you will?¡± He¡¯s at it again! The dozing teenager! She taps his foot and he snaps back to his senses. He owes her for her prompts to keep him out of detention, seriously! ¡°Mmnh, yes, had to think for a moment.¡± He at least recovered fast. ¡°How many sightings of some mythic creature were reported in the last year? The answer was, uh, five?¡± ¡°In math maybe, but good guess,¡± the teacher said, evoking a few laughs. Julia is not one of them. ¡°Even today, myths and legends persist. Though as you can imagine, many have been disproven. Cryptids are quickly becoming a forgotten curiosity.¡± Oh, you think that¡¯s nuts, you should see that book I found. It¡¯s wild, she thinks with a hint of a smile. ¡°Mr. Deshandrea, your rebuttal?¡± she hears the teacher say a moment later. She turns to the teen near the back row. He''d joined the school a few years ago, and she knew little about him. Nicholas, or Nick as most people referred to him as, is usually laid back and keeps his blond hair long, and tied back in a ponytail--adorkably old-fashioned, she notes. He has hazel eyes, and a calm demeanor every time she sees him. He¡¯s also on the track team, and she¡¯s had a chance to race against him a time or two, and in the ring. He¡¯s good¨Ctoo good for his age. Today, he''s wearing his usual bomber jacket and dark-colored pants. He usually keeps to himself and a handful of the athletic team members, although he does occasionally talk with Angela during class. Angela usually stays mum on what they talk about¨Cwhich she finds odd. She can convince Angela to tell her just about anything because she¡¯s persistent! Ironically, Nick is usually trying to wave away all of the teen girls who see him as a heartthrob. Where does he get that cool factor? Does life have hidden stats? She thinks shrewdly. Okay, the bomber jacket is kinda cool. There, I said it. Maybe I''ll get one someday. ¡°It¡¯s not a question of proof or disproof, it¡¯s a question of interpretation.¡± Nick really did have a way to speak. ¡°All truth is relative.¡± ¡°We live in an age where an app on Facebook, of all things, can transpose images or distort people''s faces with an algorithm. People love attention. Even if it¡¯s the wrong kind of attention,¡± Drenar counters. ¡°The speed of a lie¡¯s way faster than the truth.¡± Finally, the messy-haired kid is paying attention. ¡°Not everything is a lie¨Cnot directly. Indeed, we often are biased against what we don¡¯t know. And people would rather believe what is simple. Or convenient, without actually engaging in critical thinking,¡± Nicholas rebuts, sitting up in his chair with renewed interest. ¡°Someone has done their reading for today, for once,¡± Nimbul said, and this got a few halfhearted laughs. Drenar is more focused on drawing in his notepad a little while later, much to her satisfaction¨Cdragons and knights again? Oh, with a damsel flying on top of him¨Chow dashing! But this class doesn''t move any faster. "You know, there''s more truth to dragon sightings than you''d think.¡± That idiot conspiracy theorist is taking his shot at trying to pawn off ridiculous stories again! ¡°Even to this very day, there are some fossils that have yet to be identified. And let''s not forget all the sightings that people claim to this very day, which you mentioned." ¡°Bah, crazy talk. There¡¯s no fossil record. The alchemical byproducts in their body degrade and cause a corpse to incinerate bones and all, there¡¯d never be any proof that would survive for long,¡± Nicholas replies sarcastically. ¡°Where¡¯d you hear that one?¡± the student demands. ¡°The Draconomicon,¡± Nicholas replies matter-of-factly. She is fairly certain he''s referring to a book, but it''s at the edge of even her obscure knowledge. Drenar might remember it better than her. Except-- Wait. What the hell? That mention of a corpse self-incinerating sounds awfully familiar, like it''s something she''d read recently. She ponders on it for a second, was it from that book? It couldn''t be. Conspiracy nut student doesn''t let up, and starts getting aggressive. "Oh really? So why does the lamestream media never report on this? Or for that matter, mages battling in the streets of Mogadishu a few years back? A digital dead zone in Madrid where the entire city went into a blackout while all sorts of monsters--" Nick cuts him off, much to her relief. "What, you never heard of the great blackout back in 2017? A transformer blew and some university students got bored and ran around in costumes. You seriously need to get your news from more reliable sources." "Nick c''mon man, we''ve had a topsy-turvy few years where people saw literal mages running around casting fireballs, and no one bats an eye, and it''s all on video. The US government isn¡¯t hiding aliens, they¡¯re hiding wizards and dragons! And no one bats an eye!" she rolls her eyes, conspiracy nut still won''t stop talking until the teacher gives a mild scolding a few seconds later. At least Drenar keeps his head down this time, and he finishes his doodles of a fire-breathing dragon roasting evil knights, and a young princess riding her scaled friend to freedom. It¡¯s way more interesting¨C ¡°Nani?! What feathers?¡± he whispers and looks back at her, his face shocked. She gives him a confused look. ¡°What?¡± he¡¯s shaking his head like he¡¯s got something buzzing around him. ¡°You commented on the need for feathers.¡± She glances over her shoulder¨Cthe students are rising to leave for the day. ¡°Yeah, that wasn¡¯t me, Drenar,¡± she says. He still is looking around. She knows something is bothering him with the way he keeps looking around anxiously before heading out of class. ¡°Hey, you alright?¡± She gets a shake on the shoulder as she looks at Drenar heading down the hall. Julia sees her bestie, Angela Shalinde, all with long brown wavy hair, gray-blue eyes, and looking all cute, waiting for her. Adorable, but also strong enough to break someone in half on the martial training floor. And she thought she was beastly. Angela also has a touch more curves than her, not that she isn¡¯t proud of her own well-disciplined figure, and she''s dressed in her normal dark shirt and slim jeans. ¡°Julia, earth to Julia, you were transfixed on Drenar. What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Somethings¡¯ off with him,¡± she finally says aloud. ¡°Way off.¡± She walks the short distance to her locker. Angela usually drives them home, and Drenar heads home with his brother. ¡°I dunno. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t keep him up so late.¡± That static feeling is back too. There¡¯s an itching at her fingertips while she fiddles with the dial lock and pops it open. Angela stands there, and gives a gentle hand wave. ¡°Julia, he¡¯s fine! Surely! He¡¯s a tough kid, nothing knocks him down for long! Well, except you,¡± she adds with a laugh. Julia ignores it and reaches for one of her books¨C *CRACK* A bright crackle of static runs from her hand to the metal and she yelps¨Cit surprises her far more than it hurts, and she recoils in a pure reaction. ¡°Yowza, damn it! I hate static!¡± she hisses through her teeth. Her fingers feel numb for a second. Angela laughs lightly at this ¡°Look Tsundere, be more gentle with the world, and it¡¯ll be¡­more¡­um¡­¡± Angela peers into the locker, and then looks at Julia with shock. ¡°Did someone rig your locker with a nine-volt battery or something?¡± ¡°Why?¡± Julia nudges her aside to peer in. She slowly takes a step back. There¡¯s a black scorch mark where her fingers had contacted the metal. She swears she can see a wisp of smoke, and smells a hint of ozone. ¡°Seriously girl, you need to change your fabric, that was something!¡± Angela says with slight amazement. Julia continues to stare. A thought--an impossible thought--is ringing in her head. That book is getting another read tonight. She doesn¡¯t know why, but she¡¯s stumbled on something about herself that she thinks she wasn¡¯t meant to find. That shock had been elemental plasma. And that can only mean one thing: Dragons. Vol. 1, Ch. 4: Feathers, Scales, and Spiritual Advisors Drenar is grateful to get home, and unlocks the door with a soft click. Evan shuffles in right behind him, looking glum. "I guess I''ll start dinner. Think they''ll mind if I make chicken and broccoli stir fry?" he asks Evan while going through the refrigerator''s contents. Dave had better have left something for him to work with. "Hey Drenar, random question, have you been having trouble sleeping lately?" Evan asks a short time later. "Yeah. Why?" Drenar takes a look at the glumness on his face, and takes an educated guess. ¡°Hey, I know that look. So¡­¡± He tries not to bring it up. He doesn''t like to talk about it, either. ¡°Yeah. I was thinking about them.¡± Evan relents and sits down on the couch. He stands on the opposite side of the coffee table, and he notes the glum look on his brother¡¯s face. "I know it''s been a long time. I thought I''d be over this by now. Then over the last month, I kept thinking about Mom. I couldn''t stop hearing her voice everywhere." "Reliving the day? You¡¯re not the only one who does that. I still have that day burned into my memory, and there are some days I wish I could forget." Drenar notes his somber expression. "Any particular reason you''re thinking about them?" "Diane mentioned something to me about them recently. I guess it kind of lodged in my head," Evan concedes before he shifts his gaze towards the window. ¡°Do you think about her? From before?" "Of course I do. There were a lot of good times, too.¡± He immediately thinks of some of the heartfelt moments. "Mom was such a joker, she always caused mischief everywhere she went. She was always doing pranks at home, or causing dad grief when she surprised him, but she always found a way to make us all laugh and smile. She always had a warm personality. What''s the word Kiera had for her? She was a radiant soul.¡± Evan smiles faintly at that descriptor. ¡°Yeah, that fits, doesn''t it? She was a radiant ray of sunshine. Kind of like Julia, but with less black lip gloss, black fingernails, and nerd meme shirts." He can''t help but laugh at that. "Hah. Remember when she threw us in the lake off the dock when we wouldn¡¯t jump in because it was too cold? And then she threw in dad, too. Or the time she duct taped the TV remotes to the ceiling, and dad had to get a stepladder to get them back?" ¡°Don''t I remember,¡± Evan laughs, and lends a hand while Drenar gets dinner ready. At least this feels normal, now. All he can think about now is Mom and her warm smile, and he''s making one of her favorite recipes today. They chat idly for a little while, and the meal nears completion. He pictures her in her head, and lets out a soft hum--just like she would while cooking. What a way to be reminded, Drenar thinks to himself. Has it really been six years? Fates, I miss you, Mom. We all do. I don''t know if you''re out there somewhere, but I¡¯m trying to make you proud of the son you raised. His attention is diverted to the window when he hears the honk of a horn in the driveway. It''s Diane, one of his mom¡¯s friends, and now his legal guardian¨Cand someone who he treats like a mother now. ¡°Drenar, Evan, how are you guys?¡± he hears her call out. She walks into the kitchen, burdened with her bag. Diane is all business with shoulder-length silky dark hair, a warm smile, and brown eyes, along with a strict exercise regimen that keeps her lean and active, even into her forties. She is also a bit short, compared to Dave¨Cthen again, everyone is shorter than her husband Dave, who has dark eyes, a lumberjack beard, and is built like a skeleton on stilts. Seeing them in the same place always makes Drenar wonder how they met. ¡°Yeah. Just wrapping up dinner," Drenar responds even as he gives the meal a stir. The sizzling smell in the pan is just about right, and he can''t help but smile. ¡°So, not getting into trouble?¡± Diane asks teasingly before walking over and adjusting the burner a little. ¡°Stir fry isn''t a race,¡± she advises politely before adjusting her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose. ¡°Hey, there''s no burninating allowed here, if we want that, I''ll let Julia cook," he pushes back with a smirk. Julia can cook, but she tends to set the burner a little too hot. ¡°Oh don''t be mean Drenar, she does much better when you''re around,¡± she says with a smile. He can''t exactly refute the argument. ¡°Oh, thanks for the dinner preparation, by the way, that¡¯ll be great for tonight! Garlic, ginger, coconut aminos...hmm... a hint of mint?¡± He affirms it with a wave of his hand. ¡°Mom¡¯s recipe. She was a stickler for fresh ingredients.¡± Diane nods approvingly. He grabs the pan and starts portioning it out. "Alright guys, let''s dig in." After a brief dinner and some casual discussions of their days, Drenar grabs the dishes and places them in the washer. ¡°I¡¯m heading upstairs, I¡¯ve got textbooks to study, a book I just got off of Kindle that I¡¯d like to read." Diane sighs contentedly at this comment. ¡°Kids these days. What happened to the days when you all just hung out at the mall? And acted like normal teenagers?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the 21st century, Diane. Malls have not aged so well," he retorts with a grunt. She tosses back a laugh before he heads back to his room and grabs a seat at his computer chair. Perfectly normal day. He scratches absentmindedly at his arm before opening up a textbook, and starts reading through. Calculus, on the other hand, is far from normal.
Oy! Wake up! Even in this weird place, you''re napping! Drenar¡¯s eyes snap open¨Che¡¯s greeted by the spectacle of a moonlit night above his head, and short stubby pines and conifers thinly hide an overlook onto a wooded valley below. He doesn''t remember when he fell asleep. He tries to lift himself off the ground, and realizes quickly to his shock he has claws for hands. Again. He¡¯s back in this weird dragon form. Well, this is odd. Didn¡¯t I just have this dream? He props himself up on his taloned feet. He wobbles unsteadily, and cranes his slightly longer neck left and right. Bent stance, try not to overthink it. The limb works in tension. When he thinks of it as standing on his tiptoes, the analogy helps him feel more at ease with the new limb structure. This is now muscle memory. Now, he can allow himself to focus on other things. It might be nighttime, but he can see everything¨Cdown to his misty breath as he exhales from nostrils far too away from his face, to the specks of insects buzzing in the night sky. He looks behind him¨Cyep, those silver and azure wings are there again. So is the tail, slowly swaying back and forth. He feels exhausted, and everything still aches. His scales feel like they¡¯re burnt. He looks down, and there are spiderweb traces of silvery light at the seams of his scales. He lets out a sound of surprise as the light fades like embers of a dying fire. After a moment, they¡¯re back to their normal lustrous azure and silver colors What is going on here? he ponders as he stretches the alien limbs lightly. He can still feel the impact on his tail from where he¡¯d had a glancing hit on the previous night. The scales are dented slightly, and have a duller, less lustrous texture. He touches one, and winces. It¡¯s painful. What¡¯s more, is that he can feel the texture with his hand. The scales are not metal¨Cthey''re organic, and must have some nerve clusters close to the surface of them. He''d bruised his scales. That''s a phrase he never thought he''d utter or think in his life. He looks around cautiously¨Cthe world is still in one piece. There¡¯s no eldritch void in the sky, just the moon and countless pale stars. It is a welcome and comforting sight. This can''t be right. It''s like this is exactly where I left off last night, how is this possible? Oy. You know I¡¯m still here. Don¡¯t ignore me. Drenar hears the wistful, masculine presence again, seemingly all around him. It''s the exact same voice. Is it inside his head, maybe? ¡°Yeah hi there, ghost¨C¡± It¡¯s Alexander, if you will. Or Alex. or Lexxy. He rolls his eyes, the phantom voice in his head sounds sassy now. ¡°Alright then. Alex. A pleasure making your acquaintance. It was a¡­pretty rough intro last time.¡± Drenar takes a step closer to the vista point, and peers down at the valley filled with pointy pines and other evergreens¨Cit feels a little colder. I saw snippets of your waking hours. I think you heard me, once. Except you thought it was your feisty friend behind you. He did remember that. And for the first time, he turns off his logic barrier. ¡°Alex, how can you be real? You can¡¯t be. People don¡¯t just carry other people inside their brains," Drenar rationalizes. He takes a moment to look around at the night sky. Thousands of stars dot the celestial expanse, just like normal. Why not? ¡°Because you can''t. Souls are...a concept. A theory.¡± They''re not a theory. We all have one. Drenar takes a second to ponder this. What is a soul? A spark of life, consciousness, a driving will? A single entity that can say ''I am''? Okay, I need a good long think on that one, Alex. I''ll give you a minute. I''m still trying to figure out what is going on, too. He takes slow, deliberate steps with his newfound leg structure towards a fallen tree. After a moment of hesitation, he sits down on it¨Cit holds his weight. He wraps his tail around his ankles, and leans back slightly. He props his wings so they sprawl outward so he can gaze upwards without setting his weight on them. ¡°You know what, this is kinda weird. I recognize this place. I went camping here with my parents years ago. Mom always loved the outdoors. I knew the valley looked familiar.¡± Why this place, he has no idea. He hadn''t thought of camping in a while. What does it mean, though? ¡°No idea.¡± He taps a clawed leg on a rock, and tries to lift it. The rock feels surprisingly light. While it¡¯s not the same as a hand, there¡¯s greater dexterity in his taloned foot than he anticipated, and he can wiggle each clawed toe individually. He reflexively closes them in a grasping motion a few times. ¡°Alex¡­how long were you there? In that place?¡± Seven hundred, nineteen years, eight months, give or take a few days. There¡¯s something oddly specific about the way Alex says it, and gains his attention. That¡¯s how long that thing in the sky was there, from my perspective. I know, because I saw the date on one of your contraptions. The one with the glowing window. It displayed words and images. ¡°A computer screen. A machine that can do math in very small intervals of time,¡± he responds. A machine? Stone and metal brought to life, like a golem? He ponders the analogy. ¡°Something like that.¡± Drenar sighs in resignation. It still bothers him that his words have a slurred accent. Practice should make it go away in time. ¡°Alright. Before I wake up, why am I a dragon? It feels¡­¡± he trails off. ¡°It feels like my actual body. Like I belong in this. Like it was meant for me. Or maybe this is who I always was.¡± He takes the rock and lightly tosses it off the edge of a short cliff nearby, and he hears a distant clatter. ¡°And, why am I not cold? Aren''t dragons cold-blooded?¡± Dragons aren¡¯t primitive lizards. We¡¯re the apex. We¡¯re what everyone else wants to be, and it¡¯s kinda sad because, despite the genetic complexity, we¡¯ve still managed to botch things in our society. Also from my readings, we have a four-chambered heart, and a hot-blooded body. We¡¯re kind of a metabolic furnace. ¡°Well, that is certainly fascinating. Where in my brain did I come up with¨C¡± He decides to let an oddly scientific tidbit slide for now. ¡°So uh, yeah. Why can I hear you? Voices in your head are never a good sign of mental stability.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. I¡¯m still trying to figure that out. Death is¡­a pretty universal experience for all Kin. Once we¡¯re expired, from old age, disease, combat, or bad luck, there¡¯s no coming back from that. But I don¡¯t think I died¨CI might have been close to it, though. ¡°Kin?¡± Drenar echoes. A name for all of humanity. Dragons, humans, and others. I¡¯m surprised you latched onto that, though. ¡°It¡¯s a strange term. But, I can see the appeal of it. I guess humanity isn¡¯t exclusive to humans,¡± he adds softly. ¡°Who else qualifies as Kin?¡± Elven. Dwarves. Kitsune. Wargen. Fey. There are others, assuming they still exist. When I left the world, mages were at war. I was¡­trying to put an end to it. Bring back balance. I don''t know if I succeeded or failed. Yet. Alex sounds more relaxed now. ¡°Pretty sure I''ve never met another Kin. I mean, unless they''re hiding. Or disguised.¡± Has he met a magical fox girl or an elf, and never realized it? The thought is--intriguing. Maybe they''re also shapeshifters, too, so they can blend in? It could explain the lack of bigger flags of a secret mage society. Might I ask something, first? Why did you fly right towards the danger? What if we had been wrong? Drenar clicks his tongue against the roof of his snout. It¡¯s an odd sensation, knowing everything feels completely off, like the feel of his teeth, or even extra limbs he can now feel and control. ¡°Maybe because I¡¯m not afraid of things like that? I¡¯m not afraid of much. If I can study it, if I can understand something, it becomes a lot less scary. People get scared of stuff they can¡¯t understand.¡± What are you afraid of, then? He closes his eyes, and he can still hear the beep of the medical monitor. The ominous countdown as someone¡¯s life marches to its conclusion. ¡°Losing the people that matter in my life,¡± he answers abstractly. Alex doesn¡¯t press further, but Drenar can feel that mental pause. ¡°Hey. You mentioned we¡¯re linked. That what I see here is some shared reality. Dreams don¡¯t work like that, you know.¡± I¡¯m theorizing. Dragons are masters of magic, but there are things out there that are beyond even our understanding. Magic is an integral part of our very being, it¡¯s as natural as breathing. Not that the other Kin are lacking capacity, but still. He falls silent for a moment, as if contemplating something. That place, maybe wasn¡¯t a physical place. It was not Terra, or Earth. It was an existence between worlds. An interstitial. But when you entered, you brought a piece of your perspective of reality with you. It did not hold stability. Your soul forced reality onto something that doesn¡¯t have it. I¡¯ve only heard of this in my academia. It could have been the Aether. A plane of souls, passers-by, and ethereal energy. It¡¯s not a place you can go physically. Drenar¡¯s mind is a buzz of thoughts. ¡°So, what was that void?¡± he asks. It was a gateway. Or maybe a locked door. But I think we got through. And I don¡¯t think we were the only ones, either. I think a few other dragons were following us. He looks around, but he doesn''t see any other signs of life nearby¨Cnot counting the crickets, anyway. I don''t have all the answers, Drenar. We''re going to have to find them together. Because I think I''ve seen your world. It''s the same as mine. Drenar laughs at this notion¨Cat least that part of his speech wasn¡¯t distorted or with a heavy accent. ¡°Alex, my world is quite ordinary. Your world of perception is the opposite." I saw it. Snippets. A room for education with other peers. Mountains in the distance. A longing memory for someone who¡­isn''t here now. My world and your world are the same. Hidden away, most likely. If cross-laid realities don''t exist, then what do we conclude? We both come from the same place, but maybe at different times. I can tell you first-hand, that my ancestors built a civilization and wasted it. Tens of thousands of years, reduced to atrocity and civil war. "How?" Drenar asks softly. ¡­Some of my kin, long ago, tried to control fledgling humanity, and they did terrible things in the process. Others tried to stop them. The result was both of our civilizations took a massive blow, and magic propagation was set backward. Stupid fools. He can hear the contempt for dragons long since dead in his voice. I can only imagine what has happened since I was trapped in that place. ¡°Hey, that reminds me. What¡¯s your full name?¡± A question of curiosity that Drenar yields an unexpected answer. I remember now. Alexander Sandrick Rashalda. The Champion of the Luminaires. I know there is an immense amount of me that is missing. But I can see the outline of all that was me. Like knowing the gaps in a giant puzzle. Drenar lets out a sound of surprise. ¡°So, we¡¯re related? That¡¯s weird, my last name is Rashalda, too! What about people you knew? The name isn¡¯t ringing any bells.¡± Lyssa. Hanna and Gerard Celestine. Valen the draa¡¯kin-knight. Robespierre. Robbie. Little Robbie. I don¡¯t know why that last one resonates. I know the name, but not the face, not the memory. I know their names, but the memories are shrouded in fog. ¡°Maybe a son?¡± he suggests. No. I never had a son. I am certain of it. A friend, I think. The longer he listens, the more there¡¯s a doubt gnawing in the back of his mind. What if he isn''t dreaming? What if this is a shared reality, somewhere between himself and Alex, separated by time and space? Still with me? You went quiet for a moment. He taps a claw gently along a swept-back horn. it makes a slightly dull clinking sound. ¡°Just thinking, is all. Were they all dragons?¡± Some. But not all, I think. I kept many trusted friends, from many walks of life. ¡°Were all dragons like you? How many were there?¡± Even while discussing, he¡¯s still taking in this spectacle and craning his neck¨Cthe action leaves him disoriented since his neck extends slightly more from his torso than his human body. He feels like a living suspension bridge. ¡°What¡­kind of dragon are you?¡± I am a Maridian silver. We are masters of telekinesis, and our frost breath can tame the fiercest fires, or protect our allies with the soothing calm of ice. We of the Maridian tribe, the Skyy¡¯rs, the Kra¡¯thus, the Valeria, wore the scales of our ancestors. We etched our lineage in the armor scales of our body, and we carried a living tapestry of the legends of those who came before. ¡°That was the most metal thing I¡¯ve heard in a while. Wow. You carved your family tree into your scales?¡± Drenar asks in awe. He looks down at the thicker, broader scales. His isn''t etched. At least, not that he can tell. But they do have nerve endings, because he can feel the pressure of his hand against them. Do they not do that in this age? ¡°Not quite like that.¡± He closes his eyes for a minute, taking in the night sounds. The whole world is alive with activity to his elongated, sensitive earcrests. He can hear the thrum of a blade of grass, distinct from the ones around it. The sound of a stream babbling nearby. He opens his eyes and looks at his forearm. There''s that flap of feathers, and when he tenses a muscle, it expands like a slat on an airplane. He peers closely at the azure feather that transitions to a scale-like ending where it attaches to his limb. An idea dawns on him. He pulls at it, and winces. It''s like pulling a hair. What are you doing? ¡°Science,¡± he answers. He pulls firmly, and looks at it. Why does it look like the feather from earlier in the day? ¡°Alex, question. What are our scales made of?¡± I think the equivalent of keratin, in human terms? Trace magical metals? ¡°How?¡± Absorption of plants that grow in magical areas, which pull minerals from the soil? We can also eat some minerals too. We have strong stomach acid, if need be. ¡°Okay. That''s not the weirdest thing I''ve heard, but we''re getting there.¡± Also, what¡¯s that noise? He does hear that sound of oblivion again, and the void is back up above¨Cexcept instead of sucking everything in, he sees streams of light emanating from it, pulsing downwards. Distantly, he can see the lights of some small town¨Cfurther from that, a large city. The streaks of light come down, two, five, ten at a time, in brilliant flashes. They streak at hypersonic speeds toward their landing zone in silent blazes of light that dissipate just as quickly as they flare to light. ¡°That sound,¡± Drenar replies as he gets back on his feet, ¡°Is the sound of a mystery. Except this time, I think your buddies decided to follow us back to Reality. Care to get a closer look?¡± Well, I¡¯ve got nothing better to do. Lead on, Drenar. He grins wildly, because this time he thinks he¡¯s gotten the launching mechanism down to a fine art. He takes a few rapid strides with his powerful legs and extends his wings. He springs forward, beating his wings with all the fervor he can muster¨C ¡°Oww!¡± For the second day in a row, Drenar manages to launch himself out of his bed, and onto the floor. This time, he bruises his shoulder, and he groans more from the indignity of the fall rather than the actual injury. ¡°If I go zero for three on this, I¡¯m gonna be so pissed off,¡± he utters venomously. He''s soaked in sweat, his heart is racing out of control, and he has to spend a couple of minutes again to get his body to calm down. What the hell is going on here? Drenar still feels like his head is buzzing and his skin feels like static energy is crackling over him. He grabs a pen off his desk and starts sketching furiously everything he can remember, and the names he heard. His sketches look decent enough. Man, what am I doing? This can''t be possible. I''m letting my imagination get the better of me, because I want this weirdness to be real. Hang on. He quickly scribbles the wing shape down, and the scale pattern¨Ca series of semi-trigonal shapes, overlapping and gleaming in the light. Once he¡¯s done, he stuffs the sketches in his bag to look at later before he dashes out to get ready for the day. Then he grabs the feather from yesterday, and frowns. It looks quite weird, at a second glance. It''s not from that stuffed bird, the texture is off, and the quill ends in a flattened, scale-like feature¡­just where did this come from? It also doesn''t flex. It''s quite rigid, yet remarkably light. He glances back to the sketches, and frowns again. Strangely, it matches the shape and consistency. His breathing turns just a little rapid. What if this came from me? The thought triggers a rapid heartbeat, and he takes a deep breath, and leaves him putting his hands to his face. It can''t be possible. He turns to leave the room, and feels an itching sensation on his left forearm. He scratches it through his shirt sleeve, but it persists. It''s mildly painful. Ah come on, maybe I used too much detergent in the¨C He pulls up his sleeve and freezes. A million thoughts coalesce in an instant, and the knee-jerk reaction is the only audible one. ¡°Holy sh¨C¡± He forcibly claps a hand over his mouth and looks wide-eyed at what he''s witnessing, and it''s quite impossible. Impossible, but still impinging on his reality. There is a patchwork of metallic-looking scales on his forearm, about a few centimeters below his wrist. The scales are silver and azure blue, semi-trigonal shaped, and in a light banding pattern. He looks back to the sketches he just made, and his eyes widen further. They match almost identically in shape and pattern. Panic doesn''t set in. It should, but he''s more fascinated than afraid. He taps one, and it''s definitely real. He can even see his skin slowly morphing at the edges, and then it stops. He peers closer. Oh no. Tell me I didn''t manifest this into reality. Tell me this is me dreaming. He taps one again, and it feels utterly solid. He turns his forearm, and the scales flex gently with the motion, like interlocking armor. He runs his fingers through his hair, trying to keep calm. Utterly, deadly calm, like he would do in his martial training. Okay, think! Don''t freak out, don''t panic, maybe I can¡­will them away? He looks back to his forearm, and imagines normal, human skin, with those traces of freckles. It remains unchanged, as does his really bad situation. People don''t grow scales out of nowhere. Not unless he counted his dreams over the past couple of days. I feel lucid, this feels real, therefore it must be. But what do I do? Who would I even talk to about this?! Hiding it is the first step. He does not want to become a tabloid sensation, kidnapped by government scientists and dissected, or worse. He can hide this under long sleeves, for now. As a precaution, he grabs a roll of gauze tape from the bathroom after very carefully checking to make sure no one sees him. He breathes a sigh of relief¨Cthat should help avoid any accidents. He¡¯ll just pass it off as burning his arm when he reached into the oven. It''s believable. But it won''t be a good cover forever. The next step is going to be harder: figuring out why this is happening, and if this is just the start. He takes a deep breath, and dreads the next really bad idea. He''s going to have to tell Julia about this. And he''s worried she''s going to be filled with gleeful enthusiasm, and not abject horror. Hey, fluffy dragon¡­I mean uh Alex? Is this your doing? Silence is his answer. Alex is gone again. And he¡¯s got nothing left but discomforting questions. Vol. 1, Ch. 5: Knowledge Checks, Part One Oh dear Fates, I''m going to have an anxiety attack, I can feel it. This is not possible, but I know they''re real, and they''re still itchy, and I have no idea how they got there. Focusing on his school day is the only way he can keep a calm composure in the face of something completely unprecedented. Drenar thought the day would get easier, until he had an awful thought. That feather in his book bag, likely sitting under his water bottle, may have also come from his body. Feathers and scales?! What am I becoming, some kind of exotic bird? Like black swan. but worse. Then another thought comes to the forefront. Julia had been mentioning dragons as a joke two nights ago. Is Julia a witch, and she hexed me, out of morbid amusement? No. No way. There''s no way she hexed me, and magic doesn''t exist. Even Julia wouldn''t mess with my life that profoundly just, for the laughs. He lets his logic process work through it, while trying to get through English literature. Okay. If it¡¯s not magic, or it¡¯s partially related to magic, then cells in my body are rapidly mutating or transmuting. Cancer would be a complete mess and probably kill me if it''s going this fast. These are patterned and form specific shapes and distinct colors. It''s too organized to be something at random. This thought process is doing nothing to reverse this really inconvenient situation, either. He has no idea what triggered it, either. He gives it even more thought during engineering class. Thinking it through works wonders for keeping him calm. Logical steps. How would a process like this unfold with technology? If this isn''t random, it''s programmed. Okay, let''s process this--government scientists found a way to make a retrovirus transmute human cells. And decided, in the most mad-scientist way imaginable, to turn people into lizards or birds. That isn''t the craziest theory I have, and it''s still scare, because it means my cells are either changing in my body, or are capable of rewriting their cellular structure. Like a trigger gene? Or, it''s magic. There''s a disturbing thought, I''ve been a dragon my whole life, and now those genes are going to active state. But, cellular growth requires massive energy sources. Does this explain why it feels like I''ve been ravenous for the past month, but didn''t even put on so much as half a kilogram? Is¡­mass being converted to energy? Is it a mass effect? He feels like this is even further away from an answer. It¡¯s even harder to keep up the act in front of his friends. James sits across from him at the lunch table, looking like he knows something is up. "Hey, you look exhausted man, are you okay?" he finally asks after more than a few false starts. "Just¡­weird dreams," he shrugs. Alex''s discussion with him in his dreamscape is starting to seem conveniently timed now, James is the last person he wants to tell in confidence about this. He''d rather talk about anything else to deflect the conversation, considering a crisis is brewing under a thin disguise of a shirt sleeve, and a few gauze wraps. What surprises him more, is that Nick stops at the table. ¡°Hey Drenar, mind if I ask you something?" He shrugs and gestures for him to continue. ¡°I need a favor. I''m bored out of my mind with track and field, and I know you and Angela were doing fencing the year before. Any chance you could get it up and running?¡± This question came out of the left field, and he contemplates an answer. ¡°That depends. The guy who had trained us passed away last year, so training outside of school is tough to come by. He also lent some of the equipment.¡± Drenar winces, being reminded that Laresten, his martial instructor is no longer among the living, sucks any enthusiasm out of the subject. ¡°Oh. Didn''t know that,¡± Nick says with surprise. ¡°Think you could talk to the admin here, and see if we could get it up and running?¡± You literally are asking me at the worst time of my life Nick, not that you know any better. He decides a tactical answer is in store. ¡°I''ll look into it.¡± "Dude, don''t mope, just go start the thing again, it''ll do wonders for your mental health, and put a smile on Angela''s face. I think you punish yourself for having the audacity of enjoying something you''re good at," James says in a pointed interjection. "Hey, that''s not true. I know how to have fun." He does, but usually it''s because Julia''s poking and prodding. Maybe he should take that as his sign to open up more. He also starting to feel jittery, and a tension headache is building. ¡°You¡¯re looking a little off,¡± James points out. If only he knew how on-the-mark he is. ¡°Uh...just, I couldn''t really sleep last night,¡± Drenar mumbled. ¡°What, did Julia keep you up all night?¡± James was practically grinning. ¡°Nah, it was Angela actually. I refuse to let the competition go when it comes to Halo,¡± he adds with a smirk. ¡°Oh, is someone bragging? I thought I felt needed here.¡± He feels someone clap on his arm lightly. The arm which is currently going through a slight metamorphosis, and he suppresses a pain reaction. Angela Shalinde is peering at him with interest with her slightly freckled complexion, long, wavy dark hair, and low-profile glasses obscuring her gray-blue eyes. ¡°You are total trash when it comes to slayer mode.¡± Drenar lets the comment slide, and smiles in response. She isn''t anywhere near as tall as her brother. Unlike her brother who looked like a stick on legs, she is much more athletically inclined. Angela is usually much quieter in tone than her best friend Julia, and has interests ranging from fencing--which she and Drenar both particularly enjoyed--to outdoor activities like hiking and camping. She is also very competitive and doesn''t hesitate to challenge Drenar to...well, pretty much anything under the sun. It¡¯s about one of the only things she and James had in common. For fraternal twins, it¡¯s a little surprising how different they are. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. But if there is one thing that defines her, it¡¯s how she moves with an ethereal grace everywhere she goes--from her wry smile, to her ability to move like fluid on the training floor. Everything for her is one continuous, seamless motion, without any halting movements or hesitation. ¡°Yeah, slayer¡¯s fine and all, but I like objectives,¡± Drenar replied with a wry smile. He did lament that they didn¡¯t have fencing class anymore, his trainer had died suddenly while on vacation a year ago--a person I had treated like a friend. She had been bummed out about it almost as much as him. ¡°So. What brings you here?¡± ¡°You. I just couldn¡¯t let smack talk go,¡± she said smoothly, then glanced at Nicholas. ¡°Oh hey, Nick. What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Eh, not much. I was curious to see if you guys wanted to start the fencing club again." Drenar notes, he could have the skill for it ¡°Man, I¡¯d kill to start that up again. Hey Drenar, your pupils are dilated." she''s looking at him observantly, and leans in a little closer than he''d like. ¡°They are?¡± He has wondered why it seemed so bright in the room, and blinks several times. He notices Nicholas is peering at him. ¡°Hey, would you guys excuse me for a second?¡± The last thing he needs is more bodily changes occurring right in front of everyone--better check this out. Drenar fumbles with the sink and splashes cold water on his face. The sharp blast of cold helped bring him back into focus, and he stared at the mirror, watching himself standing unsteadily, water dripping down his face. Okay. Breathe Drenar, breathe.. He splashes icy water again and relishes the chilly sting. His heart rate is returning to normal, but he still grips the marble sink tightly. The reflection suggests he doesn¡¯t look fine. He looks fatigued. And even worse, his arm is itching again. He doesn''t dare to examine it here, not in school. "You okay?" Nick asks after he joins his friends a minute later. "Yeah, I''m fine," he replies quickly. "Okay guys, I need to jet, my next class is across the building. James, Angela, my place this weekend?" "Sure. Are you ready for another thrashing?" Angela replied teasingly. "Don''t make me throw the Tarrasque at you guys, unless you want a real challenge," he responds coolly. ¡°Alright I¡¯m out, see you later.¡± He¡¯s just happy that his heart rate has slowed down to normal. ¡°So, what just happened to you?¡± Nick asks a moment later, since he is heading in the same direction. ¡°Eh. I think I just need to get more sleep at night.¡± He does not like all this undue attention, at all. Yeah no, telling him I¡¯m growing scales for no reason isn¡¯t going to end well. Keep it vague. ¡°Angie was telling me you¡¯ve been exhausted lately when we were in class. You looked like you were about to pass out at the table just now.¡± Nick keeps pressing--is everyone sensing something is off? He needs to deflect attention, rapidly. ¡°I¡¯m just bad about setting a bedtime," Drenar assures him. "You know, you¡¯ve been in school for a couple of years, and I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve spoken more than a dozen times. Why today?¡± ¡°I have...challenges settling in,¡± Nick admits. ¡°I mean I get it, it''s tough moving in part way through high school. I just¡­didn¡¯t really grow up here." ¡°I''ve been here all my life. Still don''t always feel like I fit in,¡± Drenar replies quietly. In more ways than one, now. ¡°So, why the detachment from school life?¡± he asks while meandering past students milling about. ¡°I doubt you haven¡¯t noticed this, but half the girls in this school fawn over you.¡± ¡°I try not to notice,¡± Nick grumbles. ¡°Not that I don¡¯t appreciate it, but I feel like I present a--imbalance in the maturity index of any given pairing.¡± Drenar chuckles at this roundabout evasion. ¡°I dunno, I guess I had some good times here. Remember last year, volleyball?¡± ¡°Oh right. The marathon last year. Yeah, that was fun. Still though, of all things, why fencing?¡± That part is still bothering him. It¡¯s not exactly mainstream interest. ¡°I heard about your skill set from Angie. It sounded like fun, though the skill difference might be mighty tall,¡± Nick said. Drenar ponders just what else she¡¯d told Nick. ¡°I was decent. And it helped me get through some stuff. I...had a bit of hard time after my parents..." he exhales and just lets it out, for once. "I needed an outlet. Fencing, martial play, it was something I was really good at." ¡°Angela said you could have been on an Olympic team, and been the team.¡± Nick has an edge to his voice. ¡°You know, that actually surprised me, but you chronically undersell yourself at times. Be proud that someone else thinks you¡¯re that good.¡± They both fell silent for a few seconds. He''s hesitant to admit that he wasn¡¯t just good¨Conly Angela had ever been able to keep up with him after a while. Almost no one could. ¡°Why did you really let the club lapse?¡± Drenar lets out a soft sigh. ¡°Well...when my instructor passed, I kinda lost the passion. But, if you¡¯re willing to learn, we could restart the club. Why your interest? Judo training didn¡¯t pan out?¡± he asks slyly. Nick rubs his neck uneasily. ¡°Oh, Julia told you about that, didn''t she?¡± Drenar nods with a wolflike grin. ¡°Track and fields¡¯ fun and all, but I wouldn¡¯t mind branching out and trying something new. Besides, running in circles gets boring after a while." He laughs at the dry humor. ¡°Well, if you can poke fun at your own pastime, that''s good enough for me.¡± Drenar really had thought he¡¯d closed this door. Maybe he shouldn¡¯t have. ¡°Have you got any experience?¡± ¡°Uh¡­some,¡± Nick says. ¡°Not to say I haven¡¯t gotten into a fight in my life, but I know enough close quarters that it can¡¯t be that much of a stretch.¡± ¡°Deal. Angie would love it if we could pull this off. Rick was also there for a hot five minutes, and he was decent. I¡¯ll ask around.¡± Sadly, this distraction might fall apart if he can''t stop mutating into something. ¡°Alright then. Keep me posted.¡± Nick heads off to his next classroom, but he has this feeling that the start of the discussion had been planned for a little while. Then a thought stops him mid-step. Hang on. Wasn''t he just making comments on dragons the other day in the most ridiculous thing I¡¯d ever heard, something about a Draconomicon? Suddenly, he feels the anxiety building in the pit of his stomach. Does he know something? Vol. 1, Ch. 6: Knowledge Checks, Part Two After a quick meal, Drenar is busy poring over every book and academic journal under the sun he can find online, trying to find something¨Canything really, that could explain this situation. The lack of science on people growing scales or other weird anatomy is not exactly unexpected, but he''s racking his brains on how this could happen, and why he''s not even given Julia a hint on this. If there is anyone who could help him figure this out, it¡¯s her, followed closely by Angela. Angela''s reaction might be more muted, and Julia...he figures she''ll use him for science. And probably not safe science, either. He makes sure the bedroom door is locked before he rolls up his sleeve, and takes off the wrap. He''d traced a permanent marker earlier around the area, with the intent to see if it was spreading. And it had, very marginally. Oh, this is bad. This thing is spreading. But I don''t feel like death, and it doesn''t hurt, and I can still feel it. Wait. Scales with nerve endings? This is getting bizarre. It''s organo-metallic, if I had to come up with a word for it. Well, hemoglobin has iron in it, and there are a few other trace minerals we need in our diet. ¡°Time for some science.¡± He grabs a pair of tweezers out of his desk from a hygiene kit, and tries to pry one. He feels it, and it hurts. That metallic scale isn''t going anywhere. He pulls harder and gasps¨Cthat had hurt, and he drops the tweezers. He rubs at the offended flesh gently. ¡°Well, that''s not gonna work. Can I cut it? Mutilating myself in the name of science sounds like a dumb idea.¡± He does, however, grab his hunting dagger out. The one his mom had gifted on his tenth birthday, with a soft leather-wrapped handle, a textured grip, and a double-edged blade that is remarkably sharp. A dark thought lingers in the back of his mind. This is different. Stay focused. Let''s solve this scientifically. He applies a little pressure to the scale, and it doesn''t budge. It''s remarkably hard. It''s almost as hard as steel, when he thinks about it. But he can feel the knife point applying pressure to the scale, in a muted sort of way. Not painful. He applies more pressure, and his grip starts faltering. He stops. If it''s not budging with that amount of force, I''m going to slip off and stab myself by accident. And that''s going to attract too much attention. Next plan. He takes a hammer out of his toolkit and taps the scaled section of his forearm. It almost rings like it''s metallic, and it barely registers as an impact. He hits harder¨Cstill nothing, but it looks really dumb, him hitting his arm with a hammer. He puts the hammer down and frowns. He taps the hammer against the scale¨Che can feel the coldness of the metal, very faintly. He can feel the weight of it, the pressure on the scale. He slides the hammer laterally¨Cand he can feel texture¨Cbut it¡¯s muted. Smooth metal against scale, and there¡¯s a gentle ringing sound as he moves it. This is just buzzing his brain with possibilities. How is this possible? It''s organic, but also has metallic qualities. I''d apply heat, but¡­I don''t want to hurt myself in the name of science. He does, however, grab a magnet that he normally uses to clip things to his memo board. He places the magnet on the scale patch and¨C He feels it tug. And it sticks very gently to the scale. He goes wide-eyed at this revelation. Either there is an unhealthy amount of cobalt, iron, or nickel in my body that has the grain structure aligned to create a magnetic field, or I''m dealing with magic. And for this to be this magnetized, I should literally be suffering from heavy metal poisoning. He pauses for a moment to stew on that. Magic. I mean, really? At this point, it''s not an unsound assumption. Physics and biology bedrock principles have already been violently broken. Alright, fine! We¡¯re at the magic step, because I¡¯m too dumb to understand the science of this, and I don¡¯t understand these new rules of physics! He vows to get to the bottom of that lapse of knowledge as soon as he finds a wizard. Or something. ¡°Drenar, what are you doing in there?¡± Evan asks from the locked doorway. ¡°Science. Now let me get back to the sciencing!¡± Drenar shouts over his shoulder. ¡°You know Drenar, if you need private time, you could just say that. You don''t need to invent science. We''re teens. It''s expected. "Yes, fine, whatever! Now can I go back to my private time of doing homework?" Of all the days for Evan to want to pester him, it''s today, when he''s having a crisis. "Look man, if Julia or Angela sent you pics, make sure to delete them when you''re done." He takes a measured breath and tries not to visualize that, or burst out of the room to strangle Evan where he stands. "Thank you for the safe advice." He lets out a sigh of relief when Evan finally leaves. But he''s still here stuck with this growing problem, and no data to make further decisions. Guess I gotta call Julia. She''s either going to freak out, or squeal in delight. And I''m sure it''s going to be the latter. He pulls out his phone and dials her, wraps up the scale patch, and rolls his sleeve back down. She picks up after the second ring. ¡°Yo, Baka-san, why were you looking like a ghost earlier? You barely talked to me in chemistry class today.¡± He pauses for a second and takes a deep breath. ¡°I have a query of a scientific nature. And I could use your help.¡± ¡°Oh boy, I know that tone, this should be good,¡± she chuckles. "Alright. Whatcha got?" He took a breath before continuing. "Do you know anything about iron absorption, specifically ingestion for organic species?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s dangerous to have too much iron in your system, though it is necessary for many internal functions. Something about red blood cells and hemoglobin production. Why?¡± He can picture her eyes wide and dazzling with interest. ¡°Any idea how a reptile could ingest enough iron that it could exude said iron content into its scales and make it weakly magnetic?¡± You know, like me? ¡°That has got to be the strangest question I have heard from you Drenar.¡± There is a pregnant pause from her, then she lets out a gasp of surprise. ¡°You know what? I remember reading something about this.¡± He hears the shuffle of papers and the turning of crisp pages in the background. ¡°Ah, here it is. Let¡¯s see here, iron...iron...this thing reads like an encyclopedia of various critters from all sorts of mythology." She pauses for a second, and he hears a few other pages turn crisply. ¡°Hey, what book is that anyway?¡± Drenar asked after a few seconds of silence. ¡°It¡¯s a compendium of mythical creatures¨Cit¡¯s pretty old-fashioned looking, but dude, this sketch art is pretty gnarly. I found it in mom¡¯s room about a month ago. There¡¯s a large section on dragons along with...uh...very detailed pictures,¡± she adds hesitantly. ¡°Actually, I was reading this when I was trying to figure out your spirit magical creature!¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yep! No fox girls in this book, though¨Cbut it¡¯s like volume one. The law of fantasy says there must be fox girls!¡± she cackles. ¡°That¡¯s not a¨Cyou know what, sure,¡± he sighs. ¡°So, question, are the sketches anatomically correct?¡± ¡°Erm¡­yeah. There¡¯s a few that would be purely for scientific display,¡± she responds hesitantly. ¡°Oh hey, I found it! Listen to this, and I¡¯ll quote it. ¡®Dragon scales on most species are typically made of the same substance, which is an enamel-like composite, formed in a tight layered pattern giving both strength, and lightness of weight. Most dragon species in a juvenile state will ingest large quantities of trace minerals which are absorbed by the body, culminating in an organo-metallic matrix that further strengthens the scales. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. She takes a moment and is chewing on something crunchy. "And you accuse me of eating," he states deadpan. "It''s an apple, Drenar! It doesn''t count!" He can picture that infectious grin on her face right now. "Species scales will vary due to preferences of diet, but many dragons can also ingest raw mineral-bearing ores when available, due to their incredible stomach acid, and can absorb metals in this way. "Maridian Silver dragons are known in particular for their ability to absorb mana-laden ferrite in certain volcanic areas, and are capable of polarizing these particles through their body by use of bioelectric currents.¡¯ That''s kinda cool, In a very nerdy way,¡± she added for emphasis. ¡°Wait. So why were you inquiring about this again?¡± The species name rings a bell, he realizes after a second. ¡°Um, hey. Have you ever mentioned this book to me?¡± This can¡¯t be a coincidence. ¡°Nah, like I said, I just found it lying around. Not sure where Mom got it, either. Why the interest, anyway?¡± Holy shit. It¡¯s like he can hear the giant record scratch that is now rapidly becoming his life. Alex had been a Maridian silver. He¡¯d never read this book before. Ever. And magnetized scales. Any chance of this being a cosmic coincidence vaporized like a stellar body standing in the wake of a supernova, utterly inconsequential to the colossal devastation of a collapsing star. ¡°Hey uh, Drenar, are you still there?¡± Julia asks after a few seconds. He takes a deep breath and shoves his pending anxiety attack down as far into his cerebral matter as he can muster. ¡°I''d like to borrow this book, and I may have other queries.¡± There''s a several-second pause from Julia. ¡°You mean like what turns Angela on?¡± ¡°Yea¨Cnooooo, not that kind of query!¡± He recoils instantly. He hears that evil laugh of hers coming through loud and clear. ¡°No, this is something different. Seriously Julia, I don''t even think you know the answer to that forbidden query.¡± ¡°Oh my god, stop. Something is up with you today, I knew it, James was telling me you were acting super weird! Well, weirder than normal. Like not the lovably weird you, more like the weird kind, like your life took a wild turn.¡± He hates how spot-on she can read him. It''s like she can read his mind, even without being there in person. ¡°Look, I''ll make a deal, I''ll drop by, and make dinner.¡± The giggle of delight indicates she¡¯s on board. ¡°Yeah, I''d like that, Mom''s out at work, and I''m just heating pizza pockets. Why the interest in the book anyway? You want to confirm the pictures are anatomically correct, don¡¯t you--¡± ¡°Not in that way!¡± he groaned in an elevated tone. Her response was devious laughter in the background. Again. ¡°Look, I¡¯ve been on the internet, and trust me, it isn¡¯t my flavor.¡± ¡°It¡¯s somebody¡¯s.¡± She surely must be wearing her biggest Cheshire cat grin right about now. ¡°Flavors come and go, you know. Like the ice cream flavor of the month at Linda¡¯s!¡± ¡°Pretty sure this is not a flavor of the month. Now, are you gonna assail my developing teenage mind with more bad ideas, or are you going to lend it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll lend it to you, just hurry on over.¡± She pauses for a minute, then lets out a gasp. ¡°Hey Drenar, I gotta run, I¡¯m burning dinner, I¡¯ll see you soon!¡± She hung up before he could get a word out. ¡°Ugh. That girl,¡± he sighs. She might have been many things, but she couldn¡¯t cook to save her life unless he happened to be in the kitchen. Drenar had frequently made meals with the rest of the group in the living room at her place a few times while playing tabletop games. Her mom would sit in the den watching with amusement, sometimes with a book in hand, or sometimes with a glass of wine, but she mostly left them to their own devices. Okay, we have gone off the edge of the map, and there are, indeed, dragons. Brain, I need you to very calmly turn off for the next few hours, and not have a meltdown while I figure this out as fast as humanly possible. He grabs his keys and heads downstairs. ¡°Hey Diane, I have to go out for a bit, can I borrow the car?¡± he asks. ¡°May I inquire why?¡± she asks before looking up from her tablet. ¡°I¡¯m headed to Julia¡¯s, to grab something from her. We might hang out for a while," he explains to her. Dave looks over the edge of his laptop and shrugs softly. ¡°That''s fine, just remember! No parties, no girls, no drugs, and no alcohol!¡± Diane said sternly. ¡°Really Diane, I¡¯m far more classy than that,¡± he counters softly. ¡°Oh I know, Drenar. But I wouldn¡¯t be doing a proper job without a reminder,¡± she replies warmly. ¡°Can I hitch a ride, too? I wanted to head out for a movie, Jackie was gonna drop me off afterward,¡± Evan interjects. Diane nods politely. ¡°Be back by eleven, and call us if you¡¯re out later?¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Drenar and Evan quickly climbed into the beat-up sedan. ¡°So Evan, when did you two¡­uh.¡± he didn¡¯t quite finish his sentence. ¡°Eh. Jackie wanted to watch some dumb romantic comedy. I wanted to watch something with action and adventure. We had a coin toss, and I lost. And then I went double or nothing...and I have to go to another movie of her choice next week.¡± Even looks like he swallowed the powder at the bottom of a Sour Patch kid¡¯s bag. ¡°And what have we learned?¡± Drenar asked with a goofy grin on his face. ¡°Don¡¯t rely on a coin toss?¡± ¡°No. Well, that first. But your second lesson is, that Jackie¡¯s a beast when she doesn¡¯t get her way." ¡°Don¡¯t I know it,¡± he sighs. A short drive later, they¡¯re in the downtown area, and Drenar observes a gaggle of people waiting outside, deep in conversations. One of them is Jackie, a girl with red hair and a frame so light he thought a stiff breeze might knock her over. He also thinks he sees Jonaleth, a never-do-well mixed in the crowd. "So, Evan. Are you guys dating?" "Not exactly. She was helping me out with an assignment in Earth science, and then asked me if I wanted to hang out. It''s casual." "So, this is your shot. Make a good example then, yeah?" Drenar suggests. "She''s a nice girl, treat her right." "Yes, Dad," he replies sourly. "Hey, we aren¡¯t blood-related, but I still have seniority. It means I have to lead by a good example," Drenar said with a goofy pat on the shoulder. "Hah. You?" He laughs. "Sure, if I wanted to be boring my whole life." "Oh hardly. I just keep it on the subtle side," Drenar countered. This was just a smidge too much of a hint. "You and Angie made out, didn''t you," Evan replied smugly. ¡°How slanderous. Even if that were the case, I can assure you, I adhere to strict professionalism.¡± ¡°Oh my god, is your sex drive dead or something?¡± Evan laughs. Definitely not. ¡°Hey, too personal. Now scram, ya goober,¡± he adds with a parting shot. A few seconds later Evan and Jackie greeted each other, and they went into the theater. Drenar did reflect on the exchange for a moment. If only being a teenager with out-of-kilter hormones were my biggest problem right now. Uh, on that note of this weird cosmic coincidence, what does this make Alex? Is he just a fragment of my psyche splintered off from some massive traumatic event I can¡¯t remember, trying to remind me of who I am? Some kind of wayward soul? Is someone entwined in my dream space? He doesn¡¯t like any answer he comes up with. Vol. 1, Ch. 7: We Were Expecting a Challenge Rating and Loot Drops! Part One Well, we¡¯re home. Drenar pulls up to Julia''s house with a moment of quiet contemplation. Her house is a rustic, two-story, red and gold farmhouse with a decorative fence all around the perimeter and a vast swath of forest in the backyard. Her mother''s car is absent, she was likely on the second shift, caring for veterans in the center of town. Drenar feels a cool but refreshing breeze on his face when he gets out. There''s a faint hum of music coming from inside. He bounds up the short flight of patio steps and raps on the door gently. "Hey, it''s me," he announces. He waits for a spell and his gaze wanders to the side yard. Just down the road by a small creek passing between the properties is his old house, another farm-style house, colored white and adorned with faded blue trim. Julia must have been as heartbroken as him when the house was sold and he moved into Dave and Diane''s house a few miles away. He had a lot of memories of that house. Ones that time couldn¡¯t replace. I used to live next door to my best friend. Fates, I never thought I would miss it this much. He sees the lights on, the curtains drawn down, and he looks at the second-floor window that used to be his bedroom, and then he turns back to Julia''s house, just across the way. They had sometimes passed Morse code messages with their flashlights, usually to get his attention to come over for a late-night hangout. C¡¯mon Drenar. This trip down nostalgia lane is self-indulgent. Those days are gone and aren¡¯t coming back. I''ve got way more important things to figure out. Julia finally answers the door. "Just a second.¡± He could make out the music inside. Oh man, the Goo Goo Dolls. Old school mode, he thinks with a smirk. The door creaks on greased hinges and he''s greeted by Julia with her trademark dark nerdy shirt and jeans, the fabric torn at the knees. Far less traditional though, is the fact that her sleeve is torn and looks scorched on her right arm. "So uh, hi, come on in," she said with a cheerful expression. "If you''ll excuse the mess, I made a disaster out of dinner." "Holy Fates, what did you do?" He asks in dismay and temporarily forgets his potential crisis. There¡¯s a scent of something acrid and burnt, and a metallic scent in the air so prevalent, he can almost taste it. The scent reminds him of ozone, that tang in the air before a heavy storm. The microwave is scorched, with a hint of smoke still in the air that causes his eyes to water. "Oh, I uh...I may have left a spoon in the microwave. So that clearly does not react well with magnetrons," she laughs nervously. "You also scorched your sleeve," he points out detachedly, and reaches out to inspect. She withdraws her hand hastily. "Nope, perfectly fine, just a little freaked out that I fried the microwave," she uttered nervously. ¡°First time for everything, I guess." "Was anything else damaged?" Drenar grabs the extinguisher and opens the microwave slowly. The acrid metal scent is much stronger here. Other than an undercooked meal, nothing extraordinary is inside. "Yeah, thought you should know, this is not how we cook pizza pockets." "Nah, you think?" she huffs. He moves to start cleaning, but she stops him. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s my mess. I can handle myself.¡± "Julia, I think it would be more accurate to state that you can handle pretty much anything. Except cooking.¡± She looked nonplussed at this. "Hey, you''re a crack shot with a rifle, a breaker of bones in the arena, and you have a crazy Tsundere mode, always a hair''s width from being activated¡­" "A big red button which you continue to spam like you enjoy putting your life on the edge of doom," she replies angrily with a pointed finger to his nose. Her face melts to disappointment when she examines the burnt sleeve. "Okay, I''ll be back in a second, once I''m done with this crime against fashion." She heads towards the stairs at speed. Drenar examines the ruined microwave closer while he has a moment. The cord is shot, and there are faint scorch marks on the exterior, almost as if the microwave had been hit by a surge of electricity. It¡¯s even partially melted. How the hell did that thing melt? He has absolutely no idea. Leave it to Julia to figure out how to destroy a kitchen in unique ways. Now, what do we have to work with? An idea comes to mind, and he grabs the oil and seasonings and peers into the fridge. Chicken, fresh cilantro and chives. My cooking wizard sense is tingling! "So, what do you have in mind for dinner?" Julia shouts from upstairs. "Ramen! I¡¯ll have to take a few liberties, can¡¯t simmer it all day," he says with a smirk. "Stop liking what I like!" Drenar grabs the ingredients, gets to work on making a ramen bowl along with some noodles. "Seriously, of all your skills, making food is possibly the most sublime one.¡± It¡¯s enough to make him forget the situation with his arm, at least for a while. He hears her footsteps coming back down the stairs, and when he turns to look she had just descended onto the landing. She is still pulling her shirt over her shoulders, covering her bra and solid body of stone and muscles. She¡¯s not as¨Cendowed as Angela, but by any measure, Julia is a complete knockout with her appearance and demeanor. Not that he views her in that way. Wait. Do I view her as girlfriend material? She points a finger at him teasingly. "Hey, don''t ogle! You''re not getting dinner and a show!" She accuses him with a playful tone. "She says, after walking downstairs only half dressed. Really Julia, I''m far more classy than that." ¡°I know. Your mother raised you too well,¡± she adds with a laugh. ¡°Alright, what do you need?¡± "I need this finely diced, chicken broth if you have it?¡± He¡¯s already dicing the other ingredients and setting up a pot of water. ¡°Better be done with dinner before mom gets home, or I¡¯ll be the least of your problems. That''s gonna be...oh say, one in the morning. For the record." Oh my Julia, what are you suggesting, and do I dare let my brain try to figure that out? he thinks with surprise. ¡°Oh, plenty of time then," he replies smugly. "As I recall, she once made a specific statement saying I was always welcome over here--but only if I acted like a gentleman.¡± ¡°A rule that you would never, in your wildest dreams, ever break. Shocking,¡± she replies dryly, all the while making fine mince of the ingredients she¡¯d gotten out. ¡°Though I hear from someone we know, that professional veneer extends to other activities.¡± ¡°Er¡­uh...¡± he stammers at the veiled accusation, playful as it were. ¡°I have no idea what you mean.¡± ¡°Uh-huh. You know Angela tells me almost anything, right?¡± she replied back with a crease of a smile at the corners of her lips. Of course she does, he thinks with a sigh. ¡°I know nothing of what you mean.¡± She shakes her head and smiles. ¡°I mean, we uh¡­alright, what has she told you?¡± He figures that Angie has indeed told Julia anything she wanted to know by now. Julia has a very distinct power of persuasion at times¨Ceither with the sweet talk, or threatening to rip someone''s arm off after they cross a line. Both approaches are equally effective for her. ¡°Oh, she was very vague. But with me practically knowing every corner of your mind, I can imagine she was turned on by your sardonic wit, quiet charm, slight awkwardness when cozying up to the female form, dexterous hands¨C" ¡°H-hey, that is all speculation and no substance!¡± he protests, and could feel his cheeks alight. She threw back her head and giggled in that high pitched rhythm that usually follows her putting him in an awkward spot. "Alright, fine. It was one time," he uttered more firmly, "and that was after she made a less than subtle suggestion." "How subtle was it?" Julia grins and tilts her head towards him at a canted angle that reminds him of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. "Really not subtle. Girls have needs," he replies flatly, and his stern face does nothing to dissuade her interest. ¡°I¡­alright, I read the situation and took a gamble," he finally caves. Julia leans in attentively. ¡°We...held hands." "Liar. You did way more than that. I bet you felt her up!" Julia cackles like a mad fiend. "And I bet she returned the favor." Suddenly, giving her one subtle hint in the hopes she¡¯d drop the subject now seemed like it had been a bad idea, and he finds himself fiddling with his watch. "Oh, you shy boy you.¡± He figures his only way out is to just give her the short version. ¡°She does have quite the accessories. By my count, 34D¨C¡± "Alright, fine. We kissed. The mood was there for more but, well, her parents got home for the first time in an eternity. That¡¯s the whole scoop. And when you inevitably tell her that you know, you also tell her that I am a teen of professional standards. Life is filled with experiences. Not bragging rights.¡± She responds by continuing to laugh heartily. "Ohmigod, stop, stop trying to be all professional, we¡¯re teenagers, it¡¯s supposed to be intense, messy, and there totally needs to be bragging!" She practically sings. "Hey, keep pestering me, and I might take this meal to go.¡± She looks mortified at this suggestion. ¡°Okay, ya got me. Good food wins a way to my heart.¡± She grabs the utensils after the meal is done and a few rounds of chatter ensue¨Cmostly smack talk about the latest games they¡¯d played together, and they enjoy the meal in the living room. It''s nice to have a slow evening like this, he realizes. An evening with a close friend. Sadly he knows the moment isn¡¯t going to last. Not with what he¡¯s about to reveal. But he needs to see this book in person, first. ¡°You guys keep the fridge stocked better than Diane. I¡¯m surprised your mom hasn¡¯t invited me over more to cook for you guys.¡± Julia is busily eating and just lets out a grunt. ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t speak in throaty snarls.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Do not get between me and food, or it¡¯ll be your doom,¡± she said after a minute, then examined her empty bowl with a satisfied smile. ¡°Ah, man, that was fantastic. What do I gotta do to convince you to do this for me forever?!" ¡°Usually, it¡¯s called getting married,¡± he replies deadpan with an evil grin. She blushes almost instantly. ¡°Two can sass at this game, Julia.¡± And I know you have a thing for me. I¡¯m like eighty percent sure. ¡°You know something, I do love it when you catch me flat-footed like that. Now, you were asking about that book earlier? C¡¯mon, I¡¯ll show you." He grabs the dishware and gently puts it into the sink, then follows her upstairs to her mother''s room, past the stairwell landing and down a short hallway. Inside, he sees the intricately winding metal frame and wooden headrest of her mother''s bed¨Ca bed for two, but only occupied by one now. It¡¯s a subtle reminder of how much emptier the house feels now. His eyes wander while Julia grabs the book off the desk, and he notes a few picture frames on the end table. One of them shows both their mothers posing together, wearing armor reminiscent of high fantasy plate mail of silver and brass coloring with wingtip helmets, presumably for some kind of pop culture convention. His mom did seem to be graced with an eternal smile in most of her photos. Another picture shows her husband, a titan of a man with a warm smile, a closely trimmed beard, and a tanned face distinct from a Japanese islander--he¡¯d come from Okinawa originally, the son of a marine, and Julia¡¯s grandma, born and raised there. Drenar still sees traces of the decor and heritage through the house, even the Shi-sha statues out front. But, decor can''t mask the subtle void he could feel in the house. Objects can¡¯t fill an emptiness of this kind. He misses Julia''s dad. He''d always been a physically active guy, funny as all hell, even probably a touch too liberal with the jokes when company and kids were over. It was hard not to think about it. Six months apart from his own parents. An unparalleled double tragedy. Julia had recovered from it¡­but sometimes, he thinks she just smiles at others while fighting back the pain of losing a parent. He''d taught her to shoot, fight, run, and embrace the outdoors. All of that, in such a precious short span of time. Drenar had learned much of the same¨Ceven his first lessons with handguns, with close supervision when he was ten. It was certainly memorable. "Hey, are you alive over there?" Julia asks softly, and follows his gaze to the picture. She sighs and crosses her arms while looking at the picture too. "Case of the feels?" "Yeah. You could say that." His reply comes softly now. "Your mom never changed the room. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve been up here in a while.¡± "Nah. She loved it the way it was." She bites her lip lightly. "She still has his military gear stashed in the closet. All pressed and ready to go. For some people, it''s hard to let go. And even harder to move forward." She relaxes her arms and lets out a soft growl of frustration. "Fates, I miss his stupid jokes and the way he crap talked with his buddies on the weekends. Dad was this loveable goof, and I can see why mom took to him." ¡°Love doesn¡¯t fade, even when someone¡¯s gone,¡± Drenar offers softly. She glances at him, the anger in her expression turning cool and calm again. "Yeah. I guess you¡¯re right. Now, where was I?¡± She gestures to the book. ¡°Amaranth Vertimer¡¯s bestiary of monsters and mana based organisms, Volume I." She placed the book on the soft quilted bed cover and opened the soft leather cover. The book contained hundreds of pages, most of it slightly yellowed, and the occasional dog ear creased the corners. The pages made a crisp rustling sound when flipped through. ¡°Not sure where mom got this, but I started reading it a month ago. I can¡¯t find any mention of the author anywhere.¡± ¡°Do you think someone made this for your mom?¡± Drenar proposes. ¡°Hardly. This is way too much work for a gift.¡± Julia traces her paint chipped nails over the lines of text. ¡°It reads like a bestiary on identifying monsters, their abilities, something they call alchemical reagents, and social interactions, if applicable." She continues flipping through the pages. Most of the illustrations are hand drawn, by a skilled hand. There are creatures of all shapes and sizes--some that seem similar to myths of varying cultures, others foreign and completely alien. One shows wolves the size of a horse with spines extruding through their thick, matted fur. Another displays a giant, gelatinous blob that looks like jello filled with bones, armor, and corroded weapons that did their former wielders little good. Drenar notes one that looks like a woman in the nude with green skin, pointed ears, and a plumage of leaves forming her hair and color accents. "Here. This is where I read it.¡± She points animatedly to the page. The page contains a large illustration of a silver scaled dragon¨Cand not in the traditional sense of a fire breathing monster. This is anything but that. This specimen is only three meters tall and roughly double that in total length, with feathery wings in seafoam and silver tones coming from its back. It stands staunchly on its digitigrade legs with wide-spread clawed toes, and its arms extend lightly. Its slender tail curves down and grazes the ground, and ends in a thin, feathery tuft of soft blue feathers. He finds it fascinating¨Cmost books and illustrations he¡¯d seen had dragons walk on all four legs, or had two legs plus wings, with small claw-like extensions. He could almost feel the cunning intelligence by looking at its tapered head, eyes filled with light, and a narrow jaw slightly lowered with a hint of razor sharp teeth just visible. More worryingly, is the uncanny notion that the silver dragon looks like him in that strange dreamscape. True to Julia''s word, there is an extensive description of the physiology, including the development of a dragon from a tiny hatchling, all the way to full adult, based on a surprising diet of meats, proteins, and occasionally a harvest of vegetables and plant matter. And the ingestion of iron bearing ore, or absorbed by their normal diet makes their scales tougher than any super alloy steel on the planet. All of this syncs up with the dream. The body shape, size, coloring, the details of the wings and the scales, even the iron absorption. Julia notices him holding his breath. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s up with you right now?¡± ¡°Uh¡­just the uncanny valley. Like it¡¯s too real to be real,¡± he says in his best attempt to deflect. It works. Smaller illustrations show a copper scaled dragon with verdant green feathers almost twice as tall as a normal human, except this one is clad in loose, human-like clothing meant to mold around the wing joints and tail¨Calmost like a sophisticated tunic. They also wear flexible trousers and white bindings around their clawed toes. The dragon even has glasses propped up on the horns swept back along its head, and only adds to the aura of intelligence. "Man. Someone made this a passion project." Drenar feels that this looks familiar, and he examines the images closely. He takes notice of the wings, each with two finger-like claws at the joint, and a plumage of long feathers in a banding pattern of silver and green. Feathers that look mightily similar in composition to the one sitting in his bag. "Look at how much detail they put in. Most of it is specific to dragons--they''re warm blooded they have extensive redundancy of a central nervous system, their flight patterns, the works. It makes for an engaging read," Julia notes in a softer tone. "But this part, here. ''Dragon physiology varies greatly between species, but documentation of sapient species is as much a study of culture as it is biology. Dragons of the modern day are more limited in number after the Ascension event of 1303 AD, and due to limited unique members of a species, half-dragon hybrids and interbreeding of subspecies has led to an increasingly wide range of variety between individuals.''" Julia still looks like something is bothering her, judging by her distant gaze. "There''s something you''re not telling me," Drenar says quietly, and she dips her chin slightly. "I did a little more reading ahead. There''s something In here called ¡®Awakening¡¯." She thumbs ahead a few pages to more illustrations, this time of a woman in the nude, but with some draconic scales emerging on her body, along with a tail. "''Awakening occurs at the late stages of puberty and early adolescence, and is unique to the offspring of a human and a dragon in a shapeshifted form. Extensive detail is available in Brent''s compendium on the nuances, but here a brief description shall be detailed. "''Awakening is the process by which genes of the genetic structure of a half-dragon are triggered and expressed during puberty, resulting in permanent physiological transformation. The first transformation is typically preceded by numerous and readily identifiable symptoms. Subjects may experience moodiness, lack of sleep, and extreme hunger. There are also documented cases of premature emergence of scales, claws, and feather-like features appearing intermittently, depending on draconic lineage. Other common side effects may include sudden accelerated heart rate, and feelings of disorientation and fatigue, but these symptoms are brief and non-threatening.''" She continues reading, and Drenar''s heart is hammering in his chest. Hearing this only adds validity to his grave concerns. "''The process has been demonstrated to occur in bursts, as mana is generated by the body at an accelerated rate. Less common signs may include the emergence of dragon-like eyes, increased intensity of eye color, or improved physical capabilities as muscle density and bone strength increase exponentially. At its peak, these converge to an involuntary transformation to the dragon form, typically of a juvenile or young adult dragon. After this first transformation, the shift between forms works both ways. Subjects note a marked decrease in physical distress in subsequent transformations.''" Julia pauses for a minute, while Drenar is trying to not have a panic attack. ¡°Alright, this is c-cool.¡± Damn it. Focus, you teenage half-dragon nerd, don''t freak out! She''s holding the book open, and she''s got that calm, quiet look that he hasn''t seen in a very time from her. "Drenar...what if this book is the real thing? Like a real bestiary, for real monsters in the world?" Her words are as soft as tranquil breeze. Ah crap, she knows something is up. And I¡¯m guessing that the fried microwave downstairs is tied to it. He takes a measured breath. ¡°Okay, first, promise me that what I tell you next, can¡¯t leave this room¨Cfor the moment. The second thing is, don¡¯t freak out.¡± He sees her putting the pieces together. ¡°Okay, honestly, Drenar, I know this looks cool but¨Cthis is fantasy stuff. It¡¯s not real. It can¡¯t be. Can it?¡± He could hear it in her tone, something had happened that had her on edge, that even she couldn¡¯t figure out. Something beyond normal. ¡°Before I continue further, I need to know one thing. How¡¯d the microwave get slagged?¡± He¡¯s seen it. There are two dragons in this book that can wield an elemental plasma, similar to electricity, but driven by mana¨Cwhatever that is. An ability that could slag objects just like what he¡¯d seen downstairs, and that distinct ozone smell. She shakes her head, closes the book, and holds it gently. ¡°Something happened that I can¡¯t explain. Something impossible.¡± ¡°Same. We agree this doesn¡¯t leave the room?¡± She nods without hesitation. ¡°Alright. What happened to you?¡± He slides up his sleeve, and she raises an eyebrow at the gauze wrap. He slowly removes it, and her eyes widen when she sees the patch of scales on his arm. ¡°Holy shit.¡± She completely forgets that she¡¯s holding the book, and it drops unceremoniously on the floor with a loud thud. ¡°Is that¨Care those scales?¡± She approaches him, rather than back away. She taps one just for emphasis. He nods after a second. ¡°You think that''s nuts, here''s a demonstration,¡± he says as he pulls out a fridge magnet, and it adheres to the scales. She blinks and is standing there, arms slackly at her side. ¡°Maridian silver. Holy shit, they¡¯re real.¡± ¡°Uh, I am too, and I didn¡¯t wake up in life as a feathery dragon. I¡¯m pretty sure of that. You uh, okay?¡± he asks. She''s gently rubbing her right hand¨Cthe one that had been scorched. ¡°No. Not really. I busted my mom¡¯s microwave with a blast of elemental plasma, and she¡¯s gonna kill me when she finds out I''m Awakening.¡± This time, it¡¯s Drenar¡¯s turn to go slack as reality comes to a screeching halt, and the entire universe collides in one massive derailment. ¡°Start at the beginning,¡± they both say to each other simultaneously. Vol. 1, Ch. 8: We Were Expecting A Challenge Rating and Loot Drops! Part Two Julia is cradling a cup of coffee while Drenar lays out the details of the dreams and what happened to his arm. She¡¯s still rubbing her hand nervously, hoping she doesn¡¯t accidentally fry him. If that elemental plasma could slag a microwave, she doesn''t want to find out what it would do to something¡­organic. The book is still open on the table. Those dragons keep staring back at her--their existence not a possibility, but a probability of wonder and excitement. This is crazy to the max. Weird prophetic visions¨Cor maybe linked realities? How is this all possible? For now, she simply listens to him describe the dreams, along with the sketches he¡¯d been able to recall from memory. They definitely help visualize some of it as he rapidly traces them out. He¡¯d been unable to recall all the dragons he¡¯d seen the first night¨Cit had been too chaotic to get a good look, but that ominous void sounds unsettling. That sketch he makes, of a hole in reality while the world crumbles around him--she shudders to think what the dragons were doing just orbiting around it. Had they been trapped there? She doesn''t have long to ponder it before he pulls out the feather, and her eyes widen. ¡°You mean to tell me you just ignored it at first?¡± ¡°Well, I thought that it was from my stuffed bird I did in scouts?¡± It sounds more like Drenar has been in reality denial, but she keeps silent on that notion. She picks it up and examines it. ¡°Alright, first off, this is super light, and it''s super strong, too. This quill looks like it''s the base of a scale, almost, and there''s a slight metallic look to this central spine. Jeez Drenar, you ignore humanity¡¯s greatest find ever, and you stuff it in your bag as an afterthought!¡± ¡°C¡¯mon, anyone would have thought it would be too crazy to be true!¡± he protests. Slightly less unsettling is the fact that Drenar had been testing stuff on his scales like an idiot without a proper lab setup. ¡°Let me get this right. You tried to stab through them. And you couldn¡¯t?¡± she echoes. ¡°You have a history of accidents with knives, Drenar, that was pretty dumb.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t remind me,¡± he sighs and rubs at his wristwatch almost reflexively. ¡°I couldn¡¯t pry one out, I thought if I could chip or cut one off, that might be easier, but it¡¯s like¡­honestly the best analog I¡¯ve got? They function like living steel.¡± She takes the magnet again and taps it against the set of scales, and they stick. Then she does it again and smiles, even as he frowns. ¡°Hey, you stick any artwork on me like you would a fridge, and I''m gonna have words.¡± ¡°Heh. You wish,¡± she grins. ¡°Okay, let''s think this through. You are now an organism with actual semi-metallic components. That would be impressive enough, but with the amount of heavy metals it should take, it should literally be killing you. And you haven¡¯t been exposed to those, have you?¡± ¡°Definitely not. I''ve been eating normal stuff, too. Take a look at the Awakening section. When this process kicks off, the body starts to generate mana¨Cwhatever it is. It can combine with other matter to form unique elements that function similarly, but can have radically different properties. It¡¯s wild, Julia. This is a chemist¡¯s dream. Substances that physics say can¡¯t exist!¡± He¡¯s trying to put a positive spin on this, but she knows he¡¯s also masking his internal anxiety, and possible sheer and utter terror at this prospect. ¡°Okay, so, how does iron get to those levels?¡± ¡°Over time. Hemoglobin requires iron. If mana combines with it and it accumulates in the body, it starts forming the building blocks of the scales. Now, this doesn¡¯t really explain the whole transformation thing, but I think this is completely beyond our understanding for now. There''s some stuff we can infer.¡± ¡°Alright, eat enough red meat or certain plants that can absorb iron from the soil, you could build up enough, cross-react with this mana substance, and then your cells are programmed to repurpose it. It makes sense. Sort of.¡± This cup of coffee in her hands isn¡¯t quite big enough for this dose of insanity they¡¯re dealing with. ¡°So, you and I are at effectively stage one of Awakening. Weird stuff like scales and feathers can show up, and some elemental abilities might turn on at random, and¡­draconic eyes?¡± She has to squint to read it in the text. "It also says eye color may change?" ¡°Yeah if that happens, you and I are going to be taking a sick day from school. To put it mildly,¡± he says uneasily before sipping from his mug. ¡°Man, your mom buys really good coffee, remind me to thank her.¡± "I will." She continues to pore over the text. "In layman''s terms, the whole body is reorganizing, and the baseline human body gets enhanced. This is sheer, utter madness,¡± she says with a nervous laugh. ¡°But, this accelerated heart rate, you¡¯re already at that point, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Earlier today.¡± He nods quietly. ¡°Which means that sometime in the next week or two, you and I are going to be having a bad time trying to keep this quiet when we transform. Fortunately, it looks like, after it happens, we can shift back. The silver lining, I guess. No pun intended.¡± It doesn¡¯t really sound like one, though. ¡°If this part is true¡­then everything else in this book must be true, right?¡± she asks hesitantly. ¡°Jelly monsters. Unicorns. Dwarves. Elves. Hundreds of magical species¨Cand probably more, considering this is only volume one,¡± she adds for emphasis. ¡°So this means that there must be others who know magic exists. A mage society, maybe? They also probably spend unfathomable sums of money and bodies to keep this secret. So lets not make waves for now.¡± ¡°Yeah, that part occurred to me early on. YouTube fame is not worth a death wish,¡± he adds with a sigh. ¡°What a shame. I had this idea of granting a bunch of young kids their dream of being able to fly on a dragon.¡± This breaks her focus and she bursts out laughing, and almost spills her coffee on her lap while she has a much-needed laughing fit. He steadies her hand while she¡¯s trying not to snort. ¡°Fates, Drenar, you seriously know how to keep a girl off balance, don¡¯t you? That is as adorkable as it is admirable!¡± He smiles faintly at this. ¡°I''m glad you approve. Still, though, you''d think someone would have told us this could happen to us. This means that there was already a part of us that wasn''t wholly human.¡± That last part is a bit of a sobering statement, and she glances down at her mug. She''s trying to picture it, those black-painted nails turning into sharp talons, and the rest of her body following suit. A hopeful thought does crop up. ¡°Well, we might be only half human, but we have a hundred percent humanity,¡± she says with infectious enthusiasm. Drenar quickly nods to that idea. ¡°Still though¡­you''d think someone would have told us. You know. Like our parents.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°There''s a horrible thought. Mom and dad may have picked out a day for it, kind of like ¡®the talk¡¯, but then they went and got into a fatal auto accident. And then left Diane and your mom no warning.¡± The silence that lingers for several seconds after is uncomfortably empty. "They couldn''t have been that short-sighted, could they?" he adds in a hopeful tone. ¡°There must be more of us. There has to be. There were thousands upon thousands of dragons orbiting those Stranded Lands, or the Aether. Alex witnessed it, or so you''ve told me. So what is he?¡± She asks quietly. Drenar slowly sighs¨Che¡¯s at his limits of understanding this too, and he¡¯d gotten pretty far without the book. ¡°No idea. But there''s a distinct date. Somewhere around early 1303, is when Alex reported as his last day alive¨Cor well, aware of his existence. He doesn''t know how he got there, either.¡± ¡°You think he''s real? And not a figment of your imagination?¡± ¡°No. He knew things that can''t be explained by coincidence. He called out his own species, before I read this book.¡± He taps the page for emphasis, where they''d left off on the various sub-species of dragons. ¡°Every ability matches what he described. Frost breath, telekinesis, living steel scales. It all adds up." ¡°But again, if he''s real, why''s he in your head?¡± she insists. This is a mystery she can¡¯t wrap her head around. ¡°Is he like some lost soul? Does this mean souls exist?¡± ¡°If the Aether, or the stranded lands are this world between worlds, maybe physical matter can''t exist there. Maybe only souls can,¡± he proposes. "He could be a wayward dragon¡¯s soul. I mean, it''s a theory. The perception of reality I brought along, I think I recognized it. It was part of deep woods camping from scouts. I just didn''t recognize it at first. One of those mountains floating in giant chunks, it''s Wheeler Peak, not that far from one of our trips. So maybe memories can be made manifest there, too. But trying to force reality on something that can''t hold stuff together, it eventually disintegrated." She looks at him and raises an eyebrow. ¡°You realize how nuts that sounds, right? We have no idea how it works. And why haven''t I heard a dragon talking to me?¡± ¡°Not sure. This Awakening happens for people above a certain percentage of draconic DNA, according to the author. But my case¡­I dunno. All I know is that this Ascension event must be important, but the author doesn''t go into any details about it. There has to be more. For all we know, there could already be dragons among us, considering they''re shapeshifters.¡± ¡°You mean, like my mom?¡± she poses. She taps the mug anxiously. ¡°She has berserker strength. She can drink like a fiend and doesn''t even get buzzed. She has uncannily sharp eyesight and hearing. She always knew when we were getting into trouble,¡± she adds with a soft chuckle. ¡°You mean, when you were dragging me into said trouble?¡± he says with a raised eyebrow. ¡°No, I was dragging you into having a good time! Which happened to be troublesome for others.¡± She flashes a grin at him when he throws up his hands in defeat. ¡°C¡¯mon, you wouldn''t have half as much fun if I wasn''t pushing you!¡± ¡°Admittedly true. So does this mean the overwatch raven, aka, your mother, is a dragon in disguise, and has told both of us nada?¡± ¡°Yep. Which means there''s probably a reason for it.¡± Damn it, you''ve always professed honesty and honor, and you couldn''t tell me this?! She keeps her stewing internally, for now. ¡°Still, that''s a later problem. We''ve got a currently burning fuse with you looking more and more like a lizard. You said they spread?¡± ¡°Yep. It itches and stings when it''s spreading. I''ve been saving photos onto my local SD card. It''s spread about fifty percent from when it first started. At some point, if that holds, it''ll start affecting muscles, nerves, and organs, slowly changing more of me until the climatic transformation. And I''ve got zero control of it. It''s gonna be a problem.¡± ¡°It''s a problem for someone, I just don''t think it should be you,¡± she offers softly. He lets out a grunt of acknowledgment. ¡°Noted. So tell me about your charge beam.¡± She purses her lips for a moment before thinking it over. ¡°I reached for the microwave after I got off the phone with you. I snapped my fingers because the microwave was taking forever, and then there was this brilliant blue-white spark that arced from my hand to the microwave. Destroyed it.¡± The tang of metal in the air still hasn''t left the room, either. Why could she practically taste it? Were her senses cross-wired now? ¡°I could even feel a charge of energy in my hand before that, like static electricity. It also left a tingling feeling down my spine.¡± ¡°So it''s energy of some kind. No flame marks, just direct current. It heated the material via induction, essentially, the electrical resistance of the material as you pass a current through it. That¡¯s super cool!¡± ¡°Forgive me if I don''t snap my fingers at you anytime soon. From what I read, Maridian silvers are resistant to that kind of energy." Experimenting on her friend in this way may not be appreciated for the sake of dragon science on this one. ¡°No hugging, no zapping. I might still risk it,¡± he grins. ¡°A superpower to match your electric personality!¡± Well, she stands corrected, dragon science has just been green lit! ¡°How are you not in utter terror at this paradigm shift?" ¡°Same way I treat all the other dangerous or serious situations, with a beat of wit to overcome my paralyzing fears. It works for me,¡± he says and refuses to stop that sardonic smirk. Stop trying to be cheerful, you goober. You don''t need to be brave to make me feel better. ¡°But, what''s the next step? We need an expert. I''d vote for this Amaranth guy, but he''s a ghost, it''s like he doesn''t exist.¡± She takes a second to process it. ¡°Maybe mages like their privacy, and spilling out the greatest secrets of humanity is anathema to that. Honestly, I think it''s a good place to start, he''s gotta be out there somewhere, we might just need to get creative. Here''s a better question, though. Can we tell Angie and James?¡± Drenar practically grimaces when she mentions James. ¡°Definitely not James. He¡¯ll freak out to the max, and I don''t want him attracting attention. Angie, maybe--ah, one second.¡± Drenar''s phone started ringing, and it sounds like Evan on the line. ¡°What do you mean you¡­are you kidding me? Are you alright? Okay¡­where?¡± ¡°What''s up?¡± Julia asks before taking the last dregs of her coffee. "Hey Julia, we''ve got to put the sleuthing on hold and make a field trip," he says calmly. "What, you chickening out?" She taunts. "Betcha I can teach you a few things that miiight be of use next time you see Angela. Because, you know, she loves dragons.¡± He looks at her with a horrified expression. ¡°Too soon. We¡¯ve got a problem that needs addressing now.¡± "Why, exactly?" She inquires. This call must be bad news for sure for him to act like this. "Because Evan is sitting stark naked on the edge of town." Her mischievous expression instantly collapses. ¡°Excuse me¡­what?¡± Vol. 1, Ch. 9: Here Be Dragons! Part One Drenar taps the steering wheel impatiently while driving to the location where his brother had texted him, and Julia is concerned. ¡°How exactly did this happen?¡± "Oh, in short? My brother got into a fight, got the crap kicked out of him, and the aggressors apparently took all his clothes." His response makes her eyes go wide. "You weren¡¯t joking before, were you?" "Nope." She doesn¡¯t even question it. Oh my. Shall I avert my eyes or¡­dare a peak? No Julia, focus on dignity! "Didn''t you tell me that he was with Jackie?" she inquires. "Yeah, he was supposed to be. What are the odds this is also related to what''s happening to you and me?¡± He sounds very aggravated at that notion. She''s racking her brains for things that had seemed odd, but not completely off kilter of late¨Cat least, not with the context she''d had at the time "Not for nothing, but she has been in a mood lately," Julia reasons calmly. "She suddenly thinks she''s royalty and walks over everyone, she even has some of the athlete guys intimidating others to do what she says, if subtlety doesn''t work for her.¡± ¡°Okay, let me ask this again. Has anyone else we know been taking absences from school, showing unusual behavior, anything out of the ordinary?¡± Julia taps her fingernails on the side console, pondering it. ¡°I''m sure there''s something I noticed somewhere. I''m like you Drenar, I can sense weirdness for miles. It''s how I was born a day before you, ¡®cause I knew you were on the way!¡± She can''t help but grin at this, and he just sighs. ¡°So, how bad off is Evan?¡± ¡°Beaten up. They took his clothes. Very telling, when he won''t mention who they are. Ah crap, I just thought of something. I saw Jonaleth Winters in that gaggle of teens by the theater.¡± ¡°Aha!¡± The weirdness triggers her patented weird-sense. ¡°I heard a fight broke out in the gym two days ago. Jonaleth started it, Chris threw the first punch, then Jonaleth broke Chris''s nose. He always seems to skate out of any punishment. A charmed life, that," she mutters. Drenar scoffs at this notion in an instant. "He is one misstep away from prison. I heard a story that he got kicked out of the last school he attended because he stabbed someone. There¡¯s nothing ¡®charming¡¯ about him.¡± Julia can¡¯t help but feel utter spite towards that teen. Jonaleth Winters has to be the typical schoolyard bully, and the worst part was he didn¡¯t appear to be a visual archetype like in a comic book. He isn¡¯t pig-eyed, burly, or lacking hygiene. He¡¯s thin as a rail but he¡¯s strong, and has calm, ice-cold blue eyes and black hair, and zero facial hair for some reason. He¡¯s always ruddy cheeked, and has bony hands that Julia imagines have bashed many kids'' faces over the years. He''d never tangled with her though. He¡¯s a bully, not suicidal. ¡°Jonaleth is small time, now that we¡¯re dragons, we can bully him around.¡± Drenar didn''t even bother to announce their arrival at a side road, next to a low-cut field of grass and sparse trees. ¡°Was that¡­too much? It just occurred to me that defending the defenseless might be a better use of our draconic genetics.¡± ¡°Nah. He¡¯s on my list of people I¡¯d throw a beating, if he ever threatened me or hurt someone in front of me. He¡¯d be taking a ride in an ambulance by the time I was done,¡± she answers calmly. ¡°Charming, Julia.¡± He rubs at the scales now hidden under his sleeve again. She slowly taps him on the nose to get him to calm down. "Julia, stop that." "But it''s fun!" "Julia, we are waist deep in a crisis," he sighs. "Yeah, so keeping calm by distracting you is a viable mechanism to--Fates!¡± Julia jerks reactively when someone taps the glass on the rear of the car, and the seatbelt dig uncomfortably into her waist and shoulder. Evan¡¯s just outside, and though she could only see the top half of him, whoever had given him a hard time had indeed taken all his clothes. ¡°Bro, you got spare clothes?¡± his voice comes in muffled through the glass. ¡°You are so lucky I carry extras,¡± he utters with vitriol before reaching behind the seat to grab his extra gym clothes. ¡°Uh, pardon me while I go to chew out my brother.¡± ¡°Yeah, by the way, he¡¯s totally wearing a birthday suit.¡± Drenar looks at her warily. ¡°I will write a blank check, and give you permission to fill out whatever amount you need to make you forget this ever happened.¡± She can¡¯t help but try to hide her blush. ¡°Seriously, any amount.¡± ¡°Has he always been so¡­ripped? I mean, I expect it from you, but¨C¡± Aaaand she¡¯s gone and done it, she¡¯s embarrassed herself further, and she buries her face in her hands because he¡¯s looking mighty anxious too. ¡°You know what, go deal with the buck nude brother, and I¡¯ll just be in the car, trying to will my body to die or something, so I don¡¯t have to live this down.¡± ¡°Yeah, I uh, I think that¡¯s for the best.¡± He looks at her with a glint of curiosity. ¡°Do I really look ripped to you? I mean, it doesn''t bother me if that¡¯s how you feel¨C¡± ¡°I will fling you through the windshield!¡± she heaves out. He quickly gets the hint and steps outside with his gym bag. He starts laying into his brother, then falls silent. Julia can sort of hear the conversation, but it¡¯s a little muffled. I can¡¯t believe I said that to Drenar. I mean I like him, but like him in *that* way? It¡¯s too bold even for me! She¡¯s trying not to think of him on beach day. With that cocksure smirk, and body like living steel and¨C Okay brain, hormone trip is over! She takes a deep breath and lets out a frustrated growl. Mom said it would be like this, where I¡¯d find a guy, and I¡¯d be lost for words, and there¡¯d be these feelings up above and¡­and down below. And that guy is not supposed to be the friend I¡¯ve known since I was three! He¡¯s off limits, estrogen and progesterone! Her fuming is interrupted by Drenar slamming the door shut, and he looks a little disturbed. ¡°So, he¡¯s in bad shape,¡± he says like he¡¯s been holding his breath. ¡°Yet he¡¯s still standing. And doesn¡¯t seem to be minding the trending-towards-chilly weather. This totally is related to what¡¯s going on with us.¡± ¡°Drenar, I¡¯m having a moment here, slow down,¡± she groans. ¡°How bad¨C¡± ¡°He¡¯s clawed bloody, he¡¯s got bruises, and a bite wound on his shoulder.¡± She goes wide-eyed at him. ¡°What.¡± She doesn¡¯t have to wait more than a second for Evan to hop into the backseat, wearing Drenar¡¯s gym clothes, he¡¯s indeed clawed up, and blood is seeping in a patch or two very lightly. Those clothes that have that slight sweat smell and just that hint of lavender dryer sheets that she¡¯d like to examine in closer detail¨C Shut up, brain! Drenar looks at her apprehensively when she turns around, and then smashes the console with her fists. Hard. ¡°Am I missing some context somewhere¨C¡± he starts to say. She slowly turns her head to give him that death glare that only she and her mother know the ancient technique to use. ¡°Just. Drive.¡± She can almost feel the crackle of energy in her clenched fists. ¡°Okay.¡± He starts the car, and they take off, and its uncomfortably silent for a few minutes. Evan grunting in discomfort isn¡¯t helping. She decides to take the plunge first with a sharp inhale. ¡°Okay Evan, why does it look like you''ve been in a knife fight with Freddy Krueger?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fingernails. Don¡¯t ask,¡± Evan says with discomfort. ¡°Man, they jacked my face up good. Sorry for the bail-out mission Julia, I didn¡¯t mean to ruin your guys¡¯ evening.¡± "Damn, you are a wreck. You''re telling me that Jackie, that petite little thing, did this to you?!" Julia askes, sounding unconvinced. He stays obnoxiously silent. Julia peers at him. "Evan, seriously, cut the crap. Something happened to you too, didn¡¯t it?¡± "Back off Julia, it''s none of your business," Evan snaps. ¡°It was just Jackie. Some words were said, I said I wasn¡¯t interested, and¡­it didn¡¯t go well.¡± "It is our business, now that you dragged us into it. You also said ¡®they¡¯ plural." Drenar warns him. "I''ll ask again. Who else was here?" If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "I''ll tell you later," he sighs rubbing tenderly at a bruise on his chin. "I''ll be fine. No hospital, no cops, and we don''t tell Diane.¡± "So, where''s Jackie?" Julia presses. ¡±Did she grow wings and fly off into the night?¡± Or maybe she actually did? That wouldn¡¯t be the wildest thing I¡¯ve seen or heard all night. Evan takes a second as if thinking it through. "She took off in her car. Luckily, I had my phone.¡± Drenar points to the blood still weeping ever so slightly on his arm. Strangely, the wound is mostly scabbed over. "Look, we''re not solving anything here, we''re going to the hospital. Those wounds could get infected." "Just patch them at home...and don''t ask questions, alright? Please?" "Evan, I''ve done stitching, but we really should bring you to a hospital. Are you sure?¡± Drenar finally relents, and waits for Evan to nod his head. "Julia, I hate to be a bother, but can we head back to your place?" "No, he needs to come clean, first," she said forcefully. She doesn''t take her eyes off of him, and he nods his head slowly. "Julia, I promise, I''ll tell you later. Okay?" He looks pained when he says that. "Just don¡¯t make me regret this.¡± Drenar is in no mood for further compromise. It''s an awkwardly quiet car ride. Julia constantly looks back at Evan. All the while, she keeps thinking back to what he had said. These were pretty serious injuries, how had Jackie inflicted this much injury? Was he unwilling, or unable to fight back? Why did some of them look like they¡¯d already partially healed? Or, someone else was there. The injuries are clotted and show signs of possible¡­what was the word, active regeneration? Like super healing? Dragons have incredible physiology. His musculature tone is also inconsistent, he was much more of a wireframe than this a couple of months ago. Is he also a dragon, and has to hide that fact?! She needs evidence on her theory. Drenar chimes in when Julia eyeballs Evan for the third time. "He''s not going to morph into a werewolf, you know. Though he isn''t as easy on the eyes as one." "Ha, ha. So funny Drenar," Evan replies sarcastically. He taps the steering wheel impatiently. He might actually go off on Evan. "Seriously man, what are you going to do once I¡¯m out on the East Coast next year? WPI is my college this time next year.¡± ¡°I seriously wouldn¡¯t bet on it,¡± Evan mutters. Julia decides to curl around the seat and loudly crack her knuckles. ¡°Hey Drenar, he¡¯s not blood-related, that means he''s fair game for me to fix his attitude, right?¡± "Julia, let¡¯s keep it civil, I live with him. Even if he isn''t a blood relative, he''s still family." They¡¯re almost back to her house, and she is looking forward to answers. "Are you sure about that?" Evan demands angrily. "Yeah, you''re family," he insists. "I grew up with you, didn''t I? " "Not that part, I mean blood-related. But I suppose Mom and Dad left that out, didn''t they." Oh, this could be a moment of airing dirty laundry, and she doesn''t know if that''s good, or bad. "What does that--" Drenar starts to say, but Evan cuts him off. "It''s got everything to do with it," he states with an icy anger. "Do you buy that crap, or are you still in denial? Mom and Dad couldn''t have another kid, so they adopted me? They lied to me my entire life! Don''t forget, Dad ditched you and Mom before he came crawling back. Ever wonder why?" "Enough." Drenar forces himself to not shout, and Julia can hear the steering wheel creak from his iron grasp. "I''m not having this discussion, Evan. I see no point in dredging up what may have happened.¡± "Yeah, that''s unlike you, surprisingly. You, not trying to kick over rocks about this? Don''t you care? My advice? This is the one rock you should kick over.¡± It gets awkwardly quiet in the car again after Evan''s last outburst. She decides prodding right now, is not going to be productive. She''s the first out of the car when they get back to her house, and she slams the door with excessive force. Drenar is going to just let him pull us into this blind? I¡¯m getting answers, and I¡¯ve got a few theories on how! Evan follows her up the short flight of steps while she unlocks the door. Drenar is the last out, and enters behind them. She can still detect a slightly burnt scent, and the metallic tang inside is still strong. Great, back into the crime scene of my pending draconic evolution. Damn it, people are not Pok¨¦mon! Stupid infectious thought. ¡°Julia, get the bandages and other equipment. Take off your shirt Evan,¡± Drenar instructs calmly, and he complies slowly. She missed the series of bruises on his pale skin. Drenar points to the bathroom. ¡°Julia, I need alcohol, and I need the stitching kit. This one right here,¡± he points to the bite, ¡°is my biggest concern from an infection standpoint. Evan, how did this one happen?¡± ¡°It just...did.¡± He inhales like he''s sniffing the air, and points to the kitchen. "Why does the microwave look like it got hit by ball lightning?" "Metal and magnetrons don¡¯t mix," Drenar states while sterilizing a needle with rubbing alcohol a minute later. "Nah man, you couldn¡¯t cause that kind of¡­damage¡­¡± he glances back at Julia, and she glares at him with lethal intent: Do not continue this line of thought. "Seriously though, it looks like someone went to town on it with a plasma cutter." "You¡¯re right, Evan. I decided to take my mom¡¯s welding kit and melt my microwave just for the hell of it," Julia answers testily. Evan relents, and Drenar focuses on the wounds. ¡°Fates. Evan I can¨Chang on.¡± He grabs a pair of forceps from the medical bag. ¡°There¡¯s something here. Julia, alcohol--I don¡¯t mean the rubbing kind, either." "What a criminal waste of whiskey on this cretin," she oozes with contempt. ¡°I think there¡¯s something in this wound,¡± he insists. ¡°Look it¡¯s either it stays there, gets infected, and then we¡¯re going to get asked questions we don¡¯t have answers for, or, option two.¡± ¡°Alcohol for dulling the pain? I choose option three, the way of pain.¡± Evan looks like he¡¯s mighty anxious about that one. ¡°Alright, fine. But this is not setting a precedent.¡± She grabs a bottle from one of the cabinets. ¡°I¡¯m going to get so much hell for this if Mom thinks we¡¯re swiping whiskey,¡± she mutters. She gives him a glass of it, and he struggles to keep it down after taking one large gulp. He looks like he''s fighting against throwing up. ¡°Have you done this before?¡± Julia asks, while Drenar waits a few minutes. He¡¯s able to work on some of the minor injuries with bandages and gauze after cleaning them, but they are trivial compared to the bite wound. ¡°Once." She puts a palm out for him to continue. "I had to stitch up a kid who tore his arm up when he fell off his bike trespassing in the quarry when I was volunteering last summer," he answers her. ¡°And how¡¯d that turn out?¡± she asks. ¡°He lived? Just don¡¯t ask me to do major invasive surgery,¡± he responds. ¡°Julia, give him something to bite down on. This is going to suck.¡± A wooden stirring spoon is presented. Drenar takes a second pair of forceps and probes gently before he clamps on something deep in the wound. ¡°Okay, I think I have it,¡± Drenar pulls up slightly, and Evan grimaces in pain and lets out an audible anguish. ¡°Well, this is in deep, whatever this is,¡± Drenar mutters. ¡°Can you be a little more gentle?¡± Evan grunts with the spoon still between his teeth. Drenar gives him a droll look. ¡°Hey, you don¡¯t like my service, you can face the music at home when we go to the triage center at the ER.¡± Julia ignores their adversarial discussion because she¡¯s thinking of something important. She has a theory. And a certain section about newly awakened half-dragons. And a theory about Drenar¡¯s brother from another mother scenario that has bothered her for years, because they look too similar to each other for Evan to be adopted. A theory spurred by evidence now, and what he had said previously. And Drenar is going to hate her for this next move, and she¡¯s not sure if he¡¯s going to hate her more if she¡¯s wrong, or if she¡¯s right. She puts on a pair of gloves without a second thought, and takes the forceps out of Drenar¡¯s hand. He gives her a cautious look. ¡°Uh, hey, maybe the person who actually knows what they¡¯re doing should¨C¡± He doesn¡¯t get to finish the statement, because she¡¯s already latched on to the foreign object with the forceps, a glint of something metallic looking. Evan leads out a whimper, like he''s terrified of the next moment. "Evan, if there''s debris in the wound, it needs to come out. Drenar, get a pack of gauze ready for when I do this.¡± she says commandingly. He goes pale at this. "Are you sure--" "Just do it." Evan looks like he knows what might happen based on the way he clenches his jaw. "Just...try to make it quick." "On three, then. One..." She pulls straight up and out with a smooth, even pull, driven by years of fine musculature control. ¡°Yeooooooww!¡± Several things happen within three seconds. First, Evan screams in pain and his entire body recoils, and Drenar looks utterly horrified. The second thing to happen is that she¡¯s holding what appears to be a metallic-looking tooth that has been extracted from the wound, bloodied and broken off. It¡¯s unlike anything she¡¯s ever seen in that split-second window, messy as it is. But the third and most dramatic thing is, Evan grows silver and burnt orange scaled claws on his hands and gouges them into the armrests from the immense pain reaction. Drenar simply gasps, and puts both his hands to his head, and is absolutely mortified at this spectacle. Evan realizes his immense error and shakes his head, eyes filled with terror. Julia simply grins wildly, bloodied tooth in hand. ¡°We have dragons, ta-daa!¡± she roars in a much-needed moment of revelation. Drenar goes slack-armed and simply stares at Julia with abject terror. ¡°You are a complete and utter menace, Tsundere.¡± Vol. 1, Ch. 10: Here Be Dragons! Part Two ¡°You only counted to one!¡± Evan screams out in a mixture of pain, fury, and terror when he grasps the now-bleeding wound on his shoulder with one claw, and Drenar snaps out of his shock to put a compress on the wound. ¡°What is wrong with you two?!¡± ¡°Us? Nothing! We¡¯re just a couple of dragons looking for answers!¡± she beams while Evan lets out a few choices words driven by pain. ¡°You¡¯re welcome by the way, that looked like that was going to be a nasty infection if you left that in there! We can¡¯t have you rotting away before you fill us in on this slice of dragon life we¡¯re all living, now can we? You¡¯re too adorkable like your half-brother to waste!¡± ¡°Julia? Not the time,¡± Drenar states unhappily, then looks at the tooth she¡¯s still holding, and then a confused look crosses his face. ¡°You just called him my half-brother. You just pulled a metallic tooth out of his shoulder. Fates, you¡¯re a dragon, too!¡± his head whips back to Evan, who nods with a grimace¨Cthose claws are still there, halfway up his forearms. ¡°Which utter nightmare fuel do I unpack first?¡± ¡°I know! It was kinda wild, wasn¡¯t it? Boy, would that have looked utterly psychotic if I was wrong!¡± she laughs in an exhilarated way. ¡°Oh, if you think this is bad, wait till you hear about my plans for science. With dragons!¡± ¡°Dear Fates, she¡¯s gone full-on manic pixie,¡± Evan groans. Drenar rapidly takes over and pulls Julia¡¯s hand away from the gauze, and he checks the wound. The bleeding has mostly stopped. Drenar refocuses his efforts and grabs the irrigation liquid, and carefully washes out the wound. Evan lets out a low moan. ¡°Thanks, Drenar, really, are you two just enjoying this now?¡± ¡°Oh dear non-existent Gods, Evan, If you had any idea how the last few days have gone for me, you would take it down a notch,¡± Drenar says with a bit of deadly calm, even when he puts in antibiotic ointment. He keeps looking at Evan¡¯s hands. ¡°You have silver and reddish scales, you¡¯re not the same as me.¡± ¡°Whoa, back up, you mean this is¨C¡± Evan sighs before he puts his free claw to his face. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start with the basics, everything we discuss here does not leave this room. Or we could get into unfathomable trouble. Are we clear on this?¡± ¡°We figured as much,¡± Drenar mutters. He squints and throws a curious look at Julia. ¡°Did you know what was going to happen, just now? You said something to the extent of worrying you¡¯d be wrong. On what, exactly?¡± She sighs. He could usually solve complex problems pretty quickly, but sometimes he needed a little nudge in the right direction to get him started. ¡°Pain reaction.¡± ¡°Pain¡­reaction¨C¡± He¡¯s likely thinking of the passages of Amaranth¡¯s book, and she pulls it out of his bag. His face instantly gains focus. ¡°Nascent half-dragons don¡¯t have the mental or mana control finesse to control their transformation as effectively, it takes a little while. Pain reactions could cause an involuntary transformation.¡± ¡°Whoa, stop, how do you guys know so much?¡± Evan asks, and grimaces when Drenar re-applies bandages over his shoulder. He¡¯s having a bad night, and they¡¯re not exactly making it much better. ¡°Who¡¯s been talking to you?¡± ¡°No one. It¡¯s been just us,¡± Drenar states quietly. ¡°Nothing but a magical creature bestiary we thought was at best a work of fiction. So that explains why you¡¯ve been so cagey lately. You Awakened already. Even earlier than me, for some reason.¡± ¡°But how do you know this¨C¡± Evan stops when Drenar rolls up his sleeve on his left arm, and slides the gauze away to show the scales. Julia notes quietly they¡¯ve spread a little bit again. Evan looks like someone knocked the wind out of him, and he can¡¯t even form words. ¡°There¡¯s more than one commonality between us, Evan. Silver scales. And green eyes. You know, I got the feeling when you were raging in the car that you accidentally let something loose you knew you weren¡¯t supposed to? I¡¯m just surprised Julia was the one to take the plunge on it.¡± Drenar sounds almost heartbroken. Like this reveal had unintended consequences. But he¡¯d known it was a possibility that he¡¯d kept to himself. Even from her, though it had long been a theory she¡¯d held without his input. ¡°I know you, Drenar. You don¡¯t kick over rocks that are too close to home, because you don¡¯t try to judge people, and you don¡¯t want to worry about how your perception of others might change if you dig for secrets that aren¡¯t harmful. This one¡­this one might be harmful. In a lot of ways.¡± He takes a deep breath, and pulls his shirt back over his head carefully. The claws catch on the fabric, and Drenar gently helps guide them through the sleeves. ¡°I think we need to both start at the beginning.¡± ¡°We do. But first¡­I¡¯ve always had the feeling mom and dad weren¡¯t being honest about something. It was that look they gave each other, when we were at our home, playing together. That sad look that I could never figure out.¡± ¡°You mean, that mom was raising a bastard son that dad brought back home, after¡­after he came back? Or the more likely conclusion, is that mom saw someone for a time after he was gone, and when dad came back, he stayed this time. Even though his price of admission was that he had to keep silent about the son that wasn¡¯t his.¡± Oh crap. I really didn¡¯t think this part through, if these two become a set of waterworks, I¡¯m going to feel awful, Julia thinks silently. She still hasn¡¯t examined that tooth that came out of Evan¡¯s shoulder, and it feels like the least important thing in the world right now. Instead, she puts a reassuring hand on Drenar. ¡°You guys still see each other as brothers. Even if the truth is closer to home than anyone was willing to admit. Maybe your mom and dad thought that¡­maybe this was something that could heal that wound between them?¡± ¡°Right. Like trying to fix dad dumping mom out of the blue, or so has been hinted to me, to chase some floozy?¡± Drenar is unusually cold in his words. He doesn¡¯t do more than glance at her briefly. ¡°He also came back,¡± Evan reminds him. ¡°And he never said one damn word.¡± It¡¯s telling, when he fiddles with his claws, and lets out a slow exhale before the scales and talons slowly fade, and eventually smooth out to normal human skin and fingernails. ¡°You realize we¡¯re different, guys. Different on a fundamental level than the vast majority of the entire world. We¡¯ve got strengths I haven¡¯t even begun to explore yet. And this all started about a month ago.¡± ¡°Before we go back to that, let¡¯s talk about this!¡± Julia says as she proudly displays the bloody tooth fragment. Drenar grimaces again, and Evan sighs. ¡°Nah really, hearing the short version will help you understand what just happened to me tonight,¡± Evan says with discomfort. ¡°Then, you guys tell me what you know so far. Then we¡¯ll talk about that. And how we are in danger.¡± Julia glances at Drenar. ¡°Welp, there goes my plan to hide this forever. I was so sure that was still an option.¡± ¡°It isn''t. Ow, for Fate''s sake, Drenar, easy on the stitches!¡± Evan snarls. Drenar in the meantime starts stitching the wound after getting it cleaned, and Evan is quite displeased. ¡°Okay, start over. When did you change?¡± ¡°Two weeks. Rick saw me grow claws in bio class. Ironic, I know, right?¡± Evan manages with half a laugh. He downs more of the whiskey, as if it will dull the pain. ¡°Rick''s a mage. Which is a hoot because he plays the mage in our tabletop sessions, it''s like, come on already! Anyway, he explains it to me, gives me a rundown, and says there''s a few other people this is happening to lately. Because dragons Awakening en masse is apparently unprecedented.¡± ¡°Hang on. First, did you have dreams of some weird blank void, or dragons, or anything of the sort?¡± Drenar asks. Evan shakes his head vigorously against the motion of the stitches. Even though Drenar does have pretty steady hands, Julia notes. ¡°No. I know where you''re going with that. Most drakensouls first communicate through dreams, its like this weird weak spot where realities overlap inside the brain.¡± ¡°Sorry, what? A dragon''s soul?¡± ¡°Look, I don''t know, he didn''t explain it all to me! He just said there''s two ways to awaken, genetic lottery, or a dead dragon merges with your soul. That second one sounds like absolute rubbish!¡± Evan says before Drenar finishes up, and ties off the stitches firmly. Evan looks like he''s digging into the seat again with half-formed claws. ¡°And as you can see, triggers are a problem still.¡± ¡°So do we know who the dragon in our family is?¡± Drenar asks quietly. ¡°Pretty sure it''s dad.¡± ¡°No. Stop lying to yourself.¡± It''s strange how much of a rebuke it is to Drenar when Evan says it. ¡°We both look like her. Eighteen months apart age-wise. Dad left when you were less than a year old. I¡­heard Diane mention it. Once.¡± Drenar takes a moment to finish checking the wound before nodding silently. ¡°I know you think Mom was this invincible superhero, and she was. But she was still human. Or¡­or whatever the hell you call being flawed, even as an apex predator dragon." ¡°Having humanity. Great feats and tragic flaws, all rolled into one,¡± Julia says somberly, and Drenar nods in lock-step. It''s not surprising, really. ¡°We don''t know for sure, but¡­I''m gonna admit, the evidence is mighty hard to deny.¡± The way he clenches his fist for just a few seconds indicates he''s not taking it well. Then again, her own situation at home is about to be just as equally tumultuous soon. ¡°Okay, move on. So you Awakened already fully?" ¡°Last week, I was hanging out at Rick''s house, he saw the signs and got me outside in the woods. I uh¡­ I accidentally started a fire,¡± he admits sheepishly. Ooh, now we have a diverse group of baby dragons! Fire, wind and lightning! Wait, I actually don''t know what abilities Drenar has. What she does convey is turning her head and grinning at Drenar with an evil smile. ¡°Heeeey, we don''t know what your ability is. It could be either. Or both even!¡± He doesn''t even flinch at that expression of hers. Why is it getting harder to unnerve him, it''s so much more fun to catch him off balance! If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Keep focus, Julia. We know you''re having the best day of your life,¡± he states calmly. ¡°Oh hell yes I am, minus the big glaring dragon of a parent who has stayed mum, it really is the best day ever! Now, continue,¡± she says with a flourish towards Evan. "You know it could still be your dad, Julia. If you''re wrong about that and he stayed silent--oooh, that could be a really bad situation when she inevitably freaks out after we tell her." "I''m convinced it''s mom. Change my mind. And the stupid adults told all of us jack-diddly. How braindead do you have to be when you have teenage dragons?!" "Not gonna lie, you do make a fair point," Drenar sighs. "Continue, Evan." ¡°Short version, Rick''s a mage, other people are, too, and Kelly¨Cone of your best friends¨Cis an Azure skimmer.¡± She can''t help but gasp a little, only to let out a squeal of delight. ¡°Ohmigod, yes! Kelly, I knew you had it in you! She''s always been a beast in the dojo!¡± ¡°We call it a training center,¡± Drenar corrects dryly. ¡°Dojo! Don''t ruin my narrative!¡± She scolds. ¡°So who else is in on humanity¡¯s greatest secret?¡± ¡°That I know of? A lot. Seriously, talk and you''ll get lobotomized, or go to wizard jail. It''s called Veil protocol. We don''t talk about magic and dragons harder than we don''t talk about Bruno,¡± Evan says sternly. He tries to take another swig of whiskey, but Julia firmly takes the glass away. ¡°Oh no. We are not setting a bad precedent, mister young-un. Bad enough I allowed this once, this stuff can knock out even mom''s latest friend after a few rounds!¡± Drenar raises an eyebrow at this. ¡°Oh, she''s seeing someone?¡± ¡°For a hot five minutes. He''s alright, but not dad quality yet,¡± she shrugs. ¡°I give him a twenty percent chance this lasts beyond the next month. Mom can do better. Someone closing on middle age, rugged, reliable, maybe divorced and looking to mend fences, and knows the value of family would be right up her alley.¡± ¡°I find it telling that you know exactly what she needs.¡± He gives her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. ¡°So, I guess we have a secret club now. Guess we can''t tell Angela and James, sadly. At least not yet.¡± ¡°Yeah, there''s more I''m glazing over, Rick¡¯s been keeping me informed about policy and protocol,¡± Evan says uneasily. ¡°It''s¡­a little surreal. I don''t know how I kept it together when I learned about this. I feel like I want to scream to the heavens how this is utter garbage, that magic and dragons have to be held in utter secrecy. I trust you don''t need to be told twice that we¡¯re supposed to keep quiet?¡± ¡°I hate keeping secrets,¡± Julia sighs. ¡°But I guess we gotta. For now. Now talk about tonight, who jacked you up but good?¡± ¡°Yes, I would like to know who I need to go have an unkind word with,¡± Drenar states with unusual anger. He cracks his knuckles one-handed. ¡°I dropped you off at the theater. What happened after?¡± ¡°Okay, know how I said secrets could hurt? This one could kill,¡± Evan states, and Julia can see him tremble a little. ¡°We did the movie. It was fine. She was¡­uh¡­interested, if you get my meaning, so I headed out with her in her car.¡± ¡°Oh, you guys makkin out?¡± Julia sings gleefully. He looks like he wants to claw her face with that comment, for a second before he sharply inhales before composing himself. ¡°Something like that. Where we ended up is where you guys picked me up,¡± he says uneasily. ¡°I decided that¡­maybe I wasn''t quite ready to lose the Victor-card, and got cold feet. She was pissed off. Of course, it was also a setup. Someone else was there to give me an offer I couldn''t refuse.¡± ¡°While you were buck nude,¡± Julia says with a smile, but Drenar subtly shakes his head. Probably not the time to treat this humorously like she normally could. ¡°They knew I was a dragon. They said that I could help them. Make a difference in the world because the current magical government, the Conclave of the Arcane. They said they were corrupt, dragons were next on their list of marginalizing. They told me there was a group trying to do something about it, like a secret society. The Onyx Talons. They want all mages to be free from oppression. And to do that, force might be regrettable, but required to do so. As a dragon, I have scales in the game, they said.¡± Julia can''t even chuckle at the phrase. A cold shiver goes down Julia''s spine. She doesn''t know why. This group sounds ominous. ¡°Who''s the ¡®they¡¯ we''re talking about?¡± ¡°Getting to that,¡± he says uneasily. ¡°I told them I''d think about it. They¡­didn''t like that answer.¡± ¡°So what happened next?¡± Drenar asks quietly. Evan leans in close to the two of them by the table, as if he''s worried ears are everywhere. ¡°Jonaleth Winters, and Jackie beat the ever loving hell out of me is what happened. Even in my dragon form I gave them some damage, but I''m not you two, I got hosed. Jonaleth is a Valencian Red, and he''s scary. Jackie is a Bavarian scarlet. Their teeth have such a dense mineral concentration they¨C¡± ¡°They look like metal teeth.¡± Julia shows them the fractured tooth, and it does almost look like a white, slightly metallic incisor. She flips the book open to both entries. The Scarlet has even more feathers, with a massive mane around the chest and neck of bright scarlet feathers and wicked claws. Jonaleth''s form is a bright red dragon with wickedness for days, if she had to juxtapose the two images together mentally. Valencians are strong, immensely strong for their size, and have traditional fire breath and the ability to exude concentrated fire blasts with their bodies in a mist, or a focused ray. Drenar narrows his eyes and he taps his finger impatiently on that image, too. ¡°Glad you at least put up a fight, Evan. Jonaleth is a sociopath.¡± ¡°Oh, Jackie got burned, cut, and a couple teeth knocked out by the time I was done,¡± Evan smiles grimly and laughs, but he''s holding his ribs gingerly. ¡°She doesn''t fight as well as she¨C¡± Drenar and Julia turn to stare at him, looking aghast. ¡°Did not need that mental image, Evan,¡± she says icily. ¡°Yeah. She bit my shoulder. Snagged and broke one of her teeth on my scales. She had that coming. Then Jonaleth stepped in and beat the hell out of me.¡± She suddenly feels the urge to go find and destroy that particular sociopath, but then she clenches her fist. No dragon form, yet. She needs that edge first, and some training. Drenar is also looking like he''s in a murderous mood, the way his eyes appear like a deadly viper¡¯s now. ¡°So they beat you up. Then what?¡± He asks. He''s gone deadly calm. Evan grimaces, as if he shouldn''t say it. ¡°They said if I''m not joining them the next time Jonaleth comes a¡¯knockin, he''s going to kill you, Diane, Dave and burn our house to the ground. His exact words. He seems to really hate you even more, for reasons I don''t get.¡± That is the last straw for her. ¡°I''m getting the Mossberg. That bastard is dead¨C¡± she turns to the storage room where the gun safe is, with key codes in her head that her mother trusted her with, but Drenar grabs her shoulder. He''s got that solemn look. ¡°No, Drenar, I''m doing this for me, he just promised to end your whole family and you. You don''t make threats like that if you don''t plan on following through. His future corpse will be occupying an unmarked grave with quick lye or the strongest acids I''ve got access to.¡± She has never been more furious in her life. Nothing came even close. ¡°Oh, he''s welcome to try, but we are not murdering him. Bad solution, worse consequences. And believe me, I want to turn him to paste now, too, for every reason listed. But neither you or I can hulk out with a half ton of dragon muscle yet.¡± ¡°Hate saying it, but he''s right. That''s suicide. Buckshot on a dragon is scratch damage, it''s literally ineffective. You need heavy firepower, I''m talking anti-material rifle rounds or explosives,¡± Evan counters before rising from his chair with a light wince. ¡°Don''t do it, Julia. And don''t even try, Drenar. He''s a psycho.¡± ¡°A psycho who is a dead man the next time I see him!¡± she snarls. ¡°He''s also a problem we need to deal with properly, either on our own, or with the regular authorities,¡± Drenar says sternly before letting go of her shoulder. ¡°I trust you aren''t about to go do something crazy and ill-advised?¡± ¡°After what Evan just told us?!¡± This is one of the few times she''s letting herself loose in a moment of focused rage. ¡°I''ll put him in a hole so deep no one will ever find him!¡± She snaps, and she feels a static charge across her body. ¡°No one threatens my best friends like that, and furthermore ¨C¡± She means to just tap Drenar on the chest in that clich¨¦ way she''s seen in some of her anime shows. Usually he just starts listening to her, because usually, she has a logical reason. This time, there''s a crackle of static and a blast of blue-white light, and Drenar recoils backwards two meters, and lands prone on the kitchen floor. He miraculously missed the table by centimeters and groans. There''s a small, burnt hole on his shirt, and he looks just a little in pain. ¡°Holy crap I''m so sorry! Are you okay?!¡± She dashes over to help him to check the injury. He winces when she probes the burnt hole, but apparently his chest is intact. Just a tiny bit scorched. ¡°Wowza. That was like the worst static shock I''ve ever gotten,¡± he coughs. ¡°I think the landing hurt more than the shock. No, really, we don''t need to lift the shirt, it''s okay, I am perfectly fine.¡± Evan stares at the two of them. ¡°Would you kindly stop trying to injure my brother?¡± He demands angrily. She lets out a dismissive tsk sound. ¡°Sure, Evan, like I planned on zapping him. Also it smells like ozone in here again, is that weird?¡± It''s that weird tangy feeling and she can almost taste it. Why is her sense of smell and taste cross wiring right now, it''s bizarre. ¡°No, what''s weird is that other than a stinging sensation, I feel fine.¡± Drenar sits up and slowly gets to his feet. ¡°Oh wait. Maridians are super resistant to that. Your blast is almost pure energized mana.¡± He grins after a second. ¡°Well now, guess I have one advantage you can''t counter.¡± ¡°Listen, baka for brains, we still have to deal with Jonaleth! Being shock-proof isn''t a step in the right direction!¡± She snaps. Evan steps over to the window as if he''s being dismissive of the diatribe. ¡°Well, apparently my ability isn''t random anymore, I just need to get mad!¡± ¡°I think it''s a tad more complicated than that. Stress hormones, adrenal response, maybe it''s part of the discharge from Awakening?¡± She narrows her eyes at him. ¡°Listen, Drenar, don''t start being a super scientist. You know as pathetically little as I do, so you''re just guessing.¡± ¡°So, let''s experiment,¡± he says. ¡°I thought that''s what you like.¡± She feels her cheeks flush again, and she lets him go. ¡°I don''t think you can handle experimenting with me¨C¡± she claps her hand over her mouth and groans. ¡°You know what, that sounded way better in my head, forget I said that.¡± It''s worse when he is still wearing that amused smirk, because she''s still thinking about it and trying very hard not to. ¡°Okay, first I''m gonna kill Jonaleth, then you, if you don''t stop pushing the banter.¡± ¡°You mean when we both accidentally miscalculate, and get to the heart of something serious between us?¡± he asks casually. She hates how he gets to the mark too closely--she needs to fix that! She grabs him by his jacket, pulls him close and glares deadly intent at him. His smirk disappears, and he''s looking a smidge more apprehensive than before. It takes all her effort even get him to flinch, so this must be catching him off-guard. ¡°Yes, that!¡± She snaps. Apparently he had miscalculated, because he was rendered speechless for a second. ¡°Because despite your best efforts to be this oddball goof, you''ve got many qualities that a lot of people like, including me!¡± ¡°Uh, guys, hold that thought. The overwatch raven is returning,¡± Evan says anxiously. Julia feels a looming dread. The microwave is fried, the field kit is out, it looks like somebody got murdered in her dining room with the bandages and swabs, and the alcohol is in plain view. This night just can''t get worse. Vol. 1, Ch. 11: Here Be Dragons! Part Three ¡°Oh, we¡¯re so screwed. I''ll stall!¡± Drenar starts to head to the door, then Julia grabs him. ¡°Uh, you got hit by a thunderbolt, no, you can''t!¡± she protests. She feels kind of dumb when he just zips up his jacket to hide the scorch mark. ¡°Just buy time, we need to clean, so mom doesn¡¯t get the hint there are dragons in her dining room!¡± ¡°Clean. Get rid of this triage mess, hide the booze, and for the love of the fates, hide the damn book!¡± he gives in rapid instructions before he heads out past the three season porch area, and the creaking screen door slams behind him. Evan grabs all the bandages and swabs, and dumping them in the trash, while Julia shoves the bestiary under the couch. It''ll be safe for now. ¡°So, is your mom really a dragon¨C¡± ¡°Evan, if she is, and sees two boys in this house, you both will have zero chance for survival, now move your ass!¡± she barks before grabbing the shot microwave and stashing it away in a corner of the garage. That one is going to garner questions without a doubt, but maybe she can find a way to spin it. Somehow. Evan is busy swabbing blood from a couple spots when she gets back. ¡°Bleach. Or it''ll stain,¡± she instructs. He grabs the bleach, and she dares a look outside. Drenar is talking to Mom, and they''re having a discussion. He keeps recoiling like he''s embarrassed. ¡°Damn it, she better not be propositioning that boy to me, I''m gonna kill her if she does it again!¡± ¡°There was a first time?¡± Evan sighs, even as they scrub. ¡°Seriously, just marry the kid, the world will be safer.¡± ¡°I like him, I just don''t know if I like him in that way! It''s like¡­picture yourself making out with someone you consider family. And not in a good way¨Cwhy am I telling you this?¡± she snarls. ¡°Because we both have this uncanny power to get people to tell us interesting things,¡± Evan says slyly. The raven glare gets another use for the night. ¡°I own a shotgun. And I have an ammo bench. I will either find, or make ordinance to render your sense of security moot,¡± she threatens. ¡°Maybe my nascent chemistry skills or electric personality will get a workout, too!¡± ¡°Living up to your name there Tsundere, those threats are idle to the spectacle of you being sweet on Drenar,¡± Evan shot back. ¡°Have I ever gone easy on him?¡± Julia simply smirks. ¡°Definitely not. Also, scrub faster. Drenar''s completely flubbing it I bet, because he sucks at lying,¡± he says just before she finishes. No time for any other cleaning, she wipes down everything she can, and hopes she didn''t miss anything. The whiskey bottle carefully gets placed back in position. Her mother is going to notice that one for sure. Nothing she can do about that one, this night is just going to be a continuous pain. They get the cleaning done in record time. Evan looks to be in pain, and the binding on his arm is bleeding again. ¡°You know this is your fault for keeping mum. You should have told us.¡± ¡°Just like you fried a microwave.¡± ¡°You know what, blame game later, the overwatch raven is coming, and unlike me, I doubt you¡¯ll survive a round with her!¡± Evan does not even come close to the same level of strength as her, let alone her mother. ¡°If your mother is beating me into the floor, I will at least die with the notion it was done by someone drop-dead gorgeous¨C¡± Too far, cretin! She feels that static wash and gently taps him on the shoulder with that errant spark of energy, and there''s a loud pop sound. He recoils about a third of a meter, stunned. ¡°Owie, what was that for?!¡± ¡°My mom is off the table. Forever,¡± Julia warns him with a deadly tone. ¡°Fates, you can''t take a joke sometimes,¡± he mutters before rubbing his shoulder. ¡°Ah man, you burned a hole through my sleeve, thanks Julia!¡± ¡°Better that than making you a crispy dragon! Damn it, I got a superpower, and it''s useless on Drenar!¡± She fumes. ¡°Drenar needs all the protection in the world from you, just saying.¡± Julia shoves the rags down the trash can just as she hears footsteps, and Evan does his best to look composed. She pretends to be busy with the dishes when her mom walks in, with Drenar entering at roughly the same time. Evan wasn''t exactly wrong when he had been making his snarky comment about her mom, because she really is one of a kind. Kiera DeVerdra towers over the rest of the teens in her presence at close to 185 centimeters, with raven black hair and piercing blue eyes, and a pale complexion that stood true to her ancestry from Scandinavia and Norway. She''s a little more weathered than herself, with a trace of a wrinkle or two, and an athletic body that could crush steel, and she''s got that glint of curiosity as she surveys the room. ¡°Right, so as I was saying, it''s totally plausible for parallel universes to exist,¡± Drenar says as if they''d been mid discussion. ¡°Drenar, you''re as amusing as you are telling, when I smell a distraction. So what have you three been up to?¡± her mother says with amusement and sizes up her and Evan. ¡°I said no boys, Julia.¡± ¡°It''s Drenar. He literally doesn''t count,¡± she says with a roll of her eyes. ¡°He always follows the rule of being a proper gentleman.¡± ¡°Thanks, I think?¡± He rubs the back of his head uneasily. ¡°Alright, short version, Evan did something dumb, and was trying amateur parkour in town. It uh¡­didn''t go well. I was not keen on explaining this to Diane, so we just came here to fix him up.¡± ¡°Parkour? That urban gymnastics?¡± She raises an eyebrow at Evan. ¡°Well, I can see the damage is mostly superficial. No real harm done.¡± ¡°Yeah, I uh, won¡¯t be doing that again anytime soon. Don¡¯t take bets from dumb teens,¡± Evan says with a fake laugh. Julia sighs internally¨Cthese two just can¡¯t lie to save their life. ¡°Why do I smell¨Coh, I think someone made dinner. I thought I smelled a hint of ramen,¡± her mother says slyly when she points to the dishes. ¡°Did you really invite Drenar over just to make a meal?¡± ¡°I fried the microwave by leaving a fork in it, so yeah, I kinda did,¡± she admits. She has no idea how to gauge how effective this lie is going to be. If mother dearest is an azure or goldback dragon, she¡¯s gonna know in two seconds that I fried the microwave, then we¡¯re all in deep trouble. Her mother peers at the empty spot where the microwave should be. ¡°You know that¡¯s now how magnetrons work dear. Be careful next time?¡± she says sternly. ¡°At least you kept my daughter fed Drenar, Fates knows with your workouts you don¡¯t devour the place wholesale.¡± ¡°That sounded mighty insulting Mom,¡± she said with a puff of air blowing an errant hair out of her face. Mom chuckles in response. ¡°Forgive me, out of context. You¡¯re all teenagers, you¡¯re still growing. Well, sort of,¡± she adds as an aside. Oh you deceptive dragon, of course you know! Well now I¡¯m telling you jack, because you¡¯ll undoubtedly make life less fun if you know we¡¯re Awakening. Her decision is quite rapid for her. ¡°Well, thank you for cleaning, but it is¨Cwell, you should be going, it is quite late. I don''t want Diane thinking Julia stole you away at a rather telling hour.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Both she and Drenar look anxious at that statement, even when her mom smiles lightly. ¡°Yeah, I guess we better go Mrs. DeVerdra ¨C¡± ¡°Oh for heaven''s sake Drenar, you can call me Kiera. Or Mom. I think that either title has been earned by now,¡± she says with a contented sigh. ¡°Julia, a word with you upstairs, after Drenar and Evan leave?¡± Uh oh. Moment of reckoning is coming. Better make this fast. ¡°Alright, guys, I guess it''s been fun, minus the whole crash and burn bit?¡± ¡°Yes, it was hilarious. We should really have a follow-up to this,¡± Evan hints with a mask of sarcasm. ¡°Brother, shall we?¡± They make their way out to the porch, and Julia revels in the crisp air. She loves this time of year. Evan hops into the car, and Drenar lingers on the step before turning towards her. He''s got that look, that lingering doubt that''s etched in his eyes again. Six years later and he still can''t stop being sad. The last few days definitely have not helped, either, she thinks. ¡°So uh¡­quite a night, huh?¡± ¡°Our lives just suffered a massive paradigm shift. I don''t think there''s enough words for that.¡± She glances over her shoulder, her mom had already headed upstairs. ¡°I don''t know what''s worse. That this happened to us, or that there''s a new angle we have to worry about. These Talons folk sound like bad news, and Jonaleth may very well be the least of our problems.¡± ¡°Still got a shotgun for that problem¨C¡± ¡°Don''t joke about that. Seriously. Jonaleth is a bully who never had to fight someone well trained, We deal with him when we have to, and hope there''s actually useful wizard police,¡± he says in an attempt to keep upbeat. ¡°What about the book?¡± she asks. ¡°Bring it to our tabletop tomorrow, we need to keep the appearance of normal for now. Not that I like it, but Angela¡¯s gonna know if we are freaking out about something,¡± he says with a frown. ¡°Egads, your mom picks the worst moments to bring up stuff, too. She correctly guessed I was thinking about mom and dad when I was talking to her. Something about anniversaries being triggers for people.¡± ¡°They are,¡± Julia reminds him. ¡°November 11th. May 6th. I''ll never forget those days. And it sucks.¡± She''s trying not to let her own dour funk infect the discussion. ¡°What else did she say?¡± ¡°Looking to the future and not looking to the past. She said remembrance is a fickle thing, that we always remember what we lost¡­and later, what we gained from our experiences with people.¡± He looks like he''s still processing that. ¡°She said mom is, and will always be, the bravest person she''s ever met. I dunno, it seemed weird. Like, hey Kiera, this is kinda heavy for me still. But, I suppose she meant well. Ten seconds later, she''s asking if I came over here for¡­well, fun times.¡± Julia lets out a nervous laugh. ¡°Dear fates, don''t tell me you said you did! Even given our current crisis, I''d murder you on the spot!¡± ¡°Yeah, I didn''t. I told her I''m far more classy than that. Then she proposed that there are items in the medical cabinet, should the situation ever require it. Awkward.¡± It''s almost adorable how embarrassed Drenar looks, with rosy cheeks she barely sees on him, and she can''t help but laugh. Would I, though? Angela¡¯s seeing him, but I don''t see it as more than a phase. Ergh! Less teen drama, more dragon-seeking! She hugs him to break his focus. ¡°Well, if the unlikely circumstances ever did present themselves, I''d appreciate that kind of forward-thinking like she alluded to.¡± ¡°That felt really dangerous to hear. I''ll take my chances with a dragon, my survival chance might be higher,¡± he says with a groan, but he still wears a lingering smile. ¡°Alright, let''s sneak in a plan tomorrow. We need to find Amaranth or someone like him. Evan might be able to help too, just keep an eye out for anyone else acting weird.¡± He lets go and slowly heads down the steps. ¡°Take care of yourself, Drenar. I mean that. Don''t be a reckless hero.¡± ¡°Yeah, one-man armies are so overdone. We''re at least a team of three,¡± he says with a wry smile. She waves farewell before he takes off, the car eventually disappearing behind a bend in the road. She taps her foot and lets out a soft sigh. Whoever falls in love with that kid is gonna have their work cut out for them, because he''s still trying to cling to someone he''s never going to get back. Even as awful as that sounds. Does that make me a bad friend? She takes a second to ponder it before shaking her head. No. He¡¯ll be okay someday. He¡¯s always been tougher than I give him credit for. She heads back inside and upstairs to her mom, waiting by her bedroom. A bedroom that is now going to be her private lab for all things dragon now, if she can keep it hidden. She''s probably got bigger problems now, based on her mother''s stern gaze. ¡°I did say no boys, Julia.¡± ¡°Drenar is literally the most platonic kid I know, c¡¯mon mom! We had dinner, and then coffee, and then Evan did his stupid thing, and here we are. Nothing happened!¡± ¡°Oh dear, I did hit a bit of a sensitive nerve. I believe you Julia, but the rules are there for a reason,¡± she says sternly, but at least the etched lines on her face have faded. ¡°You''re almost eighteen now, almost a full adult¡­and you''ve filled out to be a very lovely young woman. I just want you to make sure you''re making smart decisions that go along with it.¡± She glares at her mom. ¡°Have I ever given a vibe that I''m one to jump a boy''s bones without thinking it through, ever? Fates mom, I got my boobs later than most, and I''m quite aware that I occasionally turn heads. Let them slobber! Er, um¨C¡± she scrunches her face when her mother laughs heartily and bows over lightly. ¡°What I mean to say is, I don''t care if they''re looking! The only guys I care about are the ones I interact with on a regular basis! And maybe a few girls, but¨Coh.¡± Again with speaking too fast, and she bites her lip before burying her face in her hands. ¡°I''m not gay mom, just curious.¡± ¡°Oh, you young child. You have your father''s fighting spirit, you know that?¡± Mom says with a contented smile and tries fruitlessly to hide a laugh. ¡°You like who you like, and don''t let someone tell you otherwise. Besides, I do approve of Drenar. He would be good boyfriend material, if you were so inclined.¡± ¡°Thanks for the reassurance,¡± Julia growls in a deadly voice. ¡°Is this all you wanted to talk about? I know, I should have asked first, but it was last minute and you were working when Drenar called.¡± ¡°Well, actually, there was one thing. I may be attending a conference in a week or so, work related. Boss is making me go, it''s important. Something about testifying to proper care for veterans and identifying means and methods of identifying PTSD and management strategies¡­I won''t bore you with the details,¡± she sighs. ¡°When I do head out, I want you to stay with Angela at her house, it won''t be more than a few days, they''re firming up the details.¡± So, not gonna bring up that your daughter¡¯s becoming a mighty morphing dragon monk just yet? Alright I''m game mom, play the quiet game until you want to talk. ¡°So, basically an extended hangout?¡± She asks casually. ¡°Yes, I did speak with Celes in advance. It''s always a difficult thing to get a hold of them at times,¡± she mutters with annoyance. ¡°I would have had you stay with Drenar but that might have¡­well, it may not have been such a good idea.¡± ¡°I''m like Diane''s adopted daughter over there mom, c''mon!¡± she protests lightheartedly. She pouts in protest for a second before relenting. ¡°Angie¡¯s gonna love it, and so won''t I. Anything else?¡± she asks hopefully. You better come clean, seriously mom, you know this is a ticking time bomb, but do you know that I know? At least the overwatch raven can''t read minds when her mother smiles. ¡°Oh, I''m sure I''ll have something to talk about when I get back, but it can wait. Well, I''m off for the night, good night dear. Try not to stay up too late, yes?¡± ¡°Absolutely,¡± she says before giving her mom a hug. She waits until she hears the door click shut before closing her own door, and breathes a sigh of relief. Now it''s time to focus on what makes dragons tick. That feather is still sitting in her pocket, and she pulls it out with an excited grin. ¡°I suppose Drenar will be glad I''m doing science on you, you itty bitty little thing, and not him!¡± She gets her chemistry set and starts looking up what to test against, and sends a text to Drenar. Now, how to do this¡­a regular woodworking file and a few other things may be required. [We''re gonna science this dragon, baby!] His response is predictable dread. [Oh, dear, Fates.] Vol. 1, Ch. 12: Heritage Manifest, Part One There is only one thing that makes Drenar scared in the entire universe. And it''s usually preceded by Julia saying ¡®I have an idea''. Eight out of the top ten most disastrous moments in his life had happened right after she uttered those words. This occurs again to him when he gets on a video call with her and Evan on Saturday, and she appears slightly exhausted and excited. ¡°Uh, did you sleep, Julia?¡± he asks anxiously, and Evan looks equally disturbed. Julia simply grins and wipes an errant hair out of her face. ¡°Sleep? Nah! There was science to do! Also I have questions for Evan as a matter of perspective, we were a little rushed last night. So, who wants to hear what I found out?¡± ¡°Uh, I guess? What did you check out?¡± Drenar waits with bated breath. She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. ¡°I was able to take the feather that fell out of your scalp and run some basic tests. It''s incredibly light. The density is surprisingly low, even with the scale portion. And even better, it''s fire-resistant!¡± ¡°You lit it. On fire. Tell me the destructive test wasn''t the first thing you tried!¡± Drenar scolds her. ¡°Oh no, I tried other things first. I was able to get some filings using a metal file¡­.it took some work, but it''s not indestructible. It just takes a ton of effort. I also did a hardness check and a bunch of other things. It¡¯s strange why my mom has a miniature laboratory in this house, and stuff to check physical properties¨Cnerd habits die hard. "Anyway, I checked the hardness of the scale portion with a press and¡­the hardness is almost up to a low carbon steel, HRC 20-30 range. It was hard to convert it because that scale is useful for harder materials, otherwise, results get muddled¨C" ¡°So, literal bio-organic steel?¡± Drenar says to cut to the chase. She nods. ¡°Oh get this, it gets wild. Amaranth never noted a few things. I ran a loop of a nine-volt battery and it did conduct the electricity like I thought. But oh man, this is gonna get whacky,¡± she says with a wild smile. ¡°An electric current increases the hardness of the scales. I couldn¡¯t even damage it, the hardness bit I used snapped, because I was trying to use so much force!¡± Drenar is mildly stunned. ¡°You¡¯re telling me that my scales can harden to near-indestructible levels by running a current across them?! Oh, this is¨CI don¡¯t have words for what kind of incredible scientific discovery this is. And you did this with just a nine-volt?¡± She¡¯s grinning like she won a martial arts championship, and is practically bouncing. It¡¯s amazing and even he can¡¯t stop smiling. ¡°But uh, wouldn¡¯t this hurt me? I don¡¯t feel like lugging a car battery around every time someone wants to, you know, hurt me.¡± ¡°Maridians generate their bioelectric currents in short bursts. They¡¯re just wired different, if you¡¯ll forgive the pun! This is a reactive defense, assuming you figure out how to generate yours!¡± ¡°We have nine-volt batteries¨C¡± Evan starts to suggest with a smirk, but he smacks his shoulder. ¡°What, it has to be done! In the name of science!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sticking a damn nine-volt battery on my tongue in the name of science, you hooligans!¡± he says sternly. ¡°Okay, so this is incredible. What else did Amaranth''s book say?¡± ¡°Your scales are highly resistant to acids. A little more susceptible to caustics. I diluted a little hydrochloric acid and tested it. Nothing. Nada. almost no reaction. The steel industry would kill to have a corrosion-resistant alloy like this!¡± she cackles. ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to test everything because some stuff is, you know, toxic. Making a death cloud in my house without a proper lab is a super bad idea.¡± ¡°At least you know it¡¯s a bad idea,¡± Drenar sighs as he runs his fingers through his hair gently. ¡°Okay, what about the feather itself?¡± ¡°Fire resistant. I tested a burner and dialed the temperature up until I saw a coloration change, then stopped. I guess it makes sense, you don¡¯t want to catch on fire if another dragon is shooting a flame breath at you,¡± she adds before wrinkling her nose. ¡°Guess who¡¯s my fire shield until I Awaken?¡± ¡°Thrilled. Really,¡± he sighs while grabbing the coffee cup off his desk and taking a sip. ¡°Is your mom aware of what you¡¯re doing?¡± ¡°Ah, no, I¡¯ve been doing this on the quiet, you could say. I really should um¡­get some sleep sometime soon, because I think I just felt my brain about to crash,¡± she sighs and plays with her hair for the fourth time. She is utterly exhausted, he thinks silently. ¡°Julia, get some rest, please¨C¡± ¡°I will, but you two need to bring me up to speed. Do we have wizard police, or not?¡± Evan leans into the field of the camera. ¡°It¡¯s a whole government. They call it the Conclave of the Arcane. It¡¯s been around for a few thousand years, Rick has told me the barest details, only because so many people are Awakening. He says it¡¯s bad. And normal people might notice at some point, and that¡¯s going to cause real fundamental problems soon. There are like fifty million mages and Kin on the planet, maybe more. It¡¯s hard to get a proper census for this kind of thing. Not so many dragons, but enough that you see them." ¡°Yes, because secret mage societies like to stay, you know, secret,¡± Julia says with a grumble. ¡°What else does Rick know?¡± Evan throws up his hands in frustration. ¡°He¡¯s managing me on a need-to-know basis! Whatever is going on with us, is symptomatic with something bigger going on. I asked him about the drakensouls last night over a secure call, and he just gave me this weird-ass look, like I¡¯m not even supposed to mention it. He said that the dragons almost collectively wiped themselves out several hundred years ago. Some kind of magical experiment gone horribly wrong. Getting info out of him is super frustrating. Like, shouldn¡¯t mages know all things dragon?! No, of course not!¡± Drenar glances at Evan with caution. ¡°Okay, but who are the wizard police, and how do we contact them?¡± ¡°That part he explained a bit. They''re called SAF, or the Sorcerous Armed Forces, and they typically handle enforcement of mage law. Most of the time, people keep under the radar and don¡¯t make waves. They have a sub-group to help assist newbies like us, but they¡¯ve been overwhelmed. And no one knows why.¡± ¡°I¡¯m starting to think we need to find Amaranth, big-time,¡± Drenar states calmly. ¡°Julia, it sounds like I¡¯ll be the toughest for Jonaleth to take out when I awaken, your abilities sound pretty stellar so far¡­plasma manipulation, energy projectiles, and plasma tethers that¡­kinda sound like weird science?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve been trying to replicate the efforts. Sadly because I¡¯m exhausted, it hasn¡¯t worked. This is sporadic at best, we¡¯re not fully dragon yet,¡± she explained. ¡°This transition sucks.¡± ¡°It sounds like we need to continue to lay low. We also need to figure out who the Talons are and who else Jonaleth is working with. If we gotta square off against that thug, I want to know what odds we¡¯re up against. At least we have some warning.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°The Talons are some old mage organization. Bunch of insurrectionists and terrorists,¡± Evan explains. ¡°They¡¯ve been a nuisance in the mage world for hundreds of years, but they¡¯ve been small-time, or so Rick was telling me. Now even he¡¯s getting a little scared. I¡¯ll drill him for more info, and see if we can pool resources with other people.¡± Drenar rubs at the scales just beneath his sleeve, they¡¯ve spread again because they¡¯re itching. Bio-organic armor plating sounds like a novelty he¡¯s going to use to every advantage he can get. ¡°Good. I¡¯ll see you guys tonight, just try to keep a low profile.¡± She clicks off the call and it feels like a hundred years have passed. He exhales in a meditative way, trying to will the anxiety away. This is just snowballing out of control. ¡°Mom had to know something. Damn it. That is pissing me off something fierce. It''s as of she couldn¡¯t trust that we¡¯d be able to keep it a secret, if she¡¯d told us back then.¡± ¡°Drenar, Maridian silvers are supposed to be near-unkillable¡­so how did a car wreck kill her?¡± Evan asks in a question he¡¯s been dreading. He taps his wristwatch slowly, trying to get a single good theory. ¡°Dragon or not, she was human when she was in the car. Just not as tough in our human form?¡± he suggests. Evan doesn¡¯t look like he buys that theory. And he grimly thinks it¡¯s not a very good one to start with, either. ¡°Drenar, I think something really bad happened, and people are lying to us about it.¡± He doesn¡¯t respond. He doesn¡¯t have to for Evan to know that the doubt is lingering in his head, too.
The rest of the weekend is far less productive than Drenar planned. Between trying to maintain the ¡®everything is normal¡¯ facade and entertaining others with tabletop gaming in the evening, Julia had barely more time than to hand him the bestiary book. ¡°Just be careful with this. We don¡¯t know who else might know it for what it is, and get ideas about what we¡¯re up to,¡± she whispered before she headed out later, as everyone was gathering to depart. They¡¯d had even less time to combine knowledge. Drenar had hit every search engine, looking for hints and clues. Nothing even remotely came close. Sunday was spent getting up to speed. Julia had earmarked the dragon species, and added in little scraps of sticky notes. She refused to graffiti the now-priceless tome, and told him to do the same, and save any pictures to his local SD card on his phone. this info going online would be bad news, and likely only complicate their lives further. And he still had no additional dreams from his mystery visitor. He didn¡¯t know what Alex was just yet, but he had to be something. A wayward soul? What did that even mean, exactly? I¡¯m going to drive myself crazy thinking about this. Focus, Drenar, focus. Solve the problems you do have the pieces to solve for. The first problem was understanding what dragons were, because almost none of it was lining up with his fantasy knowledge. There were occasional coincidences of truth, but dragons in this world were quite unique in their powers, environments, and secondary abilities. The bestiary was the focus for most of the day, with Evan following along and taking notes. It surprised him how many unique identifiable species there were, and how separate subspecies could mate and lead to hatchlings with traits from both parent species. He kept coming back to the silver-scaled dragon images, and the next section over, the Azure skimmer. This specimen had extendable fins on their arms and legs for increased maneuvering underwater, and preferred coastal spots. True to the name, they had scales the color of sapphires¨Cand when he thought about it, there were traits from his dreamscape that matched. The book detailed their coastal cities and underwater retreats, held in place by manipulation of air spheres¨Cmagically charged air that required no pressure vessel to maintain. They still had to breathe through their lungs, though they could hold their breath for more than twenty minutes. They also had an incredible elemental plasma ability that could be used to charge arcane devices, and consoles¨Cor fry an unlucky victim with deadly levels of energy. Everything synched up so far with his interaction with Alex. Their sentience, speech capacity both proved accurate--dragons also had advanced social and technological development, and had mastered mathematics and science well before humans had. They were capable of alchemical reactions in their bodies to power truly incredible abilities like breathing fire, sub-zero pressurized blasts, and¨C Drenar pauses at the section for Auran Goldbacks. They are a cousin of sorts to the Maridian silver dragon. Their gold-textured scales are the result of ingestion of trace minerals. They are almost as mercurially quick as silvers and have a truly unique ability to direct an electrically charged plasma, similar to the Azure. Most people would see it and think of a bolt of lightning, but with a few extra nuances. They could also manipulate simple electronics, or arcane consoles¨Cwhatever that was. So, which one is Julia? There are only two dragon species that could fry the microwave in that way. He read back through the two sections¨Cone odd note is that almost all pure Azures have amber eyes, nearly a hundred percent of them. Aurans could have almost any eye color. There¡¯s a fitting irony. Dark hair, dark clothes¨Cgets to be a dragon with a brilliance to match her personality. He almost laughs aloud at this thought. She has to be an Auran. It tracks. Man, there''s no way she would not tell me if she knew. She''d be boasting about it to me and showing off the first dragon who could kickbox. The double-jointed leg might prove challenging, but the illustrations and my dreams showed they could easily be bipedal, and had a counterbalance with their tail and wings. I certainly wouldn''t want to get kicked in the face by a dragon with talons the length of small daggers. Oof. To say nothing of getting hit by plasma that could turn me into a crisp with that level of current. Ten minutes later, he scribbles a dragon doing a roundhouse kick on a helmeted knight. ¡°You¡¯re scribbling, and we could be in danger? Priorities, half-bro.¡± ¡°That statement was utter weak sauce. ¡®Half-bro?¡¯¡± Drenar states with amusement. Evan doesn¡¯t even look apologetic. ¡°I still have seniority.¡± ¡°Seniority poorly spent,¡± Evan sighs. They continue to read. Another species is called the Alterian Nightwing, with onyx scales with mottled green and blue patterning. Their eyesight extends into the infrared spectrum and it grants them superior night vision. They have peculiarly shaped wings that allow whisper-quiet gliding. Almost like an owl. They also have a paralytic compound in their saliva that allows them to temporarily paralyze prey. Simple contact is enough to immobilize even a rhino. According to Amaranth, their scales granted them innate spell resistance¨Clikely due to living in areas prone to mana storms. Whatever that was, it sounded quite dangerous. The last dragon he reads about clearly has no one higher than them on the food chain. The Siberian Hellkite is a true apex predator, and she differs from the Nightwing by having black and midnight blue scales, ruby red eyes, and black and blue feather highlights, along with the sharpest claws and highest bite pressure of any species, along with a non-descriptive dark energy ability. They are the true masters of their terrain in the arctic regions, and can spew Mana-infused black and blue fire that burns hot enough to reduce a human to ash in seconds. They are well suited to cutting through the ice and permafrost to devour several critters that made the tundra their home. Amaranth noted that their dragon tribe, unlike many others, seemed to shy away from large communal dwellings and were more family-sized clans. The concept of clans and their social structure is grossly unanswered by this tome. It raises many more questions than answers. He has no idea where to find any of the listed reference books¨Cunsurprisingly, none of the titles could be Google searched. A casual glance online later into draconic biology left Drenar tapping his fingers impatiently. All he ended up finding was a plethora of fantasy novels and content related to tabletop gaming. And adult content of a very particular flavor. Fortunately, Evan had already vacated the room for bedtime, they still had school tomorrow, which now seems utterly inconsequential. Duh. Of course, they don''t advertise their existence. Because magical creatures in the modern world sound like a geopolitical disaster waiting to happen. Uh¡­why am I still looking at this? He still hasn''t closed out the suggestive content and stares for a few seconds longer than he figured he would. Wait. Am I into this? Several more seconds go by. I cannot be into this. Even after wiping the data again and forcibly removing himself from the computer, he could certainly tell himself one thing, when his body is clearly telling him another thing. I can¡¯t be into this, right? I need a cold shower. With ice. Made of liquid oxygen. The icy cold shower did nothing to remove the lingering memory. Or his mood. Vol. 1, Ch. 13: Heritage Manifest, Part two Monday morning rolled around and for a moment, Drenar thought that maybe, things had calmed down for a moment. The scales haven¡¯t spread in almost a full day. "So what have we learned from this weekend?" he asks Evan at the main entryway to the school cafe. "Stick to the plan." Evan did not like the idea of staying low. Or trying to dig up as much as he could on the Talons. ¡°Jonaleth wouldn¡¯t dare try something ballsy in school, and certainly not where there are witnesses.¡± "And don''t talk to Jackie?" he insists. "Just...avoid her." Evan grunts irritably but says nothing more. Angela is waiting for Drenar at a table, as well as James. "You never explained how Evan got that bruise," Angela asks a moment later. "Parkour accident," he replies nonchalantly. "He tried to climb something he shouldn''t have." "That healed pretty fast. Don''t bruises last for days or weeks?" She gave him a curious glance. "I''m an engineer, not a doctor." He decides that this is a subject that needs to be avoided. "So, all in favor of never letting James go ''zero charisma mode'' again, say aye." "Aye," they all said in unison, with James being a good sport about it. "So Drenar, you were hanging out with Julia Friday?" "Yeah, we hung out. I wasn¡¯t planning on staying long, but then¡­Evan decided to dive into the pavement," Drenar laughs. Because telling you the rest would be insanity. "Did you two have¡­a moment?" Angela asks with a hint of amusement. Drenar forgets his precarious position tipping in the chair a split second too long and falls, startled by her question. "No!" He half exclaims once he stands back up. "Why would you even think that?!" He lets out a frustrated sigh when she starts laughing uncontrollably. It then occurs to him the question is too random for her. "Alright, where''s the script, did Julia come up with this?" "Drat. What gave it away?" She says before showing her phone and a couple of suggestions from Julia that aren''t subtle at all. "You two are like devils on each other''s shoulders at times. Also, hetero life buddy zone," he answers flatly. "Also, I thought we had closed the circuit on exclusivity?" "I''m willing to share her with you, just saying." He opens his mouth to retort, and realizes how many horrible responses could be hurtled back, and says nothing while Angela grins. "Just saying, give it some thought." "Thought about it, moved on from said thought. Now can we move on before James murder faces me?" he shot back. "Not that I''m gonna comment on the implied statements here and considering one of those involved is my sister, but did you just pass up on a menage a trois?" James utters sourly while browsing through his collection of gaming cards. "I''m a one lady at a time kind of guy. Pretty sure Julia would be too wild for even me to handle," Drenar replies while trying not to think about that scenario. "You can''t even handle me," Angela grins and tousles his hair, much to his annoyance. "Alright, I''m off to class, see you guys in a bit!" "You know, for someone who is a complete and utter nerd, you manage to attract girls way above your weight class," James comments after a pause. "C''mon James, we all grew up together. That''s hardly an unbiased standard. Julia and Angela aren''t a higher class, they''re just a whole other class," he adds with a wry smile. "Don''t start waxing on ''be gentle with her'' because you know you don''t have to worry." James didn''t respond right away. Something catches his eye, and he glances at several people getting up. Drenar notices people are moving at a fast pace. Too fast for just going to class. There is a murmur of excitement through the crowd. ¡°Drenar, something¡¯s up. Where¡¯s everyone going?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Let¡¯s follow.¡± he hastily discards his tray and follows the crowd. His cell phone pings in his pocket, and he glances down. Julia just messaged him. [Drenar. You need to see this for yourself. Second-floor landing.] [Hurry.] Drenar realizes this is about as subtle a red alert from Julia as he''s going to get, and he follows the crowd. Both he and James round the hallway corner, and see everyone huddling at the base of the center stairwell, just out of their sight. Angela and Julia are standing there, with Julia taking a photo of something. ¡°Guys, we came as quick as we could, what¡¯s the big commotion?¡± he asks. Julia doesn¡¯t even bother to answer him, and merely points at the stairwell. He looks at where she gestured to. He takes a step forward, and realizes that this is bad on a whole other level. "Oh. Oh, we have problems.¡± If someone has intended to send a message, it''s decidedly not about their skill as an artist. This is a display of sheer dread and terror when he took in the glistening mural sprayed over what would have been a spartan brick wall. He could make the shape out of a skull and a wilted lily on a crimson background, sprayed in vivid detail. Clutching both of these articles in bloodied claws was an enormous dragon, with black and midnight blue scales, and a mouth open in a perpetual roar, and wings spread broadly from its back. All around this imposing creature, he could make out faint images of bodies and a bit of text on the bottom. ¡°Drenar¡­that¡¯s pretty creepy.¡± Angela pulls him back forcibly. ¡°How did someone put this up so fast?" ¡°What¡¯s that wording on the bottom?¡± someone whispers. ¡°Is this a threat against the school?¡± yet another person dares to say. Drenar ignores everything else and digs in his bag for the book. He scans through the section on dragon species, looking for a match. With a dreaded realization, he already knew what he was going to find. The details of the black and midnight blue scales, the spiked horns, and even the blackened flames are a near-perfect match for the cataloged specimen. Even the abyssal red eyes, the way they gleam with malevolent, intelligent evil, leads him to one conclusion. The Siberian Hellkite. He can feel his breath shudder ever so slightly, and his chest tightens. He can feel his heartbeat quickening. Someone is putting out stuff they shouldn''t be. This looks like gang art or some kind of propaganda piece. ¡°Drenar, which one is it?¡± Julia asks quietly. ¡°Siberian Hellkite. Perfect match." She holds the book and steadies his own slightly trembling hand with her own, and her expression grows steadfast. ¡°Every detail, even the scale pattern. It¡¯s not the Nightwing, no mottling of green and blue scales, but black and midnight blue. The wing shape is off, too--has to be the Hellkite.¡± "But¡­why would someone do this?" she asks without taking her eyes off the page. "This looks like some kind of mascot or gang graffiti. Could this be a coincidence?" "Unlikely. Too much of this is identical for chance, even as varied as art styles go." He barely keeps himself from pondering the question in his mind aloud. Could this creature exist? Of course it certainly can. If Julia can summon plasma energy and fry a microwave, and I can grow scales, then this monster also is out there somewhere. Why was this put here, in our school of all places? This is either a planned reveal, or someone did something really stupid. ¡°What are you guys looking at--wow, that¡¯s kind of an uncanny resemblance,¡± Angela comments, temporarily immune to the hushed whispers that are all around them. Julia points to the mural. ¡°Angie, what¡¯s that bit on the bottom? Is that...Latin?¡± she squints her eyes, as if focusing on the words. ¡°Hang on.¡± She pulls out her phone and snaps an image, and zooms in closely and shows it to Angela. She spends a few seconds peering at the image, eyes narrowed. Angela reaches for the spray paint, but Julia pulls her hand back at the last second. The paint still appears moist, the way it glistens in the bright morning sun. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°¡®The oppressors reign unchallenged. The tyranny remains unchecked. The Onyx night shall descend upon the usurpers. Justice will be done.¡¯¡± Angela appears as unnerved as Drenar and Julia. ¡°Drenar, what is going on?¡± James asked him cautiously. ¡°I have no idea.¡± He sees teachers escorting everyone away, shouting at people to go to their classes. He scans through the crowd, looking for someone showing a different reaction--anyone who doesn¡¯t look aghast at this flagrant and intimidating vandalism. Someone put this here for a reason, by means that could only have been done in a couple of minutes without being seen by the passers-by in the hall. Wizards at work. Wonderful. They all picked a great time to simultaneously disrupt my life. His first instinct is to see where Jonaleth is¨Cthe cretin has already inflicted violence, and destruction of property is trivial by comparison. Instead, he¡¯s surprised to see a grim look on Nicholas, who is photographing the image at a distance with his cell phone. Drenar casually circles to the side, working his way past the gaggle of people, and focuses all his will into picking out his words from the crowd. He brushes a few people aside¨Cno one calls out hasty motion. He can hear Nick''s voice out of the dozens nearby¨Clike his mind is filtering out all the other noise. ¡°¨CLevine, I¡¯ll say it again. They¡¯re back. The Talons just put up a propaganda flier right in the middle of the school in broad daylight, this is brazen even for them." He continues talking to the person on the other end, shifting his position slightly to take an image, then clicks a few buttons. ¡°Take a look at the image. Drop everything else you¡¯re doing and focus on this, something is in motion,¡± he insists, and beelines to the restroom. Drenar follows at a short distance, so it wouldn¡¯t be obvious. He edges the bathroom door slowly. He heard Nicholas still in conversation, and he silently closed the door and leaned around the corner. ¡°This situation just accelerated. It isn¡¯t just this, it¡¯s the three Awakenings over the weekend. Three of them within forty-eight hours? Way beyond coincidence.¡± Drenar hears pacing around, and the slam of a bathroom stall door. Nick is very tense. "My other leads turned up something new. Mining permits were pulled five years ago by one of their fronts for a now-decommissioned mine on Mount Syren. Three years ago the mine closed, some kind of accident. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a little odd?¡± More silence, Drenar could start to make out the words of the other person, but not enough to make sense yet. "Follow the money, the funds for the permit came from an escrow account of dubious origins. It gets weirder Levine, get this, the holder of the account was found dead two years ago, ripped to pieces in his own home. This has red flags all over it." Another pause. He can barely make it out¨Cthe tone indicates grave concern. "No, it definitely wasn''t some Vine addict who killed him in a robbery gone wrong, the way the body was dismembered suggests something highly personal. Punishment. Multiple blows with a bladed instrument to hack him to pieces? Not even the Crimean syndicate is that brutal. Whoever killed him passed on collectibles and high-value historical artifacts worth seven figures or more. Theft of a cell phone and a couple of gaudy jewelry pieces doesn''t pass the smell test." It feels like someone takes a wad of cotton out of his ears, and suddenly he can hear it. A male with a British or Scottish accent who speaks with a smooth, deep voice, a voice of authority, and confidence. Professionalism, even. Every other sound seemed to just¡­dissolve into the background. "So, what''s the connection Nick?" The other person asks. He takes a second. ¡°I think they found something in the mine. What that is, I don¡¯t know. And I don¡¯t know how that relates to this enchanted mural, or the string of Awakenings. Or if they¡¯re even related. You¡¯re the one that preaches that when we hear hoofbeats, we think of horses, not zebras.¡± "Aye. Maybe. But I¡¯ve been at this long enough to know when there¡¯s a pattern buried deep. These events are related. There must be common threads somewhere. We just need one loose thread to unravel this cryptic tapestry." The male on the line seems to Drenar like he¡¯s an investigator. Nick responds before Drenar can ponder the exchange. "Think I should tell Sam?" "Not yet. Too early to get them involved, not without solid leads. You''re good at kicking over rocks Nick, go do that. My big question is, what''s the connection to the Awakenings? Is it perhaps just a coincidence? Normal awakenings would be strange enough¡­but drakensouls? They¡¯re a rarity among a rarity.¡± "I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s very strange timing though, with these events happening in such short order. How many Awakenings for drakensouls have occurred over the past hundred years?¡± ¡°Maybe a few thousand. That¡¯s a fraction of how many dragons were theorized to exist around the time¡­I think the lowball estimate was a million and a half. Two million?¡± Drenar has to hold his breath, because this is stunning. This is all related. Nick clearly knows what¡¯s up, but what¡¯s his angle? Who does he work for? The Conclave? SAF, like Evan mentioned? It¡¯s a theory that makes some sense. SAF would focus on containment breaches of the knowledge of magic. They had to. Magic and monsters would upend the geopolitical calculus of the world in an instant if they got out in the open. "There''s been a dozen awakenings inside two weeks over a geographically tiny area, and that might be an undercount. We are in seriously uncharted territory, Levine. We are lucky my town isn''t what you would call urban by any measure. I should have kept tabs closer to home. I came home after Mom¡¯s death and¡­everything¡¯s changed.¡± ¡°Nick, you do know a couple of professional draconologists who could shed some light on this,¡± Levine suggests. It¡¯s a more¡­personal tone. Nicks worked with this man for a while. ¡°Amaranth is the absolute worst at responding to calls from anyone, and he spends most of his time in magical biozones where cell towers don¡¯t exist, or there¡¯s too much interference from metamagical ores.¡± Drenar¡¯s eyes widen¨CNick knows Amaranth? Julia is going to have a freaking meltdown when she hears this! ¡°What about that lovely woman you met, who was his prot¨¦g¨¦?¡± ¡°Huh? Josephine? Well¡­I dunno. It¡¯s been about a year and change since I last saw her. I think she took a new job after she left MBPS, I don¡¯t quite remember where¡­it might have been Asqualia! With her level of talent, that actually makes sense,¡± he sighs contentedly. ¡°Oh, did you two have a thing?¡± Levine almost sounds amused at this. ¡°Nope. Purely professional, I was a tagalong for some of their forays for field research. First and last time I¡¯ll ever try to take on a Kryngaxx.¡± Drenar rolls his eyes, it''s¡¯ like Nick is a magnet for literally every girl in the school, and he politely turns all of them down. ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t think I have her phone number, either. I¡¯m sure I can ask around, she would be another good person to field a few questions on the subject. All I do know is that I feel like something bad is about to happen, Levine. I¡¯ve got a danger sense that feels like it''s been on non-stop alert for about a month.¡± ¡°Drenar, why are you lurking in--¡± Seriously James, now of all times?! He shoots him a panicked look and a motion for silence. James recoils silently, mouth open, like he¡¯s seen a ghost. Then his face scrunches, and he just looks confused. ¡°Levine, I gotta go. Something came up.¡± Drenar hears a phone click off. Nick looks surprised to see them when he rounds the corner. ¡°Wait--Drenar, James? Why are you guys here?¡± ¡°I was trying to get away from the crowd,¡± Drenar lies. ¡°What a freaky mural. Have you ever seen anything like that?¡± ¡°Like what?¡± He looked at him suspiciously. ¡°You know, the giant dragon sitting over a pile of dead bodies.¡± He continues to look at him curiously, and then shrugs. ¡°Nah. Never seen anything like that before,¡± he replies before turning to James. ¡°So what did you guys think it was?¡± ¡°Super creepy, in a word,¡± James eyeballs Nicholas in equal measure. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s just jet Drenar, I don¡¯t wanna be anywhere near here when teachers, police, and the media show up." ¡°That''s probably not a bad idea,¡± Nicholas says before putting away his cell phone. He hesitates at the door, and turns to face them over his shoulder. ¡°If you guys see anything weird...tell me first?¡± he asked, sounding uneasy. ¡°Why, exactly?¡± James demands. ¡°It¡¯s just...nothing, never mind,¡± he sighs. He straightens his hair and quickly made his way out the door. James turns to stare at Drenar. He can feel his chest still tightening and his heart rate still hasn''t gone down. In fact, it''s racing now, and he feels a light arcing pain in his fingertips. ¡°What the hell has gotten into you lately, Drenar?¡± James demands. He isn¡¯t just annoyed, he¡¯s legitimately pissed off now. ¡°You saw that mural. You saw something you recognized. But why? And from where?¡± Drenar barely hears him over the sound of blood rushing behind his ears. He feels dizzy and slightly nauseous, and his arm isn¡¯t just itching, it¡¯s in aching pain right now. ¡°Hey, uh, don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but you look like crap right now.¡± Oh no. No, I can¡¯t Awaken here in school, this is a disaster, keep awake! ¡°I¡¯m...fine,¡± Drenar manages to blurt out. He staggers over to the sink, misses the counter and clinks the edge of the sink with his fingers. He takes several heaving breaths and looks towards the floor. He tries to keep awake, counting on the inhale and exhale, and tries to steady himself on legs that seem to have all the strength draining from them. The last thing he sees before the creeping blackness at the corners of his vision closes in, is James rushing towards him. Vol. 1, Ch. 14: Heritage Manifest, Part Three Two minutes earlier¡­ ¡°Julia, that is the most batshit crazy thing I have ever heard you say, and that¡¯s saying a lot!¡± James expresses his disbelief in blunt terms after she tells him that wizards and dragons exist. Angela and Julia are both glaring daggers at him. ¡°A magical creature bestiary? A world-spanning conspiracy of wizards, dragons, and who knows what else, who live among us in some secret society? And it bears repetition, dragons?! Are you two out of your mind?!¡± Julia lets out a frustrated growl, and pulls him by the collar to force him to look at the page. The looming specter of the Siberian Hellkite is inches from his nose. It isn¡¯t any less disturbing up this close. ¡°Ow, okay, I can see you¡¯re disappointed that I don¡¯t buy into this¨C¡± ¡°Read it, Skeletor!¡± she snarls. Angela looks perturbed by the spectacle, but Julia is not backing down on this. ¡°Tell me that this isn¡¯t an extremely uncanny coincidence. How did no one see how this graffiti got here? How do you heal from gruesome wounds in a matter of a couple hours? How else could I fry a microwave out of nowhere?¡± ¡°Julia, you are the destroyer of worlds and a man¡¯s pride, and the former of those two is trivial to the destruction of the latter,¡± James replied sarcastically. He examines the image, then back to the graffiti. He frowns when he realizes the image is a bit uncanny in terms of similarity. ¡°Did you two put this up? Wait. You walked into the school at the same time as us. There¡¯s no way you could do this. Angie, maybe, she¡¯s the art talent here¨C¡± ¡°James, this mural took probably a couple of hours, and no one even noticed it till five minutes ago. In the span of a couple of minutes, someone put this up, walked out, and had time to play a round of sudoku,¡± Angela replies unhappily. ¡°Julia, please don¡¯t damage him more than necessary, I¡¯m going to get a round of grief from my mom again if you injure him like the last time at the training center.¡± Julia relaxes her grip on James, and he recomposes himself hastily. The crowd around them is paying them exactly zero attention for the time being. ¡°I mean are you sure you¡¯re not fooling yourself, Evan could have been injured and the wounds would have scabbed over¨C¡± ¡°He grew claws, Angie. Drenar has a patch of scales on his arm growing at a geometric rate, you want to test me on this one?!¡± James is firmly convinced Julia has finally lost her mind, but Angela simply gasps. ¡°Um, James, let¡¯s pretend for a moment this is not a big joke, and more like a ¡®holy crap they weren''t kidding, and we¡¯re terrible friends for not believing them¡¯ kind of thing,¡± Angela says very quietly. ¡°No, I¡¯m just convinced these two have lost their mind,¡± he snaps at her. ¡°You know, maybe we should ask the other person with skin in the game? Alright, Drenar, maybe you can¨Cwhere¡¯d he go?¡± she asks when she turns around to realize Drenar had taken off¨Cpushing past the crowd and following Nick to the bathroom on the far side of the hall. ¡°What is he doing?¡± she asks pointedly. ¡°Probably having bowel troubles with all the party drugs those two have been doing to come up with this,¡± James snarks. He can almost hear Julia¡¯s tensed muscles creak from restraint. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll go check on him,¡± James relents and pushes past the crowd. Julia is a bit of a fey spirit at times, but Drenar reserves his sheer nonsense for tabletop gaming only, and the occasional sardonic wit. James hopes his only respectable rival is not losing his mind when he edges past the thinning crowd down the hall. It has to be a joke, right? An elaborate joke by those two. Except, he¡¯s at a loss how they could have pulled this off. He can hear someone talking in the bathroom distantly. He throws the door open, and Drenar is leaning on the wall, his neck craned, and he is focused on listening. Was that Nick talking to someone on his cell phone? ¡°Hey Drenar, reality is calling you back,¡± he says, but Drenar completely ignores him. He also looked slightly pale. ¡°Drenar, why are you lurking in¨C¡± Drenar shoots him a panicked look, and James is taken aback slightly. His eyes are green¨Cnot green in the normal sense, but bright green, and the whites of his eyes seemed to have melted into that greenery. James opens his mouth to say something, but then, his eyes are¨Cthey¡¯re the way they always were. ¡°Shh.¡± Drenar tries to convince him to be silent, but Nick hears James enter and announce his presence. After a terse exchange with Nick that left James even more befuddled, he¡¯s left to deal with his best rival, who now looks like he¡¯s one stiff breeze from falling over. ¡°Hey uh, you kind of look like crap right now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­fine,¡± Drenar manages to blurt out before staggering over to the sink. James watches this spectacle with Drenar clutching his chest with one hand. Then, James sees something that finally shuts him up. Drenar¡¯s right hand is covered in a patchwork of silver and blue. James wants to say something, but shock only furthers his silence. He takes a few cautious steps while Drenar is leaning over the sink. James peers closer, and realizes that Drenar hasn¡¯t gotten a new tattoo. Scales are growing on his hand and creeping up his arm, beneath his sleeve. Ah crap, what do I do? Has my best friend become a monster? Is he cursed? Is this some kind of diabolical prank that I¡¯m about to murder him over? James'' train of thought is derailed when Drenar slumps and collapses on the floor in a heap, gasping for breath. His fingers on his right hand are longer, and the nails have elongated into dark blue talons about an inch long each. James does what everyone else would do in the face of something bizarre and impossible and grips his head like he can''t comprehend this and lets out a sound of restrained panic. ¡°Ah, shit. Drenar, we need a little less body transformation!¡± Drenar is out cold, and James kneels over his friend and drags him to the nearest stall. James deduces a few things in an instant. Drenar is clearly out for the count, and this is a spectacle that is not only completely and utterly beyond his understanding but that Julia is completely validated in everything she just said a few minutes prior. ¡°Gah¡­you ain¡¯t anything but lean muscle, but you''re still heavy as all sin,¡± James pants as he finally flings the door shut, and props up him on the wall. If anyone walks in on this, questions about his masculinity are going to be the least of his problems. Worst case, he ends up dissected by some government scientist looking to understand why a teenage male has scales on his arm. And that is just not a scenario that he is going to allow. The slanderous scrawls on the wall do nothing to break the mood, and Drenar still hasn¡¯t quite woken up. James grabs his phone and takes a couple of pictures of his arm. He only has a few seconds before the talons seemingly soften at the edges, and revert to normal fingernails. His skin is smooth and pale, like before. And his breathing seems to have returned to normal. Great. The twin soul troublemakers have done it. They have opened the seventh seal and real magic just crawled into the world. He sends a text to Julia that he grimaces at even as he presses the ¡®send¡¯ button.
[You were right.] [This is Drenar¡¯s fault, isn¡¯t it?]
Her response back is as biting as it is deserved. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
[Baka. You didn''t listen.] [Man the eff up, we got existential problems.] [Get him moving, haul ass NAO!]
Drenar looks like he''s coming to, and he''s got no time to deconstruct this unbelievable turn of events. ¡°Hey you, you''re finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right?¡± he asks impatiently while snapping his fingers, and shakes Drenar¡¯s shoulder. His eyes snap open and he looks at James, confused and disoriented. ¡°What just happened?¡± is the first thing he gasps. Then he cranes his neck around to look down at himself, then at the stall. ¡°Also, why are you here with me? This is not how I do first dates, just saying. Ow.¡± James lightly smacks him on the shoulder, and his incensed expression instantly curbs Drenar''s urge to snark further. ¡°Okay Drenar, I¡¯m gonna level with you. You grew scales, your hands turned into claws, and then you blacked out for a good thirty seconds." James shows him the photo and Drenar peers at it, utterly stunned. "Care to explain how that happens? Or how that doesn''t violate several laws of physics, biology, conservation of energy, and more?" "Magic. Look man, I''m still not over the existential shock just yet, unlike Julia, who is utterly delighted about this screwy turn of events,¡± Drenar replies quietly. He¡¯s examining his hand, and rubbing it like it aches. ¡°Hey, all the scales are gone! That¡¯s¡­that''s super.¡± He slumps back and rests his head on the chipped wall tiles, and grimaces like some awful spectacle has occurred. ¡°Oh, that could have been bad, James. Dragons tend to keep on the down-low.¡± ¡°Are you seriously this chill after partially transforming into a mythical creature?¡± James demands before kneeling. Drenar peers at him and shrugs softly, like he doesn¡¯t even want to argue. ¡°Okay. So the first question is, if you go full dragon mode, are you going to eat people, and am I going to be living my last fleeting moments on this Earth in a B-movie horror flick, or are you in complete control of yourself?¡± ¡°James, don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but I¡¯m fighting a skull-splitting headache the likes of which I can¡¯t even describe, so if you sass me, I will bite your head off," Drenar states with a vein of anger. "Also, no. Dragons are sentient. They¡¯re as smart or smarter than us, and for reasons I haven¡¯t been able to read into yet. They built an empire that peaked and vanished about a thousand years ago. Something about some kind of Ascension event. The author was kinda vague.¡± James almost gets lost in those green eyes of Drenar, who tilts his head at James. ¡°Yo, am I transforming again? You might want to clue me in because I don¡¯t have full control of this yet. Or at all, until I hit my first real transformation.¡± ¡°I find my disturbing acceptance of this reality is coming too readily,¡± James sighs after realizing he¡¯d been staring for a spell too long. Drenar shrugs. ¡°Kinda have to. Because I don¡¯t want a magical lobotomy by what passes for the Cowled Wizards in this mage world we stumbled into.¡± He tries to rise, but James firmly puts a hand on his shoulder to slow him down. ¡°So, a couple of things to get out of the way. First, I am not going to cut bait and run because my best rival can transform into a mythical creature the likes of which no one I know has ever seen. Second thing, I¡¯m starting a bingo card for all future weird shit that happens, and when I fill it, your whole Magic trading card collection is mine." "Are we making a competition on this?" he asks, his mouth agape for a second. His expression then hardens into a grim smile. "Fine. I''m game.¡± James wears a lopsided grin when he grips Drenar''s hand ,and hauls him back to a standing position. "So, you and Julia need to fill us in on a lot of stuff. And are we keeping this to ourselves for now?" Drenar thinks about this for a minute, still rubbing his wrist as if the scales will come back. "Yeah. For now. Until we can find someone we trust to talk to about this, plus Evan, who is a dragon now. Nick''s not who he says he is. He sounds like an investigator, camping out in a high school." ¡°Evan is a dragon.¡± James¡¯ eye practically twitches at this declaration. ¡°Yep. He grew scales and claws when Julia yanked a broken tooth out of his shoulder. Julia should never go into the medical profession,¡± Drenar laughs nervously. ¡°He¡¯s a dragon.¡± ¡°Well, half. Did I mention the funky part where half-dragons don¡¯t get to transform until they¡¯re in their teens?¡± James just gives up. This insanity is going to take medication of a potency he doesn¡¯t have access to at the moment. He focuses on the other dangling item. "Alright, fine. But on that note, Nick''s alright, he''s just kinda reserved. So I''m guessing your whole mighty morphing dragon ranger vibe is part of something going screwy." Once James broke past the illogic of magic being a real thing, his deductive processes went into overdrive. "Somethings¡¯ going wrong. That''s all we¡¯ve been able to figure out, we aren''t the only people this has been affecting, and has been happening all at once." Drenar points to his phone, still sitting in his hand. ¡°Don''t put anything online. Save any photos you take to your phone''s local SD card. If you ever get detained for anything, smash the SD card and lock the phone. If you have to text Julia or me, use an encrypted messenger. Or talk to us in person. I have a lead on where I think we can find more on this secret mage world. The Sherman Zylandra memorial library, at the other end of town.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± James tilts his head and frowns. ¡°How do you even know there¡¯s anything of value there?¡± ¡°The place reeks of absurdly gross monetary negligence. Supposedly, the story goes, the guy who built it had the place relocated, brick by brick, from some land he inherited in Britain about thirty years ago. Anyhow, I did a cursory search of any and every other author or reference that was in the bestiary, I came up with nada. But I have one reference. Hanna Celestine.¡± ¡°Where¡¯d you get that one from?¡± James asked curiously. Drenar takes a deep breath as if dreading what he¡¯s about to say. ¡°There uh¡­may be a living manifestation of a soul lurking inside me that isn¡¯t me and he kind of bleeds over into my dreamscape, or he has a few times this past week. And I''m pretty sure he is a dragon." Why did I even ask? James groans internally. Despite his urge to call Drenar insane, he decides a more measured approach is needed. "So when did he pop up? I mean imaginary friends are so ten years ago¨C" "Look, this one is gonna take a while to explain," Drenar states, and he''s appears to be restraining himself form shouting. "I don''t know all the answers, James. I wish I did, but we''re flying blind. Well, so to speak,¡± he shrugs. ¡°Alright. I¡¯m sold. I mean it''s not like you would lie about everything else after what I just witnessed, and you suck at lying anyway.¡± James straightens his posture and opens the stall door¨Che can hear the bell warning before class. ¡°You¡¯re sitting down with us and going over every detail, Drenar. No matter how crazy it sounds. And uh, is this also happening to Julia?¡± Drenar grins wildly, and for the first time, James feels truly intimidated. ¡°Oh yeah. Turn and face the strange, buddy." Instead, James smiles evilly. A thought had occurred to him. ¡°You do know Angela likes dragons, right?¡± ¡°Yeeeessss,¡± Drenar answers in a drawn-out way. ¡°She''s gonna have you eating out of the palm of her hand by the end of the week. Food for thought.¡± Drenar narrows his eyes. ¡°I''m not sure I''d ship with that kind of relationship. Wait. Wouldn''t it be the other way around? Is giving a girl her first flight on a dragon kinda something special? I have so many questions I have to figure out now.¡± James scowls at this hopeless childlike naivety. Or, it''s Drenar just being Drenar. He seriously wonders how they became friends, he could be so strange at times. ¡°So, about Julia¡­I feel like I missed some existential dread.¡± ¡°Yeah, Julia''s threat factor as an MMA champion dragon with magical plasma should make the world shudder.¡± It''s terrifying that Drenar deadpans the statement. ¡°I don''t know if they make dragon-sized guns, but if they do, Armageddon is nigh.¡± ¡°The badass goth chick gets draconic superpowers. I physically felt my lifespan shorten just now.¡± James heads out the hallway where no one even notices their presence. Vol. 1, Ch. 15: The Ascension Events, Part One ¡°We could still get lobotomized.¡± Julia doesn''t even bother sugar-coating her words to Drenar. ¡°A distinct possibility. But according to Evan, once people start generating mana, that''s literally impossible. We already have protection from mind-screwy things.¡± She hates how he has that disarming charm that even affects her on occasion--why is it so difficult to stay mad at him? She puts the thought on hold, and has another idea. ¡°What is mana, exactly? Amaranth''s book doesn''t go into much detail, other than some critters have crystals of it integrated into their body. Like some weird symbiotic thing." She still has trouble grasping that concept--actual crystals embedded in the flesh or as part of an exterior carapace or armor scaling. ¡°His words? Magical energy. It''s funky to the max. Now, why did you spill the beans to James and Angela?¡± Drenar asks. She throws her hands up in frustration. ¡°Why''d your sorry ass pass out in a bathroom right in front of James?¡± she retorts. It''s a bit mean, but this day is not going her way on a variety of fronts. The Talons are getting bolder, and she could tell by a few reactions of people throughout the day that some people were scared. Terrified, even. Which is why she''s not keen on wasting any more time this afternoon than necessary at one of the local libraries--the odd one that some rich dude transplanted in town from thousands of miles away. Kelly had been among them, and she wanted to tell her everything going on, but not in school. That would have to wait until later. Drenar in the meantime is running his fingers through his tostled hair, as if he could ever fix that bird''s nest on top of his neck. Get a comb kid, seriously, I don''t know what''s so alluring about it! ¡°It was intense, and I tried to not pass out, but my body was like, ¡®No, you''re taking a nap.¡¯ Luckily, visibility issues have gone away. For now,¡± he says as he rolls back his sleeve to show human skin. He looks a degree more confident. ¡°So, they both know now. What''d you tell Angie?¡± ¡°That we could end up dead or lobotomized if we¡¯re not careful,¡± she says while leaning on Drenar''s car door, just outside the Sherman Zylandra Memorial Library later in the afternoon. ¡°We''re meeting on Thursday. We have the holiday on Friday, so whatever we''re gonna do, we need a plan. So, the big question is, do we trust Nick?¡± Drenar bites his lip, as if he''s unsure he''s to answer. ¡°Let''s say the jury is out on that one. All I do know is that he''s investigating the Talons, and I''m sure that being a high school student is only his day job. Our only lead," he adds for emphasis while he held up the bestiary of magical monsters, "Is this. There was one hit on Hanna Celestine. Theoretically, she¡¯s supposed to have been dead for over five hundred years. And yet, one hit came up. Supposedly, she was a chemist who made a couple of discoveries about distillation processes." "Who is she?" Julia asks. He might have mentioned it once before, it is a rather pretty name. "I dunno. Alex mentioned her. And her husband, Gerard. And a few other names.¡± ¡°Again, why are people you¡¯ve never known floating around in your head?¡± she demands before pointing at the building while jabbing her finger as she spoke. ¡°Okay, call me crazy¨C¡± Drenar tries to say, but she cuts him off. ¡°We¡¯re there, thanks." Drenar bites his lip. ¡°Okay, hear me out. Maybe what I¡¯ve been seeing is real. Somewhere. Maybe Alex is a person from another plane, and our dreamscape just touches on it, barely.¡± This is not part of dragon science or any science, and he''s wrong! ¡°No, that¡¯s not how dreams work! It¡¯s just the brain randomly firing off an electrochemical jumble, guided by subconscious desires and neuroses!¡± Julia taps her foot, gazing up at the imposing building. It''s rough-hewn grey stone, with raw timber girding on the interior, along with modern touches and updates. It''s not bad looking, it just feels out of place in this town. ¡°Or, maybe the dragons got obliterated so badly that only their souls remained, and occasionally they find their way back. We know dragons are highly magical creatures. And intelligent. Alex could be literally a lost soul. With Rick being utterly useless, we have to find answers on our own for now.¡± ¡°You think we¡¯re going to find the answer here?¡± He nods quietly. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s your play. So what''s our game plan?" "Find anything related. I found a date on one of the illustrations, sometime in mid-1974. There may be microfilms that can help us--if this is a low distribution book, maybe the author is local, and older periodicals may have done some review or an interview with the author. The library itself is kinda suspect, like mages decided it would be fun to relocate an entire building from Wales over to the US. For some super eccentric reason." He took a moment to push the double doors open. ¡°Worst case, we approach Nick. I find it incredible he knows Amaranth." ¡°It''s a super freaky coincidence. Any idea who that Levine guy is?¡± Julia has been taking notes on everyone in the know about magic, and it''s a growing list. Knowing who knows what could be helpful later, if they have to take a risk on who to trust. ¡°Investigator. Maybe SAF. Same as Nick. That doesn''t automatically make them the good guys yet,¡± Drenar cautions. ¡°Well, shall we?¡± He says with a brighter expression. "You are nothing, if not persistent to a fault Drenar," she replies as she gives him a warm smile. "Alright. Let''s get some answers." They approached a secretary desk, a relic of proper woodworking days carved out of rich maple and adorned with decorative legs, butter-smooth texture, and a simple desktop PC on the top. A young woman with oversized glasses types something at a rapid pace. Her eyes are transfixed on the display in front of her. Cold pale light emanates from the screen, reflecting off her glasses. the building is all warm colors, with occasional stone wall accents. This place must have cost a lot of money for a town as small as theirs. Too much money, in retrospect. Dragons and wizards are hiding something here, she can feel it. "Uh, excuse me miss," she calls out to the woman. She made no motion to acknowledge Julia, and is focused on typing. Clack-clack-clack. "Uh, miss?" Julia asks again before waving her hand casually. The woman makes a startled noise, and pulls out a set of earbuds. "Oh, sorry about that! I was so focused on this report for my grad class!" She brushes a strand of curly brown hair out of her face and extends a hand. "What can I do for you?" "I''m trying to find an author, Amaranth Vertimer. I can''t find anything about this guy, and I absolutely love this book--for uh, my tabletop gaming sessions," Julia adds hastily after showing her the book. ¡°Also, someone called¡­Hanna Celestine?¡± "You could try the card catalog," she suggests. ¡°There''s also the archives room where we store some books, but I don''t think I can just let anyone in there." "Uh, why exactly?" Julia asks innocently. "It''s really important, he loves this book! We''re part of the literature club in school, and we''ve been looking for obscure books from local authors, to highlight our town''s contributions to writing and the liberal arts." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "Uh...you got any credentials?" The woman asks casually while raising an eyebrow. "Mister Mortimer, the town historian?" Julia is extremely quick to come up with a plausible answer. "He suggested we should come here.¡± ¡°Well, I do know Mister Mortimer, he drops by here on occasion--always telling kids to stop walking around with their cell phones glued to their faces.¡± She squints at them and adjusts her glasses for the third time. ¡°I have to admit, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve had *anyone* ask me about obscure books before.¡± ¡°Can you help us?¡± Julia sees the opening and goes for it. "I...oh why not. It''s not like we''re the Louvre," she doesn¡¯t hesitate before pulling out a key ring and thumbing through it before handing Julia one. "Please return the key when you check out, okay?" "Thanks! We appreciate this!" Julia beams, and the librarian smiles faintly. "Anytime. Just a word of caution, I think it¡¯s a little musty in there," she instructed before putting her earbuds back in. She could distinctly hear the sound of Metallica. Julia led the way to the archives room and unlocked it, beckoning him in. "Smooth play, Julia," he said casually to her. "And this is why it pays to have me along," she replies enthusiastically and proceeds to look through the bookshelves. "I''ll check in these rows, you take the other side?" "With pleasure." With both of them free to roam the large room, they set to work searching the shelves. The search goes about as well as Julia suspected it would. Oh, this is so slow, this crap isn¡¯t indexed, it smells like a mildew factory in here, and Drenar is still humming Metallica! She thinks angrily. ¡°This place needs to be purged. With sunlight. And mildew killer,¡± she growls. ¡°So that means you¡¯ve got nada over there? Yeah, me too,¡± Drenar says from the other side of the room. ¡°Well, minus this address ledger from the early 1900¡¯s. Hardly useful. I didn¡¯t realize this town was that old." ¡°Check for Vertimer. Maybe they had family out here,¡± Julia suggests. He flips through while she¡¯s browsing through useless news articles of the most vanilla fare ever. ¡°Hey Julia, you know how I know you¡¯re my lucky girl?¡± ¡°Because I was born a day ahead of you, and I inherited all the good luck?¡± she teases. ¡°Are you ever going to stop holding that ¡®one day older than me¡¯ thing over my head like it automatically gives you seniority?¡± he groans before looking her way. She responds by grinning wildly, and resting her chin on her hands while leaning on the bookshelf. ¡°Nope! Now remind me, why am I your lucky girl today?¡± It¡¯s an absolute treat to get a reaction out of Drenar. Sometimes, he makes it easy¨Cbut maybe, only just for her. ¡°There was a Vertimer family here in the 1920¡¯s. Malena Vertimer? This is on Elk Street, it''s about a half mile from your house," he said with emphasis. "Talk about close to home." Julia is immensely surprised at the coincidence, and she snaps her fingers. "Yeah, I know the house! Some lady lives there, she lives alone, but my mom drops by on occasion. I don''t remember her name. I think she runs the bakery in town," Julia glanced at him curiously. "Think we should stick around? I think this is the best lead we''re gonna get today." ¡°That¡¯s a hundred-year gap, Julia. Anyone who knew where they went is probably dead and buried, and so are they,¡± Drenar reasons. ¡°Wait. Hang on. Maybe not. How long do dragons live again?¡± ¡°A few thousand years. I read it real quick. Man, when I think about it, that¡¯s one real slow-burning candle. They could marry a human, be happy for sixty years, and poof, they¡¯re dust and bones while the dragon is still in their prime. That would kinda suck.¡± She makes an exaggerated expression. ¡°Hey Drenar, odds are good that our life expectancy went way up. Got any thousand-year plans?¡± ¡°Julia, not for nothing, but this existential crisis is likely just getting started. Real magical creatures, body transformation, and an ancient dragon civilization have maxed out my crazy meter,¡± he grumbles from down below. He blows the dust off of a leather-backed book and coughs on the resulting dust cloud. "Gah. So much dust," he manages to cough out. He put the book back and waited for the dust to no longer be an irritant. She laughs, and then she loses her balance for a split second, and nearly falls over the shelf. A few books hit the ground with a muted thud. "Oh uh...oops?" she offers an apology. That was so not in line with my pitch-perfect balance. ¡°Graceful, Tsundere. Let¡¯s try to leave this place intact.¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t pick those up! The law of luck states that if I pick them up, they may lead somewhere promising!¡± she states and hops down, but he snags them anyway and puts them on the table. ¡°Nah, I need some of that luck right now. Because I might die of spore inhalation if we take too much longer here.¡± He coughs again for emphasis--why are dragons affected by allergies?! That does not seem fair. ¡°Well, when you put it like that¡­yeah, this place is¡­moldering.¡± He raises an eyebrow at that statement. ¡°It¡¯s a real word!¡± He sighs and shakes his head, then goes back to the books. His eyes brighten. ¡°Oh hey, Julia, you¡¯re still my lucky girl. On a profound level." ¡°Aw, are you flirting with me? You know, a library is a good place for¨C¡± he peers at her, looking mortified at her suggestion, and puts a hand up to interrupt. ¡°Oh my fates, you keep teasing like that, one of these days I¡¯m going to call your bluff, Julia," he replies with a flustered expression. She leans in with a grin. ¡°Would you?¡± She does wonder if he would even try it. He might have the courage to follow through, but then that could be a little awkward for Angela. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that I¡¯m a one lady at a time kind of guy. There¡¯s a universe out there that has a version of me calling your bluff and is free and clear of commits. And you¡¯re thinking of it right now,¡± he says with a sly grin. Oh, when did you get so bold? This time last year when I sent you a selfie you almost had an anxiety attack. Hmm¡­do I go for it? Eh, maybe not in this mold-infested room. Also not while he¡¯s dating Angela. Gotta keep some rules for myself, and I¡¯m certain he won¡¯t break his ¡®one lady at a time¡¯ rule either. ¡°Are we in that universe?¡± ¡°Nah." She pouts her lip in response. "But, take a look at this in the meantime!¡± Her mood instantly brightens when he reads the title of the leather-bound book. ¡°For your viewing pleasure, ¡®Volume one of the Draconomicon, a history of Dragonkind, by Garrick Ergath''.¡± He¡¯s practically beaming when he shows her the leather-bound book. ¡°Oh give it here, let¡¯s read it!¡± she said excitedly, with both of them sitting down side by side at a reading table. It sort of reminds her of the times when they¡¯d listen to music on quiet days, each of them sharing a single earbud on an ancient MP3 player. The leather binding creaks ever so slightly as they open it, with Julia flipping through pages faster than he can read. "Hey slow down! I can read fast, but not that fast!" he protests. "I''m looking for something. This book has an index--ah, there we go.¡± She runs her finger down the page. "The Ascension Event. This is what I want to know about," she breathes before flipping through the pages. The paper rustles ever so slightly, dry with age but still perfectly intact. "Here it is." The crisp type print is readily legible. The problem is, the further Julia reads, the more she looks over at Drenar, and the more she realizes how completely out of their depths they are. And the more he reads through it, the more she sees that utter sense of awe, even in the face of life-altering revelations. ¡°Hey Drenar? We aren¡¯t crawling back up this rabbit burrow. We¡¯re stuck in Wonderland. Forever.¡± Vol. 1, Ch. 16: The Ascension Events, Part Two Ascension. What is it, exactly? To rise, in an abstract way. To become more than just oneself. To become something more. And it was a moment of our history that shattered the world and everything it could have been, if only we had known what the consequences would be... 1303 AD. The Conclave has won the War of the Magi, Crosomer is dead, his armies disbanded, and the Conclave survived, barely if that. A peace agreement was reached and a new policy called "The Veil" was established, wherein almost all non-magical sentients would be stripped of the memories of what had transpired for five years, a civil war of mages, Kin, and dragons. What followed next is less understood. In March of 1303, dragon ambassadors of the varying clans--from both sides of the conflict--met in modern-day Madrid, Spain. Witness reports from the Aei''lath clan, the few willing to go on record, indicated the dragon clans were discussing their future as a species in this world. They easily had the power to dominate all life on this planet given their intrinsic ability to generate mana and use magic of particular strength. But the mage rebellion shed light on the fact that the dragon race would never recover their empire. And they could not hide in the far reaches of the world forever. A new plan was needed. Dragonkind could not coexist with humans. Unlike the dwarven and the elvish who were almost identical in physical form to a normal human, dragons could not hope to blend in, not en masse. Volkir Menrayas, one of the greatest dragon sages of modern draconic history, promised a solution to find a new homeworld or place for dragons to settle and rebuild¨Cone that did not use the same dangerous astral gates that had been used by the Outsiders in the Schism War some 3300 years prior. Between March and June of 1303, there were multiple reports of dragon clans gathering in secluded areas, with massive hauls of Mana crystals being transported in their possession. What happened next is not fully understood even today, but the dragons were reported as missing a short time later. The sites they had gathered at showed signs of massive energy release--the only traces of anything left were fragments of mana, but the dragons had disappeared without a trace. No remains were recovered, not even dust as is typical of dragons expiring and the result of decay of alchemical reagents stored within their bodies. The means and methods of what magic they used were unclear at first. Millions mourned their disappearance. The dragons that remained, wept for the loss of their kindred. A racial annihilation had almost been enacted by misguided attempts to run away from the world¡¯s problems, some argued. Others argued it was their reckoning overdue for the Schism war and the excesses of some branches of the draconic empire that had gone too far in their reign thousands of years prior. The prevailing theory is that Volkir had found a way for dragons to reach an ascendant form--pure energy. Others theorize the process went horribly, horribly wrong, and merely atomized the dragons upon invocation of this magic. However, these theories have been debunked in recent decades due to a discovery that proves Volkir was at least partially successful: The discovery of the Drakensouls. Julia turns the page and sees a copy of an old, black and white photo with ¡®Sept 1917¡¯ etched on it. German soldiers surround a dragon, covered in the tattered remains of his uniform. They look at him in awe, and for a few moments in that awful, awful war of trench warfare and massive, unparalleled death for no apparent gains, a true miracle was witnessed. She¡¯s in awe¨Cthis isn¡¯t an illustration. This one is real. She nudges Drenar, and he¡¯s speechless. This just brings it so close to home now. This is what we¡¯re becoming. She continues reading before she sinks into the thought any further. It has long been established that dragons can mate with humans when assuming a human form, and that any resulting offspring will be born human, but gain the ability to assume the form of their heritage through Awakening, a transformation observed in the latter stages of puberty. These ''new'' transformations typically occur in people with only trace draconic genetic material, typically on the order of 25% or less. When the first reports were made of these unexpected Awakenings, an incredible discovery was made. The souls of the dragons were intact within the newly Awakened humans. And more surprisingly, they were able to communicate with their host! It is in effect limited, localized telepathy between host and dragon, and also important is the dragon''s memories were intact, able to recollect large swaths of the memories of their previous lives--or continued lives, as some have stated Thorough study of this new hybrid has also indicated even the dragons don''t know how they ended up in a host body, indicating that perhaps something went awry during the process, along with a notable void in memories immediately before the Ascension events. For the host, being a drakensoul is nearly identical to being a human-dragon hybrid, and are in full control of their abilities with two souls effectively merged into one, but with two consciousnesses. The relationship is symbiotic rather than parasitic or invasive. It is interesting to note that on rare occasions, half-dragon hybrids have merged with a drakensoul, and are arguably the paragons of our time. Already a powerful entity by themselves, but combined with the wisdom and memories of a dragon of a previous life, they have demonstrated immense capabilities in strength, cunning, and magical abilities beyond even the traditional hybrids. Because of the extremely limited instances of this being reported, it is difficult to conjecture the specifics of the physiology of such individuals. If more appear, there should be an intensive study of this sub-group of drakensouls. Perhaps if Volkir reappeared, he could explain what the plan was, and where it went wrong. The dragon souls long for their bodies, but if there was any way to recover a physical form, it has not been discovered yet. As of this writing in 1988, there are but a few thousand drakensoul in the world, and it may take hundreds of years for the remaining dragons to emerge in human hosts. If at all. The Ascension event is commonly referred to as a tipping point in the prevalence of magical influence on world history. Mages have been pushed further and further to the margins in the intervening centuries, and based on recent predictions, mage-kind will disappear sometime in the mid-21st century as there are many who refuse to utilize magic for any reason despite their abilities, citing the inherent risks to the natural course of history. This may be an unintended side-effect of the Veil protocol, where too much caution is given to keeping magic a secret from the world. The Drakensouls could disrupt that trajectory, however. With millions of dragonkin that disappeared during the Ascension event, they could disrupt the world balance as we know it. The recovery of knowledge, culture and the immense power shift could radically alter the modern day geopolitical landscape in ways we cannot predict. Dragonkind may not have needed us...but in the end, we may need them to survive as a species, to learn how to balance our existence with the world. To co-exist with our world. Julia finished reading the particular passage a hair faster than Drenar and simply stared at the page, rubbing her temples. "Holy crap. Millions of dragons? Millions?¡± She had a notion that they couldn''t possibly be the last ones in existence, but this history blows her mind. Drenar however, has latched onto something even more personally profound. ¡°Alex is a dragon. He¡¯s real.¡± Both of them sat back on the bench, floored by the revelation. "So, I now share real estate space in my head with a dragon. I have no idea how to feel about that. Elated? Anxious? Terror struck?" "Mix of all three?" She has to sit back in the chair and just wrap her brain around this. Drenar is carrying a plus-one? Where''s her magical dragon?! She wants one, too! On second thought, she''d probably drive any extra passengers insane with her rapid-fire train of thought. She narrows her eyes at him and gets back to the task at hand: whether Drenar is still Drenar! She still thinks so, but she can''t be too sure. "So, any burning desires to stash gold in a cavern, raid and pillage towns, and lord yourself over the plebs of the world?" "What?" Finally, she shook him out of his awe-struck daze. "Julia, I--no, I have no obsessions with material wealth, or committing arson! Besides, I have silver and azure colored scales. I am not that kind of dragon, I don''t get fire breath!" Well, at least it''s one less risk, she rationalizes. This awkward teen is still very much himself. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Nothing I can''t fix with chemistry--" "Julia, no." Perfect, he''s back to his normal self, if he can take his stern tone to keep her away from her more ill-advised ideas. He rubs his cheeks with his hands, then taps his fingers on the desk. Like he''s thinking about something, and then he lets out a small gasp. "Julia, I saw something I don''t think anyone else has seen." She leans in--what could be even bigger than confirming their findings. "So, a dragon in your head wasn''t the biggest thing?" "Okay, it''s tied together, so hear me out." He steeples his fingers, and his eyes go low to the ground for a second before glancing up. ¡°I saw them, Julia. In my dream. Millions of dragons, orbiting a void in the stranded lands¨Ca world between worlds. That void is cracking apart, and dragons are spilling out, Awakening with those whose souls are closely matched to them. The one that¡¯s attached to mine, I think he¡¯s a relative. Alexander Sandrick Rashalda.¡± He tilts his head, as if there¡¯s another realization. "I mean that''s a little weird, picking up the soul of a distant dragon family member?" ¡°No shit, genius,¡± she responds testily. Then, she grins wildly. ¡°Oh Drenar, this is both fantastic and possibly mildly terrifying!¡± she exhales with nervous laughter. ¡°I have so many more questions! But¡­Wait. I haven¡¯t had any dreams like that, but you did. Why the difference?¡± He tilts his head, and glances at the book for a second. "You could be a half-dragon. Same symptoms, awakening is almost identical to what we''ve read so far. Have you heard any random voices in your head that aren¡¯t part of your train of thought?¡± She ponders his question for a moment and comes up empty. ¡°Uh¡­no? I mean other than just my average half a dozen bad ideas an hour.¡± It''s more like a dozen per hour, but she''s gotten good at filtering them out. ¡°Then that probably makes you half-dragon,¡± he concludes. "You mean to tell me I just lost half my humanity in a heartbeat?" It¡¯s the fastest knee-jerk reaction she''s ever had, and Drenar winces. "Being human isn''t a prerequisite for having humanity, Julia," he offers softly after a few seconds. It is a little terrifying, and exciting. ¡°I mean, you could be just a mage. That¡¯s nothing to sneeze at either, but being half dragon?¡± "No way. Elemental plasma is in the realm of draconic superpowers. Ooh! I could be a superhero! Super¡­dragon? The title needs work!¡± she declares, much to his amusement. ¡°Of course, it also means the parents left me in the dark, big time. Focus on putting other pieces of this big jigsaw puzzle together," she asks with more restraint. ¡°Yeah, this totally explains a few things,¡± he states with firmness. ¡°It does? How?" She''s wondering if they missed signs from before. ¡°Maybe. Also, if I start randomly talking, and it¡¯s not directed at you, it¡¯s probably Alex. Just so you¡¯re aware," he declares. She jostles his hair just to annoy him. ¡°Preemptively calling out crazy behavior, does not qualify you as less crazy, and you were already just a wee bit crazy, in a good way,¡± Julia poses. He gives her a sour look. She gently points her finger at his temple, and he grunts irritably. ¡°Is he in there?¡± ¡°Laugh it up, Julia. Not like this isn¡¯t an existential crisis only subdued by my iron will,¡± he retorts. ¡°He''s like¡­a whisper, in the back of my head. And I know he isn¡¯t my imagination, he''s like¡­layered on. I can tell if he¡¯s present, there¡¯s just this¡­feeling that doesn¡¯t translate to normal senses,¡± he explained. ¡°Then again, I¡¯ve heard him maybe a couple of times when I¡¯ve been awake.¡± ¡°Like a¡­psychic radio?¡± she proposes. ¡°Kinda, sorta. I don¡¯t know if that changes after the first time I transform though,¡± he admits. ¡°Alright, let me think for a second, what else can be explained by all this? Going sequentially¡­¡± he trails off, and he narrows his eyes. ¡°Ah Nick, you magnificent bastard,¡± he mutters. "What about Nick?" She still refuses to believe that guy could be some kind of magical secret agent, but then again, Drenar''s convinced. ¡°He mentioned the Draconomicon in history class last week, and I thought he was just having a good laugh when commenting on the immolation dragons go through when they die. He was just hiding the truth behind absurdity." Drenar''s comment gets her attention. ¡°Uh, is mister California a dragon, and hid in the absurdity of it?¡± she asks. He shrugs his shoulders in response. ¡°I feel like that one is small potatoes to the discovery that souls exist. Or that dragons exist, and there¡¯s a whole slice of the history of the world that got put into a dustbin. Mostly because mages kinda suck at keeping the peace.¡± She taps the desk while pondering this. "You know what¡¯s truly nuts? They¡¯re not the only magical species, just by the way they name-dropped elves, dwarves, kitsune, and more like it''s no big deal. I don¡¯t want to know how they managed to grease the skids to keep all that under wraps and off of social media,¡± she adds. Everyone has a camera phone. How does that just not blow up on viral videos, if they get caught in the open? ¡°Money?¡± he proposes. Julia scowls at him. ¡°Lots of money. Billions of monies.¡± She snerks at this one. ¡°Is that how Facebook can lose billions and still be floating on?¡± ¡°The same can¡¯t be said of the great big blue tweet bird,¡± he sighs. ¡°Well, uh, I¡¯m drawing a blank on what to do next. I need to commune with my dragon soul. Except I have no idea how this works.¡± ¡°We might be waiting on that one until you Awaken. Just don¡¯t start talking to yourself, Drenar," she points out. ¡°Noted. In the meantime, got any ideas on where we even start to kick over rocks?¡± she snaps her fingers, and nods before addressing him. "Yeah, let''s go check out that residence. If that person can tell us more about who lived in that house, we can maybe track down Vertimer.¡± It sounds like a firm plan, to her at least. ¡°And ask him what?¡± ¡°Uh, just about anything and everything we can. And whether we have a pending lobotomy just for stumbling on this by accident,¡± she adds in a beat of dark humor. "Yeah I can get behind that, I¡¯m tired of this claustrophobic room and mildew, let¡¯s jet. I¡¯ll risk a pending lobotomy if I never have to taste spores again," he adds with a wrinkle of his nose. "It''s like, overpowering. Maybe this is what Evan was talking about for enhanced senses." "Yeah, let''s jet, and go seek more super dangerous secrets. If they''re already gonna lobotomize, might as well get some value from our efforts." She packs up the book in his bag and they depart out the door and click the lights off, and drop off the key with the librarian. The woman gives them a questioning expression when Drenar shows her the book. "That''s uh...a very strange book to be put in storage," she admits when she looks at it, then frowns when she can''t find a tag to scan into the reader on the desk. "Weird. I don''t think this is even in the system. Let me check." She types in a few commands on the keyboard. The sound of tapping keys is practically deafening to her. After a minute she leans back, her fingers drumming on the desk impatiently. "Sorry kids, I can''t lend this one out. It''s restricted." "What do you mean, ''restricted''?" Julia asks with just a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Look at it, it''s a work of fiction about cryptids!" She''s rather proud of that deflection--this librarian is better off not knowing things that look like giant centipedes exist, and that they have poisonous breath that can paralyze you. Or that they will nibble on your body while you''re still alive. Among other winners of nightmare fuel abilities. "I can''t lend it. It''s flagged as an...hang on, ''important historical documents'' according to this. Wait, this is..." the librarian trails off, furrowing her brow, then laughs. "This looks like a fantasy book! Someone must have misfiled this thing. You know what, keep it. Take as much time as you need," she said after handing it back to her. "Thanks! We''ll bring it back in pristine condition!" Julia says excitedly and practically skips her way out the door. Drenar chuckles softly. ¡°So, what odds do you give on this random trek to some lady we don¡¯t know going completely haywire?¡± he asks casually before starting the car a minute later. She purses her lips before going with her gut answer. ¡°Too damn high. Let¡¯s go find a magical creature specialist.¡± Vol. 1, Ch. 17: And Just a Hint of Cinnamon! Part One "Do we even have a plan here?" The doubt in Drenar¡¯s voice is apparent to Julia when they arrive at the house listed as the last residence of the Vertimer family. The tan and white house is well maintained, and the grass has yet to brown from the impending winter. The walkway is adorned with fall plants and bushes in full bloom¨Cit feels quite rustic. A series of well-maintained planters hung from the open porch of the two-story house. "I mean, what is this lady even going to be able to tell us? The Vertimers could have moved out ages ago." "Well, maybe we can track down Amaranth. If he''s alive." Julia doesn''t hesitate before she knocks on the door. She needs answers. No matter where they take her. For some reason, she feels like they are being watched. The only thing that stands out of place is a large black barn cat peering at them from a bench, yellow eyes flickering with interest at their arrival. "Hi there," Drenar said nonchalantly to the animal, but it merely yawns at him and then curls back up onto the bench, as if his presence isn''t noteworthy. "Careful Drenar, it might be some kind of dangerous beast," Julia teases. "You¡¯re more dangerous than any beast Julia, and yet I still hang with you,¡± he retorts. ¡°I''m only dangerous when I''m hungry! Just keep me well-fed, and I won''t have to nibble on you.¡± He goes red in the face in a near instant. ¡°I''ll be real with you, I feel like we''re skirting boundaries we need to have a proper discussion about someday. Not that I''m not flattered or anything.¡± ¡°So what you''re saying is, the only thing in the universe that scares you, is me.¡± Watching Drenar get anxious when she smiles is almost priceless. ¡°Alright, snack time later, down to business.¡± She knocks again, and she hears shuffling steps this time. "Just a minute." The French door creaks open and a young woman, not quite middle-aged yet, with dark red hair and amber eyes towers over them. There''s curiosity etched in the creases of her eyes. Julia''s first impression is that she''s a basketball star, because she''s lean and toned all over. "I''m sorry, do I know you two...oh Julia! I thought I recognized you, you look so much like your mom!" She smiles warmly at them. You mean, like a Viking warrior with raven black hair and a touch of Okinawa islander? Yeah, it¡¯s hard for me to hide in a crowd, Julia thinks to herself. She does recognize her from the bakery, but can¡¯t recall the name. ¡°Yeah, I get that a lot,¡± she plays loosely. "Oh, I know what this is about, I borrowed your mom¡¯s crockpot last week. Sorry, I''ve been busy. ¡±Julia can¡¯t recall that at all. Mom¡¯s been eating way too many frozen crap meals lately, or at work. Man, I want Drenar to cook me food, he¡¯s so good at it, and keeps me from burning down the kitchen. "Uh, not exactly, miss...I''m so sorry, I don''t think my mom ever mentioned your name," Julia answers calmly. Drenar glances at her, and she''s clicking her nails¨Che knows all too well she is slightly anxious. "Oh, I''m Malena," she replies, and her face brightens and she smiles widely when she focuses on Drenar. "Hey, I know you, you''re Drenar! Trisha''s kid! I''m so sorry we haven''t been formally introduced, I was a friend of hers and¡­" Julia¡¯s eyes go wide at the possible earth-shattering revelation. Oh, my fates. There is a dragon camping in the house half a mile from home. The amber eyes! And what¡¯s this with her knowing Drenar¡¯s mom? Drenar answers far too hastily to give her any time to process this. "Uh, yes, I''m Drenar," he hastily answers¨Cthis could be a coincidence, but given the recent discoveries, she seriously doubts her gut instinct is wrong. "So you''re Malena, uh..." "Yes, Malena Vertimer," she said proudly. He glances at Julia to read her reaction, and while subtle, she tilts her head slightly. "Oh where are my manners, do come in!" They almost stumble through the door into the moderately adorned house. There are traces of a European feel to the open room concept, the colors sharp and utilitarian, and the interior is well lit by a few hanging lights housed in decorative glass shapes that look almost like flowers. Julia can smell something simmering on the stove that smells like beef, and¡­ Why is there a faint smell of cinnamon in the house? Bakers gonna bake. You think they¡¯d get tired of it when they¡¯re at home. "Don''t mind me, I was just cooking dinner--Shepherd''s pie, nothing exotic. So Julia, is your mom working today?" She asks casually while putting away a magazine. Julia quickly used sign language to Drenar, with one single exclamation: [Play along, dummy!] she announces quietly. He gives her an irked look, but otherwise keeps a stone face. Julia puts on a smile, and her smooth-talking sets the pace. "Yep, she''s working tonight, sometimes I barely see her until the weekend. I take it my mom talks about me?" She drops the question casually, her hands on her hips. "All the time! Perhaps it''s not my place to say, but she is so proud of you. Last year of high school, and you''re going to USC next fall? What will you do in this world?" Instant panic ensues for her. Oh, you did not just drop that in front of Drenar before I could tell him. Damn it! Mom must have told her! And she¡¯d been debating even telling Drenar, given the extremely disruptive recent events, and how that was going to shake out in her future. "I''m...still kind of figuring that out. But, at any rate, I was hoping to major in Biochemistry." Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "You sure? I''m surprised she hasn''t tried to dissuade you yet. What with your...oh. Sorry, I shouldn''t speak out of turn." Malena falters in her words as though she''s broached a subject she shouldn''t, and Julia tilts her head, looking confused. Oh, do not tell me that you¡¯re in on this wild conspiracy theory, too, dragon baker! "Well, you know, it''s been a debate?" Julia proposes while internally seething. And Drenar is giving her a confused look. He¡¯s going to be irate at her for not telling him right away, and she knows it. "Hmm, true. Parents do care when their kids leave the nest, so to speak," Melena replies tactfully. "Anyway, I didn''t mean to interject. I still see you and Drenar are hanging out together, just like when you were kids. Are you two¡­" she trails off, smiling faintly. "We''re just friends," they both answer with annoyance in sync. "Ah. Twins, but not really," she mused, then walked over to Drenar. "I see Trisha in you when I see you, Drenar. You are definitely your mother''s son." "How did you know my mom?" he asks. "I don''t remember meeting you before." "Ah. Work friends. However, the bakery is a relatively new venture. She was always very charismatic, she made friends quickly and kept friends with everyone," she said, warmly. "She was also such a prankster. Oh, you know how it goes, a bunch of moms, all of us talking about their kids, swapping photos of all these fun family things, griping about husbands. I still remember the way she talked, that firm, decisive voice of hers. She never left anything unsaid that had to be said on the job. It was her gift. Then, when she¡­" she trails off, the smile gone from her face. There¡¯s almost no one that knew Trisha personally, that her death didn¡¯t hit them like a gut punch, Julia thinks sadly. Malena lets out a soft breath of remembrance. "Drenar, I''m so sorry about what happened to her. She is, in my mind, the kindest soul I¡¯ll ever meet.¡± "Yeah. My mom had that kind of impact on people. I get it," he said quietly. "I''m just surprised she didn''t...ah hell. It''s been a long time, I doubt I''d remember her mentioning you." "It was a long time ago now. The last time I saw you was at the funeral, and...well, you had your thoughts elsewhere, you may not have even noticed me." She examines him and puts her weather-worn hand to her chin, and the brightness has returned to her face. "Hmm. You even look like her, you know. The green eyes, are distinct. Not as tall as her, though," she adds with a hint of playful laughter. Julia tries and fails to hide her amusement, and he rolls his eyes at her. "I''ve got a couple of years to catch up," He grumbles in a somewhat veiled rebuke. "Oh, more than you know. Oh, I''m sorry, listen to me gab. You two must have come here for a reason." Malena switches the subject seamlessly, and Julia decides to stick to objectives. They need to find Amaranth, and hopefully it''s as easy as getting a phone number. "Hey uh...not to change the subject but, do you know an Amaranth Vertimer? Is he a relative of yours?" She blinks in surprise and nods animatedly, even proudly. "Of course! He''s my son! Amaranth hasn''t lived here in some time. He moved to London years ago. He visits on holidays though, always pestering me to come to his house out there...ah, he never lacks for energy." "But you''re...uh¡­" Drenar trails off. Oh you''re so smooth Drenar, bring up an ancient dragon lady''s age why don''t you? Julia worries he might blow this, even though he¡¯s usually pretty good at keeping things under wraps. ¡°Well, what brought him out there?¡± Good recovery, attaboy Drenar! "Work, actually. He teaches at a private academy, and from what he tells me it''s the best job he''s ever had. Were you looking for him?" If she mentions this academy¡¯s name sounds like ¡®warthog,¡¯ I¡¯m gonna murder fools, Julia thinks internally while Drenar pops the question. ¡°This is going to sound kind of weird, but I found his name in a book. I was hoping to find more of his writings, he had some cool stuff I was reading about that I was using for tabletop gaming.¡± "You...found one of his books?" Her puzzled expression is etched on her face, and she leans in a little. "Yeah. I did actually, and I was hoping to meet him. But London is a lot further away than I had planned for researching material for a tabletop game. I''m not that hardcore,¡± he admits and expertly weaves together a half-truth. "You think it''s...oh." It''s as if something clicks, and he finally manages to deflect her suspicion when she laughs softly. "He always had a good imagination, didn''t he? Almost as if he approached it as a researcher, studying animals from afar with patient observation. I¡¯m glad you enjoyed it,¡± she adds while smiling faintly. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose he had any more books, did he?¡± Julia''s face appears calm, but she''s anything but by this point. ¡°He did, but I don¡¯t have any here at the house. I could call him and see if he has any he could ship,¡± she answers, but given her rising suspicion, Julia thinks it¡¯s high time to leave. ¡°If you could, that¡¯d be awesome,¡± Drenar replies to her, then looks at Julia. ¡°Still wanna make food?¡± ¡°Huh, food?¡± she¡¯s been post-processing this exchange too deeply. Just ask for the damn phone number Drenar or an email! ¡°Julia, I know what you¡¯ll do if I let you cook by yourself,¡± he replies slyly, which she took offense to with a subdued growl from her throat. He turns to address Melena, who is setting a plate. ¡°Thank you, Malena, we appreciate the gesture. Here, give me a call if you manage to get in touch with your son,¡± he continues, before giving her his number. "I''ll try. He doesn''t bother with a cell phone, he''s always out in the field where cell reception is nonexistent, so I''m lucky if he reaches out on a landline or his email. At least I know he loves his work," she replies warmly. "Anyway, it was good to see you two. You should stop by sometime. See you later, at the bakery maybe?¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± Both Julia and Drenar depart a few seconds later. Neither of them dares to speak first. This is way too much to take in over only a couple of days. All she knows is that there is probably going to be a less-than-pleasant discussion about the less-than-stellar reveal. Vol. 1, Ch. 18: And Just a Hint of Cinnamon! Part Two ¡°You wanna go first?¡± Julia doesn''t look any less aghast than he is, and she''s still processing what all of this means. Him taking that quiet tone is bad news when he addresses her. ¡°Yeah. I think I should. You didn¡¯t tell me you got into USC.¡± You just had to bring that up first, didn''t you?! Julia fumes internally. ¡°You¡¯re focused on that? It wasn¡¯t her place to say!¡± She crossed her arms and looks back towards the house with a contemptuous expression. Dragon baker totally screwed the mood. ¡°You can¡¯t put the genie back in the bottle,¡± Drenar states firmly. She makes a deep gruff sound in her throat and turns towards him. ¡°So. Did you get in? I thought you were going to Boston College.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t just get in, I got a full ride, Drenar. At USC. I found out last week. I''ll get a full scholarship.¡± She can barely talk above an indoor voice on this one. This isthe worst time to bring this subject up. ¡°When were you going to tell me?¡± She makes a sharp tsk sound. ¡°Why do you care? You wanted out of this town, too. And you got into WPI, that¡¯s a master-class school well suited for your engineering, half a country away.¡± ¡°I know! I just...I thought that¡­¡± he trails off, possibly realizing his error. ¡°I thought you¡¯d be close by. You know, driving distance, not across the country." ¡°Angela¡¯s going to Amherst College, that¡¯s also not that far away.¡± Julia sighs, knowing this is going to hurt, no matter what. ¡°You knew this day was going to come, Drenar. We¡¯d go our separate ways from this town, go to college, meet new friends, and that would be it. It¡¯s only natural. People leave their hometowns. More than ever now.¡± ¡°It doesn''t have to be that way. I took that school because you guys would be within distance. I know it sounds a little selfish of me¨C" "You are being selfish." She takes his admission and throws it back in his face. He could be so attached sometimes, even if she perfectly understood why. ¡°You were going to leave regardless of which school you went to! You were going to leave and never look back at this place with even a second thought! So don''t pull that on me!" "That''s not true. I would have come back during the summer and semester break to see you guys!" That wide-eyed look of his suggests it''s true, but she''s fed up with the way life is still derailing. "And you didn''t even think that some of us might have plans of our own! Why were you so eager to leave anyway?" Her words sting like venom, and she realized she might be pushing too hard this time. He''s got that quiet look. Like a ghost creeping back in. ¡°Because there¡¯s no future here for me, Julia. I wanted to have the¡­things that mattered to me, and just¡­not be reminded." He looks up at her, a somber look etched in his eyes. "My parents are dead and buried, Julia. Diane and Dave are great people, and I will always appreciate the shoes they had to fill, but they can¡¯t fill the void that Mom and Dad left when they passed. This town has no major tech for the field I want to go into. You¡¯ve been my closest friend since as far back as I can remember. And it was a comforting thought, that you''d be close by." ¡°And I still am. You think I didn¡¯t think about this?¡± she asks, her breath coming in slightly shaky, and she''s quivering with fury. ¡°You think I didn¡¯t struggle with it? A free ride out of this go-nowhere town, but at the cost of barely seeing any of my friends? You forget I lost my dad too, in some stupid war that we had no business fighting half a world away! My dad was fighting for people¡¯s safety, and it was for nothing!¡± she shouts angrily, her eyes moist. ¡°Let me tell you something, putting distance between here isn''t going to fix that void, you know that? I will always miss my dad. No matter how far away I am from home. And it''s not a thought that''s gonna go away.¡± That day is still painful to think about, when she''d come home from school to see mom in the house, screaming and crying, crumpled on the floor of the kitchen, like half her soul had just been cut out. She still didn''t remember how she got through that day. ¡°Drenar, I still haven''t made up my mind about USC. And I have no idea how our current crisis is going to further disrupt things for any of us. So just shove this problem aside for now, because I don''t want to think about it just yet." He sees her trying to hide misting eyes and she feels the choking cling in her throat, and his whole expression droops. He knows this is beyond painful. "Alright. Okay. Let''s just¡­let''s tally it up as something that became small in the shadow of this disruptive situation. For now." He glances back at the pretty farmhouse and sighs before gesturing briefly in that direction. "Regarding our investigation, we''ve gone beyond the edge of the map, and there are indeed dragons. Like my brother wasn''t enough of a clue. Seriously, I asked him to transform and he was terrified, like he didn''t want to risk it. I guess that''s a fair point.¡± ¡°Focus, Drenar. Please.¡± She''s barely kept her composure, and he''s getting slightly sidetracked. ¡°Malena should be dead of old age. She¡¯s not who she says she is, that¡¯s for sure. Or what she is,¡± Julia adds for emphasis. She edges in a little, as if there wasn¡¯t enough distance between them and the house. ¡°I think she knows we''re on to her." ¡°Ya think?¡± Drenar responds sarcastically. "Hey I''ve got an idea, let''s go back in there and just ask her. Then we can ask all sorts of questions I really don''t want to know the answers to. And hope that I don''t have a future appointment for a magical lobotomy." "What could possibly top this so far?" She asks heatedly. "There''s an azure skimmer dragon sitting half a mile from my house! Who does baking for a living! Is that not just a little incongruous? Like, they don''t have way bigger things to do with their time?!" "Hey, the existential crisis is still young, so don''t tempt fate." He folds his arms and gives her a stern look for emphasis. Then the thought sticks. ¡°Seriously, you''re right. If I had a thousand-year-plus life span, baking seems a little trivial in the grand scheme of things. She does make really good scones at that bakery though. Absolutely magical.¡± ¡°You know you might be unintentionally on the mark on that one,¡± she suggests. ¡°Imagine that, a dragon-fired oven!¡± The discourse helps lift her mood a little. ¡°Azures spit out plasma bolts that are concentrated energy. You want flame-based, go find a Hinterland green,¡± he states flatly. She raises an eyebrow. ¡°I have Amaranth''s section on dragons memorized now.¡± ¡°Or a Nightwing. Or a hellkite¨Cyeah you know what, the hellkite would just burn the bakery down. Probably. Honestly, why aren''t they just swimming in gold piles like Scrooge McDuck?¡± She says with annoyance. ¡°A thousand years of compound interest, and they''d have more money than anyone on the planet!¡± ¡°Maybe all the billionaires are dragons? We are also getting delightfully off-topic,¡± Drenar reminds her. "Alright, fine, way to be serious and ruin my fun. The question is, what''s the next move? Calling Amaranth over the phone or sending an email sounds like a winning move. ''Hey, can you tell us why we''re Awakening, and what other uncomfortable physiological changes we can expect for our bodies?''" She scoffs at her bad idea. Drenar sighs. "Yeah. This paranoia shit is getting old. Why the hell couldn''t the adults trust us and tell us something? I refuse to believe that Diane and Dave don''t know anything." ¡°For now, pursuing Amaranth might take some time. I think we can get in touch with him directly through Malena. For now, I think that there are other threads we can follow." He has an idea. He usually does, she thinks with a mild sense of relief. ¡°You mean like tailing Nick?¡± she asked inquisitively. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°I think following him is risky. Let''s do something a little less smooth-brained. Let''s find out what Nick''s been digging into." He makes that squinty face like he''s trying to solve a puzzle without all the pieces. "I mean we already nailed it before, maybe he''s a mage? Or a dragon camping out in high school?" "But why?" She asks. "Our town is a footnote in history. No, it''s a footnote to a footnote. Unless there''s a grand old conspiracy of wizards, dragons, and more, and we just happened to luck out that no one ever spilled the secret to us!" "Okay Tsundere, focus? I''m trying real hard to solve the immediate mysteries and the total danger level," he reasons. He''s not entirely wrong. ¡°Okay, so, the mages and dragons have the Conclave, and SAF. There¡¯s some stability, though we haven¡¯t heard much other than snippets from Evan, and Rick is unreliable. Seriously I¡¯m gonna tie him to a chair and let you go to work on him with your chemistry set,¡± he proposes. She¡¯s not quite at that level of frustration just yet. ¡°I¡¯m starting to think our Plan A is to get Nick on our side.¡± "The wizard police.¡± She narrows her eyes and lets out a disgusted sound. ¡°I gotta tell you, not all law enforcement is automatically good, Drenar. Like I said before.¡± ¡°Look, here¡¯s what we do know: Nick didn¡¯t expect the Talons to show up, based on what I heard him saying on his cell phone earlier today. They view the Conclave, whoever they are, as usurpers and tyrants.¡± He exhaled heavily. ¡°Julia I think for the first time, there¡¯s something even bigger than what has been going on with us. I¡¯m not ready to trust Nicholas yet, either. Not until I know for sure he isn''t part of this mess. Getting some leverage or evidence could help get him on our side. We still have the looming problem of Jonaleth. We need to start having a serious plan for Evan¡¯s sake. And probably mine, but I¡¯m less worried.¡± "Why aren''t you worried?!" She almost shouts it right in his face. "Jonaleth murders a whole family, because we don''t join his club? That attracts a ton of unwanted attention that the Talons don''t want right now. I still feel like it might be a bluff." "You gonna bet your life on a bluff?" She wants to slap him in the face right now. ¡°No. It''s just me I''m worried about. We need every advantage we can, and if this goes so far south we don''t see an alternative, we tell your mom everything." "I don''t want to! Because if she''s in on this, she''s been lying to me my whole life!" Drenar grunts, but doesn''t push back on it. "Fine. Still an option of last resort, and if we have to, we will. Now, who can we trust on our next mad cap idea? I think for now it''s just You, James, Angela, and Evan. I promised James I¡¯d fill them in, and we put all our cards on the table on Thursday.¡± ¡°Man, Angie¡¯s gonna freak out when she hears beyond what I''ve already told her.¡± Julia groans, knowing she¡¯s going to get an earful about not telling her the second she learns about all of this. Then, a suddenly unrelated item creeps into focus, and she realizes their problems just got way bigger. Monumentally bigger. "Oh crap, I just thought of something! Gym class earlier, she looked like she was winded, and Angie''s no slouch after a couple of laps, I asked her if she was alright, and she snarled at me that she was fine. She was also complaining her heart rate was through the roof. She might be Awakening too!" Drenar hits his limit break, and his face goes wildly exasperated. "WHAT?!" "Our problems got bigger, short version. Oh man, this is just snowballing out of control," she groans. Drenar still looks like he''s trying to take this in, and his brain just won''t let him. "Way to drop that bomb at the worst time possible!¡± He looks like he just cannot compute this one this time, and she doesn¡¯t blame him. ¡°Okay, we need to go, we have work to do Julia, big time. Did you fry any more microwaves? Because you start seeing that, the countdown clock is ticking on your draconic, uh¡­evolution." She gives him a smoldering look. "People are not Pok¨¦mon, Drenar." "Yeah, the Internet disagrees with you. But again, any luck replicating it?" ¡°Not yet,¡± she conceded, ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to replicate the exact conditions but given what we¡¯ve read, our powers don¡¯t start coming in until just before our first transformation. Honestly, getting mad at you again might work." he glares at her accusingly. "I am not your lab experiment, Julia. Even if I can shrug it off." "You just love my electric personality!" He sighs and just let the comment slide this time, much to her amusement. ¡°Alright. For now, maybe we just wait and collect more information. Vertimer might be a dead end without talking to Malena, and gambling on attracting attention. I¡¯ve got one more idea. Mount Syren. Something is going on there, according to Nick. He said that the Talons had put in a permit at the mine, or some intermediary did it for them. Do you remember there being some kind of big industrial accident in town?" "Vaguely. There was a little hand waving about safety procedures not being followed and there was a collapse, maybe a couple of years ago,¡± she is scouring her brain for just what had happened. ¡°So how¡¯s this related to us?¡± "Not sure. Maybe it¡¯s unrelated, but Nick thinks the guy pulling the financial strings for this group was brutally murdered to cover up a trail of evidence," he explains. She huffs and knows where this hare-brained plan is going. "And let me guess, you''re going to go looking for evidence. While you may or may not have a massive physiological change in your body. This has ''bad idea'' stamped all over it, Drenar, and what''s scary is that you know it''s a bad idea anyway." "I mean, hey, the dragon in hiding is thirty meters that way," he suggests. She glances at him, concerned he¡¯s taking an awful risk, trying to get into that mining site. ¡°I don¡¯t like this plan,¡± Julia tells him while tapping a nail on her arm nervously. "If we''re going to do this, we need to research everything we can about the mine, the company, and layout, and go well prepared, and possibly well armed. We have no idea what we could find up there.¡± "Teenagers with guns sounds like a profoundly bad idea, and that''s a felony and a half." She hates it when he brings in a cutting logic. "What kind of felony is it for a dragon to murder your whole family, and burn your house to the ground?" she retorts. "Okay, You got me there. There''s a weird thought. How do you arrest a deviant dragon, anyway?" "With a grenade launcher. But I''m pretty sure Mom doesn''t have one of those. That I''m aware of." She does wonder if her mother has other items stashed away that are not supposed to be in civilian hands--she has a storage case upstairs in her bedroom closet she''s never seen inside. ¡°Fine, let''s not bring firearms. I''m keen on keeping the body count to zero, thanks. But barring that, what''s our backup plan?¡± He puts the proposal back in her court. ¡°Ride it out. Wait for it to happen. Worst case? I mean, if we had to broach the subject to anyone, it would be my mom in a last-ditch effort. I mean, c¡¯mon, my mom is friends with an ancient lady who should have died a long time ago, and was in possession of a book written by her son about monsters and dragons in our world. It¡¯s a little freaky coincidence, isn¡¯t it?¡± she asks. ¡°I think my mom hasn¡¯t told me everything yet. and I¡¯m scared to even ask her right now.¡± "What could possibly be a bigger secret than being a dragon? Is she a superhero dragon?" She can''t tell if he''s being sarcastic or not on this one. Mom is this ancient dragon being, and didn¡¯t even bother to tell me, because of course she wouldn¡¯t, she groaned internally before addressing him. ¡°The raven has hearing and eyesight like a hawk, and I¡¯m pretty sure she could bench press a car if I didn¡¯t know better sometimes,¡± she sighs. ¡°I mean Amaranth¡¯s book did say dragons in human form do tend to carry over a lot of the sensory and physical abilities, they¡¯re just a little bit more squishy. Let¡¯s go down that route only if we have to.¡± She scuffs her boot and sighs. ¡°Plus, if she wanted to tell us, she would have told us years ago, don¡¯t you think?¡± "True. Or they had to take a vow of silence, part of the Veil they mentioned? Like the path of a monk? Like, ¡®hey, we can''t tell you anything until you start sprouting scales and wings, but after that, here''s a crummy brochure on how the adults decided to cause massive mental trauma when you inevitably found out!¡¯" She shakes her head--it''s so stupid sounding, it probably is close to the mark. "Yeah, that would make sense in about the most awful way imaginable," Julia replies. "Are we ready to go?" "I am. Let''s head back to your place, and grab some food. We¡¯ll flesh out the next move over tacos.¡± ¡°Blah. Make me some of those world-famous slider burgers you claim to be so good at making, then we¡¯ll talk.¡± Once again Julia cuts to the heart of the conversation, and he smiles lightly. ¡°Only you would rope me into a world-spanning magical conspiracy just to get a free dinner out of me.¡± Vol. 1, Ch. 19: Radiant Delvers, Part One ¡°You guys are all crazy.¡± Drenar had convinced James and Angela to meet on Thursday while he and Julia gathered every scrap of information they could between classes and home life, and Drenar winced when Angela offered some initial resistance, and several other choice words that he simply said nothing to. Julia was not spared the flak, either. Even with the photo evidence that James still hadn¡¯t deleted. Angela had sat there in his room with James, Julia and Drenar explaining the past week, and she¡¯d gone wide eyed at this series of increasingly heavy blows to her perception of reality. ¡°Angie, seriously, sit down before you just fall over,¡± Julia pleads. Angela did no such thing. He realized that to her, it was ludicrous by any standard. And they¡¯re all sitting in his room, discussing it like their Pathfinder roleplaying game in his room like it wasn¡¯t immediate grounds to have an instant mental fit. ¡°Yeah, we get it. It¡¯s bonkers!¡± ¡°It¡¯s totally bonkers,¡± Evan says with reluctance. ¡°I noticed it with the heart racing thing, and luckily Rick noticed when I was starting to transform. It''s really weird that Drenar and Julia have had far more dramatic signs and a more prolonged Awakening¨C¡± ¡°No. What''s absolutely bonkers is that I can do this!¡± Angela flicks her wrist towards her body, and Julia¡¯s phone, which had been sitting on the floor, moved on its own and flew right to Angela¡¯s outstretched hand. She¡¯s torn between being livid, and terrified. ¡°You know the first time that happened, yesterday, after a few days of my heart rate running like I was going into cardiac arrest, it was a little shocking. It was horrifying. You two reckless idiots should have told us the nanosecond you confirmed your theories! I thought I was dying again!" "Uh, there was a first¨Coh right. Your heart condition. I thought they fixed that," Julia responds in a snap. "Wait. Was it that bad before?" "It felt like I was dying, guys. It''s a bit of an eye opener when you''re five years old, and you''re in the ER for a heart that was just barely working!" Drenar hesitates to interject, because he sees real fear in her eyes. The danger had been far greater than what she was saying. "So imagine, twelve years later, you''re minding your own business when your heart rate skyrockets, and you feel like you could pass out. Or the telekinesis I just demonstrated!" ¡°Not gonna lie, it was terrifying,¡± Drenar finally gets his word in. ¡°So, you''ve developed telekinesis. That must mean you¡¯ve got a drakensoul or are about to Awaken, either way.¡± ¡°Drakensoul. I should have known those dreams were something weird. I just didn¡¯t know how weird it was, and why I didn¡¯t tell you two. Because of course you two would absolutely know¨C¡± ¡°Volume, please. Our vanilla foster parents are better left out of this one, until I can guarantee no one gets a free magical lobotomy for breaching the greatest secret of mankind,¡± Drenar insists. Evan nods in concurrence. ¡°I didn¡¯t know what to make of Alex. Not at first. Ergaths¡¯ book cemented the fact that the dragons saw the writing on the wall. It was time to leave the planet for greener pastures because mankind was hitting its stride, and fighting that groundswell would have meant a lot of dead people after an insurrection in the mage government tore the fundamentals apart. We still don¡¯t know why more are coming in from whatever it was I saw¨Cthe Stranded lands, or the aether. Or why Alex embedded in my own soul, right here and now. Or why I¡¯m the only one that saw it.¡± ¡°Do we even know what the Aether is?¡± James asks. ¡°This thing sounds bizarro to the max. It¡¯s an interstitial. A place that defies reality. And yet, you saw it twice now, Drenar.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not so sure what I saw the second time was the aether. I think that was just Alex and I sharing a dreamscape. But this place seems to blur that line of reality and dream. It was absolutely crazy. It¡¯s like we aren''t meant to be there.¡± Drenar stops and rubs his temples gingerly. ¡°Okay. Dragons got there by a massive magical effect gone about as badly as possible. Why did I end up there? What¡¯s the connection?¡± ¡°Maybe a strong connection to a dragon pulled your soul inwards?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure distance is definitive in that place, James. When I stood there, it had gravity, it had air, I could feel pain, physics sort of worked to an extent. It wasn¡¯t until whatever manifestation I was carrying with me collapsed that things started to unravel. Augh. This is making my head hurt, and Alex has been a no-show ever since.¡± ¡°So, you can¡¯t hear him right now?¡± Angela asks hesitantly. Drenar shook his head. ¡°Not yet. Just those couple of dreams, and maybe a few times before that. I can clearly understand him, he''s intelligent, he makes coherent statements, his linguistics¡­kinda seem on par for the era. The Awakening process strengthens the link between him and me over time¨Cand as you saw from your idiot brother''s bad idea of keeping deadly evidence, I blacked out from even a partial transformation.¡± He looks at Angela. "What about yours? Can you hear them? Do they have a name?" ¡°Samarina. That¡¯s about all I¡¯ve gotten out of her so far. She¡¯s speaking in some kind of strange language. I researched the sounds and consonants, the closest I¡¯ve gotten is that it¡¯s some kind of Finnish. Maybe. Google translate doesn¡¯t work for an ancient draconic Finnish, apparently,¡± she said sourly. ¡°I tried some Latin, in my head. She seemed to pick up a little bit of that. I got a few words from her, not much though.¡± ¡°How long have you kept this bottled up, Angie? Girl, I know it¡¯s a little crazy, and you tell me just about everything, but this was probably the one time it was a bad idea to stay mum!¡± Julia scolds lightly. ¡°Well, what was I supposed to think?¡± she hissed angrily. ¡°Certainly not this! This was not on my bingo list of wild, crazy things to happen in life! It shouldn¡¯t be on anyones! And then you three tell me there¡¯s danger. Real danger. These Talon scumbags threatened Drenar and Evan, and that pisses me off!¡± ¡°It¡¯s just Jonaleth for now, but he¡¯s got friends,¡± Julia says warily. ¡°He¡¯s got a group of four that seem to do what he wants them to, whether it¡¯s voluntary, or coerced. If he were making a move, I think we¡¯d know it. Regardless of that, we need to get to the bottom of this, because I¡¯m mighty nervous that something is going down beyond our immediate crisis. Why are so many people awakening, yourself included?" Julia insists. ¡°Zero extra souls here,¡± James says in a strangely calm tone. ¡°Also, none of the symptoms you guys listed. Maybe I¡¯m fortuitously vanilla.¡± ¡°You are so vanilla, you make vanilla taste like a culinary delight,¡± Julia comments with a smile and sticking her tongue out at him. He grumbles but doesn¡¯t retort for now. ¡°Look, here¡¯s the spiel. The Talons have a laundry list of war crimes and every other crime imaginable under their belt, we can¡¯t mess around with them, not in a straight up fight.¡± She went into more detail about their members, everything she could get from Ergath¡¯s Draconomicon. The Talons had been the aggressors of the War of the Magi. Crosomer had personally directed them--whoever that was. They had started as mercenaries, and ended up as a professional army at their peak during the conflict. A number of their members were dragons--the latest writing indicated the group had fallen apart after decades of being picked off by the Conclave, either arrested, killed or they had gone underground for a prolonged period. Drenar intermittently laid out the highlights, with everyone nodding and following along. The fact that Nick had mentioned it in the briefest bit of conversation he¡¯d overheard led to his confidence that this had to be somehow connected. Eventually though, with little more to go on other than knowing they had a pretty foul history and that they definitely should not be trusted, the conversation drifted. ¡°So let me see if I get this right. Y''all are dragons, or about to become ones. And none of our parents have fessed up to what is basically a giant impending blue screen of death for our juvenile minds. Does that not strike anyone as odd?¡± James decried. ¡°Why on this green earth would anyone omit this?¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Parents are utter morons, or you know, dead parents had no contingencies,¡± Evan suggests darkly. ¡°Angela might be a random strand of luck.¡± ¡°Not sure how lucky this lottery should feel. I mean I like dragons, but¡­being one? Two different things, Evan,¡± she states unhappily. ¡°It might be some heavy duty magic to delete electronic records and a vow of silence,¡± Julia proposes. ¡°Seriously, this explains my mom¡¯s beastly strength. She¡¯s a dragon for sure. And we¡¯re idiots for not approaching her sooner about this!¡± ¡°There''s strong humans, and then there¡¯s dragons in human form, Julia. Big difference, according to Amaranth,¡± Drenar points out. ¡°Maybe it was your dad, and your mom couldn¡¯t bear to bring it up after he¡­¡± He can¡¯t even finish the sentence. ¡°Angela, look, it¡¯s a random thing. Your parents probably had no idea. It¡¯s also consistent James being strangely vanilla in all of this,¡± he reasons. ¡°As for me¡­well, let¡¯s just say the family connection between me and Evan says an awful lot.¡± ¡°I also find it mighty suspect that your mom had that book lying around like she didn¡¯t know jack,¡± James points out. Julia bores her glare into his soul. ¡°Until we know for sure, I really don¡¯t want to freak out my mom that she has a half-dragon child. Show of hands, we keep mum?" Everyone slowly raises their hands, even Drenar after some reluctance. ¡°So, what¡¯s causing it?¡± Angela asked. ¡°If it¡¯s related to mana, and we somehow were exposed to a lot of it, you know like some industrial accident or something¨C¡± ¡°Whoa, hang on, nerd is lost. What¡¯s mana?¡± James interrupts. ¡°Well, mana is...based on everything I''ve read so far, it''s integral to every monster in this book. They all defy the normal laws of evolution and traditional biology to greater or lesser extents. It''s like...how does one explain this¡­" Julia trails off. "Based on my extremely limited understanding of the mechanics of what this mana is, it''s not an analog to any known element. In fact, it seems there is a version of every element on the periodic table infused with mana. And it allows for some truly physics-defying materials and chemicals. It''s like a kind of ethereal energy, a stand apart from the four forces of the universe like gravity, nuclear forces and electromagnetic energy.¡± Even Julia is hitting the limits of her understanding. ¡°It¡¯s not free energy, but it¡¯s definitely higher energy density and far more renewable. And it¡¯s nowhere even close to fully understood. And dragons are just *one* of hundreds of species that generate it or it¡¯s integral to their biology.¡± ¡°So, how many are left? We can¡¯t be the only four in the world,¡± Angela states with firmness. ¡°That would be ridiculously unbelievable odds if we were the last four, so there must be more left.¡± ¡°Kelly is too, but I¡¯ve been super hesitant to approach,¡± Julia says. ¡°More people are awakening, but I don¡¯t know who yet. Jonaleth, Jackie, maybe some of their skeevy crew? This list is going to get crazy.¡± "If you think about it, there must be a minimum population of half or full-blooded dragons to last this long since the Ascension events. It¡¯s probably tens of thousands minimum, to maintain genetic diversity," Drenar suggests. "Though that really becomes a complex math problem because they aren''t a typical species and you can''t treat it like a study of wild animals. They also uh...are genetically compatible with us, so, there''s that as well." James looks taken aback at this. ¡°Dragon takes human form. They meet a lucky lady¨Cor guy. And in that scenario, you end up with a half-dragon.¡± ¡°Spare me the intimate details. So how''s that work? You guys are all human.¡± ¡°When born to a human, the half-dragon is basically locked in that form until Awakening. Like it¡¯s some kind of biological limiter or countdown,¡± Drenar explains. "Even if they''re born to a dragon in their natural form, they uh¡­hatch to a human form.¡± ¡°That''s just weird,¡± James shudders. ¡°Dragons¡­lay eggs?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°But they¡¯re warm blooded. Then again, so are birds.¡± His face is drawing a blank. ¡°Humans do not belong in eggs.¡± ¡°Hey man, I just live in this world. The crazy magical science rules were written long before any of us were born.¡± He himself is trying to not think of this image too heavily. There¡¯s some serious brain trauma just waiting on the question of if that was my situation at birth. I¡¯m better off not thinking about this for too long. ¡°Moving along,¡± Julia reminds them with a tsk sound. ¡°From birth to puberty, they are functionally human..there are some genetic differences, apparently, and some subtle boosts in physiology.¡± "Right. This whole awakening process, It isn''t just the accelerated heart rate we¡¯ve all experienced. When that rocket lights off, cells are transformed on an individual level, genetic structure reforms to a full draconic strand, again, with some subtle difference from a full dragon,¡± Drenar says while showing the illustrations and text. ¡°All the while, the body IS restructuring to match: muscle density increases, and mana is generated at an exponential rate. Bone density also changes, and the human physiology takes on similarity to a dragon--lightweight, exceedingly strong bones, massive regenerative ability, resistance to other mana based abilities, and a number of magical abilities tied to a species of dragon. Nothing is left untouched.¡± Something dawns on Drenar. ¡°Wait, so maybe that''s how you punched through a brick wall that one time?" he directs to Julia, who flexes dramatically at this mention. "Nah, I think that one was all me, no draconic super strength required." Julia¡¯s voice exudes confidence and pride in that particular feat. "So what triggers the final transformation?" He quickly skims through the book. "It has something about an alchemical reaction once mana reaches a certain level of saturation in the bloodstream that occurs as part of puberty. This triggers the draconic genes to active state and literally every cell in the body starts reprogramming at the fundamentals. It''ll lead to a slow transformation, usually involuntary. Scales will form, muscle density goes through the roof, magical abilities kick in, and of course, the transformation into a juvenile dragon. It''s painful. Bottom line, we''ll have some warning.¡± ¡°Man you know what¡¯s weird? I thought dragons would be huge, like over thirty meters long, multi-ton gargantuan terrors. Instead they¡¯re like, what, maybe three meters tall and about six meters long, tail tip to snout, and maybe close to a half a metric ton at best for the average specimen? There¡¯s pick-up trucks bigger than them,¡± Angela scoffs. ¡°And fluffy. Seriously. They look more like birds to an extent!¡± This strangely has Angela excited for reasons he doesn''t quite want to figure out just yet. ¡°Yeah. And they can toss a pick-up truck like it¡¯s a play toy. Size doesn¡¯t mean everything,¡± Julia counters. ¡°The biggest individuals are ten meters long or more. And all the illustrations,¡± she added, pointing to them one at a time, ¡°Show very interesting parallels to our species physiology. They really aren¡¯t all that unlike us. Five fingers that includes an opposable thumb¨Ca feature usually exclusive to mammals, and five toes¨Cwell, four, plus a dewclaw in essence. They have a limb structure with similar range of motion and high precision motor control. Even the brain structure has many parallels, but theirs is even more refined, and their nervous system has a reaction time that I can¡¯t even fathom. Their reaction time to stimuli is practically precognitive, and in some experiments they reacted instinctively before stimulus was even applied, even when sensory deprived. That¡¯s some freakiness in itself.¡± ¡°Danger sense.¡± Everyone turns to Evan. ¡°You get some weird, wired warning before something bad happens like your brain processes threats that you''re not paying conscious attention to. Like before Jonaleth beat the stuffing out of me.¡± ¡°That''s¡­helpful,¡± Julia muses. Drenar can''t help but be slightly excited at this reading. ¡°Oh, and forget trying to scale damage levels to the modern military. Dragons can tank hits with their armor scales, and also can use innate spell barriers to protect themselves or others in close proximity." ¡°A spell shield?¡± he echoes. ¡°Wait, is this related to the super hardness you demonstrated when you ran a current through the scather¨Cfeather¨Cwhatever it is?¡± ¡°No, it''s separate. Maridians are like living tanks,¡± Julia explains. ¡°Dragons and other Kin can generate a barrier of mana infused plasma, according to what I read. It can stop penetration, heat transfer, and inertial transfer to an extent. It''s like some kind of universal magical defense." ¡°I need scale,¡± James emphasized. ¡°A dragon¡¯s spell barrier, depending on individual talent and strength, could stop a tank round,¡± he states after looking at an example. James vigorously shakes his head. ¡°A tank round? A freaking tank round. What about inertia and momentum?¡± ¡°James, I¡¯d need to sit down with the physics and experiment with a spell barrier that I can¡¯t currently use,¡± Drenar said impatiently. ¡°That raises another point. I have azure scales and maridian silver ones. So what ability would I get? Telekinetics, plasma, or both?¡± ¡°Cross-breeding has been noted to result in a singular dominant ability, though multiple innate abilities are possible.¡± Julia had leaned over and pointed to a section. This revelation makes him smile. ¡°Thunderbolt and lightning. So very frightening,¡± he says with a much needed dose of humor, and Julia groans. ¡°If you quote Queen one more time, I''m gonna rip your feathers out one by one,¡± she threatens. ¡°You have such an odd taste in music.¡± ¡°I''ll die on this hill, thanks. And even you might have trouble with that, given my resilience." Julia sighs contentedly. "At least I know you can take whatever beating I throw your way, all in the name of training to be mighty morphing dragon rangers." Vol. 1, Ch. 20: Radiant Delvers, Part Two ¡°So, since you guys keep getting distracted, are there any downgrades?¡± Angela inquires. Julia skips through some sections. ¡°Nah. Just the system shock of being told you''re now from a non-human species. Still can''t get over that--how is there even a distinct genetic connection to us? Anyway, there¡¯s a few things that can hurt them¨Calchemical silver slows or stops their active regeneration, same with a lot of other magical creatures. Apparently it¡¯s some kind of crime to use alchemical silver against sentient beings in this way, and is considered a violation of the Austwick Conventions, as originally proposed by Zacharias Fellwoven. Whoever that is,¡± Julia mutters. ¡°Honestly, I keep going back to that system shock. Pretend for a second that you had no warning, no prior knowledge, no awareness of magic, and suddenly you¡¯re sprouting scales and wings. How would you react?" There¡¯s a muted silence in the room. "Probably not well at all," Angela admits. "It would be mildly jarring at a minimum, or an existential nightmare or worse for most. Did your mom say anything about that fried microwave?¡± Julia lets out a shrug. ¡°No. It took every ounce of convincing mom that I managed to kill the thing by sticking a fork inside by accident. I¡¯m not entirely sure I convinced her either.¡± She''s still worried, judging by the way she fiddles with her nail paint. "According to this, several other benefits include an extremely lengthy increase of life, superior immune system, hyper dense musculature that even in human form, would allow you to perform impressive physical feats--I mean really, who wouldn''t want all these things?" It is mildly exciting to him. ¡°Any chance we can just¡­opt out?¡± Everyone stares at Angela, who looks defensive. ¡°Hey, if I could trade it for a vanilla life, I¡¯d like to at least know it¡¯s an option!¡± "I don¡¯t think we can opt out, Angela. If this is all true, there was already a part of us that wasn¡¯t wholly human to begin with. That raises a lot of uncomfortable questions, to put it mildly.¡± Drenar winces and rubs the bridge of his nose after taking off his glasses for a second. "Maybe that''s why everyone says I''m talented at martial endeavors. I basically have had cheat mode engaged." ¡°Anyone can throw a punch, but talents like that do take an amount of self discipline and training, Drenar. It¡¯s not like you and I didn¡¯t train exceptionally hard for our physical aptitude,¡± Julia reassures him. "Still, if you had to ask for superpowers like being able to turn into an armor scaled dragon with an incredible array of magical and physical abilities, I guess you can''t go wrong with that. Might make it a tad too easy with the martial arts though,¡± she muses with a creased smile and her eyes focus skyward. Angela chuckles softly at her. ¡°Julia, If you fling every opponent through a wall, or worse, the ceiling, I think people will eventually notice.¡± She pouts her lip in response. "Even if it is the case...it doesn''t have to be the end of the world as we know it. Maybe we just keep it hidden between us. Live out our lives like everyone else, no one would have to know. We could live relatively normal lives. Maybe." ¡°Yeah, except for one glaring problem. The average life expectancy for a dragon, depending on subspecies, is around four to five thousand years.¡± Any thought of living a normal life is instantly extinguished in the room, and Julia closes her eyes and grimaces against the notion. ¡°You know what makes human life endearing? We get so much done in so little time, in the grand scheme of the timescale of the universe. I can¡¯t imagine outliving everyone I know, and have thousands of years left on the clock.¡± "That is a downer, isn''t it? The flip side of long life, I mean, what''s the point if friends, family...they can''t be there to share the experience of a life well fulfilled. I never really thought about it that way." Drenar¡¯s somber assessment brought a quiet pall to the room. "I mean, what do you even do with a couple thousand years of life expectancy, anyway? We could live long enough to see humanity traverse among the stars." ¡°Great. Then we¡¯ll have space dragons. This gets wilder the more you talk,¡± James growls. ¡°Still have to point out the suckage about outliving, you know, everyone.¡± "I suspect keeping a rotation of friends, human, dragon, and others probably helps. Ugh. I guess it isn''t the worst thing in the world, but still, it''s something to dread in the long run." Angela glances around the room, then lets out a slight sigh of relief. "Well, I''d have you guys, at least. That''s something." ¡°I¡¯ll be dust,¡± James mutters. ¡°You¡¯ve still got time to find out you''re a dragon,¡± Angela assures him. ¡°Look, you all might think this is fine and dandy, but it''s a curse, in my humble opinion. People are targeting Evan because of what he is--and he did absolutely nothing. You know what else sucks about the whole thing? There was a certain finality to knowing how long we had on the planet." James does sound quite bitter about it, and Drenar concedes he might have a few valid points. "What about draconic history anyway? They must have had an immense magical and technological advance on us, right?¡± Julia jumps in for this one. ¡°I haven''t dived too far into Ergath''s book yet. Dragon culture lost a lot in some kind of civil war about four thousand years ago called the Schism war, and the separatists¨Cthose that wanted to keep using humanity as experiment subjects, slaves or food, summoned some kind of demon when it was clear they were losing, and almost wrecked the planet before they could undo the damage. Before that, the draconic civilization had advanced magical technology that would make the impossible seem reality. And all that is now gone. All because of a couple civil wars. Think of what the world could be like if they were still around in a sustained capacity." ¡°Uh, they kept slaves, Julia. Well, some of them. And from what I read, every other non-human, non-dragon race was created through some twisted magical experiments at their direction,¡± Drenar cautioned. ¡°We''ve got tons to unpack eventually.¡± ¡°They made the other races? How many are there?¡± James gasps. ¡°Quite a few. The book doesn''t cover them in detail. But a few names came up. Wargen, Kitsune, elven, fey, dwarves. There might be others,¡± Julia added. ¡°Yeah, but, how?¡± ¡°Oh, we have no idea. Apparently that part is a little obscured by the fog of history and lack of records,¡± Drenar admits. ¡°It makes magic as awe inspiring as it could be dangerous, if used wrongly.¡± "With our current world leaders? Totally agree. The nuclear armageddon clock is still uncomfortably close to midnight, and magic would do more than nudge that clock,¡± James said anxiously. Angela mulls over all of this for a moment and peers down at the bestiary. ¡°Yeah, I see the point. All this history, all these secrets, mothballed for all time because mages thought it was in our best interests to hide something like this. They hid how extraordinary our world really is. It sucks. And now we come into it, scraping and scratching, looking for answers when everyone wants to hide it. And it sounds like the mage world has problems of their own, too. Not a surprise, either.¡± ¡°The Talons?¡± Drenar asked. ¡°That mural? Yeah. The Conclave are not the only people I¡¯m a little apprehensive about. If Nick wasn''t playing around, they''re not nice people, and already tried once to overthrow the Conclave of the Arcane. My advice? Let''s not get on their radar." ¡°Bro, we already are. If I don''t tell Jonaleth that I''m happy to join his merry band of misfit killers, they''ll torch our house, and us,¡± Evan says heatedly. That time bomb still is ticking, but Drenar is pretty sure Jonaleth presents less danger than the Talons and their possible long term plans. Just what have they been up to, and why in this footnote of a town?¡± ¡°So wait, before we start kicking over more rocks, we need to discuss contingency time. What do we do if we randomly transform in a populated area? It could happen anytime,¡± Angela points out. "Find a secluded area and wait it out. And hope it doesn''t attract the wrong kind of attention.¡± The closest place they could hang out would be the woods behind his house, which ran uninterrupted for miles. There was some logging in the area, but they were on the far end of town, away from relatively prying eyes. ¡°We will have some warning, at least.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an okay plan, but what if Nick already knows what we are?¡± ¡°How, though?¡± Drenar ran his fingers through his hair and contemplated the notion for a minute. ¡°I mean, he¡¯s clearly got some leads in town. But outwardly, do we look any different?¡± ¡°Eh¡­I think your eyes got a little more green.¡± James finds a way to add fuel to the panic fire. Drenar looks at him nervously. ¡°Dude it¡¯s not very noticeable, but when I look at photos of us from a couple months ago, there¡¯s a subtle difference. Actually there''s a big difference for you. Like, your eyes are super green." Julia gets closer, and looks at her phone, then back to him. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Holy shit. Your eyes are¡­they''re as green as your mom''s. That''s super weird! I always thought it was closer to hazel, but nah, they''re straight up green.¡± She pauses, as if another idea has hit her. ¡°Wait. If that''s the case¡­if you were already Awakening with small changes a couple months ago, why''d Alex crop up now?" Julia inquires. He throws his hands up animatedly. This is just a dumpster fire that can''t be extinguished. There are outward signs he''s a dragon? "Great. guess I better go find some contact lenses." "Oh it''s not that bad. Same eye color, nothing exotic like purple or red or ochre." He does feel mildly relieved while she flips back through the books. ¡°Well, okay, normal Awakening is drawn out a bit more for half dragons, and when it does start, it''s not all in one shot. For drakensouls, it''s almost instant once the process starts. something''s not adding up. And this whole stranded lands thing! Angie, you didn''t see anything like that, did you?¡± ¡°Uh a voice, a silver dragon who was as cute as she was deadly, and a great big white void. I remember it was like looking at a vanishing infinity point in every direction. Would have helped if I could have understood her, but she didn''t seem hostile. They actually do carry a range of emotion in their face, even though the structure is different.¡± Angela''s art skills, Drenar realized, give her a keen eye for those subtle details. "That is¡­interesting. We need far more info than we have resources or people we trust right now. We need to figure out how to get more pieces to this giant non-Euclidian puzzle,¡± Julia concludes. ¡°Maybe we do need to talk to Nick. At some point. it''s still a risk, but Julia and I sort of have a plan¨C¡± Drenar starts to say before Angela interjects. ¡°Let¡¯s not pull the pin on that grenade just yet. Like, Nick¡¯s alright, he just is¡­kinda quiet at times,¡± Angela inputs. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about your borderline crazy and stupid plan for Mount Syren, and why not *all* of us are going on this misadventure. I mean why are we convinced that this is a solid lead exactly?¡± Julia pulls up some printouts, and lays them out. Drenar starts first. ¡°Here¡¯s what we''ve got, along with Julia¡¯s stuff. I swung by town hall to get some history. It was an old silver mine that they updated for new tech, and the company that was there was digging about fifteen years ago. Dave worked there for a couple years as a consultant, funny enough. Guy is a metallurgical genius and never boasts about it," Drenar added in a lower tone. ¡°Here''s hoping he''s not part of this whole ordeal¨C¡± ¡°Relax. He left there like ten years ago, well before the shady stuff started. I asked him about it yesterday. He says he kept in touch with them, but even he admits his old coworkers started getting really cagey about four years ago. He did confirm there was an industrial accident, causing the mine to close.¡± "Any concrete details?" Angela asks Julia shakes her head. "Only the media highlights. Three years ago there was some kind of industrial accident. A partial collapse of the mine¨CIt actually took me a little work to find it. The online media reports were a little fuzzy. Now, here''s where it gets weird. Some other company called Eridanus Industries got the license two years before that and paid, get this, about twenty million for it. That''s a stupidly huge investment.¡± "So who are they?" "It¡¯s a shell company based out of the Bahamas. There''s a phone, a PO box, and a voicemail that sounds laughably bad, and a few other records of business. They''re in turn held by another company, and also set up in the Cayman islands. And where do you launder money?" Julia leaves the question floating. ¡°Ireland, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Cyprus¡­though I think that not all of it is suspect,¡± James concedes. ¡°Nah. There¡¯s something up about this. Why would anyone set up a shell within a shell? The on-the-books revenue of the mine was in the low millions per public record, not billions. They''re some kind of tech holding company and a casual search of public records reveals a whole lot of nothing. Krieg, Hayter and Birkin Technology, LLC.¡± Julia put her laptop image on the TV monitor for display to everyone. "They have some very strange holdings on chemical development, metallurgy and other mining ventures. Those are privately held, no other records. We might just be looking at a real life James Bond Villain Company," "Or, just some white collar miser who likes to play shell games with their money," James counters with a huff. "You know, not all criminality is super extravagant. Some corporate sharks just hate paying the tax man.¡± "Points for originality, but some of this aligned with Nick''s comments. He thinks they found some artifact of ultimate doom or sealed evil in a can, and they hid whatever happened there from prying eyes.¡± Drenar is wary of that rabbit hole. Magical creatures likely meant other forms of magic. Weapons, armor, artifacts. What is the limit to this? ¡°What does that have to do with what¡¯s happening to us?¡± Angela asked quietly. ¡°Honestly? No idea. It may not even be related. As far as we know, if this Awakening thing is tied to our age, it¡¯s no surprise that it¡¯s happening now. Hell, Julia and I were born a day apart,¡± Drenar reasoned. He was about to say more, but there¡¯s a call from downstairs. "Drenar, Evan! We need you downstairs, right now!" Drenar heard a muffled shout from below. He looked to the others, and he and Evan sigh. ¡°Okay, one second guys. One crisis at a time.¡± They look downstairs, and saw Diane and Dave packing suitcases with some clothes and their electronics, talking hurriedly between each other. "No Diane, we have to go! We have to catch the flight now or we''ll have to wait until Saturday!" Dave presses, with Diane folding clothes into her bag. "I have the critical stuff, did you grab your charger?¡± "In my bag already. Do you have your medications?" "Already packed." Dave looks up at them, his hair slightly disheveled "Evan, Drenar, something came up. We''re headed out right now. "Wait, what?" Evan is genuinely terrified of the prospect of the parents leaving, now of all times. "Diane''s dad had a heart attack in Vancouver. We''re catching the next flight tonight out there. He was lucky, they caught it in time. He''s in recovery now, but he¡¯s not in great shape." Dave answers firmly before snapping the bag closed. "We don''t know how long we''re going to be gone, We might be gone for a week or more. Drenar, you''re in charge until we get back." "Wait, Drenar is in charge? Why aren''t we coming, too?" "I don''t want you guys to miss school. We just found out at the last second, and the flight had just two seats left," Diane responds while busily packing Dave''s work laptop in a separate bag. "There''s plenty of groceries in the fridge, and I''m leaving my credit card with you, Drenar, get what you need and take the car if you have to. But don''t go on a spending blitz, alright?" She hands him a credit card¨Cand about two hundred dollars of cash. "No alcohol, no girls, and no parties¨CJames and company excluded. I''m trusting you two not to wreck the place. Oh, and feed the pets, too, twice a day for the cat, once a day for the dog." "Uh... Scout''s honor?" Drenar replies softly, with her smiling faintly. "Thank you, Drenar." She closes the bag, and hefts it over her shoulder. "If anything dire comes up, call Julia''s mom, don''t go to anyone else." "Why Julia''s mom?" He has a pretty good idea on why, though. ¡°And should I be preparing for the apocalypse in the meantime?¡± he asked with a slant of sarcasm. "Drenar, just...take my word for it? She was your mom''s closest friend, and I''d trust her with my life if it ever came down to it," Diane said firmly. She nods to Dave. "Anything else?" "We''ll keep in touch with you guys, so keep your phones on you. We''ll be back as soon as we can," he affirms as both of them headed out the door after giving them hugs. "I think you''ve just been promoted. Congrats bro," Evan said confidently and gave Drenar a slap on the back. "No, Evan. Something about this doesn''t smell right," he countered. He could hear the car start and the garage door opening, followed by the sound of a departing vehicle. "Since when have Diane and Dave ever left at the drop of a hat? Never. The answer is never. They always take time to pack." "Dying parents drive anyone to rapid response, Drenar," Evan points out. "I''m surprised they''re leaving us here, to be honest. C''mon, let''s order a pizza, hang out for a bit. Also, we gotta talk about our suicide mission plan, so can we eat while we''re doing it?" Drenar glares at him. That dark haired man-crusher he knows really needs to teach him the technique to be intimidating. "What, man, don''t give me that look. You have a habit of stumbling into weird stuff, and this is the top tier of sheer crazy.¡± ¡°Way to state the obvious.¡± Unfortunately under normal circumstances, it would be crazy to even attempt this. ¡°Look, Evan, we have a plan. A plan you¡¯re relegated to the support role, because it could be dangerous!¡± ¡°Yeah, nah, I already beat you to the danger zone,¡± he retorts before gesturing to the fading injuries. "Guys, where''d the parent units go?" Julia calls from the stair landing. Angela and James are there, too, looking confused. "Diane''s father had a heart attack and they just took off.¡± Drenar turned to address Evan sternly. "Evan, we need a demonstration." He firmly pushed his glasses up on his slightly crooked nose. "You mean, that?¡± ¡°If we need firepower in the unlikely event, you''re the backup. You realize we haven''t seen this whole process yet.¡± Julia nods in concurrence, and Evan lets out an exasperated sigh. "Alright. But tell anyone who isn''t us or in on the Veil, and we''re gonna get lobotomized or disappeared permanently." James looks about two shades paler than normal. "Nah seriously, people get pissed when kids like us do dumb things and put videos on Tiktok. The Conclave keeps every major social media company on retainer, and their price for silence is mighty high." "Is this how Twitter didn''t collapse sooner?" James notes with his face held in his hands. "Be gentle with breaking my world, Evan. Drenar has not been gentle.¡± It feels like a very odd comment to leave on, Drenar thinks. Vol. 1, Ch. 21: Radiant Delvers, Part Three Evan gathers them all outside in the backyard a short time later, and Julia finds herself clinging to Amaranth''s book. She has no idea what to expect this to look like. "First off guys, I''m assuming you all know we don''t talk about this harder than the notion that we don''t talk about Bruno. Right?" "Right," everyone responds and rolls their eyes. "And that dragons don''t exist." "Right, Evan." Julia can''t help but smirk at his scowl when everyone responds in tandem. "You guys are one twisted hive mind, I''m telling you," he grumbles. "Okay, rules. No photos. No videos. No selfies. Nada. We''ve been over this already. Rick already gave me the down low last couple weeks when he noticed me acting weird, and saw me grow claws while chilling in science class. That almost got real awkward." "Get to that later, I''ve gotta see this in person to mentally prepare myself," Julia comments crossly. They follow Evan out on the back lawn, and he takes off his jacket. ¡°Alright Evan, so is this process¡­painful?¡± ¡°Not really. The first time, it hurts. So be prepared for it. Afterwards, it''s nothing you wouldn''t be able to endure. I mean hey, your whole body is restructuring at the cellular level and there¡¯s the whole mass-energy conversion as we gain about a half-ton of mass or so, but those are small potatoes.¡± He scuffs his foot against one of the patio tiles. ¡°Yeah Evan, not filling me with confidence at all.¡± Angela is super anxious, and Drenar holds her hand gently when her arm drifts in his direction. ¡± ¡°Now please observe.¡± Evan closed his eyes, like he was in a trance. Julia is taking a mental map of every second that goes by, knowing this is her future now, and for Drenar and Angela as well. It almost looked like his exposed skin is cracking into little segments. Those splits become the beginnings of metallic looking scales, and they slowly turned color¨Cfrom a pale flesh color, to a dull red color, like rust. And even stranger, there is a banding pattern of silver scales. Evan¡¯s face distorts, elongating into a short snout¨Chis ears swept back and formed a scaled web crest with a few matching feather accents, and teeth grow at alarming length to fill the void, and a lot more of them. His body takes on a more lithe appearance, and the limbs grow longer. Some grew longer than others, and his shoes eventually disappear and blend into the form¨Clike they¡¯re merging into the transformation. His toes elongate into sharp talons, widely stanced, and a single long dewclaw shifts up the side. The ankle shifted upwards and backwards, forming a seemingly new joint. A digitigrade stance. Muscles ripple beneath the scales, well defined and toned. Evan is no pushover by any measure, but his body structure now resembles coiled steel. His arms also have this coiled, powerful musculature, and areas on his forearms and shins and flanks have heavier plated scales that merge together¨Carmor scales protecting the limbs, and the torso and belly, to a lesser extent. A serpentine tail emerges from his lower spine, and slowly, a new set of limbs emerge and sprout a majestic bundle of feathers from his back. Bright, blue and rusty red feathers with small white accent ones sprout, and the limbs unfurl like a majestic curtain. All through this process, Evan has grown in size, slowly matching the proportions of his new form. And even stranger, tufts of feathers have formed on his cheeks, just shy of his muzzle, and bony, swept horns extend from the back of his skull. A whole mane of rusty red feathers emerge that accent his shoulders, neck and part of his chest. When he opens his eyes, they¡¯re the same green color¨Cbut with a cat-like slit, and the green has taken virtually all of the space of his teardrop shaped eyes, with no whites remaining. Julia is in awe. She looks down at the book, and she flips detachedly through the pages, until she settles on one. The Valencian Red. The classic fire dragon. But then, she keeps flipping. She settles on the silver scales and feathers of the Maridian silver. And even a touch of the Azure¡¯s tail! He¡¯s a mix of three separate species. Julia and the others stand silently in awe as Evan shows off his draconic form. Julia peers at Drenar, who has a determined expression, Angela has some level of anxiety judging by the way she¡¯s wrapped around his arm, and James is stony faced. ¡°Wow, none of you broke out in panic at seeing someone transform into a dragon. Shouldn''t that be the default response?¡± Evan finally speaks, and it¡¯s a throatier, harsher version of his voice¨Cdistinct enough from his own voice that people who didn''t hear him on a regular basis might mistake him for someone else. His tail lightly swishes back and forth and he tests his balance on his legs. Just like the images, he¡¯s bipedal, balanced on his legs with the stance wide, the toes stretched out lightly. He isn¡¯t much taller than before, even with his neck extended¨Cmaybe two and a half meters, two-seventy five, at best. She doesn¡¯t have long to contemplate a thousand different details as Evan suddenly shudders, holding his chest with his claws. ¡°Urgh. Rick told me the first few times could be a little intense. Forgot about that part.¡± James finally breaks the silence with a hint of bitterness. ¡°Human history is a lie, and we¡¯ve got the proof, and we can¡¯t share it with anyone. This is enough to make any academic worth his salt break down in tears and a broken laughing fit, Evan. So, do you have one of those dragon''s souls'' thingies in you?" ¡°No drakensoul in here, man. It¡¯s just me. It¡¯s always been just me.¡± He glances down at the ground, and scuffs his talons on the patio tiling again¨Cand leaves a few faint claw marks behind. ¡°We¡¯re an endangered species, James. You''ve heard everything Drenar and Julia dug up. There''s maybe sixty, seventy thousand dragons left in the world, and there was a near extinction event seven hundred years ago when they tried to leave the planet. There could have been millions living among us. Maybe even integrated the societies over time. The population is¡­stable¡­but no one can comprehend how much the world has lost. And no one ever will, because we stay out of the way of history.¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Secrets suck. I get it,¡± Drenar says uneasily. Evan clicks his tongue and a spark of fire emerges for a split second, unintentionally or not. ¡°Yeah, it sucks, and I''ve had barely more time than you guys to process it. The Veil, this doctrine that all mages and magical species adhere to, makes it pretty clear that we keep this secret like our lives depend on it from the rest of the world. And our lives do depend on it. Not from other mages, from the world. There¡¯s a lot of kids in our school who have parents who are mages, and they can¡¯t tell a soul. Some family members go so far to keep their own spouses in the dark. Or lovers.¡± Julia can¡¯t help but feel that¡¯s some kind of veiled statement, the way he says it, and that hint of bitterness in his voice. ¡°You are so damn naive sometimes, Drenar. Like you can¡¯t comprehend the tough things sitting right in front of you.¡± Evan¡¯s gone quiet, even for a dragon, and flexes his claws gently on his thighs, his wings drooping ever so slightly with his expression. ¡°No. She never told me. I just knew. I knew by the way she would change the subject, when she was alive. The way dad would avoid talking to it, about my birth parents. That distant, sad look they gave each other when they thought we weren¡¯t looking. Like dad knew this was the price he had to pay to be back with her, and that she deserved far, far better. But he made the effort to try and be a better person.¡± ¡°You guys have the silver scales and the azure traits in common. It could still be a coincidence, Evan. You guys never took a genetics test to confirm it,¡± Julia finally spoke. This was something so surreal¨Ca living, talking dragon. There really is something magical about this moment, more than all those other incredible sights. ¡°I don¡¯t want to. I got solace in that my dad is alive, somewhere. But he never came looking. Never wanted to¡­or couldn¡¯t. I don¡¯t want to know either way, Julia. Sometimes the things we find in the haze of the unknown are far worse than if we just left it well enough alone. For me, at least,¡± he added solemnly. ¡°It isn¡¯t all that dour, though. I can lift and fling a car, I can breathe fire, I¡¯ve got wings, I can fly! Name one kid on the planet who wouldn¡¯t want to fly?¡± he asks more confidently. ¡°Uh, me? I hate flying. It¡¯s terrifying,¡± Angela shudders. ¡°A dragon afraid of flying. Is there some kind of prize for witnessing that?¡± Drenar chimes in. She punches him in the arm gently. ¡°Jerk. Stop using the disarming charm,¡± she scolds with a quiet smile. ¡°Evan, how much has Rick told you about what''s going on?¡± ¡°Just the basics, don¡¯t tell a soul, don¡¯t transform in public, and definitely don¡¯t attract attention. And I¡¯m not even scratching on the crazy magics of the world, the Conclave, and I can¡¯t even begin to list off what else.¡± he scratches a claw to one of his horns. ¡°I think Jasmine and Tristan are in the loop, most likely.¡± Evan glances around and sniffs the air. ¡°This is probably the safest place we can do this for now, take our draconic forms. The Conclave has tons of hot spots in towns and cities across the world that are mage-exclusive, Veil-safe zones they call it, where people are free to roam in their true forms and use magic to their heart''s content. But with the Talons¡­with them in town¡­I think the safety they profess is window dressing.¡± ¡°Can you demonstrate how powerful you are?¡± Julia asks. He nods and grabs a tree limb hanging low, and tenses his claws. One vicious swipe later, and he''s made kindling of it. ¡°Yeah, that''s pretty easy. They''re unnaturally sharp. They also retract somewhat,¡± he says as he relaxes his fingers and the claws retreat into a small gland, making grasping items easier. It''s interesting how the hand structure closely mimics a human¡¯s, but stronger and a little bulkier. There are pads of smoother scales that form on the inside, giving him better grip. ¡°So what''s your ability?¡± ¡°Flame blasts, and ice, plus the armor scales reinforcement. Fire is fine, but the ice breath takes some getting used to. Um¡­it''s kinda like¡­¡± he winces. ¡°It''s kinda like¡­regurgitation of alchemical ingredients in our bodies in a separate tract, and then exhaled.¡± Julia looks blankly at the others. ¡°Say that again?¡± She hopes it isn''t what she thinks it sounds like. ¡°Translation, magical vomit,¡± James states with a disturbing expression. ¡°Eww!¡± Julia, Drenar, and Angela all exclaim with disgust. Evan simply looks baffled. ¡°Okay, first, it''s not that bad. It''s different organs. Second off, y¡¯all seriously act as one twisted hive mind, you know that?¡± It''s adorable that he can look embarrassed, even as a hulking dragon at the moment. Oh, this is going to be so much fun for me when Drenar transforms¨Cokay, calm down Julia. Priorities! ¡°Please demonstrate the fire,¡± Julia states hastily and tries to not let the mental image perpetuate. Evan happily delivers with an open claw aimed at a patch of grass, his fingers tensed. A globule of fire forms within his hand, small but intense, and it seemingly bursts in a jet of intense flame, small and concentrated at the grass patch. It catches fire and Evan relents after a few seconds. The burning grass is quickly corrected by Evan stomping on the flames; he doesn''t even flinch at the heat when his clawed foot contacts the fire. He then bows proudly, wings in a relaxed position. ¡°Ta-daa! I would have roasted Jonaleth, but sadly, the guy is immune to fire. That sucked finding out.¡± ¡°So, we have our backup,¡± Drenar concludes. ¡°Julia, thoughts?¡± he directs her. She throws back a grin at him. ¡°Aw, how thoughtful of you. Alright Evan, here¡¯s the deal. The Talons are bad news. And with everything going on with us at the same time, we think Nick Deshandrea is investigating them. He might be part of the military or law enforcement branch of the Conclave, and they had some kind of covert site set up on Mount Syren, that decommissioned mine on the other side of town. Our mission? Grab evidence and skidaddle before anyone knows we''re there. We also need to figure out who we can trust, first and foremost above all else. Nick might be alright, maybe. But we need every advantage we can get.¡± ¡°Agreed. Let''s get back inside, and lay out our approach,¡± Drenar adds curtly. She¡¯s a hundred percent behind it now. ¡°You gonna let me say it?¡± Julia asks quietly. ¡°Yeah. I''d love to hear it from our resident radiant bit of sunshine.¡± Drenar says with confidence. ¡°Do the honors for me, Julia.¡± She takes a deep breath, and the words come to mind without resistance. "Guys? The Radiant Delvers are on the move. We''re headed to Mount Syren tomorrow. We''re getting answers." She takes a deep breath and she sees Drenar nod silently, then James and Angela follow quickly, along with the more notable nod from their draconic firepower, Evan. "These monsters have messed with the wrong group of determined youths." Vol. 1, Ch. 22: Gather Your Party and Venture Forth, Part One Drenar couldn¡¯t sleep that night. Everyone was a little nervous as they prepared every strategy, every contingency for what could be an extremely dangerous move on their part, but he was anxious, and it wasn''t because of the risks. Or the threat of Jonaleth Winters. He knows he''d win in a straight-up fight, because Jonaleth never had a fight in his life that didn''t involve an equal opponent. The thought that keeps him up, is that life is changed forever now. Evan, I don¡¯t know how you made peace with this so fast. You should have been a basket case after all that. Terrified out of your wits. But you stood firm. Maybe you and I both inherited that steely will from Mom. Julia is sleeping on the futon on the other side of his room. The dim glow of the computer monitor leaves a gleam of light on her face, calm, cool, and collected. Even in her dreamscape. He doesn¡¯t know the truth anymore. He isn''t sure he wants to know the truth, now Because he''s worried about the cascade of questions it''s going to unleash. Mom, if you were this being of legend, why did you settle down for such a mundane life? Why did you tell us nothing? Silence is his enduring answer, in the dark hours of the night. He won¡¯t get answers here. Not now. Not tonight. He has to focus on the questions he hopes to answer tomorrow. He can feel his mind drifting towards sleep. Maybe it will be better to stop fighting it, stop trying to mentally prepare for tomorrow, and just take a moment to rest. He glances one last time at Julia, still deep asleep. You¡¯ve been my rock since we were little kids, Julia. I sure could stand to take another page out of your book. At least she hasn''t crawled into his bed like she did when they were younger¨Cthat would have been super awkward now. Though right now, having her nestled against him did sound comforting, considering the massive unknowns that await them tomorrow. He blinks and light surges back into reality, and he is suddenly aware of the burning bright light around him. Hello draconic body, you''ve been sorely missed. He''s sprawled on a meadow of grass and wildflowers, and his wings are pressed uncomfortably beneath him. He props himself up and cranes his neck around. Given this is the third vivid dream, he focuses on every micro detail. He sees the banding patterns of silver and azure scales on his body. Lustrous and protective, and the sun beaming down on them feels pleasant. He jumps to his feet, blinking in the welcoming late morning sun. He''s standing at the edge of an alpine meadow. Sharp-shaped pines and other hardy trees form a dense forest nearby, and the mountains carve a path through that impossibly blue sky. He can almost smell the lilac and lavender around him, along with other wildflowers and sweetened grass scents. "Alex, you in here? Unless I just teleported from my bedroom to someplace out of a Disney musical flick, pretty sure this is inside my dreams again." It feels good to stretch his limbs¨Call of them¨Cand claw at the softer earth beneath him, like a cat kneading on a soft blanket. I need to find a mirror, what do I look like, exactly? So, starting to see the bigger picture? Alex¡¯s voice doesn¡¯t just resound in his mind but down his spine, down to the tips of his wings. Like an ethereal shroud, wrapped around his being. Drenar nods contemplatively after a few seconds. Do you know some of the history now? ¡°Not all of it, Alex. But something is happening with the Talons. And I doubt it¡¯s good.¡± His voice carries a bit of an accent¨Crougher, more primal sounding, but it¡¯s still mostly his voice. He''s finally able to speak audibly and clearly. He can also hear the hint of a masculine voice from Alex. It¡¯s distinct now, a voice unlike his own. Lighter, more cheery. Glad you''ve been digging. Now you understand the foes I fought before. The Onyx Talons. I know their names well. I fought them, before, and during the events that led to the rebellion. And the person who led them. Robespierre Crosomer. Drenar lets out a sound of surprise. ¡°Is that¡­who you spoke of the first time? Little Robbie?¡± The realization is surprising. ¡°That sounds like a name¡­that you¡¯d give a friend.¡± He was my friend. Was. The mournful note is not lost upon Drenar. I don¡¯t know how to explain it other than those two fragments of my memory, core beliefs that did not fade with time. They were bound by steely will, something that the ages could not take away from me. And I¡¯m starting to remember a few others. ¡°Well, that¡¯s good. Keep me clued in.¡± Drenar doesn¡¯t know quite what to make of it, yet. ¡°I think I might have heard you when I was awake a time or two. How much have you seen of my waking hours?¡± Bits and pieces. It feels like lapses in continuity, large gaps where what you see fades out, and then it fades in again. The lapses are getting smaller. I think when we¡¯re closer to the Awakening, that should disappear. I hope. Drenar looks around and tests his wings, and tenses his body. There¡¯s a slight breeze ruffling his feathers. He doesn¡¯t recognize this place. It could be anywhere. But somewhere high altitude, and further north. The sun burns lazily overhead, and it feels like a cool early fall day. Drenar resolves to test his flight this time, and whatever crazy abilities he can figure out. He can feel the tension in those unfurled wings, the sensitivity of each feather is wired to his brain. Even if this is just a portent of what may be, it gives him insight into what the real things¡¯ going to be like. ¡°Alright Alex. Make sure when you do, you do it as loud and obnoxious as possible, so I know it¡¯s you. And you know, not my overactive imagination,¡± he says with a toothy grin. ¡°By the way, it¡¯s flight time. Third time¡¯s a charm!¡± You know, this has not gone well for you before, Alex points out worriedly. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s fly and talk then. One second.¡± he claws at the earth, testing his grip, and leans down, forearms tensed on the ground. Like a sprinter, ready for that ten seconds between him and an Olympic medal and making history. His whole body feels like a coiled spring, ready for that first monumental series of flaps. He¡¯ll have to keep the angle of attack low¨Cthere¡¯s no telling how tight the lift-to-weight ratio is for a dragon, and it¡¯s better to err on the side of caution. ¡°Now, what can we expect from the Talons? Do they have mages?¡± If you¡¯re going up against mages, most spells and weapons have a projectile component. You can avoid getting injured if you can avoid getting hit. But some tend to impact an area. Be careful you don¡¯t get melted, sliced, or incinerated. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll have to figure out that spell barrier¨C¡± he arches his spine a little, and he feels a current of some kind go down his spine, to the tip of his tail. Like a zap from static electricity, sudden and sharp. He sees a shimmering light over his scales for the briefest instance. He relaxes from his sprint stance, and arches his spine, and tenses his arms. That spark is present again, and the shimmering light hovers over the scales on his arms for a fractional second longer. Innate spell barrier? No invocation required, just muscle memory? Or is it tied to my telekinetics? That''s helpful, he thinks with a toothy grin. Well, at least you¡¯ve got some cushioning now, aside from your thick skull if you crash, Alex responds sardonically. Drenar rolls his eyes at this. ¡°C¡¯mon Alex, let me have this moment.¡± He arches his spine and feels that spark¨Cand holds it. The shimmering stays up, and he feels like he can slip through the air like a knife. He taps on his scales with his index finger, and the barrier dissipates in that small contact area. That radiating spark he felt before is present in a diminished capacity in his limbs as well, and he goes back to his sprint stance. He lets go of the charge like he''s exhaling, and the barrier fades. But the fact that he can draw it in a near-instant means he should be able to react in time in case of a mishap. He tenses his wings. He¡¯s ready for this. He springs forward, and feels that immense strength in his wings, that first stroke¨C ¡°Drenar, wake up!¡± Reality snaps back into focus, and Julia is about four inches from his face, and he¡¯s frozen in surprise. She¡¯s pressed up against his body in an unintentionally sensual way, she''s grabbing his forearms with her hands, and her nightwear is draped on her a little too loosely. ¡°Drenar, you were going to wake the whole house, are you okay?¡± She whispers as loudly as she dares. Something doesn¡¯t feel right, and it¡¯s not because she¡¯s pressed up against him. He¡¯s distinctly uncomfortable on the bed. ¡°I was, until a raven-haired beauty entered my bed. And now I¡¯m terrified,¡± he utters tensely. She¡¯s still glancing left and right with the most anxious expression, and he follows her gaze. Then it¡¯s his turn to be anxious. ¡°Scratch that. Now I¡¯m terrified.¡± There¡¯s a pair of silver and azure scaled wings with banded patterns of aqua, cerulean, and white feathers coming from his back, his sheets are a mess, and his heart rate is racing like it¡¯s on a non-stop marathon. And those wings are decidedly attached to him. But can he move¨C If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. His left wing relaxes a bit, and he can feel those two extra claws on the knuckle wiggle a little. He glances over to the other wing and relaxes that one, once he¡¯s mapped the motion to his brain in some strange mental gymnastics. Then he stares at Julia. ¡°Hi there. Can I ask you to politely remove your amazing figure off of me, before we need to have a frank discussion between the two of us? Because you do have me at a disadvantage here.¡± She laughs nervously and slowly lets go of his forearms. ¡°Holy shit, Drenar, you have wings, and you¡¯re hitting on me? Which is refreshingly unlike you,¡± She finally pushes herself up into a kneeling position on the bed, and helps him up¨Cvery slowly. He scrapes one ¡®knuckle¡¯ on the ceiling, much to his annoyance before slowly testing the motion. It feels like it would be more comfortable if lowered. That is until Julia breaks his concentration while grinning wildly, and grabs one wing and his back, and presses her body against both. ¡°Oh my fates, it''s sooo soft!¡± she coos, and his expression melts into terror. Oh no. This is how I¡¯m gonna die. Death by Tsundere cuddles. He decides he¡¯ll let her pin his wing in place¨Cwhich he is still trying to map out how to move¨Cfor about a good five to ten seconds. ¡°Oh my goodness, the rest of you hasn¡¯t transformed, I mean uh, not like this, and I have a hundred different questions like, is it painful, did you even try to concentrate on this, what was it like¨C¡± Drenar resolves the barrage of questions with a single finger to her nose, which is usually her mechanism to get his attention. ¡°I think I need a minute.¡± She nods meekly. ¡°Okay, I get it. It¡¯s bonkers.¡± He leans forward and moves his wing closer¨Cthe wingspan is impressive, and he estimates it reaches out to almost double his arm length. Probably close to three meters, for the full span. While he isn¡¯t an expert, it means it could be possible to glide. Powered flight, maybe not so much. He notes his shirt is sporting two large holes where the wings emerged from, and his heart rate has slowed a little from earlier. ¡°Um, well, how does it feel?¡± he glances at her, then at the wings that have slight motions of their own¨Csemi-autonomous, even. ¡°It¡¯s a little¡­um¡­surreal. Possibly awesome. Possibly terrifying that everything we thought was absolutely insane is coming true. Can you just pinch me really hard to affirm¨Cow,¡± he grunts when she jabs him in the ribs lightly. ¡°I said pinch, not treat me like one of your training dummies.¡± ¡°Hey Drenar, you¡¯re awake. And reality punches hard. So do I,¡± she affirms with a smirk, then she frowns as she traces his wing again. ¡°Um, I just realized something really problematic about these wings. Going out in public like we planned today is out of the question.¡± ¡°Hey, guys, why is everyone up at six in the morning?¡± James is rapping at the door as loud as possible. ¡°If we¡¯re going to die doing something really stupid, can you two make out a little quieter, and maybe, just maybe, share some of the action with Angela, who is glaring at me like she¡¯s going to put knives in my eyes?¡± James opens the door just as Julia and Drenar let out a startled protest. James takes about three seconds of seeing this spectacle of Julia stroking Drenar¡¯s wings, and his mouth hangs open for a second. ¡°Okay. No. I¡¯m out. This level of kinky is beyond me now, I¡¯m done. You two finish your business and let me know when we¡¯re ready to start our death wish mission.¡± ¡°James Victor Shalinde, we are not making out!¡± Drenar snaps. ¡°I was just¡­apparently¡­thrashing around in my sleep, and Julia didn¡¯t want me to hurt myself." Angela peers in, and she squeals in delight. ¡°Oh my goodness, he has wings! Whys¡¯ the rest of him not transformed, I gotta see the rest!¡± she utters with enthusiasm. No one is respecting his personal space today, he thinks with a resigned sigh. ¡°We are not playing this game of ¡®lets see the rest.¡¯ This is a game only you two will win. And maybe James,¡± he adds with a shrug. James mutters something distinctly impolite under his breath. ¡°Besides, we all know you have a thing for artwork and dragons Angie, but please, I was at best a solid six out of ten until about five minutes ago.¡± ¡°Four,¡± James mutters before getting smacked by Angela. ¡°Oh, my opinion doesn''t matter? Evan? How¡¯d it go for you?¡± Evan had finally joined in, and grunted¨Cpossibly due to the premature wake-up call. ¡°It was scales, then claws, then there was a grand finale. But it wasn¡¯t as dramatic as this. Wow Drenar, that¡¯s kinda cool coloring. Azure and Maridian, if this book is right,¡± he says while holding Amaranth''s book. He¡¯s in better spirits now that they¡¯ve formed a plan over the previous night. ¡°Okay, this is probably going to happen within the next day or two. Your heart rate went sky high, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. And I had labored breathing,¡± Drenar adds. ¡°How are we even going to get me into the mine now? I don¡¯t think I can¡­well¡­let¡¯s see.¡± He takes a moment to map out the motion, and shifts his wings. He manages to sort of drape them over his shoulders, and the claw-like knuckles rest comfortably on his shoulder. They are still visible, and they¡¯re going to stay that way. ¡°Yeah nah, we need to rethink this plan a little.¡± James tries a different tack. ¡°It¡¯s gonna sound dumb, but¡­maybe if you could tuck those wings in and we could get you a trenchcoat, that could keep people from asking questions at a distance. The second you start getting any more draconic features, all bets are off.¡± It''s still painful the first time,¡± Evan reminds them. ¡°I also started a small fire. Apparently I can emit embers of fire at will as part of my draconic heritage and you already saw the fiery rays at full power, and that can happen, uncontrolled the first time you transform. But the weird part is, I¡¯ve got the frost breath of the Maridian silver. I¡¯ll always have the ability to have a cold one,¡± he replies smugly. ¡°And a campfire for s¡¯mores,¡± Julia chimes in with a laugh. ¡°Are we seriously considering this though? I think it should just be me, Evan and Angela that go up there.¡± ¡°No. If we leave James¡¯ weak ass here alone, and someone comes a-knocking, we really need to have a reserve team,¡± Drenar says firmly. He needs to address the attire first. ¡°Angie, I need a favor. Grab that long sleeved shirt over there, cut a slit and a small hole for the wing joints. Then we¡¯re just going to stitch in a couple flaps to keep me covered. At least after the second time I transform, I know my clothes won¡¯t shred, and will just merge into my draconic form.¡± ¡°But what if I wanted to keep you clad just like this?¡± Her predatory grin is a little unnerving. ¡°C¡¯mon, let me have this awesome moment! I also need my tablet to sketch this¨C¡± ¡°No photos, remember?¡± Evan reminds her. ¡°A sketch doesn¡¯t count. If anyone asks, I could just say it¡¯s for my art work.¡± Julia nods, as does Evan. Drenar ran his fingers through his hair and sighs. ¡°Let¡¯s just get this party started.¡± he says nothing else on the matter, but he is...flattered that she thinks he''s image worthy. ¡°Are we¡­going armed?¡± Angela asked hesitantly. ¡°I think the whole point of this search is to not attract attention,¡± Julia counters. ¡°Much as my mom has a literal walk-in armory at home, it''s a bad idea. You don¡¯t bring them if you don¡¯t intend to use them, and my preference is to not start a body count.¡± ¡°Eh¡­that''s a good point,¡± Angela concedes. ¡°I have no problems with a hunting dagger. It''s a utility item,¡± Drenar opens his desk drawer and takes out his hunting dagger. The archaic one that his mother had given to him on his tenth birthday, and he pulls it out for a cursory inspection, like always. It''s strange when he withdraws it, because he hears a faint ringing sound, maybe he hit the blade on the scabbard? It¡¯s almost ten inches long, and has a straight, slightly tapered double-edge that came to an impossibly sharp point, and the metal is lustrous--almost like it¡¯s giving off its own light. Drenar doesn''t know where she had gotten it, certainly not at any hobby store, given its detailed metal etch work. The handle bears a banded, textured grip made of etched leather that seems to make it merely an extension of his arm when he holds it. It¡¯s bite is sharp, and he knows how sharp it¨C No. Damn it, no. Stay focused, Drenar thinks with fervor. He hadn''t pulled it out in almost a year prior to last week, after his old fencing instructor passed away. He swears he hears a crystalline sound again when he puts it back in the sheath, and straps the holster on his thigh, and loops it through his jeans belt straps. The thought is already receding. Julia¡¯s expression morphs into a more solemn one for a split second¨Cno one else seems to notice, and he sees her shake her head ever so slightly. ¡°James, Evan, you¡¯re the home team. We checked the radio, we should have enough range for mount Syren. I can¡¯t guarantee it¡¯ll get through the rock and stone, and cell phones don¡¯t reach out that far. We¡¯ve got the GoPro cameras, we¡¯ll record data as soon as we get to the side. I already put in massive terabyte SD cards in and the batteries are charged, so we should have plenty of time for recording. Remember, we are recording locally only.¡± ¡°Got it. No uploads,¡± James sighs. ¡°Stupid dragons and mages keeping magic under wraps for thousands of years.¡± ¡°James, we¡¯re the backup team. We¡¯re here in case anything goes wrong, and if anything does go wrong, Julia¡¯s mom is on speed dial. I know it¡¯s hard, but Drenar knows how to handle himself. So do Angela and Julia. This is a sneaking mission.¡± Evan peers out the darkened window. ¡°Can we go over this after breakfast, and after some people here aren¡¯t dressed in their nightwear?¡± he adds after a hesitant pause. ¡°What¡¯s wrong Evan, never seen a girl before?¡± Julia asks with an evil laugh. ¡°Oh I have, but there¡¯s just a hellcat occupying Drenar¡¯s bed right now,¡± Evan retorts. ¡°Also Tsundere, no more sleeping in Drenar¡¯s room. I knew this was going to happen with you two in close proximity.¡± ¡°Ouch. Go get beat up by more mercenaries and get back to me.¡± Vol. 1, Ch. 23: Gather Your Party and Venture Forth, Part Two Angela listens intently to the plan during breakfast, and on the way in Drenar¡¯s car along the access road to the Lone Pines mining facility on the slope of Mount Syren. ''Mountain'' might be an overly generous description¨Cit isn''t much more than an extensive hill, and nowhere near the height of the peaks further out. Julia is driving calmly, and Angela is in the passenger seat. Drenar is keeping a low profile in the back, and he¡¯s distinctly uncomfortable, due to needing to keep his wings scrunched down against the dark fabric seat. Those wings have not gone away, which means this is only going to get weirder from here on out. ¡°Think you could fly, scout it out?¡± she asks casually. ¡°Before I start waxing Monty Python and the flight capability of a laden dragon, I¡¯m gonna be real with you. I don¡¯t have the strength yet, or the wing span, or the sprint speed to balance that lift to weight equation. Hence, why I brought my hobby drone,¡± He somehow slumps lower in his seat, as if he can hide the wings that anyone could see if they weren''t speeding along. ¡°Oh dear Fates, my wings are cramping.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think dragons tend to stick to one or the other. Taking a partial form apparently drives some kind of¡­morphal magnetism. Your body snaps back to one or the other after a short period of time, if you¡¯re trying to have your cake and eat it too.¡± Angela looks at Julia blankly. ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t know there was a term for it either, Angie. Welcome to crazy town.¡± ¡°Population, you two,¡± she replies icily. She¡¯s practicing flicking her cell phone from the dash to her open hand, feeling that force of magnetism as her gaze locks on the phone. She feels some kind of invisible tether between her hand and the object, all she has to do is tug with her open hand for the phone to land neatly in her palm. But, if she twists it¡­she can rotate the phone, too, in-flight. An interesting minor discovery on changing the angular momentum, but she can''t think of a practical use yet. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ve got every tool we can think of. But what if this goes badly and we¡¯re spotted?¡± ¡°Break contact, get back to the car. We¡¯ll hide it off the road, best we can. This road is really infrequently traveled,¡± Drenar points out. The road is scarcely large enough for two vehicle lanes. He taps the radio headset, and a burst of static can be heard. ¡°James, Evan, how¡¯s our signal?¡± There¡¯s a crackle of static, then James picks up on his hobby radio back in his room¨Csomething he¡¯d used to goof around and radio Julia and the others with, since there were times cell phones were a little unreliable in the past. ¡°Loud and clear. Make sure you¡¯re recording all this. I want as big a pile of evidence to stash away, you know, as insurance. How far away are you?¡± ¡°About five minutes. Let¡¯s go over it one more time.¡± Drenar takes a moment to breathe. ¡°Lone Pines Mining, according to google photos, is a relatively small endeavor. There¡¯s a loading bay for large cargo trucks, lift cranes, and piles of processed and discarded rock, silt, and gravel. The main entrance is on the east, there should be some kind of bunker setup, and some smaller utility buildings right next to it¨Cair, power, hydraulic, and so on. The mine has the first floor as an office area for their typical day to day operations, along with a shipping and loading bay where materials come up by a conveyor system from down below. This was all set up prior to major industrial overhaul, but apparently it was rich enough they never did a heavy machinery setup." He pulls out more schematics they''d printed. ¡°The mines go down deep enough there¡¯s multiple ventilation shafts. There is supposedly some kind of rail cart system to bring ore back up to the surface, from the older region of the mine. We¡¯re going in quietly, surveying everything we can, and grabbing any electronics, hard drives, thumb sticks, that we can possibly carry. We¡¯re in, we¡¯re out. Julia figured out her plasma spark ability right before we headed out, and¡­¡± he grunts, and rubs gingerly at the ¡®shoulder¡¯ of his wing, ¡°Let¡¯s just say that it stung a bit. I''m somewhat insulated against that kind of energy with my scales.¡± ¡°You really need to stop letting her experiment on you, Drenar,¡± Evan sighs. ¡°But it''s fun!¡± ¡°Science experiments on your hetero life buddy makes me highly question the nature of our friendship,¡± Drenar says with a hint of a smile. Julia pulls over to the side of the road, where there is a copse of trees, and Drenar slowly slides out of the car, and stretches his wings when he''s sure that no one isaround. Julia throws a camo shroud over the car to make it less obvious. ¡°Ahh¡­that¡¯s much better. Seriously, wing things, get bigger, you¡¯re only useful for only looking cool. Angela, are you ready?¡± ¡°I¡¯m all set. You let me know if you start getting any more signs this process is about to take off, alright?¡± she asks, before ruffling the feathers on his wing. He gives her a sour look. ¡°New rule. Don¡¯t touch the avian dragon wings. You guys are way too easily amused by my sudden fluffiness.¡± He secures the GoPro on his bag strap¨Cluckily he was just able to get the bag on with a little help from Angela, and she also gears up and checks the go-pro positioning. ¡°Remember, if anyone sees us, we¡¯re just filming some really campy, low budget fantasy flick. And these wings are fake. Hang on. Gonna try something.¡± He takes a running start, and pumps his wings as fast as he can. His futile effort is rewarded by unceremoniously crashing into grass, and he shouts from the sudden landing. Angela can¡¯t help but laugh a little at it. ¡°Yep, I knew that was a bad idea. Definitely not enough lift to weight ratio.¡± ¡°Can we not get injured before we even have the chance for someone to harm us with guns, grenades, sharp sticks, or fireballs?¡± Julia seethes while he dusts himself off. The sky is not looking fortuitous today, and there are larger clouds looming just over the mountain range to the west. It''s definitely storming this afternoon, she thinks as she stashes non-essential items They needed to pack light and move fast. ¡°Okay, one more thing. Alex and I were talking last night, and I think I discovered something. Please watch?¡± Drenar gestures to them, and she nods. He takes a more coiled stance and arches his back a little, and she sees a slight shimmer over his body. Her eyes widen. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± she gasps. ¡°Either my first display of telekinesis, or an arcane barrier.¡± He relaxes his stance, but she can still see that white-blue shimmer if she pays attention. And there''s an auditory hum, faint, but high pitch. ¡°Julia, zap me.¡± ¡°Is this a good idea?¡± She doesn''t hesitate to snap her fingers, and two brilliant sparks emerge in her hands, dancing and chirping at a high pitch. ¡°You realize I don''t know how much damage I could do with this ability. I''ve been trying to focus as little as possible to avoid causing harm?¡± ¡°Maridians can carry bioelectric current. Let''s see what happens.¡± She jabs him with a quick lunge with both hands, and there''s a flare of light as her fists connect with his block with his forearms, and a sizzle of energy. The shimmering barrier holds after flickering for a second. ¡°Hah-hah! I''ve got a spell barrier!¡± He roars triumphantly. ¡°Okay, throw a rock at me.¡± ¡°Oh, let me try this one,¡± Angela says energetically. It''s her turn to try something, and she thinks about her reflexive ¡®catch¡¯ of her phone. If she could pull things¡­could she direct a force outwards? ¡°Just don''t aim for his face,¡± Julia reminds her when she hands her a small rock from the gravel road. She can feel the pulse of energy in her hands and her arm tingles mildly. Was this that mana thing that was mentioned? Drenar takes a few steps back, and leans forward, his arms open. She winds back and throws the rock, and it feels like a massive recoil on her palm when she lets go. The rock flies at incredible speed at Drenar''s chest. The barrier flares intensely, and the rock deflects to the ground and throws up a small plume of dirt. He staggers backward. The shield flickers before resuming its static lighting from before. He rubs his chest uneasily. ¡°Ow. That flew faster than it should.¡± ¡°That was like a fastball pitch!¡± Julia states with amazement. ¡°Could it stop a bullet?¡± ¡°Oh we are definitely not trying that one until I''ve got armor plating between me and a handgun round,¡± he counters. He relaxes his body and the shimmering fades. ¡°I feel a little¡­fatigued from that? A little bit.¡± ¡°Telekinetic acceleration. That rock could become a deadly weapon,¡± Angela states calmly. ¡°Yikes. Guess we need to take some baby steps until we get the hang of it. So what was the point behind this?¡± ¡°In case I need to soak some hits?¡± he replies warily. ¡°I noticed the rock didn''t vaporize,¡± Julia points at the gouged earth, where the rock now resides. ¡°Angela, if Drenar has his shield up, be behind him if we start taking fire.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because when bullets hit impact plates, they can spall or shatter. Getting hit by bullet fragments doesn''t sound pleasant, and they can still cause damage. It''s precisely why hard-backed body armor has kevlar weave as well, the kevlar catches the fragments,¡± Drenar warns her. Julia nods in agreement. ¡°Alright, let''s get moving.¡± Angela looks above them during the walk, wondering if any observer drones are lurking in that cloudy sky. If there is anything of note in the past couple years, the Ukrainian war, in particular, adversaries can make effective use of drones for forward observing positions. The Talons have the appearance of a military-level criminal organization, based on everything they¡¯ve read. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The walk is only about ten minutes, and they keep to the treeline, parallel to the road, and just out of sight. The gentle climb levels off, and industrial loading cranes graced the vista of the mine. Unprocessed rocks are sitting in loose piles, and a few utility buildings are nearby. There is nothing else but rusting, abandoned vehicles, and a few scraggly trees and bushes. Angela pulls out a pair of binoculars and motions for them to a low rise, and they kneel down to observe. ¡°It¡¯s gonna rain for sure. That¡¯s gonna suck,¡± Drenar mutters when he points at the clouds turning darker. He squints, and takes off his glasses for a second. ¡°The hell¡­I can see without my glasses! Well that¡¯s something I seriously do not mind at all,¡± he adds with a confident grin before tucking them away in his pocket. ¡°Shh. I¡¯m checking out the area. We should have waited until nightfall,¡± Angela murmurs while continuing to surveil. There''s a series of freight containers, one of them is still open, and the doors flap loosely in the wind. No one had bothered to secure them prior to abandoning the site. "Look at this place. Does this scream ''Secret magical cult lair'' to any of you?" "No. But the lights are on. Somebody''s home," Julia points out one of the utility buildings before taking the binoculars from Angela. "Alright. There''s just basic lighting. No cameras, none that I can see. No signs of other vehicles. Not a soul in sight. Drenar, how good is your vision?" He''s wincing and rubbing at his orbital cavity. "It''s like I just¡­ah¡­went from a CRT monitor from the nineties, and just plugged into an 8K resolution screen. It''s giving me a bit of a tension headache." He shakes his head, and Angela glances over. His eyes are all green now, verdant and bright. And there''s a catlike slit for a pupil. It''s fascinating, to say the least. "I don''t think that even scratches the surface. I can see individual gravel pieces from two hundred meters.¡± "We really should abort," Angela replies worriedly. "This is only going to get worse. Drenar your eyes look fully draconic now.¡± "I''ll be fine. Besides, I am not letting that scumbag Jonaleth have any say in my future." He clicks the radio button. "James, we¡¯ve arrived at the mine site. Not a soul here. I¡¯m flying my hobby drone for a closer look, we¡¯ll save the flight data. After that, we''re heading in. Stay radio silent unless it''s a crisis." "You are a walking crisis," James shot back. Angela rolls her eyes, her brother could be such a massive giant pain in her backside at times, and thankfully their mother hasn''t twisted all decency out of him. Yet. Drenar walks down the slope and unpacks his hobby drone from his backpack, along with the controller plugin. After a few minutes, he powers up the drone. It takes off with a burst of speed, and he keeps it to the treeline, weaving in out of the branches like a stunt pilot. Even Julia looks on in awe. ¡°Smooth flying¨C¡± ¡°Shh. I need to get as close as possible. I need to circle around the slope and keep it at the tree line. This thing gets too close, anyone closeby might hear the noise.¡± Drenar is tracking the screen with his draconic eyes, making maneuvers that even his prior twitch reaction speeds would have been unable to make. It was like the battle trance Angela had seen him in when he was on the training floor and weaving blows with deadly precision, but more intense. After a minute of maneuvering into position, he zooms in on the entryway, hovering the drone barely over the hill. ¡°No cameras. No sensors of any kind. Something¨Cwhat is that?¡± He narrows his eyes, and they peer over his looming wings and both of them gently rested their hands on his ¡®wing shoulder¡¯. ¡°I saw the arc too. That power cable is grossly overloaded." It had taken a couple tries, but Angela saw the abnormality. A bright blue lightning jolts skywards from some of the superstructure of a utility accessway every minute or two. Drenar clicks the radio. ¡°James, be advised. There¡¯s a massive amount of power coming from one of the generator buildings. Whatever they¡¯re powering is leading to massive static discharge every couple of minutes. I¡¯m saving the drone video to look at later.¡± He strafes the drone low along the ridge. ¡°Well, guess that answers your question. Something funky is afoot here. And¡­why are you guys hugging my wings?¡± he asks with a hint of tension. ¡°They are very cozy,¡± Julia replies cheerily. ¡°You said it first,¡± Angela adds, and felt her cheeks flush just a little. "Should we¡­let go?" "Nah. I think he¡¯s pretty okay with this," Julia teases. The look of anxiety on his face is priceless. "I am not okay with this. Both of you are fawning over me, and I''m a one lady at a time kind of guy." He looks at Angela. "Do you two have some ladies agreement I don''t know about?" "What if we did?" she replies with a sly smile. He starts to say something, then shakes his head. "Hey, don''t tell him anything. Remember the rules?" Julia scolds lightly while giving Angela a subtle wink. "Oh, those rules." Drenar simply wraps his wings tight against his back. "You guys teeter on the edge of reasonably funny, you know that?" He replies with a slight inward groan. "Okay, can we focus on this, please?" Angela and Julia grumble, their fun moment is now over. ¡°So what do we do?¡± ¡°Find out what¡¯s generating all that power. And then find out what they¡¯re powering. I¡¯m landing the drone, then we¡¯re moving in. Really quiet like.¡± Drenar hovers the drone back below the tree line, and after a couple minutes, lands it gently back at the same takeoff spot. He packs it up with delicate care. ¡°Lets¡¯ go.¡± Julia is first to rise up and hustle to the cover, then Angela follows, with Drenar taking the rear. Angela couldn''t help but laugh at his stance, because it doesn''t look graceful. "Less poking fun at the ancient avian dragon, and more sneaking," he mutters once they sidle up to the doorway of a utility building, just outside the main entrance. It¡¯s locked with a rusted padlock, a very thick chain fence, and razor wire blocks it from up above. The door is just on the other side. Angela grabs her lock pick set from her bag, and motions for Julia to stand aside when she reaches for a pair of bolt cutters. "We don''t want them knowing we''re here after the fact. Let''s try subtle things first." A couple months of being bored playing a rogue in their Pathfinder tabletop sessions had led her to try her hand at actually breaking open real locks, with surprising adeptness. Her foolish parents put on the deadbolt on the house before leaving a lot, and constantly forgetting it required a separate key. She knew most of the basics, and this lock is simple enough, based on her memory of common designs. The lock is no match for her skill, and it pops open, even with the rust slowing the process down a little. "Julia, I see fuel line returns to a tank farm over there," she points to the overhead piping that runs the length of the area, "and there''s a vent stack up on the roof. I think this is a generator room." "Yeah I hear it. Could be diesel. Smells like it. Or jet fuel maybe." Drenar takes a sniff and recoils. "Ah, why is that so¡­repulsive." "Dragons have enhanced smell. Evan warned you this might be mildly overwhelming," Julia reminds him. He acknowledges it while still covering his nose. They try the door and it is locked, too. Angela picks the second lock¨Cthis time a regular key lock, and pops it open without much effort. She swings the door open, and freezes when she sees what is inside the dimly lit utility building. "Angie, what is the¨Cwhoa." ¡°Call OSHA. Tell them they need to add a whole new section of mage specific hazardous workplace regs.¡± Drenar peeks in and sees the room has a massive set of cables plugged into a glass and metal container. Housed within the glass dome is a translucent, almost metallic looking crystal that gleams with its own inner light, and it hovers halfway from the bottom of the casing. A liquid sloshes inside, and Angela can feel the hum of energy on her skin. She swears she can hear a crystalline note at the edge of her hearing, calm and soothing. ¡°Julia, any idea what this is?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got no idea. But if I had to hazard any kind of guess, this could be a mana crystal like Amaranth was mentioning. A few creatures literally have these things growing out of their back like some weird symbiotic relationship. These things can put out as much energy as a traditional power plant in a fraction of the footprint, with far less environmental damage.¡± She looks around, and there are other, smaller cases measuring no more than fifteen centimeters high, and half as wide, and housed in a semi-cylindrical casing of glass and metal. Angela holds one of the devices delicately, and bags one¨Cand makes sure it stays secured with an extra shirt wrapped around it. She doesn''t know why, but being this close to the crystal makes it feel like her whole body hums. It''s a strange feeling she doesn''t have an analogue for. What is this thing? Is this a normal feeling? It doesn''t feel threatening or painful. It''s simply there. ¡°You realize that could be super hazardous if that thing breaks,¡± Drenar points out nervously. She¡¯s been staring at it for a few seconds, and she looks at him, his eyes mighty dilated. And green. ¡°I¡¯ll trade bags. I might be a bit more hazard resistant if anything goes wrong.¡± ¡°Oh fine, sir floofy,¡± Angela says while throwing some lighthearted shade at him. He shrugs softly as they exchange packs. Julia has been taking camera images of everything in the room. There¡¯s occasional sparks from the overloaded power cables, but no damage. They quietly close the door once clear of the utility building, and dart to the entryway and keep low. ¡°Ah, man. Wind is picking up, I can feel this storm coming in my bones,¡± Drenar mutters when the first few droplets of rain splash down. ¡°This is going to suck getting home.¡± He taps the radio one more time. ¡°James, we¡¯re at the main entryway. Wish us luck¨C¡± ¡°Dude, you need to abort. The Talons know who you guys are!¡± James screams out before Drenar can even finish speaking, and Drenar stiffens like a board, and so do Angela and Julia. He¡¯s still got the radio open. ¡°Nick, you''re still bleeding from your leg!¡± ¡°The wounds¡¯ already partly healed, it¡¯s just discharge,¡± Angela hears Nick say in a slightly subdued tone. ¡°Drenar, Angela, Julia, you guys need to turn back now. Forget whatever idiotic plan you¡¯ve got, the situation has changed! You all need to reconvene here back at the house, right away!¡± Angela practically tears the radio off of Drenar¡¯s head, and he winces when the band snaps at his ear. ¡°Nick, what the hell are you doing at Drenar¡¯s house, don¡¯t you have someplace else better to be?!¡± ¡°Angie, it¡¯s time to stop being teenagers with attitude, and please listen to me, before you all get yourselves killed. I¡¯m dead serious.¡± Nick has taken the radio and Angela can hear a grunt from Nick while James helps him. ¡°James I¡¯m alright, waste of medical stuff. My regen potions are already working on it.¡± ¡°Nick, just what have you been up to?!¡± Angela snaps after hitting her patience limit. ¡°Angie¡­it¡¯s a long story. And I need to come clean with you guys, because whatever I thought was going on in my hometown for the past year or so has gotten way worse. The Talons have made a mess of things on a level I can¡¯t even fathom. They¡¯ve found a way to undo the Ascension events¨Cor are trying to. They¡¯re about to land the whole world in a giant chaos storm.¡± It¡¯s more annoying that he¡¯s calling her by her truncated name, right in front of everyone. Angela looks at the rest of them. They are all equally bewildered, and Drenar¡¯s wings are tensed like this could be the most dire thing any of them has ever heard. ¡°Okay Nick, you¡¯ve got sixty seconds to convince us. Then we¡¯re going into the belly of the beast of Mount Syren, and getting answers our way.¡± Vol. 1, Ch. 24: Double-O Dragon, Part One Twenty minutes before a really reckless decision¡­ Somewhere in the infinite universe, there is a version of Nicholas Deshandrea who decides to take the day off and not follow on a tangential lead. He sits down at his house, eats a breakfast of pan seared steak cooked to perfection and fresh cut hash browns, and relaxes on his one day off for his cover job. He sips a steaming hot coffee with just the right amount of cream and sugar. He quietly looks over data on his magitech tablet that projects screens and graphs into the air, and he pores through the information, looking for patterns. A relatively boring, and routine day. He¡¯s ignored his own sound advice, and he is instead pulling up in a dark SUV to an office complex downtown, pondering about a series of thefts reported by the local garrison of the sorcerous armed forces, or SAF. Someone had been breaking into various medical offices and stealing records¨Cphysicals, blood work, everything under the sun. He doesn¡¯t know why it¡¯s important, but he knows that during one of the thefts, a camera had caught a glimpse of a known Talons agent. It did not show the crime itself, only his quiet exit with a series of folders and two hard drives in a plastic bag. The hell are they doing? Why are they stealing medical records? The offices he contacted all were extremely cagey about what records were seized. After a less than subtle persuasion that obstructing the investigation would not be looked well upon, one doctor office capitulated. The records were for a mage and Kin specific clinic, and all records on patients with draconic lineage were taken. It was puzzling, to put it mildly. Why would anyone want those records? Dragons are well studied¨Ceven after a mass Darwin award event that took a massive chunk out of the population. Whatever they are after, needs more context. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m technically an endangered species. That is such a drag of a label. He hops out of the vehicle, and expects a quick check on this one suspect. If he¡¯s lucky, this should be a relatively mundane affair. On the off-chance it isn''t, he''s preemptively prepared. He knocks on the front door of the two story office that is housed in downtown Opechea Falls, a red brick and mortar two story that looks like it needs more than just a little repair work. He knocks again, and he hears a click of a lock. A man in a black hoodie and jeans with a stubble of a beard and dark hair examines him suspiciously. ¡°What do you want?¡± he says with hostility. ¡°Yes, good afternoon, I''m with the building inspector office,¡± Nick says after flashing his badge with the subtle glamor that allows him to persuade others with official looking credentials. ¡°I had a report that this building had a sewage smell emanating from one of the neighboring buildings, and I was tasked to investigate the city connection points. May I come in?¡± ¡°Are you saying someone clogged a toilet?¡± He sneers, and holds the door mostly closed. ¡°I''m saying people were concerned about noxious odors, there are ordinances in place for commercial businesses to maintain functional facilities to avoid health hazards. This is a routine check-up to ensure the problem is not on our end, as the towns¡¯ utilities are aging, and there is planned maintenance. Actually, there''s a planned sewer shore-up next week on this street,¡± he says as he produces papers to that effect. It¡¯s a classic method of his, no one wants to deal with raw sewage or be accused of neglecting waste removal services. The man squints and looks at the paper. ¡°We''re not open for business,¡± he states forcibly. ¡°Come back Monday.¡± ¡°I have town records showing your logistics company open officially until 5 PM today.¡± Time to apply the pressure, I want to see what Jimmy Cabresa is up to fishing for records, he thinks. ¡°Look, uh, mister¡­¡± ¡°No name.¡± ¡°Okay, mister Noname,¡± he says with a beat of humor, and the man scowls, ¡°It''s one on a Friday, and this is my second to last stop for the day, I have a possible water main crack down on Sixth Street. I want to get home to my girl and¡­well, celebrate with her.¡± The man raises an eyebrow. ¡°Look, I''m trying to save you from a big heap of trouble, if you''re worried about your management. Failure to comply is going to earn citations per the town hall for violating ordinances if found to be attempted concealment of defective or under maintained utilities, after the fact. This can result in sanctions, fines, or even revocation of your business license. These aren''t my rules, they''re the town''s.¡± Nick plays a better poker face when he''s in this role, unlike when he''s losing twenty bucks during once a month Friday night poker with Levine, his friend and counterpart in SAF. Nick has filled a unique role in the organization as a specialist investigator and one-time secret actions soldier for many years, and also as a professional monster hunter. He may be seventy years old, but he looks at best no older than twenty, due to his own specific heritage as a Hinterland green dragon. He is annoyed that this many years in, he still gets carded at the bar every time. The man in front of him talks into a headset quietly, frowns, and curls his lip at him before beckoning him inside. ¡°In and out. We''re busy.¡± ¡°I''ll keep it brief, don''t worry.¡± If all went well, this fishing adventure would hopefully net a quick informant once he singles out Jimmy, and gives him information on what the Talons are up to. It¡¯s disturbing they are sending agents in via clandestine means, and recruiting under his nose. He needs to map out this cell of operators, and quickly. He steps inside the old-fashioned office down a short accessway. A secretary desk sits unused, the computer defunct and collecting considerable dust. He sees three other men in hoodies in the main office area, looking at him anxiously from behind computer screens. He can feel his draconic danger sense tingling. This is not a friendly room, and they''re eyeing him too intensely. He has his bolt pistol in his jacket and his hunting dagger and a few non-lethal concussive orbs, plus his low profile armor vest under his shirt, but he''s worried about what they''re armed with. He can see excess bulk just under the hoodies of two of them. Pistols, or maybe knives. And they''re tense like they''re ready to draw. ¡°Lance, he''s with town hall, our crapper has a problem or something,¡± Noname says irritably to the one closest to Nick. ¡°Can you take him to the basement and show him the mains?¡± ¡°I can''t believe this, seriously you guys don''t have anything better to do?!¡± his target, aka, Jimmy Cabresa demands from the rear console, a twenty-something man with short, military cropped hair and a scar on his chin. He isn¡¯t high on the priority list, but Nick can bust him for any number of Veil protocol violations for taking privileged records. ¡°This is a shakedown, we had building inspectors last month!¡± ¡°I assure you, I''m here on official capacity from the town hall.¡± He''s made a mistake, this level of hostility is a warning sign something is really wrong. They are hiding something that warrants attention. He slowly unzips his jacket and shows papers to Lance. ¡°Please read this¨C¡± He slaps the papers to the floor, eyes narrowed. This one-seventy centimeter male with blonde hair and solid muscle is looking for a fight. ¡°I think you''re not from town hall.¡± Shit. This is about to go bad. The two others are standing up, and Jimmy has a hand drifting to his back. And worse, he can smell pyromethanine in a poorly sealed barrel¨Ca highly flammable extract from Valencian red dragons that powers their fire breath. If it lit off in here, the place would go up in an inferno in an instant. ¡°Gentlemen, I think there''s been a misunderstanding, I''ll get my boss on the line to verify¨C¡± ¡°No. I smell a little lizard out of his depth,¡± Lance says with a snarl, claws starting to emerge from his fingers, and his hair growing longer and onto his face and hands. Wargen. Gotta take him out first. Gunners next. This isn''t Nick''s first dance against multiple armed opponents, and in close quarters like this, they are at a disadvantage. ¡°A little birdie told us to keep an eye for anything funny, and deal with it.¡± Nick takes a tactical step back as the men close, and he sees Jimmy pull a pistol¨Ca Glock firearm, with an extended magazine, and likely converted illegally to full automatic. He''s already got a plan as the two others pull pistols. ¡°Remember, you chose violence, not me.¡± Lance lunges with deadly sharp claws and the canine muzzle that emerges on his face gnashes, and Nick quickly sidesteps and redirects him into his buddy, both of them smashing into a desk and sending the monitor flying. The second one has made a rookie mistake and hasn''t taken the safety off his pistol, Nick covers the distance in a blink, forces the gun aside, and punches him in the throat. He gasps for breath, out of the fight temporarily. Jimmy however, is no rookie and fires a volley of nine millimeter death, but Nick isn''t there to take the hit. He dodges behind the sturdy metal desk, and when he hears the magazine go empty, he grabs a monitor and flings it at Jimmy, smashing it into his face with dragon enhanced force. He keels backwards, moaning in pain. The Wargen is getting up and trying to claw his face, and the other guy is scrabbling for the fallen pistol. He pulls his hunting dagger and slices a long, deep cut on the man''s arm, and the wolf-man recoils. Wargen have incredible healing abilities that didn¡¯t make it a telling blow, and he tries to bite down on Nick''s arm. The knife swings direction and goes from under his muzzle and upwards, pinning his mouth shut and he gurgles in pain. A wound that isn''t lethal, but boy is it incapacitating. He kicks him down and pulls the concussion orb and flicks it at Noname, who tries to reload the Glock, and Nick swerves behind an old iron support beam. The blast of air marks a successful detonation, and the man flying and crashing into the brick facade wall is just icing on the cake. Several loose bricks land on him to add injury to insult. ¡°Call King, we¡¯re compromised!¡± Jimmy moans from his prone position. His arcane barrier took the brunt of the blast, but it¡¯s weakly held together. Nick bulldozes him into the adjacent wall with a surge of draconic strength, cracking the bricks and the barrier in a shower of gold sparks, and Jimmy goes down again after taking another smashing blow to the face. Nick glances up, assessing threats. He hits his emergency alert on his arcanlink¨Cessentially a smart phone but for mages, and the SAF garrison is out on alert. Lance is still up and smashes Nick backwards into the wall, and it hurts. The wargen grimaces and pulls the knife out from his muzzle, and Nick has to respect how painful that must have been. He tries to bring a blow downwards into Nick''s chest, but he grabs him at the last second, and summons his ability as a Hinterland. Embers of fire emerge from his hands, burning the wargen, and his fur smolders. He''s wide eyed and groaning in pain, in a desperate battle to the death. Pain eventually overcomes him, and Nick lands a smashing blow with an elbow and lands a powerful kick at his digitigrade knee joint, and it cracks. He goes down and Nick grabs the dagger back, and slams the man down on the floor. Nick quickly pulls an energy binder and secures his hands behind his back, and he grabs the Glock pistol at the fourth man, who slumps and gives up. His face is bloodied and there''s a couple broken teeth. ¡°Put on that binder. Behind your back. Or I put you down.¡± The man groans before he closes the binders on his wrists, and Nick secures the other two. Nick sighs, he felt a massive bruise on his chest forming¨Cthere¡¯s a tear on his jacket. The impact plate on his armor vest under his shirt must have caught a stray bullet, and he doesn¡¯t see any blood. He really should have been using his arcane barrier. The wound on his thigh from the claws of the Wargen hadn''t registered, and he quickly puts a field regen compress on it. The bleeding stops, and he''s eliminated the threats. He also very carefully takes the barrel of pyromethanine and puts it in the bathroom, and dumps the contents down the shower stall. The last thing he needed is the office incinerated. Jimmy''s still struggling when Nick slams him with an open hand into a rib, and he hears the man wheeze, and he staggers to the ground, winded. ¡°Now Jimmy, we got off on the wrong foot here. You presumably know who I''m with, right?¡± The man glares at him and spits and head-butted him¨Ctoo bad that Nick has a jaw of steel. Nick''s had quite enough of that and wipes his face, before slamming another rib, and Jimmy screams in pain. That rib had cracked. ¡°You''re SAF, right? Lance said the goddamn lizards are always the best enforcers.¡± ¡°Hunter and investigator, actually.¡± The pain has caught up with Jimmy and his eyes water from the agony. ¡°What''s so important that you decided to try to off someone from town hall?¡± ¡°Jimmy don''t talk, don''t say nothing!¡± Noname mumbles. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°No, don''t look at him, look at me,¡± Nick instructs. ¡°I have a high degree of latitude in how I bring you in. Alive, damaged, or other,¡± Nick says with absolute calm. Jimmy nods, panting and trying not to cry. ¡°Do not make my job harder. Where are the records you stole?¡± ¡°File cabinet,¡± he gasps. A quick shake of his head indicates which one to search. ¡°Second question, why?¡± Nick asks him and rummages through the cabinet. There''s holes from the gunfire through one of the folders, much to his annoyance. Better holes through that than him, at least. ¡°Ah come on, it''s records for a bunch of lizard families, petty larceny at worst, I''ll be out on parole¨C¡± ¡°Get it straight, it''s dragons. You sound like a deplorable git when you spam the slurs. It''s not very polite, didn''t your mother tell you to be nice to other Kin?¡± ¡°Eat shit.¡± Nick is tempted to break another rib, but one is already enough considering the paperwork he''s going to have to fill out. Jimmy was quite feisty for being in binders already. He glances at the thumb drives¨Cthose he''ll have to look at later. The folder has a number of blood work records of various individuals. Almost all of them are teens or early adults. He recognizes some names¡­and others that shouldn''t be here. Drenar? Julia? Angela?! His head is spinning. None of them are on the official registry of mage families. And yet there are draconic markers in their genetic structure. How have they processed this? This is hundreds of records, it is far from trivial. ¡°You didn''t take this for yourself. This is research. High cost impact research. Where was your dropoff point, who were you delivering these to?¡± ¡°Eat shit, and I want a lawyer,¡± Jimmy mumbles. Nick hears the ping on his phone, plainclothes SAF agents are closing in. ¡°You''re messing with things you can''t understand.¡± ¡°I have a habit of that, actually, and I am very good at learning things. This record snatching is Veil breach violations. You''re doing time. Better make sure to take a deal when your minimum wage lawyer shows up. Also the attempted murder of an SAF agent is a major additive on the sentence, and the skies the limit. Enjoy jail,¡± Nick states coolly before SAF agents barge in, and he slowly shows his ID. They take the confiscated firearm and his bolt pistol, and the lead soldier frowns when he looks at the ID. ¡°Nick? Isn¡¯t this deplorable beneath your paygrade?¡± he asks with a hint of amusement. ¡°He¡¯s a package guy and a pilferer.¡± He does, however, return his weapons. ¡°He might be. But those three are higher level agents. Strip the place for intelligence, read them their rights and preserve documents. Also, call the city. I had to dump pyromethanine down the shower stall so they didn¡¯t get any cute ideas. It was starting to smell volatile, and we need to neutralize it. Exploding sewers tends to draw the wrong kind of attention,¡± he states dryly. The man laughs at this. ¡°Dear Gaia, having a legend like you back in town is kind of refreshing. But uh, what is that?¡± he asks. Nick is still clutching the records tightly. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I think I have an idea. Oh Jimmy, would you like to make a deal?¡± Nicholas asks with a grin. ¡°You¡¯re an absolute rubbish shot with a handgun, maybe we can make the firearm discharge, illegal automatic conversion, and attempted murder of an SAF agent¡­go away?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare Jimmy, they¡¯ll burn us alive!¡± Noname exclaims. He¡¯s struggling against the weight of an SAF agent securing his bindings and reading him his rights with a knee on his back. ¡°She¡¯ll melt us!¡± Jimmy looks terrified at that. ¡°Take him to the garrison, book him, set him up in an interrogation room. I¡¯m gonna go phone a friend,¡± Nick states. The soldiers nod before Nick gets a cursory check by a medic. He''s been through way worse. But this whole situation is odd in a way that he doesn''t have any idea where it''s leading. But another piece clicks into place, and it''s a thought that brings him more than a little hesitation in his step. They knew I was coming. But how? Why? A clue rattles out when he thinks of the conversation. They''d mentioned King. The architect of the mage criminal underworld. The kingmaker. He never directly participated, but connected criminal contacts for the right job at the right place, for the right price. And he was exceptional at staying hidden. His was a name he and Levine had only just learned a few months ago. Why would these low level nobodies be working directly with King? Nick doesn''t ponder it for long. Jimmy is being unceremoniously tossed into the unmarked SUV, and Nick puts a hand out. ¡°Jimmy, last chance for a deal. Tell me why King has you working on this.¡± The other accomplices are still being treated for injuries inside. His face is a mess and his nose is broken, but Nick can see him doing the math. ¡°The records show it''s working. That''s the only hint you''re getting before I get a deal in writing and a ticket to the darkest corner of the planet to hide in.¡± ¡°What''s working?¡± ¡°Undoing the ascension events.¡± The plainclothes SAF agents push him into the vehicle, and close the door. Nick is standing there, unable to believe what he just heard. The dragons have been gone for seven hundred years, save for several thousand that chose to stay behind during those horrific events. Sure, drakensouls trickle in every now and then, but no one knows precisely why. It isn''t exactly news. But bringing back all of them? Is it possible? And what would be the fallout of millions of dragons just popping back into the world? If the Talons are running some kind of experiment, and this is the end goal, what secret is in these records? He has to be lying. But, what if he isn¡¯t? He pulls the folder open again, reading through the data as fast as he can. The blood work alone is disturbing. People with no known draconic heritage now have extensive dragon genetic markers. All in the span of the last three months. He keeps flipping through, and he sees Angela''s bloodwork¨Clikely from a yearly physical. Nick has to admit, he has a soft spot for Angela. She¡¯s a good student and has a kind heart, and an athleticism that¡¯s impressive for a human. He winces and mentally reminds himself that she is less than a third of his seventy years of age, he''s practically a grandfather to her. His own girlfriend is a member of a very small circle of women that are literally living legends of the magical world. I shouldn''t read this. This is so wrong, I should send this to Levine right away. He hesitates, and shakes his head after a moment. Gaia forgive me, I''m only doing this because these kids do not deserve to be guinea pigs in some kind of horrific arcanist experiment. He examines the data. Angela has extensive draconic markers for the maridian silver genus, compared to a few months prior. And there are other markers that are circled and annotated for further review. Unknown. He snaps the folder closed, and pulls out his phone. Levine has to know about this. And only Levine. He picks up on the second ring. ¡°So, how did your little fishing¨C¡± Levine starts to say. ¡°It''s all hands on deck, Levine. The Talons are working on something massive. I''ve got medical records indicating a statistically significant amount of kids are Awakening in town, and the Talons are somehow involved in it. I''m forwarding a list. Match it against the registered mage families in the area." The response back is a crisp and sharp Scottish accent from a man he has spent more than half his career fighting alongside, a man who is a walking encyclopedia. "Nick, seriously, I thought this was supposed to be a small operation, not to make a big spectacle in your hometown. What rock did you kick over?" Levine Dillenger ponders over the phone. Nick can picture him now, sitting at a wooden desk so fashionably out of date that it¡¯s almost charming. He imagines he''s twirling his medium length, wavy dark brown hair with just a few slivers of silver in the only outward sign of his anxiety, and examining images with those antiquated glasses he wears over his light amber eyes. Nick can imagine in that silence the forty-something male with milano colored skin tapping at a keyboard in a controlled rhythm, all wrapped around a lean and powerful physique of a man who should be doing less field work, not more, and still looks like he¡¯s in his thirties. Minus the arthritis that occasionally flared up from two decades of action, the only true sign that the years have added up a bit. Levine is a powerhouse of a detective, if he has to pick a word that sums up his expertise. Nick pauses as he ponders a response. "I don''t know, Levine. I was expecting money laundering, large scale theft, maybe arms smuggling. Not this. Not the beginnings of some horrific arcanist experiment. Whatever they''re up to, if this is replicable to scale, two million dragons reappearing could crack open the Veil and there''s no fixing that. This is dire on a level I never could have expected, and we''ve been in some tough binds before. First, I''m gonna do a personal check on someone, I know some of these kids. We need you out here in the field as soon as possible." "Be careful, Nick. The Talons aren''t screwing around, someone''s been covering up for them. Someone who''s managed to barely evade even my investigatory skills.¡± ¡°I know who. King.¡± There is an awkwardly long pause. ¡°Is this why we knew nothing about this?¡± ¡°His involvement is massive. Keep this off the radar, Levine. I''ll be in touch soon.¡± Nick clicks the phone off and gives out instructions to the second batch of cleanup crew, and hustles to his vehicle. I hope this doesn''t come across as stalkerish, I really don''t. But they have her blood work. What else do they know, and how far would they go to get more data? He calls Angela''s phone¨Cit goes right to voicemail. He tries again, to the same result. The school has a floating holiday today, but what is she doing? He glances down and practically holds his nose before calling her brother, James. Better to be safe than sorry. I just found out the Talons were going to these lengths just to get genetic data on the students, and they''re certainly capable of a lot worse. James picks up on the first ring. "Nick, I''m busy. Call back later, on a school day, for business class help," he says as if he can''t be bothered to hold a conversation. "James, this is not about school. I need to reach Angela on a sensitive matter," he replies calmly. "Dude, get in line for fawning over my sister, Drenar''s already at the front, and I''m sure she''s picked herself a winner, much as it pains me to say that," James snaps. Nick hates how quickly James picks up on context and reading people. Even if he is off the mark a bit, this time. "Why are you bothering me?" "Because her cell phone isn''t working. Wait. Why aren''t you with her?" Nick asks. He pulls the door open and gets behind the wheel. He is in no mood to fill out a hundred pages of paperwork for this fiasco, and he¡¯s got far bigger problems now. "Mind your own business, Legolas," James states testily. "I have enough on my plate at the moment." "You have enough on your plate. Well then let me ask you, what exactly are you doing?" Nick pushes the point. Their house is about ten minutes away, Angela had given him her address for some strange reason. He knows Drenar''s house through Evan, but he''s never been there. "Dude, you are sounding stalkerish right now, and I know how this low-rent cable TV movie ends. No Evan, I know they''re there already, just wait a couple minutes." The ¡®they''re¡¯ catches Nick''s attention. "James. Why are you at Evan and Drenar''s house, and who''s where?" Nick suddenly realizes he has a good idea of what''s going on. James and Drenar may have heard part of his discussion with Levine at the school. Oh no. Tell me those idiot kids are not pulling a Goonies on me. "James, I need to make it perfectly clear that you guys are digging into something way beyond your pay grade, and we all need to talk about some pretty serious stuff. Have any of you experienced some¡­strange symptoms?" Nick asks. "Oh, you wanna know, do you? I don''t want a free lobotomy, thanks. I''m gonna hang up now Nick¨C" "James, have they shown any signs of their draconic physiology emerging?! Because I just laid out four individuals who were willing to kill to hide evidence that they were tracking the kids in the school. You could be in danger." James lets out a surprised, strangled response, and Nick turns on the speakerphone before flooring it down the road. "James, I work for people who handle the strange and unusual things of our world. And you need to tell me where Angela is right now." "Ya know what, ya looney, I don''t like your attitude¨CEvan what the hell!" James curses as someone presumably grabs the phone. "Nick, no bull assessment. How much danger are we in?" Evan finally says with James still being belligerent in the background. "Enough to make me worried." That finally convinces Evan, and he lets out a deep exhale. "Meet us at our house. We need to talk." Vol. 1, Ch. 25: Double-O Dragon, Part Two Angela shakes her head and tries to take in what Nick is laying out, all cards on the table. Drenar is still trying to fathom this, and Julia is cracking her knuckles with one hand apiece like she has someone to fight with all her being. "Nick, way to be late to the party," Drenar finally states after borrowing the headset again, and he''s got that stern look when he takes charge. "You clearly knew something was up with us. So, what, we''re supposed to drive back empty handed, right now? No way. We didn''t opt into your world, we got thrown into it like a blender set to puree. Evan, James, he''s not holding you at gunpoint, is he?" "Yeah, that''s a negative Drenar. I think this is legit." Even James is sold this time, and that was worrying enough. And right now, of all times, Angela could hear that whispering voice in the back of her head. Finnish dragon was back. Sevali de nea, viate? Angela? If you''re asking if I can hear you, then yes, she thinks silently. The group has enough on their plate, she is not bringing this one up now. Cauaiwati Vis netali. At least she sounds happy, from what Angela can tell. "Alright guys, what''s our plan? And we need to all agree on this one." "Going down into the depths, for a future shot at kicking some ass," Julia quips firmly. Drenar nods quietly, he¡¯s waiting for Angela, and he knows that if she thinks it¡¯s a bad idea, she''d speak up. It is a bad idea. It is a terrible idea. But the fact that all this might have been foisted upon them, against their will? That they are unwitting participants in an experiment at the direction of the Talons, pushed her over the edge. They need to know why. And who was responsible for this. "Hey Nick, this is the Radiant Delvers, going dark. We''ll give you a call for a pickup because, by your count, they''re likely setting evidence on fire soon. We¡¯re going to do something about that, over and out." she relays into the radio, and Drenar and Julia do a fist bump. Nick is not happy with their response. "You idiot kids think you''re invincible gods, every single one of you! No, you hold tight, Evan, James, and I will be right there as fast as I can. Do not go into that mine," he practically barks into the radio. Angela glances at the others and shrugs. "So, he''s gonna be super pissed with us when he catches up. So let''s not get killed, and come out of this with a stack of evidence, shall we?" Thirty seconds later she gets the main door lock open and tries to push the door. The door is still blocked from the inside, possibly by some kind of restraint or mechanical stop. She pushes harder, and throws up her hands. "Well, that was anticlimactic. If only we knew how to cook up explosives from chemistry class and¨C" "I made thermite." Angela and Drenar stare at Julia, who pulls out a plastic bag that is tightly sealed, and filled with rusty particles. "What, it''s not that hard!" "You made thermite. In chemistry class?!" Angela shrills. "No, I made it at home. Duh. Even Barton would have picked up on that one," she replies unapologetically. "I would ask, why did you decide to make this, and when did you think this was even remotely a good idea?" Drenar asks nervously. His pupils are vertical slits, he''s very wary of this proposition. "First off, I figured we might need to have a workaround for locked doors. Second off, this is a great idea! Sure, it blows away stealth, but it means we don''t have to beat our heads against a lock!" Julia had thought this through, much as it pains Angela to admit. "Thirdly, I had access to my mom''s ammo bench. Let that soak in on what I could have made." "Yeah, I just felt the whole world collectively convulse when you said that," Drenar responds nervously. His feathers are standing on end, and he appears even fluffier than before. "And how are you planning on igniting it? We didn''t bring a damn blowtorch!" Angela fumes. Julia rolls her eyes and snaps her fingers. A spark of energy ignites between her thumb and forefinger, and it lets out a high-pitched chirping sound. "Satisfied? I tried it with a sample in the backyard last night when you were all busy. It works." Drenar gently lowers her arm with the dangerous mixture. "Let''s save that for something tougher than a door, shall we? Allow me to demonstrate the old-fashioned way. Brute force." Drenar takes a step back, his wings balancing his body before he takes a deep breath. He grabs a packed prybar and jams it in. Suddenly, this seems like a bad idea. A really bad idea. "Stop!" Angela shouts out, and Drenar eases the tension. She frowns, and stares at the lock. or where the lock might be. "I have an idea." "Okay. What''s the play?" "I''m going to try my telekinetics." she focuses on the door and where the latch mechanism is by putting out her hand. She can feel a tingle of energy...her fingers are touching nothing but air. She wills that force to the other side of the door. and-- She can feel it. it feels like an elipsoid knob, just on the other side of the door, and she can feel the resistance of the material. She can feel at a distance? or she gets a force feedback from her ability like this. It''s a strange sensation to feel that cold metal on her hand even though she''s not in physical contact with it. She torsions her hand, and there''s a silvery bead of light that goes from her hand, through the frame of the door, at the tiny gap. "Angie?" Julia asks quietly. "Shh. Need to focus. I think I''ve got it." She slowly twists her hand, and feels the resistance. It shouldn''t be this hard to turn the knob, and she feels the texture of those small grip lines of the metal-- *click* She smiles and lets her hand down, and Drenar cautiously reaches for the handle and pulls. The door opens effortlessly, and he peeks his head inside, and edges to the door frame on the opposite side to look in. "It''s clear. Savvy moves Angie--" she puts a finger to his lip, and he quickly goes quiet. "You''ve got better hearing? can you hear anyone nearby?" she asks while she thinks about it tactically. He leans in, and frowns, and curls his hand around the door handle, tapping gently. He''s deeply focused now, and after a few second, he shakes his head. "Nah. No one nearby. Let''s get in here and get this done." The only greeting they receive is the silence of an office with drop ceilings, a receptionist desk, and an office cubicle setup. There are still Halloween decorations here. But by the looks of it, they''ve been here since the place closed. Some desks are cleared off, and a few old work computers are on. Julia locks the door behind them--they can''t leave any obvious trace. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Drenar is back into action and taps at the holster for his dagger. "Split up. Check the consoles, anything of interest, grab it on the external thumb sticks. We''ve got five minutes," he adds before setting a timer on his watch. "After that, we head down to the mine. At the first sign of danger, we bounce." Yeah, you sound all confident Drenar. Even though I know you must be a complete wreck internally, Angela thinks worriedly. She works her way to the refrigerator. It was still on, surprisingly. And the food is fresh¨Cthe milk is even dated to this week. "Hey, how did they get in and out? This place looks like a ghost town outside. Here, it looks like they did some kind of cleanup." "Oh, the dragons built these crazy teleport transportation hubs. Each portal connects to a series of other portals, but can only connect to so many over a certain distance. So they built big transit hubs with lots of dedicated gates, like an airport, and they connect to smaller, less used hubs. The Draconomicon spelled it out as some super-advanced magic. It''s still made today. They could have just set one up here, and never have to use the front gate.¡± Drenar is on point with the details. Julia is browsing through a computer log, and tapping away. "Password¡­uh¡­man, you morons left it on a sticky note on the underside of the desk? This is such amateur hour," she mutters. "Three minutes. I''m grabbing hard drives and sealing them in bags, in case it pours. Glad I came prepared," Drenar announces with a stack of drives he pulled out of the computers in record time. Angela spots an area for charging phones¨Cnone are plugged in, but there is a series of short-wave radios charging as well. She grabs one and turns it on. ¡°Let¡¯s bring this with us. Maybe we can eavesdrop if they start talking,¡± she proposes, and Drenar nods. He glances over to Julia, who is reading some kind of text log. "Find anything special?" "Hold your wings there, Gorbash." Drenar rolls his eyes while Julia continues to read. "This is the only PC with a functional wifi card. There''s a chat record with someone on the outside, someone named ¡®Grevenowich¡¯. Looks like a series of messages about the mine, operations, setbacks, and¡­well¡­let¡¯s just say that the Talons report to someone called ¡®Val¡¯ who strikes me as a bit of a James Bond Villainess.¡± Julia narrows her eyes at the screen, then transfers everything on a thumb drive she plugs into the computer. ¡°We¡¯ll look at it later. Drenar, did you find the mine entrance?¡± ¡°There are stairs in the far back, I scouted it out. Still not a soul in sight. It¡¯s weird, it''s like they left everything they were doing. You don¡¯t suppose they knew we were coming, do you?¡± he asks cautiously. Angela taps his wings and he twitches at this. ¡°Seriously Angie, they¡¯re sensitive.¡± ¡°How are you holding up?¡± Angela asks softly. He scuffs his hiking boots on the cheaply carpeted floor. ¡°Hanging in so far. There¡¯s some shooting pains down my spine, but it¡¯s manageable.¡± He then glances at the stairwell, where the concrete gives way to rough-hewn stone further down. ¡°Man, I should have brought my old CD player. I had a mixed track just for this occasion.¡± ¡°If you start singing to David Bowie about being down in the underground, I might murder you Drenar,¡± Angela threatens in a teasing way. ¡°I was thinking more of a magic carpet ride, but yeah.¡± He folds his wings tight against his back, and his hands drift to his dagger. Angela did not doubt his theoretical deadliness with it, either. Not after seeing his capabilities on the training floor with a variety of martial weapons. ¡°Let¡¯s romp through this dungeon.¡±
The static emanating from the hobby radio is disconcerting to Nick, and he¡¯s gripping the headset so tightly he might twist the metal frame if he¡¯s not careful. ¡°Hey man, I get that you¡¯re a little pissed at them, but you did play coy with us.¡± ¡°James, I¡¯m a professional agent and master hunter. What they¡¯ve just done is the most boneheaded thing that teenagers with attitude are capable of.¡± His words practically drip venom, and he looks at James. ¡°Did I mention what these people do?¡± ¡°They have a theoretical rap sheet of pretty much every crime under the sun if Ergath¡¯s book is any indication,¡± James responds. He¡¯s more relaxed in his seat, and Nick is weighing his options. ¡°So, are you gonna murder us once they get back?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not our policy, and if it was, I would have quit the second I was ever asked to do so,¡± Nick says with a slight growl. ¡°Mount Syren is about thirty minutes by car. Twenty, if I break every traffic law getting there. They¡¯re likely already inside.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my question, are we going to get lobotomized?¡± Nick takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. ¡°No point. Those spells and magical abilities become useless once mana generation starts in someone, and all three of them have that process in high gear, based on what you just told me. That reckless idiot just barnstormed in there while he was Awakening? What is he thinking?!¡± ¡°He was thinking about keeping my sorry ass intact, thanks Nick,¡± Evan shot back. ¡°Drenar¡¯s no dummy, even if it appears he might be a little reckless. World of difference.¡± ¡°Either way, stay here Evan. Keep us in the loop on the radio, James, you¡¯re with me,¡± Nick directs. ¡°I¡¯m assuming they¡¯re going to run right into trouble because whoever was at Delta Tech managed to send an arcanlink message to an unknown recipient. I couldn¡¯t crack the encryption with my field tool, but I¡¯ll bet it¡¯s the red alert for the Talons to start burning evidence and killing witnesses.¡± ¡°That¡¯s your fault, Nick, we aren¡¯t helping to bail you out¨C¡± James stops when Nick pulls himself up to James¡¯ height, and peers right through him. ¡°We need to work together, or Drenar, Julia, and Angela could end up dead. I am not going to allow that outcome, do you understand me?¡± ¡°I feel like there''s an ¡®or else'' coming¨C¡± ¡°For Fate''s sake James, your sister''s well-being isn''t important enough? No wonder she hates her whole family.¡± He isn''t supposed to know that last part. But he does, because she had told him before. From what he''s assembled as a picture of the home life, her mother is a neurotic, controlling fiend, her father loses his spine to do the right thing at every turn, and she and James can be adversarial at times. No matter how hard she tries, if it isn''t in lock-step with her mother''s impossible expectations, it¡¯s looked down upon. James looks like he''s incensed about that last remark, but holds firm ¡°Level with me. You care about her, right?¡± Nick had foreseen that question coming after tipping his hand just a little too much. There''s no way he can fool James; from his few interactions, he knows he is unusually adept at reading people. ¡°Yes, I care about her. But don''t mistake caring about someone for being infatuated with someone. I''m seventy years old, James. It would never work out between us, anyway. And I expect you to never breathe a word of this to her.¡± ¡°You don''t look a day past your late teens. Oh great, you''re a dragon as well?¡± He put that together pretty fast. ¡°Or some other Kin. I got the impression that humans are woefully lacking on that lifespan thing.¡± ¡°Hinterland green. Now let''s get moving, before those three do something even more reckless than what they''ve already managed.¡± ¡°Knowing my luck, they''ve already pissed off some eldritch abomination that will demand all our deaths.¡± They dash out the door to Nick''s vehicle, and he floors it down the road. James eyes the gun case in the back seat. ¡°You uh¡­have guns in here?¡± ¡°Part of my portable armory. You bring the right tool for the job, and ninety-nine percent of the time, you never have to use it,¡± Nick responds. ¡°That¡¯s my Barrett M82M3, and it''s not factory stock either.¡± ¡°There''s no such gun. I know guns. There''s the base model, A1, that funky shoulder-fired one¨C¡± ¡°Mages get their own identifiers. That rifle is capable of dropping dragons, or some other equally resilient creatures. And I speak from experience.¡± James drops the conversation in an instant. ¡°If you want the long story, you''ll get it once I get those reckless kids out of probable danger.¡± ¡°So you''re what, double-O dragon or something?¡± James asks sarcastically. Nick allows himself a faint smile. ¡°Something like that. As hard as I try to keep the job boring¡­fate has a way of pushing me into some truly crazy situations.¡± ¡°Man, you and Drenar do have something in common.¡± Vol. 1, Ch. 26: If You Spam Rock and Stone One More Time... Part One These wings are doing me no favors at the moment. Increasing superhuman strength, maybe. Super sensitive hearing, absolutely. Visual acuity where I can see a mouse in the dark from thirty meters away, is super useful. These wings, oof. The close quarters are not helping. Drenar takes point while Angela and Julia stay right behind him at a brisk pace down the ancient warrens of the mine. The deeper they go, the more Drenar knows something is wrong. And it isn¡¯t the abandoned tools, the floodlights still running like no one had bothered to turn them off, or the unnerving silence It was the things he wasn¡¯t hearing or seeing that bothered him. No breath of air, no voices. Just his heartbeat, and the two other brave women two meters behind him. But there is something else here. A phantom. An uneasy feeling ran down his spine that he couldn¡¯t put his finger on. It felt like he should be on his guard. He kept running his fingers to the holster where he kept his mother¡¯s dagger. Let¡¯s hope there is no need to ever have to use it other than striking a flint for a campfire. ¡°Look, track ahead. The mine carts are still lit.¡± Angela dashes forward and feels the engine block and pulls back her hand. ¡°Electric motors are still warm. Very recent,¡± she whispers. Drenar digs around the cart for any contents and pulls a short metallic rod out of a storage bin, labeled with masking tape. It reads ¡®Zapper¡¯ as if the previous wielder found it funny. He hands it to Angela who lets out a sound of gratitude ¡°This looks like a wand. Like an actual, bona-fide wand,¡± she proposes. ¡°Julia, you¡¯re the one with the plasma powers, this might be up your alley.¡± ¡°It¡¯s my electric personality, not the dragon species,¡± she sighs contentedly. Once she hands it to Julia, she gives it a wave and a spark emerges from the tip. She freezes up for a second, and the spark vanishes. ¡°Okay, I do not feel like experimenting with things that I have no idea how they work, or how dangerous they could be. Drenar, anything else in there?¡± He¡¯s finished rummaging and found a small red and orange translucent orb about four centimeters in diameter. It looks disturbingly like a grenade, with a safety pin holding an arming lever. ¡°Um, looks like some kind of deadly thing. I guess a grenade is a grenade, even for mages.¡± He very carefully puts it into an open pocket on his coat and secures it. Angela motions him forward along the tunnel. The tunnel opens up to a natural cave, towering as high as the light would dare traverse against the barren walls. Stalagmites rise from the ground, and there is a faint trickle of water, somewhere nearby. There are traces of some silvery material in the rock, along with a smattering of other glimmery metals. Whatever they¡¯d found, they hadn¡¯t been interested in precious metals. ¡°This is so strange. They just left these deposits behind like they weren¡¯t even worth the trouble. I know silver isn¡¯t worth anywhere near as much as gold, but it¡¯s like leaving money behind,¡± Julia spoke in a low tone after examining it. ¡°There¡¯s also some kind of¡­fragments of obsidian. Volcanic rock? That makes no sense.¡± She peers down at the abyssally colored glass-like material, and winces. ¡°Drenar, feel this.¡± She puts it in his hand, and it feels like someone dropped liquid nitrogen in his hand. ¡°What is this?¡± he gasps after grabbing a pair of work gloves hastily abandoned in a small supply area marked as a safety zone. ¡°It¡¯s so thermally conductive.¡± The gloves help somewhat. ¡°Dunno, but whatever the Talons are up to, probably has something to do with magic. And bad voodoo magic, if I had to hazard a guess.¡± She tilts her head and smiles. ¡°Bad Voodoo Magic. There¡¯s a wild name for a band.¡± ¡°If you want to start a band, there¡¯s your ticket. Let¡¯s try not to die down here, first,¡± Drenar motions them towards a four-way intersection, and they take the one furthest to the right. Angela stops him and points to a series of cables connecting the other two passages, running across the ground. "What are these?¡± Angela asks before pointing to the metallic cables. They gleam with a subdued blue light. Julia kneels and touches it gently after Drenar hands her one of the gloves. Even with the protection, she pulls her hand back as if burnt. ¡°Hot to the touch. It¡¯s carrying an awful lot of current, whatever it is. The metal is unlike anything I''ve ever seen, it''s like it''s practically glowing.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s follow it down,¡± Angela whispers before they change course. The tunnel slopes downwards even deeper into the mountain. He sees giant warning signs of cave-in hazards and signs demarcating the nearest respirator and shelters, and a series of reinforced rooms that appear to be stripped of items when he pokes his head in. This place feels like a tomb, he thinks silently. ¡°Hey, these cables are getting warmer,¡± Angela motions for Drenar to feel one of the cables, and she is right. Whatever current was in this was dissipating heat slower, compared to the chilly cavern. ¡°How much current has to be running through this to get it this warm?¡± ¡°Too much. What¡¯s strange is that there¡¯s no plastic wire sheathing.¡± After a moment, they come to another intersection. A few crude signs had been posted on the rock faces. The nearby floodlight illuminated them. One read ¡®laboratory¡¯, another read ¡®storage¡¯, and yet another read ¡®power¡¯. What exactly each of them meant was unknown. ¡°Eh, let¡¯s go to the power source. I don¡¯t like the sound of ¡®laboratory¡¯ in the slightest,¡± Drenar mutters. ¡°Neither do I," Angela adds quietly. "Julia?" "Power core it is. We''ll have to check out this lab later. Drenar, hear anything¨Cwhoa." She taps his ear, and he winces. It feels like his skull is splitting along an axis, and he can see something else. His ear has reformed into an elongated crest of small silver and azure scales, just in the corner of his eye that sweeps backward. He rubs at it gently. So far this whole process had been manageable, but now his heart rate is going up and staying up. And the pain is getting worse in his spine. "Hanging in there? By the way, it is quite adorable.¡± "Angie, not that I don¡¯t appreciate your enthusiasm for all things dragon¨Cwhich is me now¨CI think I made a huge mistake," he replies uneasily. He picks up the pace, trying to will the tension headache away. The narrower tunnels gave way to broader caverns, with a few nooks and crannies, but there was only one main path forward. The thing he hates the most is the overwhelming darkness. It¡¯s a blur of dark silhouettes, even for him. A Nightwing can see right into infrared spectra. Boy, would that be useful now. But Maridians they¨CI can sense vibrations? What¡¯s that, like tremor sense? Super fancy sense of touch? He¡¯s realizing that being a dragon needs to come with an instruction manual that he is sorely lacking. The flashlights are a risky proposition. Julia sweeps the light across the room and taps his wing shoulder to get his attention. "More shards of that crystal." He takes note of the black, glossy shards of glass strewn everywhere. It¡¯s like looking at a hole in reality with how much light they absorbed, and he has to blink to clear the spectacle from his vision. ¡°Guys, hold up. I feel like¡­there¡¯s a static charge in the air. Anyone feel that?¡± Julia whispers when she steps in front of Drenar. He didn¡¯t feel it, except in his wings¨Cspecifically, on his scales, for some reason. Why is that? ¡°Yeah. Static. Or some kind of energy. Feels like a vibration on my skin,¡± Angela whispers. Drenar picks up the pace, past a large entryway to a larger cavern--some of it chipped away by mining equipment, some of it natural. Julia pans the light around, and a bat flutters by nearby¨Cthe only noise in the dead air. ¡°Eww, bats. I wouldn''t mind them, but they have several choice diseases. Mind your step for droppings.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°An infection is the last thing on my mind right now Angela,¡± he states with disgust. He swears he can hear an electric hum distantly. And maybe a very, very distant voice, but it¡¯s impossible to make out anything. There are more of those blackened crystals that clink under his boots¨Cbut they don''t crack. They¡¯re impossibly hard. And there is more of it, further¨C ¡°Ladies? I think we have our artifact of doom,¡± he points just off to the right and ahead of them, towards the cavern wall, by a series of abandoned mining tools, and some strange devices with arcane, organic metal tripods propped up in an arc by the spectacle. Less than ten meters away is a sphere of that black crystal, gleaming dimly in the flashlight. It¡¯s perfectly smooth, and judging by its size, at least three meters in diameter, except the front appears jagged, shattered even. Maybe half of it is exposed to his vision range¡ªthe rest is buried in solid rock behind it. The pieces of black glass he just saw a second ago match the material from the sphere. Peering closer, he can see the sphere is hollow on the inside. And his scales feel like they are charged with energy. He rubs at his wing uneasily, what other preceptors is his increasingly inhuman body wired with? Can he sense mana energy now, maybe? Extra-sensory senses? ¡°What do you think? Maybe it¡¯s some sort of rare geological formation, like a geode?¡± ¡°No way it could be natural; it¡¯s too smooth, too precise. This was engineered,¡± Julia states, all of them stepping closer cautiously. ¡°It¡¯s hollow. Which means something was inside it. But these devices¡­¡± She takes a mining pick and tries to scratch the crystal. Not even the faintest trace of a scratch. ¡°This is some tough stuff. There are darkened marks here and craters in the rocks. They blasted it out, and it¡¯s untouched by that. What was inside, is the question?¡± ¡°Artifact of doom, elder evil, one pissed-off prisoner? Or maybe someone made a magical time capsule, and we''re a thousand years too early,¡± Drenar suggests. ¡°There¡¯s more of that dark crystal. What is this stuff, like, is there a light world version, a dark world version of this mana?¡± Angela proposes with a squinted expression. ¡°It absorbs almost all the light. It''s so dark it''s causing me eye strain, and the texture suggests--hrng!¡± Drenar kept a muffled curse under his breath, and he felt his arm go bone achingly cold for a second. It was worse than the fragments. ¡°Damn, that chilled me something awful,¡± he growls. It was a numbing cold that slowly faded. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Just peachy, thanks.¡± He feels his nerves tingling slightly. ¡°It''s extremely thermally conductive or artificially cold. Don''t touch it. Gloves won''t help much, either.¡± ¡°And these wires are tacked on too. Look.¡± Julia points to the cables that seem to have been stuck on, and a single errant spark arcs off the metal¨Cilluminating the room for the first time in the briefest flash of light. ¡°This thing is a power source? Or maybe it''s part of the magic baked into it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll call it. Sealed evil in a can,¡± Angela proposes with a surly expression. ¡°And the Talons broke it open like fools. Go figure.¡± ¡°Hang on. If they got what they needed, why¡¯d they stick around, and wire it up?¡± Julia asks. It¡¯s a thought that is distinctly discomforting. ¡°Uh, guys? There are fingernail marks on the inside. So something alive was in here,¡± Drenar utters with disgust. He takes great care not to touch the crystal when pointing to them. ¡°Yikes.¡± Angela shows a muted reaction of disgust. Julia already has the camera out and is recording. He checks to make sure his camera is still recording. ¡°Julia, it¡¯s about¡­what, three meters in diameter? Black crystal, perfectly smooth. It has some level of innate energy¨C¡± ¡°Got it. Let''s photograph this and get out of here before Drenar starts looking any more like Pete¡¯s dragon.¡± She slowly strafes it, taking pictures from every angle. ¡°Scale is about three-meter diameter, material unknown, possibly magical. Extremely conductive thermally, to the point it feels like the void of deep space. Someone tried to claw their way out with approximately human-sized hands. The hardness of the material is through the charts on the outside, beyond any current hardness scale or even natural diamond. Not sure I want to test my plasma spark on it to see if it conducts energy,¡± she adds as an aside. Angela tries to pull on it with the same motion she used on the car, and he hears a low hum. A high-frequency vibration. ¡°Careful. We don''t know what happens if we test magical abilities on it.¡± ¡°Yeah, good point. Grab some of those shards then.¡± He quickly puts more into a plastic bag, thankful that the gloves protect him somewhat from that biting cold feeling. Drenar looks around after grabbing the fragments. Something is bothering him. There¡¯s mundane equipment all around, but, had all the workers at this mine been in on the task? That would have required some high amount of bribery, especially after witnessing this. Julia¡¯s still analyzing in the background while he examines a discarded phone¨Cit¡¯s partially melted. ¡°These cables are approximately 25 millimeters in diameter, with some kind of rune or other scripture embedded on them. They seem to give off a light of their own," she continued. ¡°Anything I¡¯m missing?¡± Drenar finally looks at the entryway they¡¯d come in, behind a rocky alcove and recoils in shock. His wings instinctively tensed and he felt his feathers bristle. Like goosebumps¨Cexcept he was the goose¨Cdid that even make sense? He takes a deep breath. ¡°Angela, Julia, we have problems. Some very bad things went down a while ago,¡± he says in a heightened tone. Wrapping his wings around his shoulders is marginally comforting. ¡°What kind of--gross. Dead things.¡± Lying on the blackened rock behind a pile of debris, are five bodies¨Ctheir clothes, ash, their protective gear all melted and burnt. Drenar drew closer and knelt to get a better look at the skeletons Their arms are held to their faces, in a final moment of immortalized terror. The bones are blackened, as if someone had held a high-temperature flame for a considerable duration. ¡°That¡¯s a grim fate.¡± ¡°Drenar, you¡¯re kneeling on a femur, please get off of it,¡± Angela whispers anxiously, and he quickly steps away with deliberate precision. ¡°Hey, dead is still dead in magical land, right?¡± Julia puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder, while Drenar examines the bones quietly. There might not be undead, but he still respected the deceased. ¡°Well, Amaranth didn¡¯t mention any undead things, so¡­yeah, hope so. ¡± Drenar kneels and takes in the gruesome sight. ¡°No shrapnel, debris, or other crush injury to the bones. Just charred. See the stone below, some of the quartz almost appears like cracked glass, you can tell by the glossy texture. This quartz melted. These bones are--basically dust.¡± He barely touched one rib with a glove and it practically flaked apart and he gently wiped it on his leg. Angela looks practically nauseous, and Julia is grimly taking photos. The flash plays havoc with his eyes, so he gently waves the camera away. ¡°To melt rock, the flame temperature must have been more than a thousand Celsius. Maybe a continuous flame, an artificial source. I guess not all the company employees were on the payroll. This could have been a conventional fire, or dragon fire. I think the latter.¡± ¡°Is their ability that powerful? And how do you know this was a high-temperature burn?" Drenar sighs, he really should have gone over more details with her about the dragon species, and Amaranth¡¯s book is likely just a scratch on the surface of the complexity of their new biology. The Draconomicon was more historical than it was about biology. "Okay, picture this. I toss someone on an open flame. The rest of the body is cooked meat, but bone has inorganic components that last to a higher temperature¡­it''s like¡­calcium phosphate, I think, an inorganic salt. Once you get past a certain point, like a crematorium temperature, the chemical bonds start to break down." She gives Drenar a disturbed look. ¡°And let me guess, some dragons spew flames hotter than that?¡± "The Siberian Hellkite can render a person from an is to a was in about five seconds, and so can a few other species. It¡¯s plausible," Julia says. "My money is that these guys saw them jailbreak whatever it was in that sphere, and then they had to go." She peers at Drenar intensely. "You''re fireproof, right?" "Not yet, and I''m going to emphasize that I''ll be fire-resistant." He is in no mood for testing this one out with his Awakening only partly underway, and he feels shooting sharp spikes of pain down his spine again. "Don''t use me as a heat shield just yet, Tsundere.¡± ¡°Oh come on, you¡¯re not expendable! You¡¯re irreplaceable, and I gotta keep you in relatively good condition. Because I have to share you with other people.¡± her sideways glance at Angela almost elicits a laugh. ¡°Okay, I know it¡¯s a little grim humor, but we¡¯re hovering over dead people,¡± Angela states with anger. ¡°Let''s get out of here. I think we should explore a little more, then bounce topside.¡± Vol. 1, Ch. 27: If You Spam Rock and Stone One More Time... Part Two When he thinks about it, Drenar realizes she makes a good point. He had his dreaded suspicion that the mine had been closed for this specific reason, to avoid drawing attention. An abandoned site far away from town, that no one would cross paths with unwittingly. Now they had proof that these people had been victims of a dark fate. "The more time we spend here, the more I worry we run into someone.¡± He takes one last look at the bones, and he offers a small bow and a hand to his chest. "I don''t know who you were, I don''t know if there''s a life beyond this mortal coil. But I''ll bring the people who left you like this to justice. If I can," he says solemnly. Julia beckons him over, and he turns to leave. Angela however, has an idea and snaps her fingers. ¡°What, thought of something?¡± "I had an idea. I think the power flow was going away from the sphere. The wires were hotter the closer we came to it. This may have been used in furtherance of something else. As a power source, just like that weird crystal in a tube. The texture looks almost the same, but this crystal is pure black. Look!" She compares it to the small crystal in the mini power pack they had taken earlier. It is rather uncanny. "So what were they powering? They already had one source we don''t know the limits of,¡± Drenar points out. ¡°Unless this was some kind of secondary objective. Like, they stumbled onto it, but used it for some primary task?¡± ¡°Oh, this had to have been a priority for them to torch five guys, and then pass it off as an industrial accident. Some of those tunnels had a lot of debris, as if they collapsed it to stage an accident, then cleared it later?¡± Julia theorizes. ¡°With a crew of dragons, you could clear a lot of debris in a hurry. It¡¯s a little close quarters here, but some of these caverns are seven, ten meters high.¡± The radio Angela had picked up earlier suddenly crackles to life. ¡°Karl, demo charges are in place, want me to pull the trigger on the lowest levels?¡± Angela hurriedly turned the volume down¨Cthe last thing they wanted to do was telegraph their position. ¡°Take a count. See how many people report in,¡± he says quickly. ¡°No. Not until we¡¯re all out, this place already has structural damage, wait until we¡¯re out,¡± someone else counters. ¡°Greg, get back up here to the refinement section, help us load the last cargo into the transport. Robespierre is getting anxious.¡± ¡°That¡¯s nice Nigel. I¡¯m anxious. No, I¡¯m more like terrified¨C¡± ¡°Cut the commentary. The shroud enchantment on the iso-sphere is failing, and it¡¯s failing fast. We¡¯ve got maybe twelve hours before the Conclave gets a reading on it, and when they find it empty, there is going to be a panic, and every SAF trooper from here to Boston is going to be crawling up in our business. Get up here and help us pack, now.¡± ¡°Why the urgency? Did Val screw us yet again?¡± ¡°Yes¨Cno¨CI don¡¯t know. All I know is that our cover guys that were getting all that blood sample work done at Delta Tech cut out, someone tracked the records. Last I heard, SAF was crawling all over there, and we¡¯re lucky they don¡¯t know where we¡¯re set up!¡± ¡°What?! Jimmy and Richard were over there!¡± ¡°I know, Robespierre is going to skin those idiots alive, they were supposed to be as low profile as a corpse in a coffin, and yet, they managed to screw that up!¡± the other man replies irately. ¡°Gentlemen, I appreciate my associates using the highly secured communications relay as an impromptu forum board, but we have objectives to finish. Get moving! Unless you like the idea of SAF walking in and finding a plethora of evidence of our activities, I suggest we move with utmost haste! Val is on cleanup detail in town!¡± someone else announces, sounding much bolder and--somewhat more charismatic than the others. Julia and Drenar both turn to stare at the radio. ¡°And then it got worse,¡± Angela replies unhappily. ¡°Robespierre, you put Val in charge of clean-up? Her method of clean-up is to burn a hole in the world, then throw any witnesses into the hole,¡± one man groans. ¡°No offense, but her cleanup tends to attract more attention. On a historically routine basis. How that murder-happy dragoness has evaded SAF and the Valkyries for this long, is beyond me.¡± "Believe me, Nigel, I know,¡± Robespierre responds gravely. ¡°It¡¯s a¡­slight flaw in an otherwise impressive ability to grease the wheels and get the supplies and support and manpower we need.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to live long enough to undo the Ascension stuff. And maybe enjoy a padded retirement account without being burned alive, thanks,¡± Nigel replies sourly. ¡°Uh, since we¡¯re grabbing everything, should we uh, inform our guys at the lab at Site Bravo to start packing up?¡± Greg asks curiously. ¡°No. The site is secured, and it is highly improbable anyone would think to check there of all places,¡± the charismatic one assures them. ¡°Still, best to start backing up files to local media.¡± ¡°Robespierre, there¡¯s Petabytes of data over there, do you have any damn clue how long it¡¯s going to take to back that all up?¡± Greg shrills in response. ¡°Oh man, Jack is going to be pissed, and our nefarious advisor may finally object to this.¡± ¡°Nefarious advisor? You mean King?¡± he inquires in an annoyed manner. ¡°No, the other enigma who has a ¡®choose your own adventure¡¯ litany of identities,¡± Greg grumbles. ¡°That enigma is one of the best logisticians on the planet, to say nothing of his other talents. Be nice, Greg.¡± ¡°Okay fine, King¡¯s alright. But he¡¯s got secrets guarding secrets. And he¡¯s the only other individual who can talk Val down and not become human flamb¨¦. Alright, I¡¯ll call him as soon as we¡¯re done packing up, we¡¯re almost done by the lab.¡± "Well. Apparently, our lovely cult of the Talons have names," Angela comments wryly. "I mean, Greg, Karl, Nigel? How suburban." Drenar rolls his eyes at this. ¡°Okay, new plan, let¡¯s bounce after we check out that lab. That was about a count of four or five guys. We have no idea if they have backup.¡± ¡°And they¡¯re playing with explosives. Great, Drenar. It¡¯s like you want to keep doubling down on a bad idea,¡± she responds agitatedly. ¡°Angie, I believe we all share credit for that,¡± Julia points out. ¡°Let¡¯s just get this done and get out of here. I wonder if we¡¯ll make it back home before Drenar doesn¡¯t fit in the car.¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s all muscle¨Cwait, am I taller or something?¡± he couldn¡¯t help but feel like his stance had shifted just a little¨Caren¡¯t they the same height as him, or is he on an elevated spot on the cavern floor? ¡°You grew an inch! Now I don¡¯t have any leverage over you!¡± Julia fumes. His spine twitches almost in reaction to her words. ¡°Angie, we need to wrap this up, because lugging around an unconscious half-ton dragon is a bit beyond even my strength level.¡± ¡°We could just find a very large cart,¡± Angela offers. Drenar winces, because that splintering pain is increasing, and he is not keen on thinking just what is happening inside his body at the moment. Drenar keeps listening to the radio while they backtrack to the crude signs. "Robespierre, you sound upset by all this. I mean, we''ve all been working under stress, we''re in a cave, hiding out from the Conclave, and working with a device we barely understand with current magitech theory, and we still don¡¯t have your old notes to get us into a better spot on the rune translation.¡± ¡°The issue of my old notes is being handled. King has been working on that thread and has a lead. For operational security purposes, he has been working very low to the ground on this one, to avoid tipping off the research center in question, or the Conclave.¡± ¡°Wait, he¡¯s keeping secrets?¡± ¡°Operational security.¡± Robespierre sounds extremely irate at this interject by Greg. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Alright, can¡¯t talk about it with us, got it. I¡¯m not offended.¡± "Yes, that¡¯s the point,¡± he says with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m headed upstairs for coffee. All the Eldritch powers in the universe, and mages still can''t conjure up food, I''ll be back in a bit. Just focus on the device and the server racks, anything not critical, leave it behind." "Oh man, do we have any of those scones from Malena''s bakery left? Since you''re up, can you get me one?" another comments. Drenar glances at Angela, who has a disturbed look on her face. Julia looks simply murderous. "I''m so conflicted. Are these guys really bad guys, or so laughably bad at being evil that I almost feel sorry for them?" Angela whispers. ¡°Um, guys? Crispied human beings. Assume hostile, okay?" They really do need to focus in order to not get killed here. He doesn''t have long to ponder the thought. Drenar can hear it now. Voices. Faint, but audible. He signs to Julia and Angela, and Julia is practically slinking along him when he edges up the tunnel, where more permanent lighting is visible. An improvised steel bulkhead is up, and he eases it open very carefully. ¡°Radio off. Julia, hand signals if needed.¡± He peeks past the door, takes a lowered stance, and quickly darts to a series of packing crates half as tall as he is. He holds his wings tight against his body. He peeks over, then signals them silently, and signs to Julia. [Up ahead. Four or five men. Going silent.] Drenar can feel a worrying feeling of fatigue. Whatever is going on, it¡¯s eating up a significant amount of his strength now. Down below is a respectable laboratory within a metal and plastic enclosure with plexiglass windows, and several other heavy-duty tents set up on temporary metal platforms and scaffolding to even everything out on the ground. Packing crates are scattered everywhere, and four men are busy chattering, packing up equipment. Near the far end of the room, Drenar can see something. A tubular device of brass and steel construction, with organic whirls etched into the metal. Small glowing symbols¨Cor runes, since the description seemed to fit well in his mind, adorn the device. These runes sit on a series of interlocking plates, and one man taps a rune, and it rotates. The symbols overlap onto an adjoining circular plate, and there had to be dozens¨Ceven hundreds of them. Some of them are inert. Others glow with a soft white light. A spire of metal extends from the top of the device that gleams with light. ¡°Greg, do be careful with that thing,¡± a thin, tall man with scraggly, dusty red hair calls out while attending to pulling a server rack. ¡°Unless you like the idea of becoming dust, don¡¯t press any buttons that don¡¯t have the sticky notes.¡± ¡°Nigel, the glyphs keep changing! There is literally no point to the stickies! I just remember which ones to press to fold it up for transport, and that¡¯s it.¡± Two others are milling about, packing lab equipment. ¡°Seriously, I can¡¯t believe Delta Tech screwed us this badly. Or Val. We were perfectly cozy here, and then Robespierre gets all uptight and says drop what we¡¯re doing and get the stuff packed up and shipped on the teleportal. This is such a drag.¡± ¡°Betcha this is Jimmy''s fault,¡± someone growls. ¡°Great thief, bad common sense.¡± ¡°Drenar, we can take them. They¡¯re not armed,¡± Julia whispers to him. He shakes his head, and focuses his observations of the men. They have some kind of rod or device on two of them, attached to their belts. A shock prod? Or a magical device capable of rapid firepower response? There is an unknown element. Risk. ¡°Let''s wait and observe. We need to know what exactly it is they¡¯re packing,¡± he whispers back. A throbbing headache is still building, just behind his eyes, and he winces in pain. ¡°Drenar, your arm,¡± Angela taps him for emphasis to get my attention. Much to his shock, small cracks have appeared at his wrist and itch significantly--and more impressively, they''ve taken on a silvery, metallic sheen. ¡°We need to get you out of here. Now.¡± ¡°No guarantee that we won¡¯t walk into any backup teams.¡± Julia is busily taking camera images like before, trying to get closeups of the men as a means of identifying them later. ¡°Anything we can pilfer fast? I see a tunnel on the far side, there might be a secondary egress point. Maybe back up to the loading dock?¡± ¡°No. Definitely the wrong direction. There¡¯s a rail track down there, it goes into the tunnel, maybe there¡¯s a cart further up, it¡¯ll beat walking. They¡¯re still packing up. I wouldn¡¯t go near that sealed-off room¨Cit looks like chemicals and deadly stuff. We can ID them later, and hopefully, Nick will be able to lend assistance,¡± Julia responds. Drenar mulls over a plan. All of them are wearing dark-colored robes, with runic symbols threaded into the sleeves and across the waist. They look like uniforms, and once again show the silhouette of a dragon clutching a skull and a lily. Like an insignia, or a coat of arms. ¡°Matching uniforms. Look familiar?¡± Drenar whispers. "Talons. Their uniform is similar to the mural at the school," Julia affirms while taking photos of their robes. Drenar rationalizes that ¡®robes¡¯ is the wrong term--they look like extended lab coats, dark gray and green, and what looks like metal bands and studs protecting the chest, torso, and upper arms. He can see an emblem on the sleeve--it looks like the crest of a dragon''s head, clutching a white flower. Maybe a lily? The similarity to the graffiti at the school is not lost upon him. ¡°Why does Robespierre get to fetch coffee while we lug crap around?¡± Greg asks and is ignored by the worker with blonde hair. Drenar notes that Greg is about middle-aged, has a square jaw, stern face, and salt-and-pepper hair, but moves with a grace that indicates he¡¯s still in good shape. ¡°Hey, he does heavy lifting, too. For a guy who could be running the Talons, he''s far more comfortable in a lab than in that shark room with Val and her cult of killers. Luckily King''s got his own ice-cold men, too.¡± The shorter man with red hair and clean-shaven face sets down a crate¨CNigel, Drenar notes silently. ¡°SAF is currently occupied anyway, they¡¯ve got the Awakenings to deal with. I''ll bet Jimmy screwed this up bad. I wonder how Val is taking this. I¡¯ll bet it¡¯s not good at all.¡± "Knowing her? Killing people and then frenzy eating.¡± ¡°That''s an odd juxtaposition,¡± Greg retorts at the third man. ¡°Okay, let me spell this out. She isn''t binging on ice cream.¡± Greg looks nauseous. ¡°Yeah man, that rumor isn''t a joke.¡± ¡°I still blame Nigel,¡± he retorts. Nigel doesn''t look pleased by this. "Oh don''t you start, I warned you that David''s equation might not scale linearly with the increased power draw!" Nigel responds irately. ¡°If you had listened, the iso-sphere wouldn''t be running on fumes! If we hadn¡¯t hit the on switch last week, we¡¯d have another six months of power out of this thing!" "Enough already," he hears Greg grumble. "Just because you were right, doesn''t mean you get to rub it in my face." "Haha. You still owe us lunch, don''t you," one of the others chuckles. "Oh, go take a long walk off a short pier," Greg shoots back. "Focus on the objective? I can''t believe you idiots can focus on food at a time like this." He lets out a frustrated growl. ¡°''Join the Talons'', they said. ''It¡¯s all in the spirit of world empowering revolution'', they said. We aren¡¯t even close.¡± ¡°Greg, relax. You¡¯re stressed. I think this is just an overly precautious move back to the main lab. Let¡¯s just get this packed on the teleportal and get out of here. It¡¯s not like anyone¡¯s coming here anytime soon," Nigel assures him. ¡°Oh, are you a psionic now? Got your thought sense and an extra coating of fur, do you?¡± Drenar assumes he¡¯s mocking Karl. Unless there are real psionics¨Cwhich could easily make the cut in this increasingly weird and wild world he is now navigating. ¡°Hey, if I was a fluffy, mind-reading humanoid, I¡¯d keep it to myself. And pick up a nice corporate espionage job and name my salary along the way,¡± Karl replies smugly. ¡°Did you say ¡®fluffy¡¯?" the fourth one echoes. ¡°MacKenzie, I had a buddy back in grade school named Jeff, and when his winter fur came in, he looked like this giant fluff ball. It was funny as hell,¡± Karl replies with a laugh. ¡°Ya know, they don¡¯t all have that ability, you stupid prigs, much as everyone says they¡¯ll steal your lunch on a good day, and your mind on a bad day. Jeff was cool. And he never cheated on me during tests, either. I duped myself by getting some answers wrong on purpose,¡± he adds with a sardonic grin. ¡°Seriously, who believes that anyway?¡± Greg huffs while trying to lift a crate, and fails miserably. ¡°I knew that,¡± Nigel responds with an air of indignity. ¡°And you know what, who cares? We¡¯ve got wizards, wargens, flipping dragons, and fey. Oh and dwarves and elves without all the extra steps. We live in a wild world, man, and it¡¯s all awesome.¡± ¡°How about, you two try less postulating, and more helping me lift this stuff!¡± Greg grunts and gestures for the fourth man to help him pack the device in an empty crate. The strange device had folded down to the size of a small desk, compacted down¨Cbut Drenar could still make out the runes. And he could hear an audible hum, growing louder. He shook his head, thinking it was just some auditory issue with his awakening. The sound did not fade. After a minute they got it packed and wrapped up and started lugging it to a series of metallic plates sitting on the cave floor. The man tripped over a fragment of rock and sprawled forwards, and the crate tumbled and tons of packing peanuts popped out. ¡°Careful! You break this thing and the only thing left of us is going to be scattered at the bottom of an impact crater!¡± Nigel shouts, cursing loudly. "Julia, photos. Whatever that device is, it¡¯s important,¡± Angela whispers. Julia is already clicking away. Drenar has an idea¨Cthey¡¯re in a dimly lit area, and there is a straight drop-down of three, maybe four meters. Maybe he can use his wings to parachute land, steal a couple of the hard drives on the nearest bench, then hop back up. Surely they won''t miss one, since they are packing in a hurry. The two men are still arguing, and it¡¯s getting heated. ¡°Sorry? You''re sorry?! This thing is older than any known man-made or dragon-made object on this planet, and you drop it!¡± The one in charge is rattled and immediately helps the other repackage the device before placing it on the metallic plates on the ground. ¡°Allie-onsie, and let¡¯s ship this thing back to our brighter, less cavernous home.¡± One other figure taps a console that seemingly dances with light. The platform turns bright, white hot, and Drenar shields his eyes. When he was able to get the swimming spots out of his eyesight, he sees the crate has vanished. Wizards are indeed at work now. Vol. 1, Ch. 28: If You Spam Rock and Stone One More Time... Part Three ¡°What...was that?¡± Angela whispers. ¡°You remember those portals I was talking about? That might have been one of them,¡± Julia whispers back. ¡°Pretty crazy what that was, I saw a brief image of someplace. Not sure I want to know what¡¯s on the other side just yet, though.¡± ¡°I¡¯m grabbing those drives down there. We need to know how far along they are, whatever they¡¯re researching. Hopefully, it¡¯ll give us a bigger picture of their plan,¡± Drenar moves to a position to drop off the short climb. Getting up wouldn¡¯t be too difficult. ¡°Drenar, don¡¯t,¡± Angela hisses quietly. But he¡¯s already flared his wings out and lands whisper quiet on the rocky floor, and then creeps between the rock formations, keeping as low as possible. The lab workers are still talking, and otherwise distracted while he examines the hard drives, laptops and several arcane looking devices glowing yellow and green. They look almost like thumb drives. No need to be greedy, I¡¯m taking¡­this drive. It¡¯s a standard SSD drive plastic stamped label titled ¡®parsed data¡¯. It¡¯s dated to a span of the last three months. ¡°Greg, what about the hard drives?¡± he hears one of them say distantly. ¡°Crosomer said we need to be really careful about how much stuff we transport, it could tip off SAF if they find that we spliced into the leyline with this off-the-network teleportal." ¡°Grab the critical stuff, leave the rest,¡± one of them replied, presumably Greg. Drenar ducked back behind the nearest crate instantly. He heard the scuff of feet and small pebbles bouncing across the ground, along with someone shuffling through the devices he¡¯d just been looking at. Someone curses under their breath. ¡°Dude I¡¯ve seen some freaky stuff in my life as a mage, but holy cats batman, this artifact is something. Nigel, did you review that last experiment video?¡± ¡°Of course I did. The Thermisaide field is unlike anything I¡¯ve ever seen, and I dare say Szivak may have been right in her original academic theory about draconic evolution.¡± Drenar had zero clue what they were talking about, except that it was probably bad news for him and the others in a profound way. ¡°I am eternally grateful that we have elected to pursue a slower and methodical means of study." "So, the dragons put on cheat mode to adapt their genetics based on an ancient machine learning device, and that led to modern day dragon civilization? Is that what we''ve got? What about the other Kin?¡± "I think that¡¯s too simple. Draconic genetics is incredible, you can see rapid adaptation within a few generations, tops. If Szviak''s research is correct, draconian genetics was downgraded several hundred thousand years ago prior to this. This device, along with their own rapid evolutionary response, was an attempt to get back to their baseline. A lot of good it did them, after shooting themselves in the claw with their civil wars and increasing isolation as a kinship species," he muttered. "This device has the ability to create gods or destroy entire global ecosystems. If you can control it properly." "Okay there Kefka, laying it on a little thick?" Greg laughs. "From an academic perspective, no," Nigel rebuffs lightly. He shuffles around, and snaps his fingers. "Greg, did you pull the external drive for the latest data? It''s not here." A trickle of panic ensues--of all the things Drenar had to grab, he¡¯d managed to snag the one that instantly garnered the most attention! "What do you mean it''s not there? I just put it down ten minutes ago!¡± Drenar has a dreaded feeling that seeing a human half-way through the awakening process and stealing unethical research just became something to worry about. He hears a rock skitter in the darkness, and someone instantly lets out a gasp. He dares a glance and the man was looking away. ¡°Greg, you hear that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably bats or rats. Do you have that drive or not?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t. It¡¯s not here!¡± the other shouts back. ¡°Someone¡¯s here Greg, this drive didn¡¯t just grow legs and disappear!¡± ¡°You¡¯re paranoid! There hasn¡¯t been anyone here in three years besides us and Val and her creepy entourage. Actually I¡¯d prefer anyone but them.¡± Drenar edges back to where Angela and Julia are waiting, and Julia signs to him that it''s clear. The only problem is that there is lot of open ground between him, and her vantage point, and he motions with sign language. [Tell me when it¡¯s clear.] ¡°Greg, maybe we should take a look around,¡± Karl suggests. ¡°Just to be sure?¡± The other man sighs, and taps a series of buttons that beep, presumably a radio. ¡°Robespierre, just a question of curiosity, did you already pack the hard drive set and ship them off? We¡¯re missing a few.¡± ¡°No. I didn''t,¡± Robespierre utters with annoyance on the nearby radio. ¡°Pair off in twos, I think someone is here besides us. Do not, I repeat, do not start shooting, the last time we set off the artifact, we destabilized some of the support girding in the mine. We hit it with anything with a substantial impact, we¡¯ll be buried here.¡± ¡°Non-lethal? Are you serious? We¡¯re running a super covert operation, interlopers have to be dealt with!¡± one of them shouts, presumably MacKenzie. ¡°And I¡¯m telling you, there¡¯s other means than permanently silencing people. Do not make the mistakes of those who came before you, or you¡¯re no better than the Conclave,¡± Robespierre warns. Julia beckons Drenar back to their hiding spot, and he scrabbles up the short climb with an incredible leap¨Cexcept a rock falls loose and he lands on his back, and lets out an audible shout of pain. A feather floats lazily in the air as he realizes just how much trouble he''s in. ¡°Movement! Stop where you¡¯re at!¡± he hears one of them shout. The blonde man is closing the distance with a withdrawn fifty centimeter rod¨Cpresumably a wand. He snaps to his feet and tenses his wings, grabs the translucent orb and pulls the pin, holding the arming lever secured. ¡°Nope, everyone stays back, or this little doodad gives a great big shake to a place that would not be kind to shaking,¡± he responds hastily. The man he recalled as named Karl instantly froze. ¡°Um, hey guys? I¡¯m no longer feeling so bold with a kid who¡¯s halfway into his dragon form holding a fire orb.¡± He motions very, very slowly to his shocked friends. ¡°You should really put the safety pin back in that.¡± ¡°Nah. I¡¯m good with this,¡± he retorts back. He hopes that mutual self-preservation will prevail. ¡°All of you, drop your weapons, toss them away, real nice-like. Radios, too. Then we can talk, real nice-like.¡± ¡°Who the hell do you think you are?¡± Karl snarls. He makes no motion to drop the rod crackling with energy, but he¡¯s also not aiming it right at Drenar. ¡°Do you have any idea the mess you are in?¡± ¡°Karl, please do not antagonize the teen with a primed explosive who is likely having a bad time half-way through the Awakening process,¡± Nigel comments. ¡°He¡¯s not alone, I see two others up on that rock ledge.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not going to do jack unless he plans on killing all of us,¡± MacKenzie menaces, and he points his weapon at Julia and Angela¡¯s spot. Drenar dares a glance in their direction. Julia might be able to dodge, but he¡¯s more worried about Angela. ¡°Guessing you¡¯ve been here long enough to realize what we¡¯re doing is kind of important and time-sensitive.¡± ¡°Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot here, everyone puts down their uh, implements of mass destruction, and I¡¯ll put away this hand-chuckable explosive, and we¡¯ll all get along just fine by talking this one out.¡± Drenar¡¯s attempt at peace is not going well with anyone. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t do that, remember the corpse pile?¡± Angela retorts. He sizes up the situation--no one has gone on the radio yet. They can still egress back the way they came. The problem is, he¡¯s now surrounded by armed mages, an arcane laboratory, cabinets filled with volatile-- The storage room! He steals a look ever so slightly to his right, and notes the chemicals are still unpacked. If he had to plan something desperate, it wouldn¡¯t be a waste of ordinance. On the other hand, that could be a lethally stupid mistake. "Alright, first off, we didn''t kill those people,¡± Greg says defensively. ¡°Second off, we¡¯re arcanists, not soldiers here. Everyone keeps talking, and no one gets incinerated.¡± ¡°So, who did the killing?¡± He gets the notion he''s not going to like the answer. ¡°A big bad bitch with literal hellfire in her arsenal of deadly abilities.¡± Drenar sighs, he realizes he had been too on-the-mark with his previous assessment. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s my expression every time she murders someone too stupid to live. It¡¯s like, ¡®here we go again, Val just merked someone, go get a broom and a pan to clean up the mess''.¡± ¡°That should be your sign you¡¯re working for a horrible boss. Join the Radiant Delvers! We have dental!¡± Julia suggests proudly. ¡°We do?¡± Drenar says edgily. ¡°Absolutely! Our coverage is that I don¡¯t punch you in the teeth if you join team awesome! It preserves smiles and dignity!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how¨Cyou know what, let¡¯s have this discussion when I¡¯m not holding a live grenade,¡± he states with gritted restraint. The four men look at this exchange nervously. ¡°Oh, it is a grenade, right?¡± ¡°Fire orb, incendiary burst weapon, typically used for a limited field-of-effect, high damage weapon with low risk of shrapnel and collateral damage.¡± Greg looks like he wants to punch Nigel. ¡°Got a name, stranger?¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Alex,¡± he replies forcefully. Technically, it¡¯s the truth¨Csort of. Hey, you¡¯re stealing my body, and my name now?! Oh, this is such bullshit! Drenar winces when the real Alex picks the worst time in the universe to chime in, during waking hours. As if on cue, he feels a rippling pain down his spine, and his wings grow a few more feathers in an itchy, stretching sensation. Nigel tilts his head, as if he¡¯d noticed. Where the hell have you been?! Staring at the aether. Then I snapped into reality inside your head, it''s been like one giant metaphysical rubber band of perception! And disorienting. ¡°Oh, that is just¡­uh hey, you were gonna give me your names, right?¡± He realizes he just started talking and not to them, which must have been very strange. Nigel looks at him weirdly again before answering. ¡°I¡¯m Nigel, and no, I don''t do last names,¡± the redhead says curtly. ¡°Alright Alex, let''s start this from the top. We¡¯re researchers. We work on very important things. And the important things in this room, are worth more than yours, mine, and everyone else''s lives in this entire room by a couple of orders of magnitude¨C¡± ¡°Nigel shut up!¡± Greg snarled. Nigel gave him an exasperated look while keeping his body motionless. Alex, check in later. We have problems that might involve me being shot. At least he can relay a message to Alex within the confines of his mind. He gets a single exasperated groan as a response. ¡°Greg, take a good look at him! He¡¯s halfway through Awakening, and he¡¯s still standing! All our field notes indicate he should be in immense pain and utterly incapacitated by now!¡± Drenar could almost feel the skin splitting on his forearm, a rash of pain that he fought to keep his arm steady even as the skin cracked, hardened, and turned silver and blue, a few square centimeters at a time. Oh, fantastic. This literally could not be happening at a worse time! ¡°Kid, you could actually be of some use to us, we¡¯ve got some questions--¡± ¡°Nigel, seriously, you''re killing me here, they''re intruders, and they need to be detained. Not test subjects, not interviewees, intruders,¡± Greg snaps before diving for his radio. Drenar waves the orb in his direction. ¡°Put the radio down,¡± Drenar states forcibly. Greg wisely takes his hand off of it. ¡°First thing I want to know, is how you pulled this off. My Awakening isn¡¯t an accident, is it?¡± ¡°How long are you going to hold that thing for?¡± Karl asks. ¡°Because we can out-wait you, kid. We¡¯re mages.¡± ¡°You say that like it makes you special. Last I checked, mages have bodily organs that do not react well to a concussive blast or shrapnel--unless that¡¯s also bogus. Helping hands, anyone? Can a mage eat a grenade point blank? No? No takers?¡± he asks, glancing at them. Two of them looked like they were sweating bullets, but Karl and Greg are steely eyed. Mackenzie just looks mean. Nigel hovers between anxious and fascinated. ¡°I really wasn¡¯t serious about using sardonic wit to get us out of this,¡± Angela hisses angrily. She¡¯s going to murder him later, assuming they get through this in one piece. ¡°It¡¯s better than his pathfinder persona, where he blitzes in as a whirling dervish barbarian,¡± Julia replies. Even in this tense situation, she can find a moment for humor. ¡°Now please, tell us how you''re making all the cute, fluffy baby dragons!¡± ¡°Let''s not,¡± Greg sighs and winces. ¡°Drenar just remember, you''re fire resistant. They aren''t.¡± Angela is throwing some serious shade today. ¡°So this Awakening thing is related to what you¡¯re working on?¡± ¡°Correctamundo,¡± Nigel practically beams, then has an awkward look across his face when Drenar glares at him. ¡°I mean, um, there was a pretty good chance this was going to happen to you anyway, and we didn¡¯t really have time for consent forms, proper medical evaluation, and¨C¡± ¡°Not helping your case, jackass!¡± Angela snarls. ¡°You know what Drenar, go for it. Let¡¯s light these guys on fire. They used us as an experiment!¡± ¡°Hang on. I wanna know. That device you guys blinked out of here, was that it? Some kind of¡­artifact?¡± Drenar¡¯s trying to put together pieces, but they¡¯re still not making sense. ¡°What were you planning?¡± ¡°Local scale merging of compatible drakensouls with a human host. We cracked the Aether where they¡¯ve been trapped, for hundreds of years! We did it!¡± he exclaimed. ¡°Was it called the Stranded Lands?¡± Drenar asks pointedly. The Aether was a term Alex had used before, when he was speculating. Nigel nodded. Drenar isn¡¯t ready to trust these guys at all, but they know what is happening. Or had worked out something, at least. ¡°I¡¯ve seen it. The dragons trapped themselves in a place between worlds. They obliterated their bodies, but their souls and bound energy remained. Right?¡± ¡°How did you see it? No one¡¯s ever seen it!¡± Greg gasps. He¡¯s forgotten that he has intruders on his hands and is no longer pointing his wand, and lowers it to point to the ground. The spark goes out. ¡°Nigel, what does this mean?¡± ¡°That the connection between the host and the drakensoul is strong enough that a stream of consciousness can go both ways? This is completely above my head.¡± Even Nigel is floored by this revelation that Drenar didn¡¯t even realize was important. ¡°I don¡¯t know how I saw it. But I did. And I¡¯ve got no clue what you guys did, but you could have hurt a lot of people. Where was the morality, the consent of those you experimented on? How¡¯d you even pull this off?!¡± Drenar is still stalling, but looking for a way out. Maybe if he could talk them down, they¡¯d just let them walk out. It¡¯s a slim chance, but he¡¯d take that option before fighting his way out. ¡°He¡¯s not exactly wrong. We¡¯re still figuring out drakensouls, when the rest of the academic world just wrote them off. Yeah, a few trickle in at a time, the process isn¡¯t really well understood. You know what, can we all lower our respective weapons and engage in dialogue, guys? Violence is rarely the best answer,¡± Nigel offers calmly. ¡°Nigel, you say another word, and the first crispy corpse is you,¡± MacKenzie states with deadly intent and turns his wand on Nigel, who is taken aback. ¡°Robespierre is going to be pissed, and now we¡¯ve got a smartass who¡¯s pieced together enough to send SAF our way. Not good for you, or anyone here.¡± ¡°MacKenzie, lower your wand. Karl, you, too,¡± Greg tries to talk calmly. They have no discipline at all, and are even aiming deadly weapons at their own. Only Nigel and Greg seem to have more restraint. ¡°Kid, in about five minutes, we¡¯re due for additional ¡®guests¡¯ coming to help us pack. And when they get here, they won¡¯t be understanding. They will view you and your friends as a threat to security. They will kill you, and anyone else you¡¯ve ever talked to, out of an abundance of caution.¡± ¡°Yep, there¡¯s your cue, Drenar. Fry first, flee later,¡± Angela says in a dark beat. ¡°Greg, could we *not* threaten a potential research subject? We¡¯ve never been able to directly observe the Awakening process in fine detail at the moment of the runaway mana cascade in adolescents!¡± Nigel spoke quietly. ¡°Kid, I promise you, no harm will come to you, and I¡¯m sure boss would greatly appreciate it if we all just took a step back--¡± ¡°Shut it, Nigel!¡± MacKensie snarls. ¡°You must get this a lot, Nigel. I mean, academia wasn¡¯t paying off, so you joined the Talons? Great career planning.¡± Drenar sees a dynamic between these men which suggests they were not a well-gelled crew working together. ¡°Hey, let¡¯s play twenty questions while we¡¯re here, how long between initial signs of Awakening and the big reveal do I get? You know, because it¡¯s going to get mighty uncomfortable here with the limited space.¡± ¡°Ah, what you are experiencing is the mana cascade effect as it hits a critical point, triggering the initial transformation. It is also painful to an extent in the late phases as your body structure realigns to draconic, you may require some over-the-counter pain blockers--¡± ¡°Gods, Nigel, can you ever shut up?!¡± Mackensie roars. Intentionally or not, he points his wand at Nigel again. As far as Drenar is concerned, it¡¯s the same as pointing a loaded firearm at someone''s face. ¡°We have an operational security breach!¡± ¡°Said breach is three teenagers who might be cool with joining a cult!¡± Julia adds in an almost seamless opportunity. ¡°You already dress the part, dear,¡± Angela snarks. Oh, dear Fates, look what I¡¯ve started, Drenar thinks with dread. "We''re not a cult! We are freedom fighters!" Nigel says pointedly. ¡°Uh, Nigel? We have Val on our team.¡± Greg laughs in a manner suggesting incapacitating dread. ¡°Most of us are freedom fighters!¡± Nigel corrects. ¡°Still downplaying how much of a murder machine she is,¡± Greg again points out. "Some of us try really hard to break historical trends?" he utters like all hope is dying in the world. "Two words. Davos Renshrak." Nigel looks like he witnessed someone murder a litter of adorable kittens. "Yeah, Nigel, we have some really bad people on our team, and we can''t hand wave it." "Today''s freedom fighters are tomorrow''s terrorists, said no one ever," Angela replies drolly. Internally, every muscle in Drenar¡¯s body is starting to ache. "Oh enough of this! How about we melt your friends first?" Mackenzie threatens, the wand glowing a poisonous green now. "Got your attention, kid?" "Mackenzie, stop!" Nigel screams out and redirects the wand upwards. A bolt of viscous goo materializes and rockets upwards into the ceiling. It hisses and sizzles upon contact with the rock. Everyone takes their eyes off Drenar for just the one second he needs. ¡°Shots fired, get down there now!¡± someone screams over the radio¨Ca newcomer whom Drenar hadn¡¯t heard earlier. Nigel is trying to wrestle the wand away from MacKenzie, who clearly wasn¡¯t happy about having his aim disrupted earlier, and bashes the poor man right in the jaw and snaps the wand right at Drenar. Except Drenar is already there, forcing the weapon away¨Cand this time the globule of deadly acid goes wide, impacting the chemical storage glass, where the material hisses and smokes. *Ting!* In a moment of utter horror, Drenar forgets for a split second the safety of the magical item, and the orb glows bright red. Mackenzie goes ghostly white in a fraction of a second and screams out, ¡°Throw it now!¡± Drenar reacts in a split second and throws the orb the furthest distance he can¨Cwhich also unfortunately includes the chemical supply area, already weakened by the acid globule. He throws MacKenzie to the ground and covers him with his wings and everyone is diving for cover. Drenar remembers something in an instant, and arches his back like a muscle memory¨Ca weakly shimmering barrier envelopes his body, just as the orb turns bright orange, then white hot. It¡¯s almost pretty when the orb detonates in a fiery roar, and he sees his probable death in a rush of burning hot incendiary particles. Vol. 1, Ch. 29: A Perilous Escape, Part One The detonation rockets past Drenar and MacKenzie and he sees the barrier over his body flare, temporarily blinding him. He feels the impact, but no immense burning pain. The detonation of the chemical storage sends all the remaining workers flying, and he¡¯s disoriented by the roar of hot gasses past him. The flames enveloping him vanish, and now a good chunk of the laboratory is on fire! Bits and pieces of rock are dislodging from the ceiling, metal supports groan, and tension cables snap, sending the lighting crashing to the ground. ¡°Angie! Julia!¡± he shouts out in a panic. ¡°We¡¯re alright!¡± Angela and Julia cough from the smoke after being protected by the heavy packing crates, Julia gives a weak thumbs up when he spots her. He searches for the adversaries, and all are on the ground or staggering to their feet, and golden sparks sputter from their uniforms. Maybe it had been a protective shield, similar to his own! Mackenzie wheezes under him, and he coughs violently. ¡°Dumbass, you almost killed us!¡± ¡°Says the moron who decided to start melting people!¡± Drenar snarls back¨Cin hindsight, he¡¯s forgotten to keep track of just where he is in this whole Awakening process, and the cracking and weird fluid sounds are likely more bits of his skull and body reaching out to his pending draconic form. He shakes his wings of debris, takes the wand, and throws it violently into the raging fire of the supply depot. ¡°On your feet, we gotta move! Julia, Angie, parties over, it¡¯s time to book it!¡± ¡°Are you just trying--gah--to kill us?!¡± Angela coughs angrily. Drenar hears a massive cracking sound, and he looks up¨Ca massive slab of rock is starting to fissure and he hears a titanic shift of earth. ¡°MOVE IT NOW!¡± Drenar shouts between coughs. Julia grabs Angela and heaves her to her feet, just as a piece of the ceiling comes down and smashes down where they had been a second before¨Cblocking their way out! ¡°Down, now!¡± he motions for Julia to lower Angela down and he holds his breath against the acrid smoke, and the pinging of small bits of rocks on the armored scales of his wings. He catches her without effort, but she shoves Drenar back lightly. ¡°I coulda made that drop¨C¡± ¡°Then chastise me later, we gotta go!¡± Julia leaps with a perfect rolling landing and dashes ahead, and grabs Nigel, who¡¯s dazed. Greg is lifting a chunk of debris off Karl, and the weak barrier over his body likely keeps him from being crushed. ¡°Egghead, which way out of here, if you value you and your guys lives!¡± she shouts to the man. He points weakly at the far tunnel¨Cstill not blocked, but debris is cracking and coming off the ceiling! ¡°Minecart¨Cfar end of the tunnel, it goes all the way to the far side of the mountain. This place is coming down, we gotta move! Greg, can you get Karl?!¡± Nigel shouts out between coughs. ¡°I¡¯ve got him! Dragon kid, I¡¯d appreciate it much if you didn¡¯t leave that stupid ass to burn to death, call it a favor owed to you in the future,¡± Greg barks out to Drenar. ¡°Then let¡¯s move!¡± Drenar is running on sheer adrenaline and helps MacKensie hobble along¨Ca piece of glass from the detonation had sliced into his leg, and is still stuck there. Drenar feels some minor pains, but nothing indicating any serious injury. ¡°Greg, Nigel, what just happened?!¡± he hears someone shout on the radio. ¡°Pick up, did someone accidentally set off a charge?¡± Drenar didn¡¯t catch the response in between dodging falling debris, but he could imagine it wasn¡¯t a pleasant response. ¡°No, stand down, Val has crossed the line!¡± ¡°Val¡¯s orders. This is now a torch and burn operation Robespierre, we don¡¯t have a choice now, we already have infiltrators.¡± A new voice of dread personified came over the radio. ¡°No, damn it! You will stand down!¡± Drenar is still not sure what is going on, but he hastily grabs a firearm holster off one of the few intact crates and spare magazines¨Ca Glock pistol, one of the newer variants. ¡°Julia, care package!¡± He tosses the firearm to her, and she checks the magazine before doing a press check on the chamber. All the other wands had been crushed or damaged by the blast. ¡°Take point, I¡¯ve got to make sure this jackass doesn¡¯t get crushed!¡± ¡°Well, this was a fantastic plan Drenar, get blasted by mages, set off a chemical bomb, and start a cave-in! All because you had to be a greedy loot ninja and steal everything that wasn¡¯t bolted down!¡± Angela snarls. "Oh come on! It was one loose rock!" "One loose rock from a critical failure dexterity check has led to fleeing for our lives from a cave-in!" It¡¯s terrifying that as much danger as they are now in, she can still throw that much shade at him. The fumes of the fire are wafting upwards through the tunnel, and debris keeps crashing down, leading to a few last-second swerves around deadly falling rocks. Julia keeps Nigel moving just ahead of him. ¡°I¡¯m gonna blame this moron here who decided to shoot first, aim a wand at my face, and compromise the safety glass of the arcanist lab storage!¡± ¡°Nigel¡­shut¡­it¡­¡± Mackenzie pants. Drenar should feel more furious at this man, but leaving him here to die is completely out of the question. ¡°Val¡¯s guys are here to kill us. She''s going to tie up loose ends like us.¡± ¡°While I¡¯m taking note of names, you vanilla level one wizard, who¡¯s Val?¡± Julia demands while following Nigel¡¯s directions through a series of forking passages¨Cmore debris comes down and blocks one, and almost obstructs the passageway where they''re headed. ¡°Val? Just¨Chah¨Ca walking nightmare of a woman who is bad news for the world, and she like, kills people. A lot. For funsies,¡± he adds dreadfully. ¡°And who¡¯s Robespierre?¡± Angela interjects ¡°Uh¡­you kids ever go to mage school?¡± he asks hesitantly. ¡°Clearly not, egghead! We¡¯re late on the scene for an obligatory trauma-inducing teenage mage academy, thanks!¡± Drenar spots a series of lights up ahead¨Canother mine track, and a few carts are standing nearby¨Cand another cart is coming in on an opposing track. This one was filled with three men in black armor with metal inserts, tactical munitions slinging, and a helmet that almost looked like the skull of a dragon, much to Drenar¡¯s dread. ¡°Ah crap, is that Val¡¯s entourage?¡± Drenar¡¯s insides roil, and he nearly drops MacKenzie. This is getting worse, and quickly. "I vote for ''get help'', to speed this process along," Julia proposes. The impact of a giant steel bolt just by her head changes her mind, and Nigel barely avoids getting skewered by the same shot, and she pulls him to an alcove. Drenar reaches out and feels that charge of energy surge across his body, and a bolt pings off by his shoulder¨CIt feels like someone smashed a hammer into him, but he prefers that to having ten centimeters of steel bolt sticking through his body. ¡°You sure you want to¨Cow¨Cplay ¡®get help¡¯ now?!" He thunders back. These bolts hurt, and that is with his arcane barrier up! At least I know I can withstand a hit like that! Resistant against fire and kinetic impacts! ¡°Friendlies, blue on blue you hourly murderous meat sacks!¡± Greg screams out in an attempt to quell the fire, but these men have no compunction about shooting their own, while a rapidly spreading cave-in is destabilizing the entire mine system. Greg looks aghast as a bolt tears a chunk out of the wooden support he¡¯s barely able to hide behind, and he holds Karl back from getting shot. ¡°I swear, I think Val gave the kill order before you misfits stumbled in here. And you just torched all our weapons!¡± ¡°Minus one pistol and a crack-shot of a woman,¡± Julia says proudly, and Nigel warily holds back. She peeks out and snaps backward from the incoming fire. ¡°Alright assholes, we tried to be nice, but you shot first!¡± she screams out. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure words are going to stop them from shooting giant goddamn lawn darts at us!¡± Angela points to one embedded into the rock. ¡°Words? Nope.¡± Julia peeks out and braces on the corner before firing the pistol in a controlled rhythm. Drenar peeks out and sees one of them taking hits, and sees the blue flare of protective magic. The bastard¡¯s spell shield is eating the rounds, and he¡¯s merely staggered in a pain response. Four, five, six rapid-fire shots land on his chest and torso, and the barrier is still holding! Julia ducks away from the return fire, frustrated. ¡°Damn it! Those shots were center mass, how¡¯s that son of a bitch still standing!¡± ¡°I saw the shielding, they¡¯ve got arcane barriers!¡± Drenar relays. She takes the partially empty magazine and stuffs in a new one. ¡°Keep firing on the one on the right! Give me a count of how many rounds before his shields pop!¡± ¡°You¡¯re assuming we even can pop their shields, and I only have a mag and a half! Start thinking of another plan!¡± Drenar draws fire for them and tries to heave a rock, but the bolts hammer in on his arm and chest, and he sees the barrier flicker dangerously. He whips back, breathing heavily. Julia had taken the distraction and focus fired into the one on the right, and his shields popped on the last one in a shower of gold sparks. He screams as the last round impacts his torso, but his body armor likely saved him from a lethal injury. ¡°How many hits?!¡± ¡°Another five!¡± ¡°Ten rounds of nine millimeter?! These guys are damage sponges with that spell barrier, we need better weapons!¡± By his count, they might be able to knock one more out of the fight. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°I have an idea!¡± Angela points to Drenar. ¡°Toss me your bag!¡± ¡°What''s the play?¡± He manages to get the bag off his back and over his wings and tosses it to her. She pulls out the small enclosed crystal inside the metal and glass casing. ¡°Julia, your plasma spark, I need something to compare against!¡± ¡°They¡¯re advancing! You¡¯re going to lose your window on whatever crazy idea you have, fast!¡± Drenar relays after peeking for a split second. A bolt whizzes dangerously by him, and the rock fragments from the impact of the projectile bounced off his spell barrier. Angela is looking back and forth at Julia¡¯s plasma spark sitting on the tips of her fingers, then back at the crystal. ¡°Nigel! How dangerous is this?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s a small mana battery. You drop that, and you¡¯ll wake up like you¡¯ve got the worst hangover and muscle spasms for hours!¡± ¡°Julia, need a charge!¡± Angela barked out. Julia grimaces as she brought the spark to the casing, and the crystal glowed brightly in response from the increased energy. ¡°Drenar, on three, get your dagger ready if any of them are still standing!¡± ¡°Improvised grenade?¡± This sounds like another really bad idea. ¡°Yeah. Once more, unto the breach!¡± She takes a deep breath, and counts off. Drenar grabs his dagger off his holster. ¡°Uh, bad guy number three, hold MacKenzie, his legs completely shot until we can get out of here and triage it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Karl, thanks,¡± he replies gruffly. Angela focuses her will, and a shimmering light covers her hands¨Cher telekinetics finally building in strength. ¡°One!¡± ¡°Two!¡± ¡°Three!¡± Drenar speeds out and puts as much of his strength into his barrier as possible, drawing fire for her. She exposes herself for a split second before flinging the improvised weapon at incredible speed with a telekinetic blast, the crystal accelerating far faster than anything she could have flung by hand. It lands and detonates in an arcing cloud of blue energy that zaps two of the men. The third manages to keep his spell barrier up, but he¡¯s shaking his head like there¡¯s a swarm of bees surrounding him. Drenar wastes no time and sprints the distance, they¡¯re staggered and in pain, unable to react in time. Drenar smashes into the man, grabs the weapon, and cuts through the fabric of the armor, and the man cries in pain. Drenar takes the strange weapon and smashes the buttstock into him a few times¨Che crumples to the ground, and is out of the fight. ¡°Alright kids, doors open, everyone into the cart before the whole mountain comes down on us!¡± He roars out. ¡°You cannot be serious, we are not riding with you!¡± Greg gasps. Angela grabs him by the collar, her face contorted in fury. ¡°Your teammates have no compunctions about friendly fire, so it''s either you get pancaked by the collapsing mine head, get shot by your own guys, or we all run!¡± she screams in his face. ¡°You make a very convincing point.¡± Drenar is already throwing every available bit of gear and useless junk out of the minecart and disengages the brake. Julia sprints up, having taken the device that looked like a cross between a crossbow and an assault rifle, with a detachable box magazine on the underside. She checks the ammo before checking the tension in the bow portion. Angela follows with the hobbling mages, who all sit down roughly in the large cart while Julia keeps the autobow ready, and puts on a seatbelt. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s hope we aren¡¯t overloaded. The only speed is maximum on this cart ride from hell!¡± he pushes the motor to the maximum speed, and the cart takes off, just as more rocks smash and split on the way they just came through. Rocks continue to ping down, it¡¯s like half the mountain is coming down over their heads! He looks down and notices the claws now forming on his hands, and his body feels like it¡¯s overheating. He slumps, the sharp claws tensed on the console, the minecart slowly whirring along the track. ¡°Hey, Drenar, don¡¯t pass out!¡± Julia grabs him firmly by the arm, and he nods weakly. The feeling of immense fatigue is temporary, and he looks down at his hands. ¡°You alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good!¡± It¡¯s about the best he can muster, because his whole body is getting wrecked by this process. He pushes the throttle lever to the maximum setting, but with seven passengers, the motor is struggling a little. He taps his new claws impatiently on the metal and plastic console. ¡°Can this thing seriously go any slower?¡± he growls. ¡°Miss. Can you hand me that?¡± Greg asks over the flow of air rushing past them. Drenar follows his gaze to the small first aid kit mounted on the side of the cart paneling, and Angela nods before handing the package to him. Julia doesn¡¯t take her eyes off him as he sits down next to MacKensie, and wraps bindings around the rapidly bleeding leg wound he¡¯d suffered. ¡°MacKensie, you stupid fool.¡± His co-worker grimaces against the pain and looks pale. He¡¯s suffered some blood loss but is still conscious. ¡°While you¡¯re doing triage, you can start answering questions.¡± Drenar puts his dagger back into his high holster, but never lets his hand leave it. ¡°Who are you guys, the Onyx Talons? And what are you doing down here?¡± ¡°Yeah. We are. Though this might be hard to believe, the men doing the shooting and this moron here are not representative of the entire organization.¡± Greg ties down tight on the field dressing for MacKensie, and he grimaces in pain. ¡°As for what we¡¯re doing¡­hell with it, you¡¯re already gonna be dead kids walking. We¡¯re trying to fix a seven hundred year wound on the world. We¡¯re trying to crack open the mystery of the Ascension that our boss started the ball rolling on a long, long time ago. He broke the world by accident. And he¡¯s going to be the one to fix it.¡± ¡°Yeah Greg, the fiery pain in every fiber of my being would respectfully disagree with you.¡± He rubs at the newly emerged claws on his hands. Handshakes are going to be a risky venture, he figures unhappily, though they do retract a little if he relaxes. Learning steps. ¡°First off, where¡¯s this track lead? And can we expect more of your trigger happy buddies?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got no idea where Val got those guys from, they must have ported in on the ingress teleportal, one level down. We set up a backup because the leylines are kinda dicey, you sometimes get bad connections¨C" he¡¯s interrupted by the crackle of his radio. He glances down and sighs. "Nigel, Greg, pick up! Pick up right now, Val''s men aren''t responding to the radio." Robespierre is on the line, trying to sound calm when he¡¯s clearly not. "Greg, if you''re not a pincushion or puddle on the floor, please respond." "Hand me the radio." Greg doesn''t even try to protest, and hands it to Drenar. He closes his eyes, this is such a mess he had a helping hand in. And the bad timing from whatever else had been going on topside did not help make matters better. Angela and Julia shake their heads, like this is a bad idea. "Talking never killed anyone." "Drenar, talking the monster down never works," Julia protests softly. "Yeah. But I''ll try anyway." He clicks the radio transmitter. "This is Robespierre, right? Your men are with me. There was a series of poor choices and the chemical storage got set on fire.¡± There''s a pause, along with an audible sigh. "Damn it, I can take one guess on which fool is responsible for that. So, who are you?" "Someone who wants answers.¡± The cavern opens up to a gargantuan expanse of criss-crossing rail tracks at different heights. The rail cart is now slowly driving into the darkness, across hastily constructed trellis rails over a very deep pit deep into the earth. It¡¯s unnerving that he can''t see the bottom even with his enhanced eyesight. "Something¡­ happened to our friends. We came looking for answers. Your device did something to us.¡± "As predicted. You¡¯ll forgive me if I¡¯m short on formalities, you won the dragon genetics lottery, and you should consider yourself blessed," Robespierre growls. "So, who are you?" "Are we giving out real names now?" Drenar asks heatedly. "Not sure that''s a risk I''m willing to take just yet." "Then let me offer mine as a gesture of faith. If you''re a student of history, you''ll know who I am and what I did, or at least the parts the Conclave is willing to put on paper. "I''m Robespierre Crosomer, the usurped head of the Conclave. I''m the person most directly responsible for the Ascension events that nearly resulted in the extinction of the entire race of dragons in this world." Drenar looks around the cart, and Julia and Angela are both as shocked as him. "Okay, this got worse. Somehow," Julia utters gravely. "Isn''t this the guy who ran the rebellion?" Angela snaps her fingers. "Also, don''t tell him your¨C" Robespierre is alive?! How?! He should be dead of old age ten times over! Drenar flinches at the outburst and holds a hand to his head. Alex has just come streaming through his consciousness in a way he didn''t expect, and his voice is loud and clear. His vision is swimming, and he almost falls out of the cart, short of a quick grab by Angela. "The hell happened?" She asked worriedly. "Alex¨Che just popped up out of nowhere. Ugh. This migraine is a bad ride, and I wanna get rid of it now." He winces when he feels the sensitivity to light crop up again, and he hears a low ringing sound in his ears. Or ear crests? This just did not translate well. "The name is Drenar. You might get a last name later¨C" "I don''t need it. I already have it, Rashalda," he said with emphasis. A few choice words come to mind. "Welp, it''s my turn now. It got worse.¡± Drenar has no idea why he¡¯s on Crosomer''s radar in this explicit detail. He clicks the radio before Julia and Angela can stop him. "Is there a particular reason you know my full name already, and could you explain why your hirelings are threatening to kill me and my foster parents if my brother doesn''t play ball with your cult of a mercenary group?" Stop talking to him NOW! This is a bad idea that will get you killed, Drenar! Alex clearly isn''t happy about this, and he feels dizzy again, and that splintering pain is back. He wills the pain out of his mind and keeps listening. Crosomer lets out a loud huff over the radio. "Let''s just say that I don''t always have direct control over the hired help, and that there are those within my organization who march to a slightly different mindset on how things get done, even if conforming to the spirit of why things get done. Whoever threatened that is¡­not going to be a problem for you. I think you and I need to talk. I presume you are not alone?" "No, definitely not. But you didn''t answer my question, how do you know me?" "Long story, if you''re interested. Listen, I hate to break up the moment, but some of the soldiers down there are busy tossing everything onto a bonfire in a boneheaded attempt to destroy my research in the name of tying up loose ends, and are in a somewhat murderous mood. So avoid them,¡± he adds with a hint of thinly veiled anger. ¡°Is this guy for real?¡± Julia asks. Greg shrugs softly. ¡°You spend seven hundred years locked in an obsidian sphere from hell, and try coming out the other side mostly sane.¡± Drenar looks over the chasm and sees another few sets of tracks¨Cgoing to various locations above and below. And now, he can hear the whir of motors emanating from some of the tunnels. In multiple directions. This day just refused to let up. Vol. 1, Ch. 30: A Perilous Escape, Part Two ¡°Hey Robespierre, just why are your men not all on the same page?¡± he asks nervously. ¡°Like I said, I don¡¯t run this outfit myself, and when I take my eye off the ball to attend to fixing the world, certain individuals see it as their mission that the ends justify the means.¡± Two carts rolled into view from the tunnels, and they were filled with armored soldiers who spotted the lone cart and they shouted out and pointed at Drenar and the crew. ¡°I know enough about you that you¡¯re unusually adept, you and your friends. Don¡¯t die down there. Make your way to the surface, I¡¯ll try to keep more unpleasant company from filtering down there on my end.¡± ¡°Man you are like, the complete opposite of trustworthy. And if you¡¯ll excuse me, I¡¯m gonna go get shot at by fully automatic crossbow bolts.¡± Drenar clicks the radio off and tosses it to Angela. ¡°Julia, what have we got for armaments?¡± ¡°Fully automatic crossbow. How the hell does this thing even work, there¡¯s no way this thing should return the bow portion to the primed state¨C¡± she furrows her brow as she examines the weapon. ¡°There¡¯s about fifteen rounds left in the box magazine. And judging by what it did to cavern walls, it¡¯s decidedly deadly. Oh wait, I got this thing, too!¡± Julia beams as she pulls the arcane rod she¡¯d grabbed earlier from the loop of her jeans, and the tip ignited with a crackle of plasma energy, just like she did when she snapped her fingers. Except this one glows even brighter. ¡°Hey wizard guys, is this a wand of lightning? Is it!? Does it bounce off walls and combo-wombo bad guys too close in proximity?¡± ¡°Um, the technical term would be it has a miniaturized mana crystal core. It''s attuned to elemental plasma with a pre-set spell of a ray of focused energy¨C¡± Angela promptly cuts Nigel off. ¡°Wand of lightning, Tsundere. Have at it with them¨Cwhoa!¡± Angela ducked as a flurry of autobow bolts fly by, and the soldiers in the minecart on the opposite parallel track are increasing speed¨Ctheir cart isn¡¯t loaded with seven passengers, Drenar realizes worriedly. ¡°Julia, wand. Any idea how to activate it¨C¡± the second she tosses it to him, he feels a charge run up his spine, and the wand glows brightly for a split second. ¡°Okay then. Wand apparently reacted to me. Do I just¡­flick it¨C¡± ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Greg screams and steadies Drenar¡¯s hand¨Cbut not to grab the wand, just his arm. ¡°You¡¯re part azure, which means there¡¯s a good chance you can channel energy to your scales, and amplify the spell effect. We don¡¯t need to be fried through carelessness.¡± More bolts ping off the side of the cart, and Julia ducks while Drenar crouches down, trying his best to keep his wings from catching the wind. Or a stray round. ¡°Vulcanus Rakashrid. It¡¯s the ancient draconic phrase to activate it, most artifacts are attuned to the tongue of dragons. This only primes it¨Cyou¡¯ll have to release the charge through your control of your mana, so aim first.¡± ¡°Drenar, tutorial¡¯s over, these bolts are starting to punch through the cart wall, and they just loaded glowing red bolts!¡± Julia warns before she returns fire. Her bolts hit home, and several ping off the soldiers in a tight grouping¨Cthe first one took three hits to his shimmering spell shield before the barrier burst in a flash of golden sparks, and the next round struck him in the shoulder, past the body armor, and he recoiled in pain. ¡°Drenar, now!¡± Okay. Sure. Baby dragon¡¯s first spell, no problem Julia. Not like I have any idea what I¡¯m doing! ¡°Alright. I¡¯ve got this. Vulkanus Rakashrid.¡± Greg and Karl nervously watch the wand tip ignite with energy, and Drenar can feel a surge of energy go through the scales on his arm, and it feels like all it would take would be to release the tension¨Cif such a word even worked to describe this feeling¨Cand aims at the soldier, who gives a hefty tug as he reloads his weapon, and brought it up. Now! The wand recoils in his hand and a bolt of shimmering, white-blue energy surges forward at incredible speed¨Cit hits the standing soldier, shatters his spell shield, and leaves a smoking impact on his body, and he yells in pain. His weapon clatters over the side of the cart, and down into the chasm below. Drenar nearly loses his balance from the recoil of the spell, and for the first time, his wings proved to be immensely useful as a counterbalance. ¡°Julia, they¡¯re down, when the carts get close, I¡¯m grabbing whatever I can out of their cart, because we¡¯re going to need every bit of ordinance we can find!¡± ¡°Is he serious? When did Drenar, the by-the-numbers kid, start becoming an action hero?!¡± Julia exclaims with a grin. The two speeding carts slowly close the gap and the carts are now on a parallel path, and Drenar times the jump to knock down the still struggling Talons operative, who feebly tried to block his rapid strikes. He went down for the count after getting his head jarred on the side of the cart. ¡°Drenar, grab the autobow, and anything else of use, and make sure you smash the speed control before you get out!¡± Julia barks out. He wastes no time grabbing the autobow and tossing it to Angela, who stared mystified at the device, and Karl and MacKenzie stared nervously as Julia walked her through it. Drenar grabs the extra ammo and stuffs it in a fabric loop on his vest, and then he spots something in a crate of hastily collected lab equipment, small weapons, and presumably dangerous magical paraphernalia. Drenar grabs the medieval looking broadsword sitting on the side, and tests the weight in his now increasingly non-human hand. It has the right balance¨Cit¡¯s incredibly light, but yet is the same size as a period weapon would have been. It seems to shine with a dim light. ¡°I¡¯ll take this plus-one sword as well. Oh wait, gotta test it first.¡± His first test is to use his superhuman strength to plunge it into the speed controls of the cart. He¡¯s rewarded for his efforts with a plume of sparks and acrid smoke and he quickly sheaths it on a belt loop. The cart immediately starts to slow, and he leaps back into the cart with incredible grace and a burst of speed from his wings, just as the cart sputters out and simply coasts along. The one with a bolt sticking through his shoulder finally rips out the projectile and gives them a murderous look as the cart quickly fades into the distance. ¡°How the hell far does this track go?¡± Angela asks the extra occupants of the cart. ¡°Short version, the entirety of this mountain was plumbed out. These caverns go down deep,¡± Nigel finally answers after a pause. ¡°The mining company was in on the secret, for a big chunk of money, and the ability to sell some deeper rooted mana crystals for a massive profit to the mage world. We were here, embedded with the team, digging¡­until we found Robespierre down here. Just like her and King predicted. After they dug him up¡­Val, she¨C¡± he holds his head low, as if saying the words bring him great regret. ¡°...She burned ¡®em alive,¡± Greg finishes quietly. ¡°You kids want a fine lesson the mage underworld, here¡¯s a good one. If you thought human history was bad, there¡¯s people in our world that are unequivocally evil. Vals¡¯ got the right idea about the Conclave, but¡­when you sign up on the dotted line, thinking you¡¯ll make a positive influence, sometimes there comes a day when someone else with the same end goal takes the wrong road to get to that goal.¡± ¡°You could have just quit,¡± Julia glowers. ¡°There¡¯s always a choice.¡± ¡°No girl, sometimes there isn¡¯t. Sometimes there¡¯s nothing left but bad choices and choices you don¡¯t understand, and can¡¯t see beyond them. Take your moralist perspective and get rid of it quickly, because this world will eat you alive if you don¡¯t,¡± Greg warns her. Drenar feels that isn¡¯t a threat. Not this time. ¡°Drenar, magazine! Second group of tin men is closing!¡± Angela points out the cart that is closing right behind them on their track. An errant bolt whistles close by enough that he dives below a sturdy loading crate. These soldiers still just won''t give up. It¡¯s the same team of three that Drenar had thought were shocked to oblivion, and one is still bleeding where he smacked the weapon butt stock into his temple. Clearly that had not been enough, and they were screaming very unpleasant death threats, including an errant accusation of having Oedipus complex. It¡¯s very unflattering. Drenar hands Angela another magazine of tightly packed bolts, and after tossing the other magazine to Julia, he crouches in a readied position with the wand in hand. He¡¯s certain his spell barrier can take a couple hits, but beyond that, it gets dicey. How much damage could these barriers take? All he did know is that these bastards definitely could not withstand a direct hit from this wand or his magical abilities. ¡°Vulcanus Rakashrid,¡± he utters grimly before aiming at the cart, and feels the familiar recoil of the powerful plasma energy in his arm. This time he misses due to a heroic grab by one of the Talons soldiers. The projectile impacts into the cavern wall in a blaze of light and crackling sounds. After that, the wand tip sparks and burns and he gasps as it turns hot in his hand. ¡°Crap, the mana core was too low!¡± Nigel yells. ¡°Get down!¡± The return fire hit him multiple times, and the barrier held through the multiple impacts until he was sent reeling. The final bolt shattered his barrier in a burst of golden sparks, and he screams in pain¨Cthe bolt had just lodged in the limb of his wing, and it feels like molten lava in his flesh. The bolt is almost red-hot, and he instinctively grabs the bolt with his hand, and tugs sharply¨Cburning his hand in the same process as jarring the bolt out and causing him severe pain. He flings the bolt to the bottom of the cart where it rapidly dims in light, and cools. Julia and Angela don¡¯t hesitate to return fire in the meantime, and the soldiers duck just as their spell protection gives out. They¡¯re unshielded but unharmed. ¡°Drenar¡¯s hit!¡± Angela shouts out while firing at the closing cart. Drenar feebly tosses her the last magazine of bolts when her bow clicks empty, and checks his wound and wraps his hand on the injury. ¡°Julia, get that wound sealed, dragons have massive amounts of blood flow through their wings!¡± Indeed, he had covered the gruesome wound best he could¨Chis scales had saved him the worst of the injury, and the bolt had only narrowly penetrated through a gap in the scales. He¡¯s still bleeding though, and grimaces. Being shot with an incendiary bolt hurts. Julia grabs a scrap cloth and the rest of the medical kit. Nigel surprisingly kneels down, helping her wrap the binding tight, and he lets out a cry of pain. ¡°Julia, right?¡± he asks her. ¡°He just took a hit from an incendiary round. Wrap the wound tight, like this,¡± he instructs her while keeping pressure on the wound. ¡°Kid, how¡¯s the hand?¡± ¡°Not as bad as it could be,¡± Drenar groans while examining his hand¨Cluckily his off-hand, in this case. The scales are slightly darkened, and he felt some residual pain, but there didn¡¯t seem to be permanent damage or signs of a significant burn or blistered flesh. ¡°Angela, arch your spine, you¡¯ll feel some kind of electrical impulse, it¡¯s like muscle memory¨C¡± ¡°Busy trying to make human pincushions, stay down!¡± she screams back. She ducks behind the siding of the cart and another bolt stuck through the crate still in the back of the cart. Drenar suddenly has a bad idea. A *really* bad idea. He takes his bloodied hand and crouches low, with Nigel ducking for what cover there is. ¡°Julia, help me lift this crate! Angela, keep them suppressed!¡± he screams out. He folds his wings tight and wheezes from the pain¨Cthe wound cover held for now. He feels something slightly different when he arches his body to heft the crate, and a tingling feeling snakes down his arms. A slight silvery light envelopes his claws, and it feels like the crate decreases in weight by half at least. Julia almost loses her balance, and Angela is still firing. ¡°Almost out! Make this count!¡± she says before firing her last volley of bolts at the pursuers. They duck, and Drenar nods to Julia. ¡°Heave!¡± he screams out, and he lets go of that charge in his hands at the same time Julia throws with all her might. The crate hurtled through the air at incredible speed, and the soldier who had popped up to fire did not expect to get a face full of pain coming his way. He goes down hard, and the debris also impacts the two others, disrupting their fire. Another bolt catches the back of the cart on fire, and Angela scrambles back away from the flames. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Drenar reacts on instinct when he sees the man drop the magazine out of his bow. He has three seconds before he reloads, and he leaps forward with the sword in hand, unfurling his wings to act as an air brake to control his landing. This immediately causes his wing to flare into untold agony. Adrenaline and fury allow him to power through the pain, and give him the will to focus on his pitch perfect landing. He cleaves down and slices through the outstretched weapon the man brought up to block the strike in desperation. Drenar shreds the weapon and renders it useless, and he dodges just as the man reaches for a backup pistol and fires from the hip and misses, and he grabs his arm and twists the deadly firearm away from his body. The man is no match for Drenar¡¯s strength, but he still fires anyway¨Cthe gunshot leaves Drenar¡¯s head ringing, going off far too closely by his ear. The man kicks him backwards, but not before the weapon goes flying and bounces across the track, coming to a stop somewhere out of the cart. Drenar¡¯s still got a bigger problem, because his sword also lands in the bottom of the cart, and he grapples with the man who tries to bulldoze him. He digs in and doesn¡¯t allow him to maneuver him, and the second man is trying to line up a shot with his autobow. This man smells like tobacco, and hatred and he tries to force Drenar¡¯s face over the cart. He doesn¡¯t let him, and lands a brutal skull bash on the man''s nose, breaking it and causing him to stagger. Drenar takes the moment to grab his dagger again, cuts through the man''s leg with a deeply incapacitating wound and he screams in pain. The second man fires preemptively, and hits his squadmate in the back. His spell barrier pops, and there¡¯s the gruesome spectacle of a bolt planted in his shoulder like some ghastly flag. Drenar flings the soldier into his squadmate, and when he¡¯s on the ground, grabs the autobow and cuts the priming string with a single swipe of his dagger. The metal strand snaps instantly and the weapon is inoperable. The second man is getting up and pulling a pistol, but Drenar smashes a fist into his face, then stomps on his sprawled hand and breaks a few fingers. He turns his body to see the cart is almost lined up with theirs, and he stomps on the flames that were threatening to engulf the cart¨Ca heavy moving blanket proves to smother the flames effectively after a few seconds, but it still smolders with smoke that roils past them in the wake of the minecarts going at top speed down an increasing slope. ¡°Up above!¡± Julia warns him. A mine cart filled with two more soldiers is on a track above them and gaining. He looks down at the sword, and another really bad idea comes to mind. These rails are supported by a really weak metal and riveted trellis. The cart''s occupants are aiming for a clear shot. No. Not enough force. I¡¯ll snap my arm in half if I try to slice through it. He does however, have another opportunity, just as one of the men peers over the side, trying to aim at Julia and the others, and there isn¡¯t anywhere for them to hide. But he¡¯s not looking at Drenar. He times the leap and uses his wings to launch himself at the cart, and the man screams when he sees a furious dragon too close to avoid, and smashes him into the wall of the cart with a well timed flap of his wings acting as a brake. The second man pulls a dagger and swipes viciously, and Drenar nimbly dodges. He¡¯s got the weapon of reach, but this one dodges his swings as well. There is no room for maneuvering in the cart, and the man''s skills are poor. One well timed slash cuts his hand, and he drops the dagger. Drenar closes, and smashes his face. He groans, staggers, and Drenar smacks his head into the siding. Hard. He''s handing out concussions and battered bodies like it''s a fire sale today, and he''s not even bothered by it for once. The second guy is getting up and trying to get a bead, and gets one wild shot off that breezes by him before he grabs the weapon out of the man''s hands. He¡¯s absolutely terrified. Drenar tosses the weapon to the cavern floor, and the man stumbles backwards. He grabs a grenade, and Drenar hits his hand with the flat of the blade¨Cbreaking fingers, and luckily, before the fool can kill everyone. ¡°Gimmie that you nameless mook!¡± Drenar snarls. The man is in a panic, and struggling to pull a pistol, but it snags on the holster. Drenar grabs his outstretched hand and bends the arm in ways it¡¯s not meant to bend, and he hears a wet snap. The man¡¯s anguish almost makes him feel bad for breaking his arm. ¡°Minus four penalty to attack roll, dumbass!¡± Drenar lands one more sweeping blow on the man''s face, and he keels over. Drenar looks around, feeling twitchy, and fury coursing through him. Are there more enemies, are they willing to die¨C Clarity floods back into his mind in an instant. He looks at the damage he''s done, these men are badly hurt, and he¡¯d done it effortlessly. ¡°Drenar, c¡¯mon!¡± Julia shouts to him and motions for him to jump into the cart below. The cavern narrows and the rails will split off in mere seconds. He grabs the pistol and the magazines, tosses them to Julia, and then powers down the cart before slicing through the console and hops down. The landing hurts, even with him using his wings as a brake, and his injured wing is in agony. He¡¯s clutching onto the side precariously¨Che¡¯d mistimed the jump and almost fallen to the uncomforting ground. ¡°Angie, get him in now!¡± Julia screams out. With a burst of strength, they both haul him into the cart, just as the tunnel narrows. He¡¯s happy that his wings don¡¯t get proverbially, and literally clipped. He lands unceremoniously on top of Julia, who lets out a sound of surprise. ¡°Hah¡­oh this action hero stuff is just¡­I¡¯m not making a habit of this,¡± he rasps when his adrenaline gives out. "Uh...this is a little awkward." He realizes he''s sprawled out over Julia, who gives him a pat on the wing. ¡°Aw, I didn¡¯t think you had feelings for me in this way, Drenar. Weird moment to bring it up,¡± she utters with a nervous laugh. He rolls on his back, and gives a weak thumbs up before grabbing his injured wing. It shouldn¡¯t hurt this much to be out of breath. The wing still hurts, but the bandage has held, even if it¡¯s a little bloodstained. At least his blood is still red. It¡¯s a mildly comforting reassurance. ¡°Um¡­okay. That was kinda badass,¡± Greg finally utters in a mild expression of respect. ¡°Karl, MacKensie, you guys alright?¡± he asks his two coworkers, who have been spending a very uncomfortable amount of time on the floor, avoiding deadly high speed lawn darts and fiery rays. ¡°Just peachy. Can we go home now?¡± MacKensie moans. He''s looking extremely weak and pale, and Drenar notices his leg wound is bleeding. "Julia, he''s bleeding out, we need to get this wound taken care of now!" Drenar points out and grabs the last of the medical kit, and holds the wound tight as he can. "Find anything we can do to slow this bleeding, if he goes into shock, he''s done for!" Blood is still soaking through the compress, albeit slower, and Angela props him up so his leg is higher than his body, with Drenar''s assistance. "Hang on, check the crate, there''s a few vials in there that might help!¡± Nigel dashes to the mess of equipment, tossing things aside frantically. "Where is it¡­Julia, look for a four inch vial, blue liquid, capped with an opening you can attach a syringe to!" Julia wastes no time and starts tossing contents before coming up to a cloth pack of three vials, with a viscous blue liquid sloshing inside. "What is this?" Nigel carefully takes one from the pack, and hands it to Drenar''s free hand. "Regen potion, general purpose emergency healing with limited side-effects, but dangerous if used in high doses or frequent applications. Drenar, I need to apply this half and half. Put the liquid on the cloth and apply it to the wound. As tight as you can," Nigel instructs. Drenar grabs the last gauze bundle in the pack and puts half the potion on before quickly covering the deep wound. Mackenzie moans in pain before the liquid starts to glow slightly. Nigel wastes no time getting MacKensie to drink the other half of the vial, and he scrunches his face like it''s the most awful tasting thing imaginable. ¡°Keep pressure on the wound, until I tell you. The regen potion should get to work and repair critical tissue damage. It¡¯s a life saver¨Cup to a certain point.¡± Nigel takes a look at MacKenzie, checking his pulse and breathing rate. ¡°Damn it. I should have been paying attention, he lost more blood from that injury than I thought. Lift the bandage off the wound, Drenar. Slowly.¡± Drenar thought he couldn¡¯t be more surprised when he peels the bloodstained dressing away, and sees the wound sealed¨Cand is no longer bleeding. But it still had a ways to go, and MacKensie isn¡¯t exactly in any shape to move anywhere. ¡°Got any of that left for my wing?¡± he grunts and points over his shoulder. ¡°Nigel, if you waste that potion on him¨C¡± Karl starts to interject. ¡°Objection noted. Give him the damn potion.¡± Greg grabs a scrap of cloth from the crate, and tears a few strips that he uses to dabble the second vial that Julia hands him gently. ¡°I think that we bought ourselves a few minutes. Val¡¯s murderous thugs aren¡¯t breathing down our neck, which means I think they only sent a small force. Once these guys don¡¯t radio in, all bets are off.¡± Drenar is not prepared for the level of pain when Greg put the potion soaked dressings on his wings, and it felt like acid on his scales and he involuntarily dug a few deep gouges into the seat of the cart. All he could do was grit his teeth and fight through the inflammation while Angela holds his hand out of assurance. "How far back to the surface?" he manages to ask once he is able to get out more than an involuntary gasp of pain. "Just about there." The cart is slowing down. Julia still has her autobow held, but not aimed, and she looks uneasy. She doesn''t know what to make of this strange situation, either. Greg leans back and runs his fingers through messy, unkempt hair and sighs. "This is such a mess. I have no idea what Robespierre is going to say to any of this." "He can start by answering some questions," Julia states quietly. ¡°You know you guys disrupted our lives in a pretty profound way, with the way you¡¯re describing it? Take a long good look at my friend here, have you seen what your experiments did?¡± ¡°Short version, the burning pain that¡¯s slowly becoming my waking existence is kind of unpleasant,¡± Drenar shudders. He could make out light up ahead¨Cthe end of the track, perhaps? He is in no shape for another round facing off against men firing off automatic lawn dart launchers. The theoretical kinetic energy he¡¯d been able to shrug off with his arcane barrier¨Cit was impressive. And likely only just the start, if he could learn to further hone the ability. At least he had an effective defense, Angela as well. Greg taps the brakes on the cart, and the loading bay comes into focus. Drenar had lost track of the ups, downs, twists and turns they¡¯d taken while navigating the mine. He gets out of the cart, sword in hand and scanning for threats. It¡¯s eerily quiet, and he can hear a heavy rainfall nearby. A large bay door is partially open, and daylight, albeit dim, is filtering in. The creaking loading cranes and the wind do little to calm his mood. ¡°Drenar, what do we do with them?¡± Julia asks with a tap on his shoulder. He almost smacks her with his wings when he turns, and she¡¯s looking weary. He glances at them, and just nods for everyone to get out of the cart. ¡°I can¡¯t move MacKenzie, he needs rest and no stress. He still needs medical care,¡± Nigel cautions. ¡°Greg, go with them?¡± ¡°And do what?¡± he shot back. ¡°Well, we¡¯re in the south loading area, I think Robespierre is right around here somewhere. I think he¡¯s by that little storage warehouse, the one we converted for a slightly more cozy place to retreat to rather than sitting in the mine?¡± Nigel points out, past the bay doors. Great. More walking. Drenar motions to Angela and Julia, and Greg begrudgingly joins them. Drenar can¡¯t see a lever for the door, so he ducks underneath it. There¡¯s still drizzle coming down. It¡¯s chilly, and he shudders his wings before pressing them tight against his body. This is becoming unbearable, and he can feel that itching, cracking feeling extending up his arms now, towards his chest. His boots felt stretched, his limbs uncomfortable. He looks around, and notes they¡¯re on the other side of the mining facility¨Che¡¯d only briefly viewed it with the drone, so he isn¡¯t sure of the layout of the area, but he sees the warehouse. There¡¯s lights inside. But, he doesn¡¯t get far, because he peers up at the building, and someone is coming out. A tall figure draped in a large cloak, with gloved hands, and a distinct coat that covers most of his body. Or a hoodie? ¡°Wanna take a guess who that is?¡± Angela asks beside him as she points him out. ¡°Yeah. The man with the answers,¡± Drenar responds grimly. There¡¯s something about the figure''s stance, the way he walks, that suggests there¡¯s something off about his body structure. Like the limbs don¡¯t move in the right way. Whatever the case, Drenar has a reasonable conclusion. This visitor is not human. Julia clicks the headset beside him, presumably to reach out to James, Evan and Nick. ¡°Hey guys, we had a little bit of a situation¡­and it might get even worse than it already was, so, an estimated time of arrival would be nice.¡± She is answered with the uncaring sound of static. The figure beckons them inside the storage warehouse, and leaves the large hangar door open. There¡¯s a crackle of static on the smaller radio. ¡°Greg. Attend to the others. Activate the emergency one-time-use teleportals and lock down our secondary site. I¡¯ve made it explicitly clear to our ¡®partner¡¯ that this is my show to run, and that she is not running interference again.¡± Julia clicks the radio, and holds it to Greg. ¡°Robespierre, the research¨Cwe got it all out. Some minor losses on some supplies. What about these kids¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯ll handle this. Were Val''s men¡­dissuaded from following?¡± the person on the radio asks hesitantly. Julia clicks the radio again, and gives him an irked look. ¡°Let¡¯s just say they¡¯ll all be taking a thorough trip to the infirmary. As far as I know, zero body count. Tell that murder lizard¨C¡± he starts to say something unpleasant and Robespirre interrupts him. ¡°Priorities, Gregory. Adhere to them. Rashalda, please let my researcher go. They will not trouble you further. Consider it a gesture of good faith.¡± Julia hands Drenar the radio, and he sighs before answering. This day is just getting weirder beyond even his pending Awakening. ¡°I don¡¯t trust you much. But I¡¯ll do you a favor this once, since we aren¡¯t surrounded by dozens of men with oversized nail guns,¡± he answers reluctantly. Greg takes that as his cue, and is already pulling a folded up pack of metal plating from a satchel. The plates have strange contours and whirls on the panels. He heads back to the loading bay, and ducks down under the stuck doorway before disappearing inside. They''re on their own for now. Drenar approaches the hanger door, and Angela and Julia slowly nod. It¡¯s time to get some answers. Vol. 1, Ch. 31: The Man Who Broke the World, Part One The looming visage of the industrial warehouse juxtaposed against the mountainscape made for an odd viewing. Ominous might have even been the right word for the rusting structure with metal clad roofing and some foggy window panes that obscured anything inside. The drizzle coming down and soaking Julia from head to foot isn''t doing any favors for her mood. She wrings the water from her hair, the little good it¡¯ll do. ¡°This is going to end in a fight, Drenar. You know that.¡± Unfortunately for Julia, she knows that if there¡¯s anyone who can compete for being as headstrong as her, it¡¯s him, and that is not always advantageous. ¡°Maybe it doesn¡¯t have to.¡± ¡°No, I know how these things work out. This is going to go full blown shounen,¡± she says with a huff. She hated how he always thought violence wasn¡¯t a foregone conclusion, given how badly the day had been going. Still, having restraint wasn¡¯t necessarily a weakness. ¡°Alright, fine, let¡¯s talk contingencies, quickly. Our host might get mighty sus if we take too long.¡± ¡°I grab the guy, beat him to within an inch of his life, you coach Drenar through the baby dragon phase in the meantime,¡± Julia responds back. Angela is rather nonplussed at this sardonic response. Drenar¡¯s already passed the threshold of the hanger door, and she¡¯s grateful that it¡¯s dry, and even somewhat warm here. It looks like it took a massive endeavor to convert this place to something liveable. Julia kept the autobow low, and she¡¯s finally taken a long, solid look at it. This machine¡­perplexes her. It¡¯s a fully automatic crossbow, with a lower trigger group almost identical to an AR-style firearm. There¡¯s also the box style magazine which looks like she could almost fit a .50 BMG round in it. Maybe twenty of them, but it¡¯s made up for the fact that the bolts are slimmer for a proportional round, due to lacking a primer and gunpowder. The bow portions curve back, and it works on a pulley system, with some flexing of the metal beams¨Cit¡¯s surprisingly compact for what it is. What¡¯s more worrying is that she still doesn¡¯t know how it works just yet¨Cthe design is clearly inspired by modern firearms accessories and interchangeable sights, scopes, and aiming modules, but there is no gas piston or means to return the bow to the primed state. The bolts did have a slight purple glow on the contacting end. Perhaps it¡¯s an activated telekinesis to push the bow back to the primed state? Like a recoil operated firearm, in essence. The weapon itself is light, easily maneuverable, and the detachable box magazine is simple, but effective. That still didn¡¯t make much sense. Why bother with the bow limbs, when you could use a buffer tube or a spring to force the bolt back into battery? With only ten rounds left in the magazine, she isn¡¯t exactly going to be holding much of a firefight, if that¡¯s what it came down to. At least her mastery of hand-to-hand and judo would make her the reigning threat of close-range fighting. And Drenar is truly deadly with a sword, when she thinks of his practices she tagged along with Angela at times. He had spent more than a little time training with her. Crosomer however, is an unknown factor. He is most certainly a mage, and her knowledge of magic is woefully limited. But all the magic she¡¯d witnessed seems to have a projectile component. Some are faster than others. But her plasma¡ªthat was an on-contact ability. If she got close enough, enemies were going down without a fight. Her bigger problem is that she knows Drenar is in serious pain. The injury on his wing was taxing on him, even with the makeshift bandaging. He is also losing his human form at a steady pace¨Chis face and hair have started being replaced by more scales and feathers, and the wings have grown in length a little¨Cand even more feathers have emerged. He looks like a drowned bird at the moment. She¡¯d probably appreciate the newfound look more once they were out of danger, with that regal feather crest, smooth scales, those brilliant green eyes that seemed even brighter than usual¨Cwait wait wait. Am I legit getting the hots for Drenar as a dragon? Does sexy even belong in my adjective list for him? She dares a look to her right. She pictures it again, and feels a warm sensation in her cheeks. Oh. Dear. Fates. No Julia, bad! Lifelong friend, not friend with exclusive benefits! Her fingers curl reflexively into the foregrip of the autobow. Sort out weird cross-wired feelings later, danger first! Wait, does this mean I get to lose virginity twice, once as a human, and once as a dragon¨CWHY AM I STILL THINKING ABOUT THIS?! Angela throws her a confused look on the other side, and fortunately, Drenar doesn¡¯t notice. She grits her teeth and pretends everything is perfectly normal, and focuses on the task at hand. She takes note of everything in the warehouse¨Ca large recreational area, set up with a TV, some chairs, and a table. Someone has left a card game unfinished. There is also a small kitchen area set up. She smells a familiar, tantalizing smell. Someone had been cooking ramen. Real ramen, not the starving college student ration, and she guiltily feels a pang of hunger for a tasty meal right about now. Villains aren''t supposed to be good cooks! The bulk of the warehouse is set up like a laboratory. Some of the chemical labels she doesn¡¯t recognize. There are microscopes, other machines of an unknown nature, sample boxes, and arrays of computers¨Call sitting idle right now. The server racks they¡¯d be connected to have all been stripped of their components, and probably shipped elsewhere. A smaller version of that metal and crystal battery, heavily encased and protected by steel banding, was powering the warehouse, lighting up one corner of the warehouse with blue and purple crackling light. Their mysterious visitor was nowhere to be seen. ¡°This laboratory¨Cit¡¯s a scientist¡¯s dream,¡± Julia points out while they walk steadily across the length of the facility. Drenar winces and falls to one knee, rubbing at his boot and interrupts her thought. ¡°You alright?¡± He doesn¡¯t respond. He cuts the laces with his dagger and struggles to get it off. Julia is mildly shocked to see that his lower leg is reforming even before her eyes. His foot has reformed to elongated toes with dull silver talons at the end, and the big toe now looks like a dewclaw. He glances back over his shoulder, looking distinctly unhappy. ¡°Julia, toss these in your bag. I¡¯m not about to destroy these.¡± ¡°Drenar, you do not sound alright,¡± Angela says, and helps him get his other boot off with a little assistance. She traces the scales on his arm, almost fascinated by this spectacle. ¡°How are you still functional?¡± He winces and leans back a little while wiggling his new limb structure, and the talons click against the concrete floor with sharp tap sounds. ¡°I¡¯ll manage.¡± He gently hands over his pair of boots, still intact, and she slings them into a compartment. After another quick swipe, he cuts the fabric so his jeans aren¡¯t restricting his movement. It certainly isn¡¯t fashionable, but it¡¯s enough for now. He wobbles on the new limb structure, and Angela puts out an arm to steady him. Julia scans the room for their mysterious host. Still nowhere to be found. What was he doing? Lulling them into a false sense of safety? Drenar finds his balance and spreads his toes widely, and holds out his hands and wings. Under better circumstances, it would have been almost comical, but this was truly dire. ¡°Hey, Robespierre. I thought you wanted to talk?¡± Clearly he¡¯s thinking to just go straight to dialogue¨Csomething Julia knows isn¡¯t the answer to their current predicament. ¡°Forgive me for not having a kettle of tea out¨Cit¡¯s good form to always be able to accept guests, even as spartan as this abode is.¡± Julia hears a male voice identical to the one on the radio, and her gaze lifts upwards. There is a second floor to the warehouse where there are some doorways¨Coffices and workspaces, presumably. There is a wide staircase erected intricately with the existing structure. The hooded man is leaning on the safety railing, gloved hands tapping on the metal rods in a light tempo of a beat. She starts to raise the autobow, then thinks better of it¨Cthose mages in the mine had been able to withstand multiple hits from these bolts, and this man was likely a mage of a much higher caliber to be regarded so infamously in history. Drenar, with no training, had stopped roughly half a dozen rounds before getting injured. ¡°Ah, but my manners precede me. I am Robespierre Crosomer, the ex-chancellor of the Conclave of the Arcane, exiled and imprisoned for the crimes of trying to be on the right side of history.¡± ¡°Cliff notes version please, I¡¯m kind of in some level of pain and I really cannot take a dramatic villain speech at the moment,¡± Drenar interrupts. Julia swears she can hear the crackle of an undercurrent of energy emanating from him. Or the crackle as bone is twisting, elongating and otherwise reforming in his body, which sounds immensely unpleasant. Her own reckoning with this process is likely not that far behind him, because she can feel her own heart rate picking up in her chest. Crosomer is mildly imposing¨Che¡¯s close to two meters tall. Maybe 180 centimeters, by her estimate. That stupid hoodie isn¡¯t helping, either. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Just like Drenar, his limb structure seemed to be off. The ankle came upwards and away from his foot. She swore she caught a glimpse of bright citrus eyes from under the hood. ¡°I¡¯m Drenar. This is Julia, and this is Angela,¡± he introduced them in turn. Julia would have scolded him for giving out their names, but Crosomer likely knew a hell of a lot more than that already. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m familiar with your dossiers. I cannot say that my¡­partner in this endeavor has even bothered to read up on any of the subjects that have been part of this unprecedented arcanist discovery.¡± There¡¯s a deep resentment towards this other person. Who are they, and why are they not getting along? Maybe he¡¯s referring to this enigmatic ¡®Val¡¯ they had talked about earlier. ¡°But enough about that. I think we need to¡­clear the air. Your treatment was not in alignment with expectations. Just how did you get here, anyways?¡± ¡°We¡¯re teenagers with attitude. So, just a fair warning.¡± Julia rolls her eyes, it¡¯s like the greater the level of danger they¡¯re in, the more sardonic he gets! ¡°Okay, before my organs start twisting themselves in knots, care to tell me what that artifact you teleported out of here was, why you deemed it really cool to be irresponsible with magic beyond your comprehension, and why someone thought it would be fun to toss you into a prison in the world for seven hundred years?¡± ¡°Oh, now you want answers? After collapsing half the mine?¡± he snaps. Julia found mild amusement at his extremely patronizing tone. He walks down the stairwell, and she sees the limb structure almost matches Drenar¡¯s. Just what is he? ¡°Alright, it¡¯s only partially your fault. Val¡¯s men were careless, and then she rang the ¡®burn it all down¡¯ bell before you got here.¡± He glances at Julia, and doesn¡¯t even blink when he sees her autobow. ¡°Could you please lower the automatic lawn dart launcher?¡± "Not that I want to side with the guy, but you''d need to land several rounds on target before his barrier pops, Julia," Drenar points out. He winces and rubs at his wing again. She hates it when he makes a good point like that. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s be civil. Weapons on the table, everyone plays nice,¡± she offers calmly. He laughs softly at this. ¡°You know something, you three are quite a refreshing breath of fresh air. The exile and temporary residence in a mine has been rather dull.¡± She swears she sees a smile under the cowl, and the flash of teeth are, unsurprisingly, not very human looking and very sharp, and numerous. Crosomer gently unbelts a longsword tucked away on his back, a pistol-like crossbow in a compact state, several more of those red, orb-like grenades that Drenar had nearly toasted all of them with, and a few glowing vials filled with blue fluid¨Cregen potions. He had clearly been prepared for a fight. And even more surprising, he deposits all of this on the table, then takes a few steps back. She nods, and unloads the box magazine from the autobow while he¡¯s doing all this, and unprimes the string. She sets it aside on one of the laboratory tables. ¡°Ah, how honorable. Glad to see they still teach that in your educational institutions,¡± he adds with calm veneer. Angela has also done the same. Drenar still has the broadsword belted, and his dagger, and neither escapes Crosomer¡¯s gaze. ¡°Quite an armament, Crosomer. Were you expecting a fight?¡± Drenar asks warily. ¡°With you? Not necessarily. You can keep that, if it makes you feel safer,¡± he points to Drenar¡¯s hunting dagger. ¡°Thanks, I guess? It is a personal item for me.¡± Drenar never takes his intense looking eyes off of Crosomer, and relaxes his claws away from the dagger, but does place the sword on the table. He had cut through armor like it was nothing with the dagger, was that his sheer strength, or was there more to it? Crosomer doesn¡¯t waste time. ¡°So, let¡¯s start with the beginning. You¡¯re clearly new to the Veil, or so one of my¡­partners in this endeavor has reported. But it appears you may have made some discoveries on your own.¡± ¡°You could say it''s been an abrupt Awakening,¡± Drenar offers as a pun, and Julia rolls her eyes. ¡°We know human history¡¯s garbage. We know that magic¡¯s a thing, and that dragons should have been the dominant species on the planet, and that there were a lot of bad things that happened over the course of several thousand years that made their rise as spectacular as their fall. Ergath did give a bit of an incomplete history of mage-kind. You were the last domino before the dragons went and Darwin awarded almost all of themselves off the planet.¡± Drenar¡¯s leaving out big chunks, and she doesn¡¯t blame him. There is going to be a delicate dance on how much to reveal. ¡°Not bad. What else do you have?¡± ¡°You were the one they trapped down there. In that obsidian sphere. Question is, why?¡± Julia signs to him silently to keep going. ¡°What¡¯d you do to piss off the Conclave so badly that death was too good for you? And what did they do to you, that you decided you were going to burn them to the ground?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take a journey then. Back to the beginning,¡± Crosomer walks calmly to a small library, stuffed with books on every bit of shelf space, but neatly organized. He reaches up with a gloved hand, and pulls out an ancient book of a massive scale. It barely fits in both his hands, even as large an individual as he was. He lays it out, and she notes the hide of some otherworldly creature formed by the backing¨Cthe pages themselves, thick, and perhaps a little crinkled, but remarkably intact. ¡°Magic¡¯s an integral force to our universe. It¡¯s as fundamental as gravity, electromagnetism, and the nuclear forces. And all of it undocumented by the mainstream scientists of this world. You¡¯ll forgive me if I get a few terms wrong¨CI had a lot to catch up on with my hiatus.¡± He sifts through the pages, and she can see those citrus colored eyes again. ¡°With magic come beings that live, breathe, and exude it. The dragons, the other Kin, countless magical creatures, and humans. The dragons came first¨Carguably¨Cand were integrated into the world on our best guess, sometime around a few hundred thousand years ago. Not unlike the dragons you see in some of the compendiums that now document them, but more primitive. Incapable of speech, but they still grasped magic within their very essence. You¡¯ve seen some of it already.¡± ¡°Yeah, dragons just¡­dropped onto the planet. Okay. That''s terrifying on a lot of levels. How exactly are they genetically related to humans?¡± ¡°Common ancestor. Just several links down the chain of evolution, some links diverging, others converging towards common features.¡± ¡°Or you could just shortcut this and say, someone decided to play with evolution and put it on a speedrun,¡± Drenar states edgily. Crossomer notably stays silent. ¡°You know what, too much for me to unpack. I¡¯ll do my research later, assuming the experts actually have any good theories on this craziness.¡± ¡°Correct. Insofar as your primitive depiction of evolution and history stands,¡± he states calmly. ¡°Dragons built their little fiefdom somewhere just before the last ice age ended, up to about 2000 BC, give or take a few years. And in the process, they created whole other races, built cities that stretched to the heavens, colonized several other worlds by use of planar gate travel, and mastered their arcana over their bodies and developed a complex clan-based society that endured for twenty-thousand years. Up until the point they started arguing on the future of the fledgling humanity¨Cus, I mean¨Cand then things went badly. I¡¯ll spare you the long story, but there was a global conflict.¡± ¡°No, let¡¯s hear about this epic war no one in this room besides you knows about, it sounds cool,¡± Angela said mockingly. Julia can hear the barely audible sigh from Crosomer when he looks up, his head and face still draped in shadow. If anything, he looked a little annoyed. ¡°Short version, a civil war between dragons. So, you remember how I mentioned that dragons went and created entire races?¡± It¡¯s like Crosomer is trying to drum up drama. Like a professor. Everyone slowly nods. ¡°The experiments started out benign enough for enslaved and imprisoned humans that the dragons didn¡¯t have much use for, or had fallen afoul of the wrong clan. They started with dwarves and elves. Then we had the fey and the wargen, and a number of others. Then we got to the kitsune, and then everyone lost their collective minds.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll bite. Why?¡± It''s bold of Angela to ask first. ¡°A few thousand years of building resentment from the slaves, and from the dragons raised to enlightenment who believed all Kin were worth protecting, and that the dragon race should instill guidance and raise them to greatness. Versus everyone else who loved having their pets or throwaway slaves, soldiers, or¡­¡± he looks down and sighs. ¡°Look, I¡¯ll keep this short. The dragon highlords¨Cthose that led the empire, the richest and most influential clans, liked their ability to play their hand at being gods. So the rebels and freed slaves vowed to free the rest, and make them stop with the experiments and depravity. The rebellion was well organized, and put the highlords in a tight spot. So they did what everyone who¡¯s about to lose power does: something desperate and stupid, all to ensure a dark horse win, or a pyrrhic victory.¡± ¡°Wow. Dragons sound more human than humans,¡± Julia whistles. ¡°So what did they do?¡± ¡°Tried to find allies via the astral gates and uncharted corners of the universe, in a decidedly bad idea of rolling the cosmic dice that they¡¯d find someone that would actually help them. They found the Outsiders. And nearly doomed us all.¡± ¡°Let me guess. Like, demons. Or devils. Or daemons,¡± Julia inputs. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what you hatchlings call it in that absurd fantasy literature that is so prevalent of late,¡± he sneers. ¡°But it took several years, a chunk of all living dragons, and a lot of fledgling mages and Kin being thrown at the problem to get rid of that existential crisis. No joke, we almost lost the planet to those ravenous eldritch monstrosities. That''s based on the few records I have been able to verify as dating to the era. The empire didn¡¯t recover, and dissolved into a few more stable factions of dragon clans. And nature, as they say, abhors a vacuum. ¡°The Conclave became the eventual monster that filled that void.¡± Vol. 1, Ch. 32: The Man Who Broke The World, Part Two Julia regards Crosomer grimly at this dour statement that the Conclave is a monstrous, dystopian society, especially since she hasn''t heard much about it at all. Even Evan¡¯s brief depiction barely gave her context of how it was run, how law enforcement worked, or all the other functions a typical government provided to its denizens. Or why she should trust them even less than she trusted Crosomer at the moment. ¡°Elaborate,¡± she states in a single, semi-commanding tone while crossing her arms. ¡°The Conclave was established for basic governance for a population spread out globally. In the early days¡­control was limited to big hubs like cities, and local nation-states. Those on the fringe or in geographical isolation tended to adhere to local laws. With the modern Conclave, the plan was to unite mages under a single banner, in a geopolitical system not unlike the current US metric¡­I believe you call it a representative republic. Each mage ¡®zone¡¯ gets a certain number of representatives, plus a static number. Each zone also gets three upper-chamber ¡®senators¡¯ that form the upper hierarchy of the Conclave, serving under the Executive Counselor¨Cmy prior seat. Legislation has to pass by simple majorities¨Cbut with no defined¡­uh¡­factions, there was a lot of collective bargaining. In theory, it should encourage cooperation and aiding minority representation in the legislative process.¡± He flips through the pages of the ancient book, showing a gathering of all creatures¨Ca squat human, a very tall, thin human, a woman who looked like she had some otherworldly grace and dragon scales and short wings on her back, and also a fox-like creature, and yet another that looked like a wolven humanoid. They all gathered under the banner of a sigil of the arcane, an open hand with small rings on each finger, each one a different color. ¡°Looks utopia-like, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Every utopia that claims it¡¯s one, is usually the opposite,¡± Julia replies drolly. ¡°So what happened to the whole ¡®united under one banner¡¯ thing?¡± ¡°It¡­fell apart, when I was younger.¡± That lasting bitter note in his voice does sound genuine. Julia catches herself wondering if there was indeed truth to his words, and not just a revisionist historical depiction he was spinning to entrap them. ¡°Go on. How do you fall into the mix?¡± she asks quietly. ¡°During my time in my prior occupation¨Ca company of heroes for hire, I acquired a number of the prerequisite skills,¡± he sighs and brings a gloved hand to his face. ¡°I was young and naive enough, early on, to think the Conclave had governorship under wraps. To make a long story short, I was invited to take a role as the chancellor, after years of working logistics and research within my previous organization. I had the skills, they needed a winner to lead the mage world, a face that people would recognize." "I ended up running it for about five years. 1293 to 1298 AD. I put together some good ideas. I wanted to bring magic to the mainstream. For the betterment of all Kin. I thought I could channel this philosophy through enough members of the Conclave, and¡­it just fell spectacularly short in the face of wanton corruption, and a contemptuous new world order that saw humans as the only beings of consequence.¡± ¡°And let me guess. You decided that you had to burn the establishment to the ground. Because that¡¯s how this story usually ends.¡± Julia would normally tell Angela to hang back. But this might be the only time they¡¯d hear this side of the story from Crosomer. The extreme level of secrecy the Conclave enacted to keep the world unaware of their existence, and every other magical organism, spoke great lengths to what level of control that required. And it''s an unhealthy amount. ¡°First, you can tell what the Conclave is, versus what it isn¡¯t. What I do know is that it is the current, official government of the mages and other magical creatures of the world. And that you were the loser in a five-year civil war, based on Ergath¡¯s book. We aren¡¯t naive, just uninformed. You¡¯re already on thin ice by my count, first by your lackey¡¯s lack of hospitality and combat performance, second by this ¡®Val¡¯ we keep hearing about. She sounds like a walking nightmare of a woman who kills people for fun.¡± Julia glares at Crosomer, and he lets out a bit of a sigh before turning to her and leaving the book open. ¡°The Conclave was established in the aftermath of the Schism Wars¨Cthe draconic civil war four thousand years ago, and after the Outsiders were burnt, beaten back, and otherwise un-made when the last astral gate was dismantled. Dragons naturally kept a lot of the seats, as did the rest of the Kin, but humans had a huge power shift. They picked up several representative seats. The goal was to safeguard the planet against rogue mages and otherworldly forces that the non-magical humans of the world would have no chance against, and keep to the shadows of history. ¡°Well, that grand old experiment lasted just long enough to start falling apart when I was young. I did a lot of odd jobs for an old friend of mine back then¨Ca true hero of the mage world. And the woman he fought side-by-side with, later. She was a living legend, and a champion of all that is good in this world. Then there was the alchemist, her husband, and the gallant dragon knight. So when the time came to lead the Conclave, I thought I was doing right by them. I wasn¡¯t.¡± Julia picked up the change in tone the second he mentioned the first two people. ¡°So what went wrong?¡± Julia presses on. ¡°I noticed they kept favoring humans. Kin were being pushed to the margins. I had veto power, so I used it as a rubber stamp, and tried to work behind the scenes to get more sympathetic members to see my point of view. That stamp got used a lot as time went on, and the more I paid attention to what the legislation was intended to do.¡± Crosomer flips to another page, and traces a finger down a lengthy list. She sees the illustrations. One word comes to mind: Control. ¡°Pacification of tribal wargens to control the Type one plague. Mind shrouds for the Kitsune. Minimum height requirements for several labor-intensive jobs that would have, of course, excluded most dwarven. Oh, and a bonus, dragons had to tithe ten percent of their wealth every year to the coffers of the conclave for a three thousand-year reparation. Every year, on April 15th. The US government squealed in delight when they designated that as tax day,¡± he adds with vitriol. He traces his fingers down the smooth lines of handwritten text. ¡°Dragons lost more and more seats on the Conclave over several hundred years. Pushed out by humans. And they weren¡¯t the only ones to lose seats. By the time I entered the fold, humans had a slim majority. I could see which way the tide was turning. So I started pulling every favor I could to enact protective acts for all Kin. It took every favor, every ounce of goodwill I had to pull it off.¡± ¡°And this encompassed what, exactly?¡± Drenar asks. He kept wincing and holding his head¨Cwas Alex trying to say something to him internally, and he was keeping it under wraps? Crosomer looked incensed by this. ¡°Protections for kin. A code of conduct for mages. Rules and regulations on how magic would be integrated with society, and systems of control to prevent any one person or faction from abusing the system to their benefit. I wasn¡¯t exactly popular, but I convinced a lot of people with enough good things that I had a marginal majority.¡± ¡°On the eve of the vote, there was a plot against me. I was betrayed, set up with sham charges of running sadistic experiments that resulted in many deaths, and condemned to a mockery of trial, because I dared to move against the real power players of the Conclave, the shadow hands that truly control the mage world¡¯s government. Shame. I knew most of them after patient digging. But I missed just one. I placed trust in the one place I should not have placed it, and it was my downfall. After the fallout, I had to flee. I turned to my former comrades in arms but¡­even though a few of them believed me, they could do nothing but watch the wheel turn.¡± Julia can hear the bitterness in his voice. ¡°I vowed after what the Conclave did to me, that no one else would suffer at their hands. I made a deal with a devil. A mercenary army that I had a small part in building. The Onyx Talons. The Conclave was a governorship suited to handling dissidents with shows of force, but they were under-equipped for a mass rebellion. Fear was supposed to keep the populace in check. But they failed to account for me.¡± ¡°The War of the Magi, right? Ergath mentioned it, but it didn''t cover the whole war. Just little bits. You almost had it, and then...some battle in the Mythal Vale, where you took a loss you never recovered from." Crosomer nodded softly. ¡°Why did you risk everything for this?¡± ¡°Because I believed in the cause, inspired by my friends from years past. All that effort¡­and I still lost. And it cost me everyone I ever loved or cared about.¡± Julia feels the emotion is real. ¡°Well, I had to stew on that for about seven hundred years. They threw me in that Isolation sphere, and buried it. The only thing they left me with was a book that had unlimited pages to chronicle to the end of times, and an ink fountain that would never run dry. It got mighty boring after the first twenty years.¡± Crosomer shows the look of someone uncomfortable about this admission. ¡°So, it just¡­let you continue to exist?¡± ¡°It''s a form of stasis. Except I was awake, and aware, unable to die from lack of water, food, or air. I just¡­existed. I never dared to try to¡­seek an escape by other means. I¡¯d been told that there were¡­deterrents against that.¡± Even Drenar winces at the implication. ¡°I ran out of escape plans that had a chance to work. Storytelling worked for a while. Then it was back to planning for my possible return. I figured there might a slight chance someone could dig me up. Maybe." ¡°How are you not insane from that?¡± Angela states unrestrainedly. Crosomer lets out an indignant huff before he flips through the pages¨Cto a section of detailed, sketched artwork. Well drawn, even. Landscapes of giant crystalline trees with branches that gleamed with light in the middle of an untouched forest brimming with motes of life, hints of strange creatures observing in the grass. The ink had also changed color to capture the image like a photograph. Julia almost touches that serene image to check if it¡¯s real or not. "I found sanctuary in another escape--chronicling my life." There¡¯s more of it. Mountains peaking above fog-touched forests. Fey creatures holding orbs of light, dancing through sprawling meadows under a starry night. Strange, shark-like creatures that swim through the sand like fish would through water. Kin of all kinds, in cities, sitting at taverns, some quiet slices of life, some showing raucous celebration. Crosomer even shows a little melancholy, looking at the book, his gaze softened at the echoes of the past, preserved by his skilled penmanship. ¡°You¡­do have quite a talent for it.¡± It''s the quietest admission she''s heard from Angela in a long time. The last time she''d heard her talk in that velvety soft tone¡­was her explaining her scars from her surgery to save her heart when she was five years old. Up until about a year ago, Julia had never asked why. And she didn''t know why she hadn''t asked for so long. The impact of her statement isn''t lost on Julia, even as Crosomer nods almost imperceptibly. ¡°Artwork and meditation became my escape for a long time, Angela. Lessons I carelessly piled away when I was younger got another lease on life, and I wrote about my entire life''s experience. Every formula, every event, all my historical recollections, all my inferences and theories, every wondrous place I visited with my friends. I figured, if I had eternity¡­if anyone ever found me in that obsidian coffin, when the power went out, they''d have something positive to contribute to the history of the arcane. My last academic journal.¡± His voice is infused with a somber tone, driven by the gulf of so many lifetimes between then, and now. ¡°I did forget some things. Some I couldn''t reconstruct, no matter how hard I tried. But if anything survives me, it will be this. Nigel¨Cone of my researchers, volunteered to preserve it digitally. A task he worked tirelessly, and without hesitation. I only wish my research from years past could have been put to good use for the pain I inflicted on the world.¡± This man is completely broken. Seven hundred years with no one but himself, and a lifetime of memories. People start to break after weeks in isolation, how he endured this, is¡­unfathomable. It''s shocking when she admits to herself that no one deserves that kind of fate. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Drenar interrupts that with a tsk sound. ¡°A little late to reminisce, isn''t it? Your actions led to dragonkind making a series of decisions that resulted in their near-extinction. You''re the man who broke the world.¡± Julia winces because Drenar has stayed focused and on task. There''s a duality to Crosomer that she''s not sure how to feel about. But there is no mistake: Crosomer is still dangerous. And he''s doing dangerous things for what he perceives as the right reasons. ¡°You know, I still don''t quite get that. How did the dragons pull that feat off? There was a mention of Volkir Menrayas, some kind of dragon sage, but wiping out over a million dragons in a couple of days? It boggles the mind.¡± "I think that¡¯s giving me too much credit for other creaky, barely stable geopolitical structures,¡± Crosomer counters. ¡°The same device I¡¯m using, that you referred to? It started the ball rolling on the death of the dragons. A fact that is known by almost no one. And they used it without understanding it. So when the ¡®research¡¯ I¡¯d been working on was pulled, it was easy to blame me¨Cbecause it wasn¡¯t inaccurate. Only incomplete.¡± He flips to a page, and Julia is shocked. It was the same device that they¡¯d seen in the cavern below. The one with the strange slates of interlocking runes. ¡°I found this with some of my comrades on a chance encounter, during our adventuring days. Me and my mentor tried to translate it, but we came up short at the time. We knew it didn¡¯t fit into draconic origins. It was far older. We theorized it was created by our Forefathers, the Kinsgard, and left this on the planet. Not the outsiders, mind you, something completely different.¡± ¡°So, what is it?¡± Drenar asks. ¡°It''s an engine of souls. A regulator of magic. Or, perhaps a catalyst¨Cthe language I¡¯ve partially worked out doesn¡¯t translate literally. What it does is virtually anything. If properly coded and worded. When improperly used, you get the Ascension events, and a couple million dragons vaporized in a poor attempt to get off-world to a new planet to call home. Yeah, that was pretty bad,¡± he grimaces. ¡°Volkir really screwed up, and he should have known better. Or if he did and gave his warnings as I would, the Conclave went and gave that poisoned research right to the dragons, and let them initiate their extinction.¡± Did he just imply the Conclave wanted that to happen? It''s a seriously disturbing thought to Julia. ¡°Well, at least there was one silver lining. There¡¯s been a trickle of dragons coming back, the drakensouls. Maybe if enough of them come back, they can bring some enlightened wisdom back to the masses. The Conclave can¡¯t be that terrible, can it?¡± Drenar sounds just a little naive when he says that. Crosomer laughs convulsively at this for a few seconds. Drenar looks warily at Crosomer, as does Julia. ¡°Nah. Sorry kid. You¡¯re too optimistic if you think the Conclave is going to change with the power of hope and friendship. But, you¡¯re partially right, the drakensouls can play a role. I just can¡¯t wait for several thousand years for them to trickle back. I¡¯m bringing them back all at once.¡± ¡°And you think that if you take the broken window you shattered, put all the glass pieces in a box, and hand it back and say ¡®sorry¡¯, it''ll be like it didn¡¯t happen?¡± Drenar accuses. ¡°And you call me naive.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s just step one. Step two is to get them trained, and get them angry that the Conclave shattered their existence for the better part of a millennium. Step three is to use the containment breach of Veil to incite an overreaction of the Conclave and force them to reveal their ugly iron fist of control. Step four is¨C¡± ¡°Mysterious?¡± ¡°Profit?¡± ¡°Pretend to be the savior?¡± The barrage from Julia, Drenar, and Angela isn¡¯t what he expected, and he scowls at all of them in turn. ¡°Treat this more seriously, please. I¡¯m making a pitch for the future of the mage world, and you¡¯re all treating it like it¡¯s a joke, and not my life¡¯s work!¡± ¡°Nah, my turn to call bullcrap. So far, your little field exercise has involved your men threatening to kill me, and my friends, beating my brother bloody, recruiting child soldiers, and experimenting on us like we¡¯re guinea pigs! Our Awakening didn¡¯t happen by chance, did it?¡± Drenar states accusingly. He was not looking too good either, because Julia could see a tremor in his arm. ¡°Oh, and let¡¯s not forget your minions! Who is Val, by the way? It sounds like she¡¯s got a homicide list a mile long, based on what I¡¯ve heard so far, and you want to keep associating with that element? Why?!¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be walking and breathing without her, Rashalda.¡± His response is as quiet as it is telling. ¡°I¡¯d still be in that sphere, slowly going mad. The world would still be falling apart at the seams. Despite what you may think of her, our end goals are the same. The world has to change, or it''s not going to be a happy ending for anyone.¡± ¡°Yeah. I really hope your plan involves a lot less bodies hitting the ground,¡± Drenar states acidly. ¡°Let¡¯s lead off with that, by the way. Because it¡¯s feeling like I might keel over and die right about now.¡± She could see him holding his chest with one claw. ¡°You didn¡¯t just start awakening kids with drakensouls, you also prematurely triggered Awakenings in half-dragons too. Did you know that?¡± ¡°Speaking of which, can you ditch the hood and the gloves? We know you aren''t human. So, what are you?¡± Angela interjects. ¡°Hey, this is fashionable!" He protests halfheartedly. "Also, no. There are some pragmatic reasons for this. Like the rainstorm," he adds dryly. His body posture indicated otherwise. Julia crosses her arms and cracks a few joints in her neck for emphasis. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s cut another long story short. Initial experimentation on the artifact was¡­how does one put this, ill-advised and without proper safety rails in place.¡± ¡°Sounds like a bad case of hubris,¡± Drenar is taking his turn to throw some shade. Crosomer simply grunted and took off the gloves. She¡¯s not exactly surprised to see dark black scales with mottled blue and green scales mixed in on his claws, though the hand is more human than dragon. Muscles rippled beneath the scales. Crosomer slowly lifted the hood off his head. Julia had seen the illustrations of various dragon species, but here--there was a blend of draconic and a human face. His scales formed a mostly complete formation of onyx-colored scales, with a slight crest of thicker scales coming from his forehead, and a head of feathers that was closely cropped to suggest they¡¯d been trimmed to a style. He has a set of teeth that jutted ever so slightly below the upper portion of his snout. His eyes are distinctly draconic, with a pupil shaped like a cat¡¯s, a vertical slit, and the iris is citrus in color¨Cit isn¡¯t a bad look, but certainly not human. "Alright, it¡¯s not terrible. This...isn''t as bad as you made it out to be, really," Drenar replies in a somewhat sincere response. ¡°So you¡¯re¡­halfway between human and dragon?¡± "Let''s just say I activated a rune on it that did not have the intended effect. The translation I had thought was accurate, was merely incomplete," Crosomer offers. "I am grateful that my mistake wasn''t fatal." ¡°Did it do anything else?¡± Julia asks calmly. He nodded. ¡°A few peculiarities. But I¡¯ll save that for later.¡± His gaze wandered back to the limitless notebook, and he brought up a few sketches, near the seeming end of what had to be hundreds, maybe thousands of pages. Each time he flipped to a new page, it seemingly ¡®melted¡¯ back to the opposite side, like it was a book on some kind of invisible loop. It was almost mesmerizing. ¡°It¡¯s no accident that you are what you are, Rashalda. But then, given your obliviousness, there¡¯s much you don¡¯t know. Yet.¡± ¡°Well, enlighten me, Professor Draconius,¡± he replies sarcastically. His claws had grown slightly longer, and she could hear the discomfort in his voice. Crosomer remains indifferent. ¡°I¡¯ll bet you also know a lot about Julia and Angela too. And the rest of the people at the school. I¡¯ve got a short list of people I think have Awakened, and I think it¡¯s still a gross under-report.¡± ¡°Do you know who your ancestors were?¡± Crosomer asked quietly. ¡°No. Any chance I have at answering that question is in a silent plot over on Kings¡¯ Ending,¡± he says somberly. Crosomer nods quietly. He got the hint. ¡°My condolences on their untimely passing. The little I was able to infer, you lived a normal life before the tragedy that struck.¡± Julia is picking her brain, how does he know so much? Private investigators, public records searches, published news articles, other witnesses, or people in Drenar¡¯s life? ¡°It¡¯s hard to make a comparison, but you do look a little like Alexander Rashalda. The hero of the war. My friend.¡± Welp. This just went south even further than I had us figured for, Julia thinks with a grimace. Angela looks wide-eyed at this reveal, and Drenar doesn¡¯t even know how to react. ¡°What did¡­what did Alex look like, exactly?¡± It¡¯s a surprising question from him, after being firmly against Crosomer¡¯s charismatic tongue. There''s a grimace of regret for even having mentioned it. But Crosomer thumbs through what feels like a sea of those crisp, yet weathered pages of the endless tome he''d filled up for centuries. He stops at a simple sketch of several people. All clad in armor and adventuring gear. The one in the middle has dark hair like Drenar, crisp blue eyes, and a smirk as he holds some bauble just out of reach of a mage in a cowl, a shorter man with brown eyes, and a silent scowl of being denied the item. He''s tall and athletic, and his posture suggests relaxation and playfulness. He''s almost as tall as the woman in a wingtip helmet to his right, clad in brass and silver armor that carries just a tinge of green, and yellowed runes that adorn the gauntlets and greaves. She peers closer. That can''t be his mother. Julia narrows her eyes, the facial features are too emotive, the nose more rounded, and less angular, and her eyes too wide. But she does have the same verdant eyes as Drenar''s mom. Drenar seems to inhale a little sharply, taking in the image with wonder. ¡°Who were they?¡± He asks quietly. ¡°I''m the man being heckled by Alex. He was my brother by bond, not by blood. Next to us is Valen, he was the dragon knight. Never met a Valencian red so disciplined and level-headed.¡± Drenar gasps in shock slightly. Angela does too. Julia peers at that stoic figure with shoulder-length light brown hair, finely chiseled face, and skin showing slight weathering. He''s standing with arms crossed behind Alex and the woman in armor. He carries the air of a seasoned veteran and he looks awfully familiar. ¡°Is that¡­nah, can''t be.¡± Drenar looks like he''s seen a ghost just about. ¡°Laresten?¡± It¡¯s the first time that Julia is shocked. His fencing instructor for five years? Didn¡¯t he die last year? She peers closer, she¡¯d only seen him a couple of times¨Cwas that really him, or just a cosmic coincidence? ¡°No, that¡¯s Valen. He trained all of us.¡± Crosomer keeps going through the other figures as if he¡¯s not bothered by this. ¡°The shorter, fiery redhead is Hanna¨Cour mage and alchemical genius. She always had pretty eyes. And tried to set Alex on fire an unprecedented number of times,¡± he adds in a laugh as if it were a bit of nostalgia when Julia peered at the woman with bright red hair and purple eyes, with an infectious grin and utter delight as she gazes at the person to her right, one arm wrapped around the man with ash blond hair and a calm smile. He was a bearlike and powerful man who stood just a bit taller than her, with a close-cropped mustache and puppy brown eyes. ¡°That man next to her is Gerard, her husband¨Cbeast of man on the battlefield, and quiet and gentle when back at home. What you see here¡­before it all went to hell¡­are the Luminaires. Including myself. We were the original team.¡± From hero to villain. Julia can¡¯t help but hold a little contempt. ¡°You missed one,¡± Angela corrects. She points to the woman next to Alex, and Drenar looks like he¡¯s still hung up on her, too¨Cthe family resemblance does look a little uncanny. ¡°Who was she?¡± It¡¯s telling when Crosomer doesn¡¯t respond for nearly three seconds, and his fingers linger on the page for too long, tracing the lines of her hair. She can see him wince--this memory is still too painful, even after seven centuries. ¡°The woman who saved the world.¡± Crosomer gently closes the book after his almost whisper-quiet response, and no one dares to reopen it. The pain in his face is far too real. ¡°Someone better than the rest of us combined. The world didn¡¯t deserve someone that awe-inspiring. And now they¡¯re all gone.¡± He neglects to note that isn¡¯t entirely true. But, Julia reasons, he might as well be gone too, in his mind. Julia doesn¡¯t have long to ponder the thought when Drenar shudders, and grabs his chest again. ¡°Oh, you''re having some difficulty, kid?¡± Crosomer asks in a decidedly mocking tone. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve been better, all things considered,¡± He manages to get out. He¡¯s panting as if he¡¯s still trying to fight it, but the fact that the feathery mane is now extending down his back, is telling of how little control he has. Cripes, even his feather mane is as messy as his normal hair, what¡¯s up with that? I¡¯m gonna buy this kid a comb, I swear! How do you even style feathers, anyway? That intrusive thought is interrupted by him shuddering and his face contorts in pain. ¡°Yeah you know what, let¡¯s continue this discussion later, I think I¡¯m about to have a bad time.¡± Julia realizes that they¡¯re out of time. He¡¯s Awakening now. Vol. 1, Ch. 33: The Man Who Broke the World, Part Three ¡°Drenar, stuff you don¡¯t want to shred, toss it now!¡± Julia shouts out. He tosses his bag with a grimace on the table, and Angela quickly gets his harness vest and dagger off and over his wings. She can see a glimmer of light at the seams of the scales on his arms and face. ¡°Drenar, your other clothes¨C¡± She¡¯s just a tad too late, and he grimaces and there¡¯s a series of ripping sounds, and his clothes now look like he''s been in a battle with a hellcat. ¡°Well, there goes my dignity,¡± he says with gritted teeth. ¡°Ladies, let¡¯s give the kid a moment. Oh, you should probably finish that outside, about fifty percent of Awakenings lead to a low-level burst of whatever magical affinity a dragon has. In your case, either elemental plasma, or a telekinetic burst. I¡¯d rather not be cleaning up a mess of burnt or toppled equipment.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think I need to go crawl into a corner and die now,¡± he manages to get out before collapsing where he stands, and shouts in pain. Julia can see his limbs lengthening again, and his face elongates into a short snout. The sound of rearranging bone and muscle sounds¡­squeamish. Oh man, this makes me look forward to my transformation even less. ¡°So, while that¡¯s playing out¡­coffee, tea, anyone?¡± Crosomer asks politely. She and Angela turn to glare at him with as much ire as they can muster. ¡°Did that come across as a bit¡­callous? There¡¯s not much he can do, except let this play out. Seriously, you look like you both could use an espresso and a first aid kit. Let me tell you, that invention was worth the seven-hundred-year wait.¡± ¡°You are such an insensitive jerk, you know that?¡± Angela states icily. ¡°He¡¯s in pain!¡± ¡°Transformations after awakening involve far less pain, and maybe moderate discomfort at worst case,¡± he replies as if trying to downplay Drenar trying desperately to keep his cries of pain managed. His body mass is changing, and there are now scales across his entire body¨Cand just like predicted before, his clothes are now a finely shredded mess. She tries not to take any details in. ¡°Did seven hundred years of isolation make you an insufferable jerk, or was that baked in beforehand?¡± Julia asks acidly. ¡°You know that''s my best friend in crippling pain right now, because of your antics.¡± ¡°It''s temporary.¡± ¡°So are broken bones,¡± she states with a deadly tone. He shrugs lightly. ¡°I presume you''re martially trained, and not speaking hot air, as teenagers are wont to do?¡± ¡°Want to know how much force it takes to break an arm? It''s surprisingly low.¡± He laughs at this. ¡°Ah, so you have some experience with this, eh? You don''t strike me as someone to dole out idle threats.¡± She glares at him testily, he might not be insane from seven centuries of solitary confinement, but he¡¯s certainly a bit of a know-it-all jerk. ¡°No, everyone keep staring while I¡¯m semi-naked and going through a mildly traumatizing body transformation. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be just fine,¡± Drenar manages to say with a strained growl. Julia does note that he¡¯s almost fully transformed, except for the¨Cwell, there¡¯s the tail now, with a coat of silver and blue feathers accentuating it. The tail itself is probably¡­half to three-quarters of the rest of his body length. Except when his chest starts to bulk out--thats'' the point he shouts in pain. Julia could almost hear ribs shifting, crackling, and reforming as his chest and torso slowly grew in size to match his limb lengths. The silver light at the seams of his scales intensifies, and Crosomer grips a bench bolted on the floor. ¡°Um, we should probably take cover?¡± Angela says edgily, and eventually convinces Julia to grab onto the counter. Drenar is laughing, or crying in pain, or something in-between as the light hits a peak¨C And without warning, everything is blasted outwards, and a burst of wind nearly knocks her away. Small objects and some of the closer furniture do not fare as well and are sent hurtling as hazardous debris¨Ca piece of which almost hits Julia in the head before she ducks down, and the cheap office chair crashes into a metal cabinet. The light fades, and she peeks over the counter, bewildered by what she¡¯s witnessing. She is in awe. Drenar is now a solid six meters long, sprawled out on the floor, and groaning in pain. His wings are now full size and sprawled out on the floor, and he¡¯s scrabbling with his legs slowly, trying to test his motion with his new claws. He¡¯s holding his head by his tapered horn with one hand, and trying to prop himself up with the other. Aside from the silver and azure patterned metallic scales, he also has feather accents of similar colors, along with a few iridescent seafoam-colored ones on his cheeks, forearms, chest, and along his tail. The scales on his chest, flanks, shins, and forearms are thicker and more prominent, forming distinct plates of slightly darker hues. He lifts his head from the floor, and spots Julia, with one piercing green eye visible with a narrow, cat-like pupil. Ooh, so pretty¨C Damn it, stop admiring the dragon! It¡¯s still just Drenar! Her look of awe is probably just telling enough to him. There¡¯s a slight bit of relief in his facial expression. ¡°Hey, Julia? I feel kinda...off.¡± ¡°No shit.¡± Her reflex reaction gets the better of her, and she stares at him. ¡°Well, don¡¯t you look handsome, all scales and feathers and toned muscles!¡± His face scrunches in abject horror. ¡°I liked you better when you only joked about flirting with me.¡± It¡¯s somehow worse when even Crosomer laughs, and she feels burning embarrassment. This is going to take some getting used to. ¡°Welcome to the rest of your life, Drenar. You''re welcome, by the way, I figure I pulled you out of an abjectly boring life.¡± Julia doesn''t even bother to chastise Crosomer or point out the massive pain he''s inflicted, if unintentionally. ¡°I will need to borrow you. For sketches. Forever,¡± Angela beams with just a tad too much glee. ¡°He¡¯s a nine out of ten in my books!¡± ¡°I thought he was a solid six,¡± Julia counters her with a questioning look. ¡°Yeah, I added a few extra points for the species change.¡± Julia is pretty sure she does not want to read into that too much. Angela cautiously walks over to Drenar to help him up¨Cand then realizes she has no strength to lift a half-ton dragon off the floor. Drenar sighs, and props himself up to a kneeling position. "Ow. That was the single most painful thing I¡¯ve ever endured, is every transformation like that?¡± ¡°Nah, you¡¯ll be fine. The first one sucks,¡± Crosomer replies. ¡°Need some pain medications? Oh right, you blew up my lab, so I''m out.¡± Drenar clenches his jaw tightly and narrows his eyes. ¡°You know who looks a little more bite-size from up here?¡± he asks edgily while glaring at the draconid. He tries to stand, but a shudder wracks his whole body, and he cradles his chest with his arms, pulls his wings close to his body, and grits his teeth. ¡°You know what, on second thought, I¡¯m gonna cut you a break. Because I¡¯m clearly not going anywhere.¡± Crosomer looks at him curiously. ¡°Hang on. Am I missing something? Why are you a mix of Azure and Maridian?¡± he asks while narrowing his eyes. ¡°And why are you not utterly unconscious? And speaking cognizantly?¡± Oh great. Is this guy about to figure out that Drenar¡¯s had a secret helper and that he¡¯s had some advance warning? Julia thinks worriedly. ¡°Crosomer, the boy¡¯s been through some trauma! Look at his state! So¡­naked, so¡­injured. Maybe give him a few minutes?¡± ¡°You had to mention the lack of pants,¡± Angela sighs. Drenar simply scrunches himself up even more in response. ¡°I mean hey, you did read up on draconic biology, it¡¯s not as¡­um¡­obvious as it would be with a human form.¡± ¡°Teenagers,¡± Crosomer mutters under his breath. ¡°Not much has changed in seven hundred years.¡± ¡°Still on the floor, in pain, and lacking pants, guys. I¡¯m not saying this is my rock bottom, but this is getting pretty far down there.¡± It¡¯s almost adorable how vulnerable an armor-scaled killing machine can be when embarrassed. ¡°Drenar, just get up. We¡¯ll try to not notice,¡± Julia replies while rolling her eyes. ¡°Besides, I¡¯m sure Mister Bite-size here won¡¯t try anything funny with you tromping around. How does it feel?¡± He looks down at his new body, and clenches and unclenches his claws in controlled motions, then does a series of figure-eights with his wings. His expression of pain finally breaks, and he grins with a mouth of teeth that are sharper, but not threatening to her. ¡°It feels awesome. No, more than awesome, it¡¯s glorious! Fantastic! It transcends human expression!¡± He lets out a low roar of excitement. It¡¯s still quite loud, and Crosomer winces and rubs at his ear crest a little. He does peer back at the tail, puzzled by that. ¡°Still¡­processing the tail. It¡¯s moving when I¡¯m not thinking about it, is that normal?¡± ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s fine,¡± Julia sums up. ¡°Be happy that this giant nerd has this as one of his top three life dreams, Crosomer.¡± Drenar tries to finally stand up. He wobbles on his legs, but after a minute of adjustment, he spreads his clawed toes in a wide stance, and takes a few cautious steps. ¡°Well, new data to work from,¡± Crosomer muses in a slightly proud way. ¡°Most of the subjects have been rendered unconscious by the events. You¡¯d be the first case where that didn¡¯t happen.¡± ¡°We Rashaldas are stubborn like that,¡± Drenar brushed off the comment and stood up slowly, kept his wings and arms out, and took a deep breath while stretching lightly. As if to accentuate the point, he does a yoga pose of standing on one leg while flexing the other towards his body, trying to test the limits of his balance. Crosomer simply stares. ¡°Are you just¡­you know what, I don¡¯t care. Do your weird twenty-first-century exercise routine. There are some explanations due when you¡¯re done goofing off,¡± Crosomer snaps irritably. ¡°Just be thankful that I do see the merits of having a two-species origin,¡± Drenar said calmly while also flexing his wings, and slowly circling and pivoting them, all while balancing on one leg. He wobbled a little and had to use his tail to adjust. ¡°I look forward to the rationale of why I shouldn¡¯t use my telekinesis to make you into a human tube of toothpaste.¡± ¡°Yes, why indeed do we garner your interest, exactly? Dragons and drakensouls aren¡¯t super rare.¡± Crosomer turns to address her remark, and stops. ¡°Do you have any idea how many dragons died during the ascension events?¡± he asks. ¡°How many families were destroyed, and loved ones lost, when even they had disagreements on the course of action? A near genocide of a race occurred overnight. Do not treat this so lightly. I certainly don''t.¡± ¡°We know. Almost two million dragons were vaporized. We¡¯ve been reading, but we don¡¯t know every detail yet,¡± Angela chimes in. ¡°You know about us. Why? Why even be remotely interested in us at all? For all you know, Drenar isn¡¯t even related to Alex!¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°...There is a possibility that judgment was clouded by faded memories,¡± Crosomer concedes. ¡°Well now. Who here wants to hear the great big plan?¡± ¡°Whoa, wait a second. You¡¯re assuming we want to be part of anything you have in store for us buddy, and let me tell you, no one controls my fate but me,¡± Julia says forcefully. ¡°Oh, I think you¡¯ll love this,¡± he sighs contentedly. ¡°Now, pay attention. I don''t claim to be a saint, but the end goal is making everyone¡¯s life on earth a little better. Now, who can tell me what the Conclave is, hmm? I presume you know they don¡¯t run on altruism and good intentions, because, you know, the government.¡± ¡°Just skip to the point,¡± Julia said with an eye roll. ¡°How much do you get off on preparing speeches?¡± ¡°I usually just wing it,¡± he shrugs. ¡°Look, the point is, they''ve been trending towards the point of no return where they¡¯ll give up the pretense of being a messy democratic institution, and dive straight into authoritarianism. It¡¯s been slowly spinning things backward. Things deteriorated dramatically after Zacharias took my seat. She has been in, and out of that same seat or a few other official seats in the inner senate of two dozen individuals. They really do need to put in a life term limit on account of dragons and elven,¡± he adds quietly. ¡°The plan now is more or less the same as back then, to use the device I found and offer a very gentle nudge in human history. Awaken the latent genomes so that anyone could start producing mana, along with bringing back the dragons. Everyone could be a mage. Everyone could defend themselves. Also, toss Zacharias off that throne and into prison. That unearthly bitch is lying when she says she¡¯s human¨Cor even elven.¡± ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re still bitter,¡± Angela says with a disapproving tone. ¡°When seeking revenge, dig two graves.¡± ¡°Oh aren¡¯t you the sound-bit queen,¡± Crosomer responds with irritation. ¡°There¡¯s a difference between revenge and justice. Their actions led to my dismissal, persecution, and my having to take up arms to undo the injustices they perpetuated. They turned my friends against me! That one still stings. I figure evening the odds with everyone able to be a mage even on a minor scale will ensure the demise of their regime. And before you ask, no, I don¡¯t want to lead it.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Drenar says with his mouth agape. His words still sound like they have a thick accent, and Julia¡¯s been noting he speaks more from the throat than with tongue or lip movements. The analogy between human expression and dragons isn¡¯t perfectly synched up. ¡°You¡¯ll burn it to the ground, and then peace out?¡± ¡°Well if you stopped interrupting,¡± Crosomer scolds, ¡°you would have heard me discuss plans for a transition government, and then free and open elections. There are bound to be decent mages and Kin somewhere, and I¡¯ve got a list of candidates that would lead to a more free and stable institution. But I¡¯m not going to get ahead of myself, I still need to make the first step work, activating the device in the way I intended it, to reverse-uno the Ascension events.¡± ¡°So, you don¡¯t have a working plan,¡± Julia says with a soft tsk. Crosomer nods and rubs at his arm uneasily. ¡°There have been some setbacks. Before I was usurped, I hesitated to activate the runes on the device. I was concerned that a lack of proper translations could have dire consequences. Turns out, I was right. While I was sitting and waiting on trial after my little rebellion ended, Volkir Menrayas attempted to pick up where I left off to try to find a new home for dragons, away from human history. It went badly.¡± ¡°The Ascension events were also started by the device?¡± Julia asks warily. Crosomer nods after a second. ¡°Correct. Of course, I didn¡¯t know how badly it would go, since I was otherwise occupied for about seven hundred years. Volkir used half of the mana crystals in circulation at two dozen sites across the world, all synched up to the device to activate a planar gate. Except, he just blasted a hole into the Aether¨Cthe world between worlds, or the Stranded Lands, as some call it¨Cand vaporized them. My mentor really screwed up, big time. And I got the blame. Somehow.¡± ¡°You destabilized the entire mage world, jackass! Of course you got the blame, they would never have gone down the path if you hadn¡¯t been burning the place to the ground over a grudge!¡± Drenar snaps. Crosomer gives him an annoyed look but continues walking. ¡°So how¡¯d you get the device back?¡± ¡°I saved a backdoor key to the covert sites the Conclave pretends don¡¯t exist, where they research how to oppress and marginalize kin more effectively. Or build arcane weapons. They didn¡¯t even change the locks, imagine that. I had the device brought here to Mount Syren to tinker and to get the process right this time, without fighting a war and away from prying eyes. The runes are the key, but I don''t have them all translated--and my memory went a tad bad. But I did have some journals elsewhere. And Volkir''s notes might be of help.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re just gonna do this again. Just zap a couple million dragons back into existence, and supercharge people to become mages¨Cor, well, more of them.¡± Julia sounds contemptuous, and she¡¯s got a lot of reasons why. ¡°What if your experiment just killed us? What if it kills everyone? Could you even dare to take that risk?!¡± ¡°There was some misplaced confidence the first time. I did check the math the second time, you know,¡± he replied unapologetically. ¡°Where was the check the first time?¡± She demanded. ¡°Immediately scrutinized by upstart youth who thought they knew more than the seven hundred-year-old arcanist,¡± he states deadpan. She glares at him, and he doesn¡¯t flinch. ¡°Hey Julia, the glare only works on me. And it¡¯s been losing its effect for years.¡± She really wants to put Drenar in a headlock now, but his neck is now decidedly out of reach. And for once, she can''t hold a candle to his implied draconic strength. Drenar gives his sternest expression to Crosomer. ¡°Let me tell you as an objective outsider and outside your echo chamber, this will end badly for you, and you know it." ¡°I think you underestimate my actual resources, and my chances,¡± Crosomer counters with a smile. ¡°Maybe. I''ll go by what I know and can infer.¡± Drenar habitually goes to adjust glasses that aren''t there and rubs the bridge of his snout instead, his cheek feathers lightly ruffled. ¡°Now, I saw your lab setup. It''s competent, if a little improvised, but if this is your top-tier talent, you don¡¯t have a prayer of a chance. This mine operation was probably a cost investment of low millions, maybe tens of millions of US currency, give or take. Do you want to take down an entire conclave of millions of mages with the backing of SAF? That¡¯s gonna cost a lot of bodies, asymmetrical warfare, and billions of dollars.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± he smiles for the first time. ¡°Well, you¡¯re right on two of those. Care to guess which two?¡± Julia is taking notes mentally¨Cwhere is their funding coming from? The Talons have the underground criminal enterprise down, but how much money could they possibly have? Personnel? Resources? Influences within the Conclave, the little that she knew about it? He¡¯s got the right idea. Drill for info. Let him give us the answer he wants to give us by boasting about it. She¡¯s got her attack plan now. ¡°This mine wasn¡¯t bought by run-of-the-mill funding, Drenar. It was an investment, and there were likely more solvent funds available. You tossed away millions, then probably a lot more than that for the mining of those¨Cwhat were they, mana crystals?¡± Julia hits the target dead-center, and he nods. ¡°Used that for funding. I don¡¯t know how well they scale on the other side of the Veil, but it¡¯s got to be a lot. But you had initial capital to toss away for the upfront greasing of the skids That suggests billions in reserve. And I think you do that on more than special ¡®services¡¯ the Talons provide.¡± ¡°Correct. I try to ignore some of the¡­recent trends of the organization. But that¡¯s not to say, we don¡¯t have funding from legitimate sources and people who want us to succeed.¡± He¡¯s still teasing out hints. Alright. Let¡¯s see what else I can get out of you. ¡°So how do we go from a ragtag bunch of rebels to knocking down the Conclave, if they¡¯re as bad as you claim?" Angela demands. ¡°Permanent, good change has to come from the heart, kid. It takes time to show people who the real monsters are, and what the Conclave have become¨Ca reflection of themselves. It takes years. Decades to deprogram the indifferent sneer the Conclave has implanted in too many. Two million dragons, with an unparalleled wealth of knowledge, and unmatched strength, is the kind of revolutionary change of calculus that breaks systems of control." ¡°But at the cost of how many lives?¡± Angela asks quietly, arms crossed and fingers tapping gently. ¡°No. Show me that the system is hopelessly broken first. Show me you won¡¯t stand for people like that ¡®Val¡¯ that''s been mentioned. Or Davos Renshrak. Your minions seemed to speak of him with an unparalleled terror.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t normally stand for butchers and killers. But when you¡¯re strapped for options, sometimes, your ideal goal isn¡¯t achievable. Then you have to do what is necessary, and you try to¡­ mitigate the collateral damage.¡± He can¡¯t even look her in the eye when he utters that short but telling phrase. ¡°See, I really could use people like you who have spent a hot five minutes on this side of the Veil, and already know something is amiss.¡± ¡°Yeah. Something is amiss, the black-clad stormtroopers who tried to make us into freaking human pincushions,¡± Angela snarls. Julia isn¡¯t entirely sure she isn¡¯t prematurely Awakening by that deep-seated growl. Crosomer grunts in response. ¡°I¡¯ll give you that one, Val¡¯s men are a bit on the ruthless side. My other associate and I lean more towards persuasion and free kittens with the men and women under our command.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°No, actually.¡± She did want a free kitten, because this experience is going to require something adorable and fluffy to destress. ¡°I still miss my Glacian viper¨Cwonder what happened to her after I was imprisoned.¡± Julia swears he¡¯s saying that to throw them off-balance. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see¡­hmm¡­where was I going with this? Ah yes. The reason we are here. The part that I hate to do, but it¡¯s necessary. ¡°We must fight.¡± Everyone stares at him blankly. ¡°You are aware of how much ass-kicking we did with minimal training and bare-bones armaments on your stormtroopers, right?¡± Julia wonders if she should throw in a mocking laugh, just to drive the point home. ¡°Oh, I am. And the point I¡¯m trying to make is, you three, and your friends, you¡¯ll be the tip of the spear, so to speak.¡± ¡°Or we could just go home, call it a day, say we¡¯re even-stevens? You know, because, dragon here,¡± Drenar suggests unsubtly while his feathers bristle. Fluffy feathers do not preclude him from looking utterly deadly when he¡¯s in the right mood. Crosomer glances at him and sighs. ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re next. Take a nap, will you? I need about ten minutes.¡± Drenar looks at him with contempt. ¡°I might regret saying this, but you realize how dumb it is to bully a dragon, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re barely standing upright¨Cwhich is outright impressive considering almost everyone else would be unconscious, not even including a running battle through a collapsing mine. Oh, by the way, you¡¯re right in the field of effect.¡± Crosomer taps a small, rod-like device still sitting on his belt. The floor lights up underneath Drenar, and he¡¯d already leaped sideways, but it¡¯s too late. A blast of blue-white light surges forth, and lassoes him with dozens of bright white energy threads, causing him to topple and they ensnare him further, wrapping around all his limbs and his body. He¡¯s pinned to the ground, shouting angrily. Crosomer bows down and glances at him with smugness, while Julia and Angela stare in shock. ¡°See? You really should have been paying attention to the runes overlaid on the floor. Karkov¡¯s lasso is a great spell for immobilizing even dragons.¡± ¡°Bitch please, energy ropes aren¡¯t going to stop me, and I¡¯m not gonna fall for that one twice,¡± he snarls. Crosomer taps him on the snout almost for comic effect, and Drenar gives him a death glare. ¡°Hey, no boop on the snoot. That¡¯s reserved for the ladies, thank you!¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll have to remember that one. Now, let¡¯s see, I need a combat assessment because King had incomplete data¡­ten minutes should do it.¡± Crosomer puts his hand up, and the longsword on the table vibrates in place. Much to Julia¡¯s shock, the weapon moves with a force all of its own, and the sheathed weapon flies to Crosomer¡¯s outstretched hand, and he grabs it with lightning precision. "Don''t take it personally. I do need to see how you''ll hold up against a true opponent.¡± He tenses and takes a readied stance. Julia glances at Angela, then at Drenar, and makes her assessment. They¡¯re not prepared for this fight. Crosomer has been planning this from the beginning. And they are going to lose. Vol. 1, Ch. 34: You Cant Skip the Tutorial Boss Battle! Part One "Angela, run." Julia figures that out of the two of them, without weapons, she¡¯s the one with the best chance of engaging with Crosomer. "Like hell I''m running, I¡¯m no helpless kitten, either!" She flings her arm forward, and silver light wraps around Crosomer¡¯s sword for a brief second. It''s at best, a light tug that sets Crosomer off balance, but then he''s standing in a readied position. He wags a finger as if taunting her. Angela¡¯s telekinetics are getting stronger, she could see the magical aura that time, unlike the tepid motion of flipping her cell phone from the dash to her hand. But it¡¯s not enough here. "It''s not gonna be that easy,¡± Crosomer says with a sly smile. Angela is quick on the uptake and flings her hand again, fishing for another target¨Cand the broadsword that''s currently still sitting on the ground flies to her hand with unerring accuracy, and practically brushes by Crosomer''s ear crest along the way. He simply grins. ¡°I¡¯m a fast learner. We all are.¡± She takes a defensive stance, blade held firmly. "Not bad for someone who isn¡¯t even fully Awakened yet, I do love surprises! Telekinetics are the specialty of Maridian silvers, along with a unique ability to enhance a mage barrier to unparalleled strength. But how''s your sword arm?" "Good enough for the task at hand,¡± Angela states resolutely. Her whole body tenses like a coiled spring. ¡°Julia, you might wanna grab a weapon. Let''s see how the geriatric kobold holds up." "I¡¯ve got two." She puts her hands into a readied stance and tenses. The first order of business was disarming him. And then beating the ever-loving hell out of that smug draconic face. ¡°Follow my lead.¡± This is the beginning of a deadly dance, and Crosomer lunges in a flurry of deadly accuracy. It¡¯s too bad that she¡¯s anticipated this, and dodges with agility, weaving between blows while Angela circles to his flank and launches her flurry of attacks. She¡¯s waiting for the moment for him to overextend, and it¡¯s not happening. He¡¯s keeping them both at a distance and Angela, while fully competent in her craft, is up against someone who is also well-trained. He swings lightly, conserving strength and keeping space and optimal positioning, so that they can¡¯t outflank him. He swerves and almost nails her across the face, but he overcorrects. She grabs his sword arm and pivots the blade away, trying to force him into an awkward position. Her plasma dances across her hand and delivers a burst of energy and he staggers, the charge running down his arms. Angela sees the opening, and brutally slices through his outer clothes¨Cand there¡¯s a clang of metal, her motion interrupted. ¡°Angie he¡¯s armored, aim for the joints¨C¡± Crosomer utters a single word that sounds like a slither through the air, and a blast of force knocks them both backward. Julia lands in a crouch, and Angela barely flinches, upright and ready. He takes a slow, deliberate step back. ¡°Two on one hardly seems fair, does it? That was a draconic invocation¨Cthe language of spells. Sort of an everyman¡¯s means of spellcasting, not nearly as powerful as genetically linked abilities like your plasma or telekinetics, but useful in their own way.¡± ¡°Too long we didn''t read, he¡¯s got telekinetics, too!¡± Angela shouts. She¡¯s still strafing off to the right, and Crosmer keeps focusing on Julia, swinging and keeping her from getting inside his swing like last time. He¡¯s decidedly well-practiced, for someone who has spent seven hundred years in isolation. Drenar is snarling in the background and trying to pull the energy strands, but he can¡¯t leverage against them to break them. He¡¯s not happy about it, judging by the occasional swear of frustration. ¡°Lesson two. Mage battles become a battle of attrition. You may have spell barriers and abilities, but the more you use them, the more it drains the body of mana. Go too far, and you¡¯ll hurt yourself. Go way too far, and you¡¯ll put yourselves into the grave. By the way, that soulful burning you might feel is a good warning sign to let off a bit,¡± he gives as a gentle hint. ¡°They call it ¡®mana burn¡¯ by the way. Because it does burn like a fiend.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s called a venereal disease Crosomer,¡± Angela quips. ¡°Can we skip this tutorial boss battle and just get right to the proper fight? You know, the one where the dragon gets to bully around the mage a bit?!¡± Drenar growls. ¡°Drenar, catch!¡± Angela grabs the dagger with a telekinetic grapple and aims it at his outstretched hand, and he deftly catches it. ¡°See if you can cut those strands!¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s not gonna work¨C¡± Julia sees the opportunity to land a crushing kick at his knee, staggering him and throwing his weapon off balance. It¡¯s enough to grapple him and keep the blade away, and she lands a firm blow across his face. He does not appreciate this and grapples with her¨Che¡¯s immensely strong, and she knows this is problematic. Angela sees the opportunity and slices away again, and he manages to swing the blade just enough to deflect it, but not enough to stop the grazing wound at the joint of the armor that¡¯s showing through his shredded outerwear. Julia tries to snap her fingers and get a plasma spark to connect, and he sees the danger. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s enough of that!¡± There¡¯s another invocation and a crackle of energy hits Julia straight in the chest, and this time, it does indeed knock her backwards and there¡¯s a dance of pain and the smell of singed clothing. She groans as she tries to fight through the jolt of being shocked by what feels like lightning, and Angela isn¡¯t faring any better. Her weapon is lying next to her. Crosomer is stalking towards her. ¡°Angie, move!¡± Julia snaps her fingers for that familiar spark of energy, thrusts her arm forward, and hopes the small energy projectile is enough to distract him. But a whole other thing happens, and a tendril of energy lashes out from her hand, burning brilliant white-blue, and wraps around Crosomer¡¯s leg. He¡¯s about as shocked as she is, but she doesn¡¯t wait around and heaves backward with all her might, and sends him toppling to the ground in an almost comical spin. And better yet, she¡¯s still linked, and can feel the pulse of energy extending to Crosomer¨Clike an extension of a limb? She pulls Crosomer backward, who is not keen on the deadly warrior being back on her feet so quickly. The lasso doesn''t last long and it seemingly evaporates in a blast of sparks, and she stumbles backward. It feels like her fingers are still tingling. What the hell did I just do? This plasma doesn''t respond like normal electricity, it forms a semisolid tether¨Cnever mind, butt-kicking now, science later! She shoves her analysis to the side when Crosomer rises from his position. He''s quite clearly flustered. ¡°You have a grappling beam?¡± Angela gasps, then grins. ¡°You have a freaking grappling beam! I want one, too!¡± ¡°So, a couple of mistakes there. One, elemental plasma was a poor choice to incapacitate you two given your extreme resistance, and two, didn¡¯t know you had your aetherial plasma attuned to create semi-solid bonds.¡± Crosomer swishes the blade back to a ready stance. ¡°Maridians are exceedingly difficult to kill due to their layered defenses, and with learned practice, simple telekinetics are arguably some of the most potent draconic abilities.¡± Drenar is gripping his dagger awkwardly, and the energy bindings seem to snap at an extremely high pitch when contacted by the blade. Hundreds of the threads bind him to the floor, and he¡¯s still barely able to maneuver to get the closest ones he can reach. ¡°You two are clearly a cut above!¡± ¡°No really, if we dial the level of camp any higher in this room, I might as well go get a fire ring and marshmallows.¡± Drenar is slowly snapping the energy cords with the dagger, which appears to be frighteningly effective against them. It won¡¯t be long before he can start working free of the rest of the snare trap. ¡°Stop gabbing and beat him up!¡± ¡°Oh? Is it time to get serious now?¡± Crosomer stops and grabs the belt of equipment off the table and belts it on, but not before grabbing one of the blue vials and splashing it on the injury on his arm. He flexes the arm, and the injury slowly fades, and the blood flow stops. Julia is already trying to get into position for another attack. She grabs a discarded staff that appears to be simple gleaming metal with a cord-wrapped grip extending halfway to either end. It feels comfortable in her hands, and Crosomer glances her way. ¡°Are you going to beat me with the stick?¡± He almost laughs at this. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°No. I¡¯m going to start breaking bones with this ¡®stick¡¯ you seem to not think very highly of until you can¡¯t heal back from the damage.¡± She gives the staff a quick whirl, part flourish, and part for checking the balance and reach. ¡°When Drenar gets free, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re going to enjoy three-on-one.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re probably right. Let''s have one more round, shall we¨C¡± ¡°Crosomer, what are you doing?¡± A sickly sweet female voice echoes over a radio. ¡°I heard there was some¡­trouble from some of my soldiers at the mine.¡± ¡°Listen, Val, thanks to your dedicated efforts, you turned a delicate situation into one of damage control, I will be dealing with you later. Your men almost killed my research team, who possess irrecoverable knowledge.¡± ¡°Sure you don¡¯t need my help?¡± Judging by the vastly irritated glare Crosomer is aiming toward the hanger door, he very much does not want it. ¡°You know the drill. No bodies, no witnesses.¡± ¡°Val, if I wanted your help, I¡¯d ask for it. This is being handled in a way that doesn¡¯t earn us more enemies or extra eyes on our activities,¡± he snaps. These two do not get along at all, what a completely dysfunctional professional relationship, Julia notes¨Cmaybe that was something to take advantage of, later? ¡°You know what, Val, I¡¯ll get back to you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you hang up on me¨C¡± he turns the radio off and looks incensed. ¡°That murder-happy dragoness is such a royal bitch at times. Oh would you look at that, you¡¯re cutting through the¡­energy¡­bindings¡­how are you doing that?¡± Crosomer demanded when he saw Drenar snapping the bindings one at a time, and getting increasingly mobile. ¡°Stubbornness and resilience run in the family, didn¡¯t you know?¡± he says with a sardonic grin. He¡¯s now able to brace against the floor, pushing the energy bindings to the breaking point even as it causes him a shudder of pain, and there are burnt score marks on his scales. ¡°And mine. Hey buddy, you¡¯ve still got problems!¡± Julia taunts before closing in and attacking, and Angela once again tries to flank to the side. Crosomer is fast¨Clightning fast, and blocks or deflects all of their attacks. The sword practically sparks with energy, and he¡¯s too busy now being on the defense to land a hit on either of them. This continues for several seconds, and she manages to land a sweeping blow, throwing him off-balance. This allows her to grab the sword, keeping it pointed away, and she smashes his face with a plasma-charged fist, and he careens backward and skids to the ground. Critical hit, confirmed, she thinks sardonically. He¡¯s up in an instant and she sees him toss the empty vial he must have drank, and he¡¯s moving fast¨Cway faster than before! No, it¡¯s worse than that. He¡¯s now able to rain blows in between Angela and Julia, and they can¡¯t get another opening. ¡°Hi there this is fun oh look you missed oh I forgot the side effect can¡¯t talk coherent oh well kay thanks bai!¡± Well, that was either a bottle filled with liquid cocaine and amphetamines or he just downed a proverbial potion of haste! She can¡¯t keep up with this speed, and Julia is knocked flat on her back when he bowls into her, same as Angela since they¡¯re unable to keep up, Whatever alchemical solution Crosomer used, also speeds up his reaction times, and he tries to rain down blows on Julia, and she blocks each one unerringly from her prone position. He tries to stab down in a risky move, and she sweeps his leg and stumbles him¨Che¡¯s still subject to gravity at the same rate, and she charges as much energy into her fist as her nascent abilities will allow, and lands a brutal strike square in the chest. He slides backward on the ground, groaning, and his armor is now charred. Her hand is shaking and she lets out a roar of victory, before helping Angela up¨Cshe was cut up and a near-miss has her arm bleeding. ¡°Angela, your arm¨C¡± She¡¯s already in motion and cuts through her torn sleeve with the sword, puts a wrap on it from the last of their field kit, and grimaces against the pain. Julia stands guard while Crosomer struggles to rise, and Drenar is cutting through more of the strands, even as a few others reconstruct and threaten to keep him held in place. ¡°We have one more of those¨C¡± ¡°No! Save it for an emergency, we don¡¯t know how potent they are or how high a dosage we can take without risking harm!¡± she counters fiercely. She has the single remaining regen potion vial out of her pocket, but holds firm. ¡°The hell did he drink earlier?¡± ¡°Minratha¡¯s elixir. The tail end of that combat accelerant is not pleasant, either.¡± Crosomer looks dizzy and unsteady on his feet when he slowly rises. He glances at his scorched armor, then at Julia. ¡°Note to self, less ribenna extract and more spartifor might counter that side-effect more completely. And do away with that overwhelming mint flavor,¡± he grumbled. ¡°Are you seriously experimenting with alchemical potions on yourself?¡± Angela demands and shudders when she tightens the remaining bandage wrap. ¡°Well, yes. All the best mages brew their potions. Stick around a while, I could teach you stuff. Wizard stuff,¡± he grins. Julia and Angela look at each other, perplexed. ¡°He¡¯s utterly mad,¡± Angela says with resignation. ¡°Nah, he¡¯s eccentric and still toying with us. I know when someone¡¯s holding back.¡± Julia replays the last minute in her head. Mages have effective abilities to counter multiple threats with a potion that boosted their reflex time and overall speed, and had protection from even her plasma ability, based on the armor taking the brunt of the attack. There is likely a lot more to it than even that. ¡°Well, Crosomer, you ready to get serious?¡± ¡°Fates woman, you¡¯re a glutton for punishment even worse than Drenar,¡± Angela groans. She¡¯s still brandishing the sword but her off-hand is trembling from the recent injury. ¡°If teenagers with attitude can beat your ass this badly, I¡¯d hate to see what professional soldiers can do to your men.¡± ¡°You mean the Conclave? Hahaha. They¡¯re too used to terrorizing people who can¡¯t fight back or making them disappear into a gulag without a trace.¡± It¡¯s rather unnerving when he laughs boisterously. ¡°Well, this has been refreshing, you¡¯re both clearly talented and I daresay, I almost recognize the fighting style you use for that blade." He casts the hoodie aside, and there¡¯s a set of brigandine armor under the clothing, with extra padding on his arms and legs, and he''s wearing a set of steel bracers that look effective at blocking sword strikes. An emblem decorates the shoulder¨Ca dragon''s claw clutching a white flower of some kind¨Cmaybe a lily? ¡°Keep stalling, I¡¯m almost free!¡± Drenar shouts out. More of the strands are snapping under his unrelenting swipes with the dagger, but there are so many to cut. Crosomer flings a series of metal and plastic canisters at Julia and Angela, and she attempts to deflect one with her staff, but it explodes in a cloud of expanding foam, coating the weapon and fusing to her arm in a viscous foam that instantly hardens. She¡¯s spared the worst of it, but the foam has partially fused her to the ground, and she¡¯s struggling to break free. Angela is worse off, a near miss had trapped her legs, and she¡¯s trying to use the blade to cut through the foam, but to no avail. ¡°Constraint foam. Gotta love the classics. You know something, Alex always was a bit of a stickler on insisting we not murder all our adversaries and that we give them love and hugs and¨Cyou know what, it¡¯s trivial. It¡¯s a great utility that does wonders against enemies you aren¡¯t trying to fill with gaping chest wounds. Or, that part comes later, when they can¡¯t move. Depends on the moment.¡± Crosomer almost exudes glee. Julia heaves with all her might and can hear the foam cracking, which means it has limited ability to resist a sharp force. Crosomer is leaning there on his sword, looking amused. ¡°Well, can¡¯t make this too easy. Time to get serious, as you were saying, Julia. Try not to disappoint.¡± She¡¯s struggling to break free, but this is a futile effort¨CCrosomer could easily cut them to pieces long before she gets loose. Death by impalement or slicing wounds is unfortunately not cruel enough. She sees the telltale signs of mana on his hands, a faint blue glow, and those scales on his body are thickening, growing broader. As is his limb structure. Crosomer is transforming too. Their only chance at survival now is to get Drenar loose, and her plan to brute force out of this is just not going to work this time. Vol. 1, Ch. 35: You Cant Skip the Tutorial Boss Battle! Part Two Julia is cramming through every chemistry lesson and that pre-engineering class Drenar had dared her to take last year in mere seconds, trying to come up with a solution to get out of this foam she¡¯s stuck in before she gets clawed, bitten in half, or simply burnt to cinders. Crosomer however, seems to be taking his time. ¡°C¡¯mon, I heard you kids were smart! Think outside the box!¡± he taunts. ¡°Is he seriously challenging us to MacGyver our way out of this?!¡± Angela roars while prying at the foam. ¡°Julia, think, anything! Mechanical advantage, cutting edges, the chemical composition of the foam!¡± ¡°Working on it!¡± she snaps back while straining with all her might. This foam can crumble if compressed too far, but it¡¯s taking too long. Think! If this is a foam made out of organic compounds, it must be some kind of polymer. Polymers break down when exposed to heat! An idea comes to mind¨Cshe¡¯s conducting some heavy-duty plasma, but only for brief charges. Could she channel it for a sustained period, and heat the foam stuck on her arm? And what was that going to do to her body in the process? Oh, this is a really bad idea. She summons that spark of energy and focuses it along her arms, and winces¨Ccarrying the current does indeed sting a little. Meanwhile, a bigger problem is taking form, figuratively as much as literally. Crosomer has sheathed his sword and taken a stance and looks intensely at Drenar, who is still fighting through the mass of energetic tethers and slowly tearing free of them. ¡°Would you stop doing that? Who gave you a heavily enchanted dagger to cut through those, that¡¯s cheating!¡± ¡°Hey jackass, this whole day has been me getting my ass tossed six different ways to Sunday by over-leveled thugs, I¡¯ll take any advantage I can get! Might want to start running!¡± To emphasize the point, he heaves with all his might, and a few more energy tethers snap, and there are more than a few score marks on his scales that look painful. ¡°I hope you¡¯ve got more wizard tricks than this to slow me down!¡± ¡°Every idiot who gets overconfident tends to doom themselves Drenar, so do me a favor. Don¡¯t.¡± Considering the position Angela found herself in, stuck in a motion-inhibiting foam, she still had time to snark at him. ¡°Nah, see, that¡¯s the point! Gotta keep them on their toes, and force them into contingencies they¡¯re not ready for! You realize this is the guy who ran a revolution and burned half the Conclave to the ground, right? Of course he has contingencies.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, did I miss something on the psychological profile I was forwarded? Is he cracked in the head?¡± Crosomer asks with annoyance. ¡°Stop metagaming the perilous situation, and bite the bastard in half!¡± Julia gets fed up and just powers through the pain of channeling dangerous levels of elemental plasma across her skin. Much to her amazement, the foam is starting to sizzle and is losing its rigidity. She can see it turning into a gel-like substance, and she feels her skin burning. Crosomer just gives her a seething glare of disapproval. ¡°Oh that¡¯s a clever idea, DeVerdra, but that¡¯s gotta hurt pretty badly. I was hoping to stretch this out a bit, but the current assessments of your talents are too far out of date. Consider this your final exam kids, It¡¯s pass or die, by the way!¡± Crosomer¡¯s flesh is rippling and the scales are darkening on his body. The dark-colored armor is merging with his body and his limbs are elongating, with sharp talons emerging on his hands and feet. ¡°Drenar, he¡¯s got a dragon form, you¡¯ve gotta cut those tethers right now!¡± Angela warns him, but there are far too many tethers left binding him in place. ¡°Julia, plasma grapple the foam around me, keep melting it!¡± She doesn¡¯t hesitate and throws a grapple and lassoes around the bulk of the foam, and throws as much energy into it as she can. She¡¯s starting to see the patterns in that feeling of using her abilities, feeling the burning sensation on her skin intensifying, but if she doesn¡¯t break free of this foam right now, Crosomer will kill every single one of them without much effort. She¡¯s screaming as much in fury as she is in pain, and there¡¯s a burning sensation other than her skin searing on her arms. Probably due to her trying to force her just-awakened powers beyond safe limits, and she¡¯s going to pay a price for this later¨Cassuming she lives through this. Crosomer is continuing to transform¨Che¡¯s half-again as tall now, and those black, green, and blue feathered wings are emerging from his back, and he staggers to all fours¨Cat least temporarily. The foam is crackling and melting back into a gel, and she feels it finally give, and she tears herself free! She staggers and focuses on getting Angela free, who points to Drenar. ¡°Get him free! Hurry!¡± She ignores the burnt skin that¡¯s raw red and blistered on her arms, ignores the pain of the worst sunburn she¡¯s ever had in her life and dashes over to Drenar. He slides the dagger to her with pitch-perfect precision. ¡°Slash at the rune, it might disrupt the spell effect!¡± As soon as her hand grabs the dagger, she hears a crystalline chime that almost sounds deafening to her, but there¡¯s no time to question it. She slides feet-first underneath the maze of tendrils of energy, cutting them as she slides to the rune in the center, and slashes at the glowing symbols with the dagger. Sparks fly and the blade cuts a deep groove through the concrete and disrupts the runes. How in the hell is this cutting through concrete?! She drives the blade through more of the symbols, and the runes instantly lose their luster, flicker, and die completely. The energy bindings snap apart in a series of white sparks that sting her skin and she covers herself from the falling hot remnants. Drenar nearly topples from the lack of resistance since he''s been trying to snap them with tension. He looks fatigued and in pain from the burning lassos, but he''s still got his eyes fixed on Julia. ¡°The baka-tsundere team does it again! Ow. I think I might have crisped myself,¡± Julia manages to get out. ¡°Use that last potion, and hold onto the dagger. I''m gonna deal with this feathered freak of nature,¡± Drenar assures her. Crosomer in the meantime has asserted his full form as an Alterian Nightwing, and he''s three meters of claws, wings, and outright deadliness. ¡°Get Angela out, get Nick on the radio, and tell him things have gone to hell.¡± ¡°Oh? Think you can take me on, kid?¡± Crosomer rakes his claws on a wall as if testing their sharpness. ¡°Well, take your¨C¡± Drenar doesn''t wait for him to finish his taunt, because he springs forward and closes the distance in half a second and slams into him, and pins him against the wall, which creaks and cracks audibly. Drenar is no novice and knows how to fight unarmed, and he is busy making Crosomer feel a whole lot of pain with body blows, raking cuts that narrowly penetrate the scales, and keeping him off balance. Some of those moves Julia had taught him through layers of sheer pain. ¡°Julia, don''t stay there, get Angela and find backup! This is a heavyweight fight now!¡± Drenar barks out, and holds Crosomer at bay when he seizes an opportunity to throw him to the ground. ¡°Get going, stick to the plan!¡± ¡°Don''t you dare get killed, Drenar!¡± She peels herself off the floor and with a few staggered steps, closes to cut Angela out of the foam effortlessly with the dagger. With enough of it shredded, she pulls free and supports Julia''s weight as they stagger to the doorway. She really doesn''t feel great at all, and that burning fatigue is present in her chest and arms. ¡°I think I overdid it.¡± ¡°Overdid it? holy crap, Julia, that was the most badass thing I think I''ve ever seen!¡± Angela kicks the door open and they dash out of the warehouse to the sound of roars, and Drenar holding Crosomer at bay, and the sound of wrenching metal and cracking concrete. ¡°Surrender you one note villain! Or I''ll keep beating you bloody!¡± ¡°Gods this brings me back, kid! It''s almost a little nostalgic!¡± Julia''s too preoccupied with her burning agony to look back, and Angela is migrating them to the far side of some utility buildings, chilled by the rainstorm. ¡°On that note, why is it you have those uncanny green eyes?¡± *Crack* *thud* ¡°You flirting or fighting with me?¡± ¡°It was an innocent question, Alex had blue eyes like a glacier. I assure you even after seven hundred years on hiatus, I still prefer the fairer gender!¡± ¡°The hell are they doing?!¡± Angela asks incredulously. ¡°Bantering while fighting. Pretty sure we passed our final exam, and he''s still testing Drenar to get his full combat¨Caugh, the arms, Angie!¡± Julia gasps in pain when Angela grabs her blistered arm to keep her from tripping over the uneven ground. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s definitely time to use that potion. Fates, Julia, how are you enduring that?¡± Julia uses a shaky hand to grab the last vial of that blue fluid, and she takes the topper off to drink half of it, then has Angela gently spread the rest on the wounds. That pain she felt before is twice as bad when it contacts the blistered skin, and she doubles over, clenching her teeth and trying not to scream. It feels like dozens of wasp stings, inside and out, even as the injuries scabbed over and the skin regrows over the raw wounds. Watching it is as mesmerizing as it is horrifying, and she leans up against the utility building side, willing herself to control her breath in sharp, timed inhales and exhales. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Yeesh. Guess magical healing still has pain involved in the process,¡± Angela grimaces, and looks at the injury on her arm. The bleeding has stopped, much to both of their relief. ¡°Can you move?¡± ¡°No.¡± This has to be the worst pain she has felt in a long time. Or ever. ¡°I just gave myself second-degree burns trying to get that foam off, Angela. I literally can hurt myself using that ability like that, and there''s a burning pain inside.¡± ¡°Crosomer wasn''t kidding, that was mana burn, probably.¡± Angela looks back to the warehouse, where the fight is still going. ¡°Crap, too bad we don''t have any weapons, except for Drenar''s dagger. And this sword. A rocket launcher might be nice to have against a dragon.¡± Julia glances down at the weapon she¡¯d tucked away. A thought instantly resonates. ¡°I cut through concrete with it.¡± She pulls it out of the sheath, and the metal practically gleans with its own light. No. There is a light here¨Cshe stops and focuses on the handle. There is a small symbol of bare etches in the cross guard, and it is glowing faintly with blue light. ¡°Uh, Angie, why''s his dagger glowing?¡± ¡°Is Drenar keeping secrets from us?¡± she asks hesitantly. She''s still breathing heavily from the exertion. ¡°Drenar sucks at lying, there''s no way he could have kept this secret,¡± Julia counters. ¡°Forget it, we need to radio Nick, we are finally in over our heads.¡± Julia hands her the headset and Angela clicks the transmit button. ¡°James, Nick, Evan, we¡¯re topside again, please respond. We need backup. Like now.¡± A rumble of thunder is their response. ¡°Ah, great. Nick got so pissed at us, he abandoned us to our fate. Lovely.¡± ¡°Guys! Guys! Holy crap I''m glad you''re alive, but Nick is gonna kill you three!¡± There''s an immense anxiety in James'' tone through the crackle of the radio, along with a low swooshing sound. ¡°Where the hell are you guys?¡± ¡°Far side of the Mount Syren Mine, they hollowed out the whole mountain, we have a ton of evidence, and fought through a dozen talons soldiers, and started a cave-in. Also, the formerly dead rebellion leader Robespierre Crosomer is back, and Drenar is man-fighting¡­um¡­dragon fighting him at the moment?¡± Angela sums up the intense day, and James spends a good five seconds before he responds. ¡°So what you''re saying is, this is Drenar''s fault?¡± ¡°Yep, pretty much. Um, what is that loud sound on your end?¡± she asks cautiously. ¡°It sounds like you''re in a wind tunnel.¡± ¡°I''m flying on a goddamn dragon, and I''m so terrified for dear life I''ve circled right back to tranquil calm. Also, Nick is a dragon, so whoever made that bet, be sure to collect your winnings,¡± James says with an unnatural calm. Julia and Angela stare at each other. ¡°What?!¡± ¡°Yeah, way to just breeze through that like it''s no big deal,¡± Nick utters with straining breath. It''s a rougher tone from him, but still recognizable. ¡°I''m a dragon, or, well, half, and you now both vow to a life of absolute secrecy, starting from now! Welcome to the Veil! Also when I get to you three and am done bailing you out, there''s gonna be words. They aren''t going to be sugar-coated, either.¡± ¡°Oh no you don''t, you overgrown iguana with wings!¡± Angela snaps as she responds in perhaps the most unrestrained way Julia has heard in a while. ¡°You know who broke Awakening? Crosomer did! We''re lab rats¨Cum, lab lizards? The point is, we were screwed before you ever showed up on the scene, Detective Gorbash!¡± Nick let out an audible sigh among the whoosh of beating wings. ¡°You know, I''m not the bad guy here. Also, where is Drenar?¡± ¡°Fighting the giant Alterian Nightwing you dunce!¡± she screams out in utter anger. ¡°He needs backup and he needs it now, Julia and I are too beaten up and way too small to take on a full adult dragon by ourselves!¡± ¡°I''m gonna die, aren''t I?¡± James utters with dread. ¡°No, you''re going to take my anti-material rifle from that dimensional armory case and plug the bastard full of holes from a distance, while I do the fighting. Try not to hit me.¡± Julia glances at Angela with a grin, and Angela hands her the headset. ¡°Hey, Nick. Do you know who¡¯s a better shot than that anemic mayfly you''ve got as a plus one? Me.¡± ¡°Have you ever fired a Barrett M82A1? Because this one isn''t factory stock,¡± Nick warns her. ¡°Here''s a hint, if you ever have the notion to win my heart, bring guns. Rare, reliable, dragon-killing guns.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t take it the wrong way, but you''re a little young for me, Julia. I will, however, entertain the joint venture of a visit to the gun range. Where''s Drenar right now, we¡¯re almost at the far side¨C¡± There''s a spectacular sound of a massive impact and the pulverizing of concrete and a screech of metal cladding. Crosomer has been flung clear of the warehouse through a giant hole in the siding through immense force, and he''s grinning despite the pain. ¡°Now there''s the telekinetics! See? Gotta use all those abilities to maximum potency!¡± ¡°Come back here, you scaly bitch, and take your beating like a man¨Cer, a dragon! That''s gonna take some getting used to!¡± Drenar roars as he clears the building. He''s cut up and bleeding lightly, but in far better shape than Julia had expected. ¡°Serves you right for underestimating us!¡± ¡°Please, this is still amateur hour. That barely hurt.¡± Julia just glares daggers at Crosomer, who has already righted himself and looks like he¡¯s taking a deep inhale. ¡°Fire belch, get out of the way!¡± Julia screams out. Drenar must have known it was coming because he doesn¡¯t evade. He leaps and lands a crushing uppercut on Crosomer¡¯s jaw, and she can almost hear the bones creak, even from this distance. Crosomer coughs and chokes on black fumes, and the pending barbeque of Drenar¡¯s scaly hide is interrupted. He doesn¡¯t let up, either. Even as a novice in his own body, he¡¯s taking Crosomer to task and beating the ever-loving hell of him with well-placed strikes of his closed claws, knees, and a couple kicks. Even the wings get a workout for quick strikes. And then they somehow manage to stumble their fight back into the warehouse. ¡°This is such a cathartic moment, isn¡¯t it?¡± Angela says beside her. ¡°Finally we aren¡¯t outgunned!¡± ¡°No, but I am feeling like utter crap at the moment,¡± Julia groans. That burning sensation inside of her is still present but fading. There are dark blue and black marks on her arms, and a few leading from her somewhat shredded jacket, up to her neck. ¡°C¡¯mon, we need to get to higher ground, I¡¯m going to take Nick¡¯s rifle and blast that son of a bitch with .50 caliber armor-piercing goodness.¡± ¡°Are we sure that¡¯s a high enough caliber to punch through dragon scales? I was thinking more like rockets. Or an automatic grenade launcher,¡± she growls. ¡°Crosomer¡¯s arcane barrier is still up, even with Drenar throwing him a beating. It¡¯s just softening the blows to prevent heavy injury.¡± Julia¡¯s tacit assessment is accurate because it doesn¡¯t appear he¡¯s got any major injuries. ¡°We need to pop that arcane barrier. Nick, Crosomer has got some heavy-duty magical barrier, do you have any firearm solutions to that?¡± ¡°The rifle I mentioned earlier has mana-coated munitions and armor-penetrating cores, It should put an immense strain on the barrier. When you do get a chance to line up, keep firing, and group your shots, there''s no way around those barriers like a rapid-fire barrage!¡± There''s a brief pause, and she can hear the flap of wings through the clouds. ¡°James, I see them, I''m dropping you off and going to engage with the newcomer! Julia, are you guys badly hurt?¡± ¡°I think I''m mana burned pretty bad, I did something really desperate,¡± she relays to him. ¡°James, alchemical kit, the one with the label ¡®Hydroxyl Metazine.¡¯ Get that to her the second you touch down, it should reverse the effect to an extent.¡± That sound of flapping wings comes through the low cloud cover and rainfall, and Julia looks up in awe. ¡°Holy flipping Pete''s dragon,¡± she breathes when she sees their backup. Nick¡¯s form is completely different than Drenar or Crosomer, he''s a¡­Hinterland green? His body is much more lithe and ripples with muscle, his scales are verdant and bright, and his tail is longer, covered in green feathers, with blonde feathers on his cheeks, scalp, and arms. He flares his wings and lands with grace beside them, and James is saddled in, looking like he''s having the worst day of his life. ¡°Don''t judge me. I might have peed myself. And I will never fly again,¡± he says in a remarkably quiet tone. He hops off the harness and grabs a weapon case and satchel, and his legs are shaky. Nick glances at Angela. ¡°Angela, that cut is bad, take one of the blue vials, regen potion. I''ll go help Drenar.¡± He doesn''t wait for an answer and springs forward on his powerful legs, all the while Drenar and Crosomer are trading blows distantly. James is already handing a vial to Julia, and she doesn''t even question it this time. She nearly retches from the overwhelming mint flavor. ¡°Gods, why''d it have to be peppermint?¡± she manages to keep it down, and she feels a crackling feeling inside, and a cooling relief permeates her body. The black and blue lines that had marked her skin faded somewhat. ¡°Ah, that feels better,¡± she breathes with a sigh of relief. ¡°You guys look like absolute crap, what the hell happened?¡± James asks. ¡°That guy happened.¡± She points to Crosomer distantly. ¡°Now give me my damn firearm, James,¡± she growls. He gingerly hands her the massive case, and she throws it open without effort. Oh, Nick, you do know a way to my heart. Sitting in the case is the massive profile of the anti-material rifle with its distinct shape, and two magazines already loaded with .50 caliber rounds. Each one is massive, and the rounds glow with a light blue aura. ¡°You know how to use that?¡± Angela asks warily before Julia picks up the massive rifle. It¡¯s heavy and meant for fixed position firing due to its weight, and intended for extreme distance. It is heavily modified, and gleams of blue light trace the barrel. She grabs one magazine, slaps it into position, and makes sure it''s seated before giving a massive tug on the charging handle. ¡°Oh, absolutely.¡± She sights down the rifle scope, and notes the scope contains the hand-operated zoom for rapid changes in magnification. ¡°You guys, go find a shady spot. Time to go hunting.¡± Vol. 1, Ch. 36: You Cant Skip the Tutorial Boss Battle! Part Three Well, this is going about as badly as I figured it would, Drenar! Alex hadn¡¯t been letting up on the non-stop ¡®I told you so¡¯s¡¯ for the past several minutes, and he is now engaged in a battle against an Alterian Nightwing, who has a clear advantage of not being run ragged for the entire afternoon, and having an exhaustion inducing Awakening in the process. Drenar¡¯s only advantage is that Crosomer absolutely sucks at close-range combat, and he manages several superficial wounds on him, bypassing the arcane barrier. He may have been extremely good with a sword, but brawling is a different skill altogether. His state of well-being is trending towards exhaustion and the wing wound hasn¡¯t fully healed yet. Crosomer beckons him forward, and he¡¯s glad that Angela and Julia are out of the line of fire. He thought he¡¯d caught Julia¡¯s voice screaming out the warning about the fire blast, but the spark of warning down his spine had been more than enough. They had smashed through what was left of the ground floor of the warehouse, and it¡¯s a stately mess. ¡°Lesson¡­whatever the hell number it is. Dragons have difficulty fighting other dragons. We¡¯re too stubborn to die to one another, and you really have to work for it. Except for the Saharan Shrike. Poor things got the worst draconic evolutionary tools ever.¡± ¡°Fates, do you ever stop doing that professor schtick!?¡± He doesn¡¯t mean to snarl, but given that he hit his hard cap of near-death encounters for the day, he¡¯s getting mighty pissed off that this overgrown kobold still hasn¡¯t given up the combat lesson. Reel him in and give him a beating, will you? I''m pretty sure he was there for my demise, because I remember hearing him! Wish granted! Drenar had been observing Angela''s motions and body pose when she''d used her telekinetics, and Drenar flings a wide cast to pull Crosomer off balance. He sees the silver shimmer, and it''s like he gets jerked forward, and stumbles. Drenar instantly closes the distance to clothesline him, and follows up with a stomp. Crosomer is faster on his claws than he anticipated, and topples Drenar. It''s several seconds of tense grappling, and Crosomer is pulling out all the stops. Drenar is getting frustrated. All of his attacks are barely deterring the onyx-scaled dragon he is trying to beat into submission, and he''s running on adrenaline and willpower that isn''t going to last. ¡°You know what, let''s step outside!¡± What actually happens is that he grabs Crosomer by his torso and one of his horns, and uses a telekinetic enhanced throw to send him through the exterior wall of the warehouse, smashing through bricks and metal siding. The arcane barrier didn''t do much to soften the blow. He groans and peels himself away from the debris, and rubs gingerly at one of his horns. ¡°For someone who just Awakened, you seem to have picked up on this awfully fast¨C¡± ¡°Ah shut up and take your beating like a dragon!¡± It''s far easier to picture this as a brawl with Julia or her other friends at the dojo, though he hadn''t been there quite as often as her, or her friend Kelly. Quick strikes, force him to defend, hitting him with closed fists. Get every opening he can. His claws aren''t doing much damage against his scales, anyway. That''s another round of draconic anatomy training, if he lives past this. But bones could be broken, he thinks in a moment of alacrity. And soft tissue below can still take damage that way with the massive force. Crosomer thrusts out a ray of fire that catches Drenar off guard. A reinforcement of his barrier deflects some of it, but it still singes his torso. It hurts, and the scales are sooty. The heavy rainfall leaves him steaming, both externally, and internally. He feels his danger sense kick in and he dodges the second jet and closes the distance. ¡°Hey jackass, if you really want to knock me down, pick something that works!¡± Drenar launches his way past Crosomer''s block, kicks out his knee from under him and lands a heavy blow. Crack. Drenar feels those teeth come loose when he smashes his clawed fists into Crosomer''s face, all while keeping him from returning the favor multiple times. When he''s staggered, he grips a wing and throws him over his shoulder, and hears a sickening crunch. The limb is bent, and Crosomer''s mood of jubilee becomes one of pain. He doesn''t waste the time to kick him down to the ground, heaving in exhaustion. Meanwhile, Crosomer is laughing, even with a few teeth hanging loose and one broken wing. ¡°Haha. You know I had it wrong, I didn''t think you''d last in a fight, but you''re pretty good! More than one fighting style between the lot of you, I like it!¡± Drenar grabs him by a wing, and leers at him. ¡°What''s so funny?¡± ¡°This.¡± Drenar is revolted and shocked when Crosomer lurches back and spits on Drenar, and the sting of the green goo immediately seizes up his muscles, and he gasps and scrabbles backwards. He can barely move, his limbs are slow to react! ¡°Eww, did you just¡­spit mucus at me?!¡± ¡°Paralytic enzymes,¡± Crosomer corrected politely. His bull rush and slamming Drenar into the side of a steel container wasn''t so polite. His wings are jarred from the impact, and he''s slow to react against the barrage of attacks. His arcane barrier is also doing nothing to keep him from getting cut up or soften the blows, and he falls to the ground. ¡°Sure it''s unprofessional, but you can''t argue with the effectiveness.¡± Damn it, Drenar, you even read about the Alterian¡¯s abilities! Thanks, Alex, this is so great to know while I''m taking a beating, take crib notes next time! Drenar kicks out with what remaining limb control he''s got and knocks Crosomer over, and he tries to claw at him¨Cunfortunately, his talons bounce off the heavier armor scales. Crosomer simply laughs, even as he''s panting for breath. He''s winded too, and he doesn''t have much strength left, and a splitting headache has been distracting his focus. Stop trying to claw him, that isn''t working! Bite him! Alex¡¯s advice is less than useful, and Drenar feels his thoughts drifting towards instinctive fight or flight methods, like there''s a current of fury that he could tap into. He shakes his head vigorously to keep his focus. Not a fan of chomping on something living¨C It''s almost a fitting irony when Crosomer pins him down and he is still struggling to move and hinges his jaw wide. Drenar breaks free just long enough to thrust his forearm in front and protect his neck, but the sheer agony of those teeth sinking in removes whatever limiters he''s got left, and he twists his arm, tearing scales and flesh to try to gouge Crosomer''s face. He withstands the pain, but loses his grip on Drenar''s arm. Pain-fueled fury drives Drenar to slam his free claw into the side of his face, assisted by a massive telekinetic slam as his fist makes contact. It takes three blows to knock Crosomer away and send him staggering backward, and Drenar grabs his mangled forearm. The wound is deep and the scales are compromised. A shudder of pain runs down his arm, and the blood flow is significant. Told you. You''re chastising me when my arm is mangled? Some help you are! Drenar retorts internally. Crosomer rights himself, and Drenar swears he hears wing beats. ¡°Oh, does that hurt? You''re half Maridian at least, rub some dirt in it,¡± Crosomer sneers before his expression softens. He doesn''t attack though, and he now has some wounds of his own that aren''t scratch damage. A few teeth dangle from his jaw. ¡°Ahh¡­are you ready to call this a draw? We''re both at our limits, and you''re gonna need a dentist,¡± Drenar snarls. Crosomer responds by twisting the loose teeth and throwing them to the ground in a sickening moment of stoicism and offers a bloody grin. ¡°Oh, I''m keeping those, asshole. Thanks for giving me a consolation prize, I''ll be sure to start a necklace.¡± ¡°They''ll grow back. That reminds me, from what I gathered I thought you were human only. But yet, you display two species of draconic lineage. Why is that?¡± ¡°Aren''t you the one with all the answers?¡± ¡°Well, not all of them. I think someone has not been candid about their research¨Coh for the love of Gaia, who''s interrupting¨C¡± Drenar sees the motion before Crosomer, and a giant green scaled and feathered dragon strikes in a driving blow with their legs, bowling Crosomer over and sending him spinning from head to tail. The second dragon lands right by Drenar, and he swears he''s seen those hazel eyes and calm demeanor before¨C Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Oh. Hey Nick. I''m guessing you''re a little pissed at us,¡± he states nonchalantly while waving his good hand at him. ¡°How''d you get that right in one go?¡± Nick doesn''t even try to deny it. ¡°Your scalp feathers are still arranged in that weirdly out-of-date beach boy style you''ve got.¡± Nick grunts audibly at this. ¡°It''s not out of date.¡± He hasn''t bothered to mention the complicated jacket with armor inserts he''s wearing or the form-fitting leggings he''s wearing, and it is another reminder that Drenar has been fighting buck naked for several minutes. ¡°Who¡¯s the plus one?¡± ¡°Robespierre Crosomer. We aren''t friends.¡± Nick does a double-take. ¡°Isn''t he supposed to be dead?¡± ¡°Yes, I get that. A lot,¡± Crosomer growls. Nick grabs a roll of gauze from a pack and hands it to Drenar. He doesn''t hesitate to wrap the injured arm, and he feels a calming, cooling sensation as he wraps it tight and then ties it off. Crosomer is still sitting there, staring at them. ¡°Oh, this is just getting awkward now. Where''s the introduction?¡± he huffs. ¡°You know what, forget it. Time to leave this party, you pass, Drenar. So do your lovely female associates. Someone''s been training you three, and they did a damn fine job.¡± ¡°You''re not going anywhere ¨C¡± Crosomer grabs a canister from his satchel and flings it at Nick at incredible speed, and that locking foam airbursts just before he can evade and tethers him to Drenar, and they''re stuck together. ¡°Uh, hang on, let''s see¡­there''s a line for this from some bad theatrical motion film Nigel brought in. ¡®Stick around,¡¯ I think?¡± he grins. ¡°You are bad and should feel bad for even saying that!¡± Drenar growls while trying to claw at the foam¨Cit''s surprisingly resistant to his efforts. Crosomer grabs a series of folded metal plates and places them down, and soft glowing runes light the outer perimeter, and the center charges with a low humming noise, and starts to glow with a white light. ¡°Nick, what is that?¡± ¡°One-time-use teleportal pad, stop him!¡± Nick and Drenar both try to pry apart, but this foam seems to be tougher to break than the last time he saw it. Crosomer sighs and smoothes his scalp feathers crest. ¡°Nah. I have other things to attend to. Greg, I''m scuttling the mountain, are you clear?¡± he barks into a headset that has been partially obscured by his feathers. ¡°We¡¯re clear. I''m assuming that Val¡¯s men are clear?¡± ¡°Unfortunately,¡± he snaps before gesturing to Drenar. ¡°A bit of parting advice for you two. Don''t trust the Conclave. After all, I''m sure everything is sunshine and roses with the way they''ve been managing things. And go tell Zacharias she''s getting knocked off that throne in due time. I figure it would be fashionable if the descendants of the biggest defenders of her reign were there to inform the usurper that her little dystopian experiment is about to come to a screeching¨C¡± A gunshot rings out and a round smacks right into Crosomer. His arcane barrier flares and he staggers backwards, away from the plate. Drenar echo locates the source and sees Julia bracing a massive rifle on a railing, raining down a barrage of heavy weapons fire. Crosomer reinforces his barrier, but one round smashes through it, hitting him in the arm and he screams in pain. ¡°Take that, you giant murder lizard!¡± Julia screams out even as she pulls out the empty magazine and slams in a full one with fluid motion. ¡°Wait until I awaken, you and I are gonna do another dance, and you better freaking deliver!¡± ¡°Ow.¡± Drenar found it just a little disturbing that a gunshot from a heavy caliber sniper rifle elicited little more than ¡®ow¡¯ from a dragon. ¡°I kinda like her, she''s feisty there Rashalda. Well, gotta go, but thanks for the reminiscing. Just don''t get in my way when I really get to work, because there won''t be any holding back next time. We¡¯ll be in touch soon, ta-taa!¡± He steps onto the platform, and there''s a shimmer in the air around him that erupts into a burst of white light. Drenar shields his eyes and feels a blast of air from the platform, and when the bright spots in his eyes fade, Crosomer is gone. The platform is smoking and sparking, and silvery material is running molten onto the ground, where it cools and solidifies into a fractal mess. He turns to Nick, who''s got a bottle of some alchemical substance he is using that is slowly dissolving the foam. The fight is over. Unfortunately, the action isn''t over, Because there is a massive tremor and a sharp series of cracks. The mine head entrance collapses, and a cloud of debris emanates from within. Based on the possible explosives he''d seen in the mine, they must have all gone off at once, and Nick looked dismayed at the destruction. ¡°Tell me that all our evidence isn''t buried in there.¡± The feathers on his head crest are on edge in an amusing emotional tell. For once, Drenar can actually give him some good news. ¡°Oh, we got tons. Hard drives, photos, video. Ah crap, my go-pro is in the shredded remains of my clothes.¡± Drenar feels a burning pain in his chest, and he winces at it, along with the numerous other injuries. ¡°Uh, can we talk later? Because I''m kind of in pain. And I''m still lacking pants.¡± Nick glances at him and sighs. ¡°Yeah, I think we''d better get home. You''re one stiff breeze from¨C¡± He feels woozy, and his legs buckle out from beneath him. Sitting is very much preferable, and the rest of his friends slowly gather around them. ¡°So uh, hi, Drenar, how are you?¡± James asks while wearing a nervous smile. Drenar feels a little lightheaded, and focuses on him. ¡°Kinda awful. You?¡± ¡°Terrified beyond measure,¡± he replies with resignation. Julia looks like she''s in rough shape, her arms still look scarred, and there are faint blue and black lines on her skin. Angela is nursing her arm, and she''s letting Julia lean on her a little. ¡°So I''m guessing that we''re in the clear for now?¡± ¡°Yeah. For now.¡± He examines his left arm. Chomped on by a dragon. It¡¯s still immensely painful, along with the lesser injuries. ¡°I''m a freaking dragon, James. They''re gonna have to try a lot harder to knock me down now.¡± ¡°Oh, Fates, don''t let it get to your head,¡± Angela sighs. ¡°Let''s just get home and start figuring things out.¡± ¡°Holy fates Drenar, that was badass!¡± Julia roars more fiercely than him, and he''s the dragon out of the two of them. She¡¯s clutching onto that new rifle like it¡¯s her favorite toy ever. ¡°I like this version of you better!¡± ¡°Are you saying you have a thing for scales? I¡¯m not judgy.¡± Based on her extremely flustered response, he might have accidentally hit a little too close to home. ¡°You know what, we need to uh¡­probably call the wizard police or something.¡± ¡°Yes, that would be a wonderful idea,¡± Nick states irritably. ¡°I''m soaked, and I almost broke Veil protocol getting here. And you are in for a rough round of triage,¡± he adds while pointing sternly at Drenar. ¡°You also need to transform back. You''re not walking back like that.¡± ¡°You mean I don''t get to assert my awesomeness?¡± Nick simply shakes his head and looks unamused. His cheek feathers are tightly pressed to his face, further accentuating his response. ¡°Alright, fine. Let''s get this over with and head home.¡± One quick explanation of transformation later, Drenar is sitting naked, and James luckily has a set of spare clothes to save himself from the indignity, and he quickly gets dressed. He''s looking forward to getting answers as they head back to the car further down the road, but fatigue finally catches up with him. He hears Nick sigh, then lends him a shoulder to lean on when he transforms back to his human body, in his typical bomber jacket and jeans, plus some tactical gear. It''s going to be a long trek home. ¡°So uh¡­thanks,¡± Drenar says quietly. Julia is being assisted by James and Angela, and if he wasn''t at the literal limits of endurance, he¡¯d be doing it himself. ¡°Don''t thank me yet. I think this is just getting started,¡± Nick replies wearily. ¡°So, let me see if I got this right. You started a cave-in. Fought through a dozen Talons soldiers.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°And were re-enacting a mine cart ride escape straight out of Indiana Jones?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Julia, Drenar, and Angela reply in tandem. ¡°And then, you fought one of the most renowned mage knights in arcanist history, the guy who almost brought the Conclave to its knees, and held your own?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°I call bullshit.¡± For some reason, Angela breaks out in uncontained laughter, and everyone stares at her for a good number of seconds. ¡°You can call it whatever you want after you sift through that immensely priceless data and video feed,¡± Angela rebukes while trying to suppress a giggle. ¡°Spoilers, you won''t believe what we went through.¡± ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is, this is shaping up to be an unfathomable amount of paperwork, and the start of a ¡®save the world¡¯ scenario.¡± Nick runs his fingers through this hair. ¡°Actually, Nick, we just call it a baller Friday night with the Radiant Delvers,¡± Julia quips. ¡°Seriously, where did the silly title come from?¡± Nick asks with curiosity. ¡°Oh you know, it¡¯s just the product of breaking two of my best friends out of chronic depression,¡± Angela answers testily. Nick sighs in resignation. ¡°You are such a weird group of people.¡± ¡°The ranger slot still needs filling, Nick. You game?¡± Drenar grunts. ¡°Tabletop, or a literal representation of where my professional skills lie in this increasingly madhouse scenario?¡± ¡°Take your pick.¡± Vol. 1, Ch. 37: The Start of Something Different...Part One ¡°Teenagers with attitude.¡± That was the tagline Nick had uttered a few times now. Most of Friday night had been spent recovering at Drenar''s home, with questions reserved only for the most crucial items. Everyone was present, and everyone looked grim. He couldn''t help but feel they might have pushed the envelope a little bit this time when they had gone into the mine alone, and decidedly under-armed. And if this wasn''t enough already, his arm still hurts from the bite wound, and Nick''s regen potion had only taken the worst of the injury away. He wasn''t at risk for infection, but the muscle would need time to recover. He was effectively a patchwork of bandages on his arms, chest, and right leg. Julia had fared marginally better, but her stunt trying to melt the restraint foam had burned her, and regen potions had fixed only some of it, along with the mana burn that had hurt her, though not as severely. Nick warned them that proper dosage meant they couldn''t take more for a while. Angela had the least severe injuries, and she is sitting close to him, her arm wrapped around him tightly. It helps a little with the current situation. But not much. ¡°Quite frankly, you''re all idiots, and you''re lucky you aren''t dead, so congratulations on your miraculous survival against hardened mage criminals. This won''t be happening again,¡± Nick states with vitriol. ¡°Okay, that''s great, Nick. Real charming, blaming us for wanting answers when we''re victims of a horrific arcanist experiment gone horribly right,¡± Julia says with remarkable restraint. ¡°Let''s get one thing right, your lack of candor helped contribute to this mess too.¡± ¡°Oh for¨Care we going to go in circles again trading blame, and shout and stamp and swear as all of you teenagers are wont to do on a routine basis?¡± Nick sure keeps a calm veneer most of the time, but this is definitely edging past his patience limits. ¡°No. This is over for you guys, end of discussion.¡± ¡°Except for one little problem, Nick. Crosomer knows who we are. And if this lovely psychopath named ¡®Val¡¯ hasn''t already gotten wind of us yet, she will soon, and I can hear our life expectancy dropping like a rock. And worse, he was targeting me for some reason,¡± Drenar states calmly. ¡°Before we decided to break in and start digging for evidence.¡± ¡°Well maybe you should have¨C¡± ¡°Our blood work? Really, Nick? This experiment they pulled off was massive, and a lot of people were involved. This isn''t some hack job. Crosomer mentioned dossiers. Records of us, and others. They planned on getting results, and I''m pretty sure based on Jonaleth¡¯s ¡®or else'' threat to my brother, they don''t care how they get them.¡± He''s trying to be patient, but it''s like Nick can''t comprehend how gargantuan this task must have been or how many people it required to pull off. ¡°We never had a way to opt out. Trouble was coming our way, sooner or later.¡± ¡°He''s right. It was startling how much Crosomer knew, starting with Drenar right off the bat. We did what we could to get a bigger piece of the picture,¡± Angela says. Nick stands there, as if trying to come up with a counter argument. His expression softens a little. ¡°For the record, you did a pretty good job snagging a ton of data. Levine, did you get those hard drives I sent?¡± He states into the microphone Drenar had rigged up on his PC. He''d just turned on a conference call a few minutes prior after plugging in some strange modem on the PC to access what Nick called the ¡®arcanet,¡¯ or mage-specific databases and websites. It was useless to anyone without mana in their body, which ensured that no one would accidentally come across it and dive into secrets they weren''t supposed to read about the arcane world. ¡°Nick, it''s not like I''m a wizard or anything, but yes, I have the photos and the other files. I haven''t had time to parse through the video feeds yet.¡± Levine''s face comes into view on Drenar''s computer screen, and he''s surprised by the early-forties male on the other end with milano-colored skin, medium-length wavy brown hair, and horn-rimmed glasses sitting at an almost antique wooden desk. ¡°Ah, there we go. Drenar, right? And¡­Julia and Angela, correct? James and Evan, you two were running support for Nick?¡± ¡°Yeah, I probably wouldn''t survive a firefight with dragons and armored thugs firing fully automatic lawn dart launchers,¡± James replies dryly. ¡°Tell me that SAF is all over this, please.¡± ¡°They''re not. Nick is supposed to be on desk duty after yesterday¡¯s debacle, and the mine is completely obliterated. I''ll deal with that once I''m done parsing through this data,¡± he answers back after typing in something. ¡°Sorry if I''m late to the party on this, by the way. I''m Nick''s more cerebral partner, SAF Major Levine Dillenger. Forget the title, you can just call me Levine.¡± ¡°Not too big on formalities, huh?¡± Julia asks casually. ¡°For things that matter, sure. Nick has given me the details of the situation, but I decided a full debrief might be warranted after you all had a chance to recover. I have to ask, are you all alright?¡± ¡°You mean mentally traumatized?¡± Angela states in a strangely reserved way. ¡°Not quite there yet.¡± ¡°Upset that I inflicted health damage on myself,¡± Julia sighs. ¡°Also, It was utterly exhilarating to fire an anti-material rifle with magically enhanced munitions at one big bastard of a dragon. So, a little of column A and column B?¡± ¡°Has that statement ever been uttered by anyone in the history of ever?¡± Drenar ponders aloud. ¡°Pretty sure it¡¯s a first somewhere,¡± she replies with a shrug. ¡°What about you, you¡¯ve been rather quiet since last night.¡± ¡°Still mentally processing this a little. Though this is the worst I''ve ever been beaten up,¡± Drenar answers. ¡°Um, Alex is still in my head, and no one can hear him. So remind me if I start talking to him aloud? It¡¯s a little disorienting still.¡± Oh, I¡¯m fine too, in case anyone¡¯s curious. When do I get to take this body for a spin? You don¡¯t, Drenar reminds him. There¡¯s a rather loud curse that echoes in the back of his mind. Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll keep it interesting. And maybe we¡¯ll try to find a way to get you a microphone for speaking from the soul. Good luck with that one. ¡°I¡¯m rather surprised you all aren¡¯t dead. Talons soldiers, even low-ranked members, typically have decent training,¡± Levine muses. ¡°Fighting one-on-one with Crosomer is flat-out impressive, given his history of combat prowess before the revolution.¡± ¡°Let''s just keep to facts. I get this feeling we''re on a clock,¡± Nick rebuffs lightly. They spend the next several hours going over the details of the day. Reliving the whole day is not something Drenar is keen on, but someone in a position of authority has to be notified of everything they''d gathered so far. Levine is playing back the go-pro videos, and he looks grim when he sees the cracked sphere. I can''t believe Robespierre survived inside that thing for seven hundred years. I almost feel sorry for him. It''s a mighty strange thing to hear Alex say. He did kill you, you know. Allegedly. Something is muddled with the memory. I beat him. He was down for the count. I think someone else was there. And there are¡­other memories that are fuzzy. I''ll get back to you on that Drenar. I''ll keep browsing through your psyche and see if I can get up to speed on this modern world. Avoid the proverbial file named ¡®something cozy¡¯ if it exists in there. ¡­Why? Privacy, Alex. Privacy. You clearly don''t know how dragons lived, do you? You know what, I''ll save the scarring of your nascent mind for another time. That has Drenar even more on edge when Levine whistles at the sphere. ¡°Nick, is that what I think it is?¡± he asks with emphasis. ¡°A resilient sphere. Damn. I sincerely doubt that an imposter going around calling himself Robespierre Crosomer is the leading theory.¡± Nick looks stressed by this. ¡°How bad are these things, exactly?¡± Angela asks. Levine takes a moment and removes his glasses before leaning into the frame a little. ¡°Lass, the Conclave and its precursors don''t always have a history that smells of roses. Mages and dragons have spent millennia in conflict, on and off. We¡¯re not exempt from the same horrible things that regular people inflict on each other. Some of the things some mages have done have been incalculably worse.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He points to the video still playing. ¡°That sphere is made of concentrated dark mana. It contains immense energy, and this thing only has one purpose: to place people and objects into stasis for eternity. And eternity is a long time. The oldest known records show the dragons during the Byrenum dynasty from eighteen thousand years ago used them to banish those who inflicted unspeakable crimes. A subject is locked inside, and the sphere is buried into the world¨Ctypically in a random location, deep in the world. That sphere is nearly indestructible. And the subject inside, if they''re alive, the sphere lets them endure. They feel the passage of time.¡± ¡°Don''t they age?¡± James asks. Levine shakes his head. ¡°No. They simply exist there. Trapped, unable to die. The sphere sustains them, they won''t die of lack of water, food, or air. But can you imagine tens, hundreds of years of being alone, with no escape?¡± Drenar likely isn''t the only one to feel a chill seep into the air. ¡°This is a punishment that was not applied lightly. This was for the worst of the worst. The last known use was three hundred years ago. They''ve been banned since on grounds of being utterly inhumane. I can''t imagine what Crosomer must have endured, sitting and waiting in there. Or, how someone broke him out. This wasn''t an accident, someone knew how to find them, and how to crack it open. This suggests sophisticated, immense resources. Resources that the Onyx Talons don''t have by themselves.¡± ¡°Are you saying he didn''t deserve this?¡± Nick suggests with tempered dissent. ¡°I''m saying no one deserves this,¡± Levine said. ¡°Crosomer''s mercenaries inflicted a lot of pain¨Cand believe me, I''m brushing up on the official conflict history¨Cbut not to the level that he deserved this.¡± ¡°He had some kind of journal to pass the time,¡± Julia points out. ¡°It kept him sane. It had an immense amount of alchemical formulas, sketches, translations¨C¡± ¡°Holy hell, I saw that file. It¡¯s massive. Did he really write in it for seven hundred years?¡± Levine gasps. ¡°I saw it. It was detailed enough to suggest he¡¯d been at it for a long time,¡± Angela chimes in. ¡°I despise the guy for what he did¡­but he did sound sincere when he said that the book would survive him, his last academic journal. A researcher to the end.¡± ¡°Small repentance,¡± Drenar states icily. Crosomer is still dangerous, regardless of motivation when he thinks about it for a few seconds. ¡°Could they use this sphere to power an arcane device?¡± ¡°Oh you can, but very few of these things have ever been found after being buried. Experimenting on this dark mana crystal hasn''t exactly been on anyone''s priority list,¡± Levine answers. ¡°We have samples of it, they used it to power some kind of device. Possibly the same one that caused all of our pending or current awakenings,¡± Julia says after putting on a heavy glove and gingerly pulling one shard from Drenar''s bag. ¡°This stuff,¡± she emphasized as if she''s self-corrected from saying something coarse, ¡°is thermally conductive to the extreme. They were pulling immense current from it from wires, from our video feeds.¡± ¡°Hmm. Looks like the material matches. Obscinia hectate.¡± Levine continues the feed and skips through the grisly remains they''d found. He''s interested in the artifact, and he zooms in on a few still frames from the photos. ¡°Draconic runes. Or some dialect of it. I''ve never seen anything like this, with the interlocking discs. I''ll need an expert to identify it,¡± Levine assesses. ¡°Nick, you think they could force Awakenings?¡± ¡°None of these guys are in the registered mage family database,¡± he answers curtly. ¡°Yeah that''s not awesome either, if people have lists of who is a mage,¡± Angela responds sourly. ¡°How could someone just force awakenings?¡± ¡°In theory? Maybe accelerating the body''s ability to generate mana. Half dragons typically don''t have that until they are in their early teens, and usually not enough to trigger Awakening until deeper into their teens. But this does not explain Drenar¡¯s drakensoul, or yours, Angela.¡± Levine¡¯s theory might only be partially correct. ¡°Levine, it could be related. If I saw the Stranded Lands¨Cinside the aether, or whatever it''s called¨Cthen maybe there¡¯s a path that dragons take back. Some must have already, like a crack in a dam. What they¡¯re doing is making the hole bigger.¡± The analogy makes some sense. ¡°This thing takes massive amounts of energy, if what you¡¯ve told us about these spheres is true. Maybe enough to jump-start the body¡¯s mana generation. I''m still a little fuzzy on what mana is, though.¡± ¡°Energy, in a short answer. Magical energy. It takes more than one form, though, as Julia¡¯s powers can attest to, and yours and Angela''s,¡± Levine responds. ¡°Dragons and other magical creatures generate it naturally through their biology, which itself partially contains metamagical elements. It can also be found in natural mineral formations and has a limited ability to leech elements from the surroundings, in the right conditions, and generate what we call mana crystals. Hell, you can even find microstructures of this crystalline material in your body, now that you¡¯ve Awakened.¡± ¡°Uh¡­is that bad?¡± Drenar asks nervously. ¡°No. It¡¯s just part of your natural biology. There¡¯s now an intricate lattice network of mana filaments and crystalline formations in your organs, bones, and circulatory structures.¡± What it sounds like to him, is a delayed anxiety attack once it settles in his mind, and Nick isn¡¯t sugarcoating it. ¡°Look, your body has gone through changes. I had the same thing happen when I was about your age,¡± he assures him. ¡°And what about Julia and Angela?¡± ¡°Same. It¡¯ll probably happen within a few days. I mean, were you using full elemental plasma tethers before you¡¯re awakened?¡± Nick asks Julia. ¡°I call it my grappling beam,¡± she states proudly. Drenar is mildly jealous, but his telekinesis still has vast potential, he figures. ¡°I still want one,¡± Angela retorts. ¡°You can Jedi force push and grab distant objects, it¡¯s nothing to sneeze at,¡± Julia replies. ¡°Ahem,¡± Levine coughed in an unsubtle manner. ¡°That technique is a little¡­advanced for someone who hasn¡¯t fully awakened yet. Also, my dear, you appear to have draconic shaped irises right now.¡± ¡°How long has that been going on?¡± she asks with a vein of anger. ¡°About a minute. Wow, it¡¯s kind of intimidating. Scary, even,¡± James utters. Julia glances at him and looks unimpressed. ¡°Someone yells ¡®boo¡¯ and you wet yourself, James. Next opinion, please. Hang on, I''ve got a question for Nick, how old are you, anyway?¡± Julia asks suspiciously. ¡°Um¡­it¡¯s impolite to ask a drake his age,¡± Nick replies. Her distinct eyeballing of him finally breaks his stonewall. ¡°Okay, fine. I¡¯m seventy years old.¡± ¡°And you spend all day with a bunch of jailbait teenage girls?¡± He doesn¡¯t say anything, but Drenar can¡¯t help but smirk when Nick appears extremely irritated by that statement. He clamps his fingers down onto his crossed arms. ¡°Oh, you dirty-minded boy, you.¡± ¡°Yeah, that lack of aging is a bit of a pain sometimes. It leads to some super awkward conversations. Like this one,¡± he replies. ¡°I¡¯m not doing it for the sake of being around jailbait. I have been running a cover surveillance for the past two years. I¡¯ve been trying to follow leads on the Talons. And I¡¯ve found a few, based on my contacts with the students.¡± ¡°I''m not sure that''s a qualified excuse, Nick,¡± Angela bristles at his rationale. ¡°Oh? Want to guess what I''ve turned up so far?¡± ¡°Let me think. Chuck Zantos, Jonaleth Winters, Billy Vicks, Dave Laplace? I''m just grouping all the bad apples in one barrel,¡± James proposes. ¡°Billy isn''t that bad. He''s got family problems,¡± Angela counters. ¡°Jonaleth is a skeevy creep I wouldn''t mind taking a talon or two against.¡± ¡°Well, you had that partially right. Jonaleth is an errand boy for the Talons. His stepfather has contact with them, but not directly,¡± Nick finally relents after a moment. ¡°Did he really stab someone, or was that a rumor?¡± Drenar finally asks. ¡°Attempted aggravated murder. He cut up a female Wargen badly in some kind of dispute with another student at his last school. The charges were dropped, no witnesses were willing to come forward, and they had circumstantial evidence at best, and his stepfather is a silver-tongued lawyer at a well-connected law firm.¡± Levine''s clearly done his homework, Drenar notes. ¡°Even if he was convicted, he''d have been out of prison in a few years. He is dangerous, and not unduly so. Nick has been tracking him for six months, once we were made aware of his past.¡± ¡°Yeah, he bloodied up Evan and told him to join the Talons, or else,¡± Drenar states darkly. ¡°He and I are going to have words¨C¡± ¡°No, you''re not. You''re leaving this to the professionals,¡± Nick interrupts. ¡°Let''s stick to the debrief?¡± Drenar realizes this isn''t worth contesting at the moment. Both he and Levine are mildly impressed by the escape and the rail cart ride from hell. ¡°That was some impressive shooting. And sword swinging.¡± It felt nice to not be rebuked for at least this portion. "Someone explain this to me. I mag-dumped about ten rounds into one of those creeps, and it was scratch damage. Why?" Julia asks. "Arcane barriers are strong against kinetic impact like that. Small hits like that, they''re too weak to disrupt it. But as momentum increases, barriers are more susceptible to a rapid collapse. A higher caliber with enough hits in rapid succession would have worked. You just had the wrong tool available. This is why autobows have rapidly become the tool of choice, due to the massive momentum they can instill. Of course, autobow bolts have some trouble defeating properly made plating armor--they''ll shred Kevlar, though. Mage plate armor requires enhanced munitions or extremely powerful armor-piercing rifle rounds. I''m also impressed by Drenar''s sword fighting and CQC." ¡°I''ve been trained. I wasn''t joking when I said I was good. It did help that they were not prepared for a CQC battle in a minecart barreling along at insane speeds,¡± Drenar adds. Watching himself snap a guy''s arm is still uncomfortable. ¡°Ouch. I think I might have to surrender my title of the breaker of bones to you,¡± Julia says after witnessing that. She almost sounds proud. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a title I really want for myself,¡± he mutters. Nick parses through the feeds in the warehouse, with Levine asking a few more questions. Admittedly there hadn¡¯t been as much to recover intelligence-wise, the servers containing any pertinent data had been grabbed previously. Nick is much more tight-lipped after they witnessed the battle with Crosomer¨CDrenar¡¯s feed had been cut out after his transformation; the camera had been smashed, but the data had been intact. Levine looks like he''s been holding his breath when Julia''s feed ends after Crosomer teleported out, holding his arm wound. "Dear Gaia. I don''t know what he did to himself, but the power of this artifact is immense. We''re in trouble." Vol. 1, Ch. 38: The Start of Something Different...Part Two For the first time, there''s an undercurrent of dread in the voice of that steadfast professional, and Drenar knows it must have taken a lot to rattle him. ¡°No kidding.¡± It''s the first time that either of them has even remotely broken composure, and Drenar notes it quietly. ¡°They have other plans in motion. This whole thing was just a bleeding test for these kids. But to what end?¡± ¡°Shaping us to be the destruction of the Conclave. I mean he couldn''t have made it any more obvious,¡± Angela says agitatedly. ¡°Why he chose this route, I''m guessing he had a better plan coming up, but our arrival forced him to improvise.¡± ¡°Meaning what, he''d ambush us in a situation where we had less of a chance? That is such a cartoon villain way to go about it.¡± Drenar is questioning the logic. Why would he want to work with the Talons? The only thought that comes to mind is that the Conclave is just as bad, or worse than Crosomer was saying. It could have been all lies he was telling. But for some reason, Crosomer didn''t come across as dishonest. Too calm and collected. Two truths and a lie kind of deal? So where is the lie? ¡°He isn''t exactly right in the head man, if you spend seven hundred years in captivity, would you still be sane?¡± James poses. No one answers. ¡°My point exactly. He''s obsessed with you.¡± Drenar still doesn''t quite see the point yet. ¡°Yeah, I don''t get that. I am no one¨C¡± ¡°You someone of interest now,¡± James states calmly. ¡°You''re half-dragon. Which puts you in a ballpark of people that are a fraction of the people of the world. You gave him a thorough beatdown, despite the odds. Whatever he needs from you, he''s gonna get it.¡± ¡°It''s obvious what he wants. He wants us to be on team villain!¡± Angela argues. ¡°Or, he wants us to be a third other faction,¡± Julia proposes. ¡°The Conclave isn''t exactly instilling me with confidence, minus you guys.¡± ¡°Nick and I have a bit of a¡­reputation,¡± Levine says slowly. It¡¯s telling when he winces at that statement. ¡°That said, we¡¯ve also been very good at gathering our motley crew in the past, and we¡¯ve worked with some other trained professionals before, during joint operations efforts, when we¡¯ve had to tackle problems that require a certain level of deep expertise. That said, I think there is another reason he singled Drenar out. Revenge, or some kind of grudge seems unlikely, the playback indicates he was battle-testing you. But why go to such lengths? And who is this ¡®Val¡¯ he keeps referring to?¡± ¡°His sponsor, his partner, someone holding his chain? All I know is that they¡¯re more than a little antagonistic,¡± Julia says. She¡¯s hovering over the whiteboard that Drenar occasionally uses for homework to map out stuff, and she photographs their battle plan from yesterday before wiping it. ¡°Levine, do the Talons have billions of dollars to throw at problems?¡± ¡°It¡¯s difficult to get a vertical cake slice of just how diversified their funding is. But it¡¯s possible. Or with a corporate ally funneling money to them, that¡¯s also possible," Levine reasons. ¡°Name the top five mage companies of the world.¡± Julia goes straight to the point. ¡°Huh?¡± Successfully startling Nick must be some kind of cosmic event, Drenar concludes. ¡°By the law of villainy, one of them has to be rotten to the core!¡± Julia declares. James groans, as does Drenar. ¡°Look, which one is our Shin-Ra wannabe? It¡¯s obvious to me they can¡¯t fund this without a massive industrial backing, not if they want to pull off a coup d''¨¦tat successfully.¡± ¡°Magitek industries, Gruber arms company, Capashen Logistics, Ferrite Chairs, and Volrath Solutions. Some big names could provide what would be needed,¡± Nick grouses. Levine doesn¡¯t look pleased at him encouraging this. ¡°That¡¯s not how investigations work! You can¡¯t just say one or more of them is absolutely evil! For all we know, they just run this like any other regular criminal organization, by drug money, arms trafficking, trafficking of people, extortion, robbery, or fraud.¡± Levine however, doesn¡¯t know how Julia operates, and Drenar can¡¯t hide a smirk. ¡°Well, let¡¯s start with what we know. This ¡®Val¡¯ they keep referring to. I think it¡¯s a truncation of a longer name. Like Valerie. Or Valencia. Let¡¯s assume that the Talons needed a lot of help to find the sphere. How do you find one? How do you make one in the first place? What are the steps?¡± There¡¯s a pause as Levine¡¯s expression brightens. ¡°I like her process. The prowess required to pull this off would require immense talent and resources.¡± He rubs his chin for a second before placing his hands together and sits back in his chair. ¡°I could cross reference every known executive at all the major magitech companies of the world. Assuming ¡®Val¡¯ isn¡¯t a code name. As for the steps to find a sphere¡­they would need to be able to seek out obscinia hectate. They would need to know the general location. They¡¯d have to have mined out that facility to a far greater extent than that tiny shell company was capable of. They would have needed the exact means of manufacture of the sphere to reverse-engineer a means of cracking it open.¡± ¡°All of these are difficult problems to solve by themselves. Costly and technically complex. This suggests substantial technical know-how, financing, and logistics. Something a massive corporation or a nation-state could provide, or perhaps a rogue military actor. It narrows the field somewhat. If we focused on which companies could do each, we could filter out to a candidate list.¡± Nick is quick to follow Levine¡¯s thought process. ¡°There¡¯s one other danger, too. Those spheres'' manufacture likely was known only to the Dragon Empire, or the Conclave. Secrets that they probably guarded very well to avoid having the same punishment dished out at them,¡± Angela adds. ¡°That knowledge couldn¡¯t have been easy to come by, either. It would have required infiltrating the conclave, or deep research of the old draconic empire. Either one doesn¡¯t exactly sound like a small-time endeavor.¡± ¡°Hmm. Sounds like my weekend project. But you lot aren¡¯t going to be doing anything. There is also the matter of keeping your parents informed¨C¡± ¡°Oh hell no, we are not dumping this on Diane!¡± Evan shoots up from his seat and looks ready for a fight. ¡°Her dad is dying a thousand miles away, no, we aren''t doing jack!¡± ¡°Our parents are like super spooks. They literally can''t tell us what they do,¡± James puts forward. ¡°And my mom''s probably a dragon, so nah. I wanna live to be of legal age,¡± Julia says with equal reluctance. ¡°Not gonna lie, Levine, but the kids have a point. Dropping this on their parents at the moment might be a little less than ideal,¡± Nick says after a moment. He doesn''t look happy saying that, either. ¡°You know the protocols, Nick.¡± ¡°And look at how utterly worthless they were just now. After watching those videos in person, I think we need to use a little discretion. King¡¯s involvement alone means they may have had inside help to keep us off their backs for quite some time. We don''t know what the Talons are up to yet, there are more moving parts than we have the means to track. Can you get the old crew together?¡± Levine looks annoyed at this pushback but doesn''t say anything against it. ¡°The old crew is retired, Nick. You do this much running around, people get out while their body is still functioning after years of military actions. In the meantime, I''m going to make calls. You''re in charge of making sure these bright-eyed kids don''t run off and do something even more reckless until I get there in person.¡± ¡°We should consider notifying the Valkyries¨C¡± ¡°No. If this is a true crisis, you have my word I¡¯ll be the first to reach out, but we need evidence first. They¡¯re not a superhero service Nick,¡± Levine says in a rare rebuke. ¡°Fine. But my terms are: they get trained in what''s needed for their survival. The Talons have been showing higher levels of competency, and their equipment is clearly above our previous predictions.¡± ¡°Are they proficient in martial arts, firearms, and arcanistry defenses?¡± Levine asks quietly. Nick glances back at them, with a slight smile. ¡°They will be. Because I think we¡¯ve made enemies that might finally live up to their reputation, and I gotta admit¡­it was a little surprising how it wasn¡¯t us landing in a heap of trouble this time.¡± Levine sighs contentedly. ¡°I¡¯m getting too old for this, Nick. Get them trained. And make sure James doesn¡¯t shoot himself in the foot.¡± James scowls, but says nothing before Nick looks around. ¡°So. Thoughts?¡± ¡°What madman put you in charge of training them?¡± James asked after a moment. He¡¯s practically twitching at this wild idea. ¡°No, we¡¯re supposed to just be recluses for the rest of our lives, and hope the Talons don¡¯t come after us!¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°That¡¯s a dead hope there, James. We¡¯ll rest for the remainder of the day, tomorrow morning bright and early, there¡¯s going to be training.¡± It¡¯s finally Nick¡¯s turn to crack a smile, and James groans. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I think I can get you into shape. You wouldn¡¯t be the worst I had to work with.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a very, very uncomforting notion, Nick. Are you living out your fantasy of dragging me through the wilderness and watching to see if I struggle and die within the first twelve hours?¡± ¡°Nah. I give you a day and a half, tops. Drenar, Julia, and Angela, well¡­I think I got something to start from.¡± He takes the compact bolt pistol off his holster and hands it to Julia. ¡°Field strip it and reassemble. I¡¯ll be timing,¡± he states as he pressed a button on his phone. She narrows her eyes, but doesn''t back down from the challenge as she examines it. ¡°It¡¯s loaded, so don''t shoot us.¡± ¡°Please, Nick, I¡¯m not eight anymore,¡± she mutters as she de-primes the bow, pulls the magazine out, and ejects the bolt still on the priming rail. She grabs an errant screwdriver from Drenar¡¯s desk, and he watches silently as she breaks it down to the basic components. Nick keeps an eye on the timer as Julia puts the process into reverse, reassembles the components with lightning speed, examines the unloaded assembly, and peers down the reflex sight. She then loads the magazine back in before giving the cross slide a tug. He nods satisfactorily when she hands it back to him. ¡°You missed a portion of the lower receiver, there¡¯s a reservoir of a mana crystal used to re-prime the bow after firing. But a very impressive speed for your first try. I¡¯ll give it a pass¨Cfor now. I presume your firearm experience is satisfactory enough that I don¡¯t need to go over the basic rules?¡± ¡°If you make me recite it, I¡¯ll recite it,¡± she states without emotion. ¡°No screwing around with things that can kill you or others if you make a negligent action. That said, how much damage does that thing do?¡± ¡°It''s equivalent to a gunshot from a mid-size caliber. I''ll cover that and more. Training for tomorrow will go over some of the basics. I¡¯ll also be keen on getting you guys trained when your draconic forms come in, so Drenar will get a little early training. Rest up guys, the only easy day was yesterday.¡± ¡°Yesterday was easy?¡± Drenar scoffs. ¡°I get the saying, but that felt pretty callous, after what we went through.¡± ¡°Oh no. Whatever the Talons threw at you, I¡¯ll do worse,¡± he says with a creeping smile. ¡°Better I break you here than you get killed freezing up when your life''s on the line. Now I won¡¯t pretend I can shape you up to elite SAF agent status in a few days, but I have some hard and fast lessons that in the unlikely event we get targeted again, will keep us from getting caught off-guard.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get mighty nervous they got records on us, the question is, where? They air-gapped all the hardware I saw except for one PC with a connection, and that one wasn''t on the LAN. Their OPSEC is decent. Let''s hope Levine can make heads or tails of what they''ve been up to,¡± James says after a moment of hesitation. ¡°So, it¡¯s official? We¡¯re doing this?¡± Angela asked hesitantly. ¡°Not that I wasn¡¯t already going to, but I¡¯m quite surprised you¡¯re not locking us down in a bunker, Nick.¡± He spends a second contemplating a response. ¡°No. I¡¯ve been alive a long time. I¡¯ve seen bad stuff happen. I know when things are going off-kilter in the world. This experiment could just¡­reverberate through more than just the mage world, if everything they¡¯re saying is true. And right now, I don¡¯t think they¡¯re lying.¡± He looks out the window, at the fading sunlight. ¡°For three months, that artifact was on a slow burn, awakening latent genetics in people with a trace of draconic DNA. Some of those people are awakening. And none of you are on the registered mage families of the area¨Ceither that¡¯s a coincidence, or your parents went off the grid for reasons I can only speculate at.¡± ¡°A mystery we really don¡¯t want to solve yet, Nick. our plate is full at the moment.¡± Drenar does not want to dump this complete dumpster fire on Diane just yet, not until he can do something to guarantee they won¡¯t be caught in the crossfire. ¡°Are we done here for now?¡± ¡°Levine, your call. They¡¯re still recovering, and Julia cut it pretty damn close with the mana burn.¡± She¡¯s still rubbing uneasily at the black and blue vein-like marks on her neck and arms, he notes. He¡¯d have to ask about it later, it was one of a couple of things he¡¯d lost track of. Levine takes a moment to rub the bridge of his nose, before nodding his head in agreement. ¡°I¡¯ve got plenty of intelligence to sift through for now. Nick, keep them safe, yeah? If this was just an experiment for them, and it¡¯s successful, you can rest assured they¡¯ve been preparing on other fronts. Drenar, the rest of you, get some rest. I think that¡¯s been earned by now, and it might be in short supply in the future.¡± It¡¯s weird how the room empties. Nick says a few words about sticking to the house, and limiting calls to critical calls only, and no mentions of the events of the week to pretty much anyone¨Cno one disagrees with him. Angela, James, and Evan all head downstairs, and Julia¡¯s sitting there in his computer chair. Nick looks at him for a moment, his hand hesitating on the doorknob. ¡°You know it¡¯s never going to be the same, Drenar. It never is. Dragons and other Kin don¡¯t live normal lives. But for what it¡¯s worth¡­despite how much you guys did something a little reckless¡­you did it for the right reasons.¡± ¡°Was that a ¡®thank you¡¯ I heard?¡± Julia poses with a smirk. ¡°In a way. Now seriously, be gentle with him, Drenar also has two bruised ribs that won¡¯t be at a hundred percent for a few days.¡± ¡°Uh¨Cwe¡¯re not uh¨C¡± Why is he stumping on the right words here? Nick simply smiles and speaks before he can get the thought out. ¡°Just a thought, take that as you will.¡± He latches the door before Drenar can get out some snarky comment, and he decides that this time, it might be best to say nothing. ¡°Never the same. Yeah, that¡¯s an understatement,¡± Julia says, barely over a murmur, before looking Drenar¡¯s way. ¡°You still exhausted?¡± ¡°Immeasurably.¡± It also felt distinct, with what Nick called his ¡®active regen¡¯ where his healing wounds itched and felt slightly inflamed. ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t break out of those bindings sooner. You saved our lives.¡± ¡°I think we¡¯ve been taking turns on that front.¡± She hops off the computer chair and sidles up next to him on his bed. At a distinctly cozy distance away. She looks forward, watching some of the video feed playback on the monitor. ¡°All my life, I said I wanted to do something incredible. I wanted to be part of something monumental and make my mark in history. Getting caught up in a battle against an arcane insurrectionist cult wasn¡¯t on my bingo card of expectations.¡± She¡¯s got that quiet tone now, something he hadn¡¯t heard in a long time. The first time she''s ever been even close to scared, or apprehensive about the future. He puts a hand on hers, and squeezes gently. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be on anyone¡¯s bingo card. We didn¡¯t choose this, Julia.¡± ¡°No. Trouble would have come for us sooner or later. Whether it was Jonaleth holding to his word, or Crosomer trying to persuade you to join his cause, it was just a matter of time. But at least we know the stakes. Mages, the arcane¡­it¡¯s part of our world now. It¡¯s now part of our reality of consequence.¡± ¡°Well, take solace in that you aren¡¯t alone to face the world. You¡¯ve got me.¡± She lets out a soft sigh. ¡°I figured that. If I told you I was going to fight the entire goddamn Talons army by myself, you¡¯d be there in a heartbeat.¡± She looks at him, out of the corner of her eye. ¡°The question is, what¡¯s the next move? I¡¯ve got a few ideas, and I doubt that your plus one has let you sit idle.¡± Gods I love this woman, she reminds me of someone I knew. Alex¡¯s comment leaves Drenar chuckling softly, and Julia scowls at him. ¡°Hey, is he making fun of me in there?¡± she demands and pokes him gently on the nose. ¡°Nah. He seems to like you.¡± Her face lights up, just a little, and she leans her head on his shoulder. ¡°Uh, is this my sign for something?¡± ¡°Yeah, it means you should make sure I don¡¯t get cold or something,¡± she says with a sly smirk. Drenar goes wide-eyed at this. This is somehow worse than the entire perilous fight in the mines and against Crosomer. More hazardous. ¡°Look, you''re my friend, Drenar. You always have been. I¡¯m pretty sure you always will be. And that means a lot to me. It¡¯s just nice to know you¡¯ve had my back the whole time.¡± Well, guess I¡¯ll go to court death now. He wraps his arm around her shoulder gently and pulls her in close. Something¡¯s different now, and he can¡¯t wrap his mind around it just yet. ¡°Julia, I wouldn¡¯t trade you for anyone else in the universe as a friend. You¡¯ve always been right when it mattered. And you¡¯ve kept it¡­what¡¯s the word¡­lively.¡± ¡°I think the word you¡¯re reaching for is ¡®perilous¡¯ there Drenar. Or chaotic,¡± she says with a soft laugh. ¡°Julia the chaos queen.¡± ¡°I still like the sound of Julia ¡®Tsundere¡¯ DeVerdra. It¡¯s got this regal tone to it,¡± he responds. They lean back, not saying much for a minute. ¡°So, what¡¯s the next move, considering I think both of us are ready to crank this up to the nightmare difficulty?¡± ¡°Oh, you mean to take on the Talons and rally a bunch of ragtag misfits against insane odds? And maybe forge a path of friendship and tenacity that they¡¯ll tell the tale about for hundreds of years?¡± ¡°Nah, that¡¯s beyond Nightmare difficulty. But yeah, I¡¯m up for it. If only my body would stop protesting with pain.¡± He rubs at the soreness in his lower ribs, on his left side. ¡°Friends to the end?¡± ¡°It has a nice ring to it. Mind if I hang out here for a bit?¡± ¡°Sure. but no jumping my bones like you did last time.¡± She playfully shoves him away. ¡°Hey, that was different, you were flailing in bed, looking like a molting harpy, and I had to get you to sit still!¡± she protests, but even she¡¯s gone red in the face. ¡°I mean I get that you and Angela are an item now, sort of. I totally would respect boundaries¨C¡± ¡°Relax, I was messing with you. Honestly, I¡¯m ready to pass out in bed right now." It''s still early, it¡¯s only eight in the evening, but his body is still recovering from an immeasurable strain, both from the initial Awakening, and his injuries. ¡°Besides, I¡¯m a one lady at a time kind of guy. I would die of shame if I did that.¡± ¡°That''s fair. Alright, I¡¯m still claiming my perch on this bed, but let¡¯s put on a movie or something. And do something normal,¡± she says with a beaming smile. ¡°We¡¯re allowed normal?¡± he asks skeptically. ¡°Sadly, I think we¡¯re going to have to earn it from here on out. Starting tomorrow, we gotta train with Nick. and start forming a plan to figure out the rest of the Talons'' scheming. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve got a few ideas, so does Angela. It just might take a little convincing for Nick to buy into it.¡± Julia finally relaxes for the first time in...he doesn''t remember when. ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve got a couple of ideas.¡± He leans back and grabs the remote, with Julia snuggling up, just like years past. After the week they¡¯ve all had, this is something he knew mattered more than anything else to them. Something or someone to come home to, and cherish dearly. Crosomer, and the Talons, are never going to take that from them. V1<-->V2 Intermission One: Villain Safety Awareness Day ¡°So, who wants to go first?¡± There isn¡¯t so much as a whisper in the room. Robespierre Crosomer is standing at the lectern in the small assembly hall at the Talons training facility nestled under a corn field, tapping on his hand scrawled notes impatiently with one claw, and still feeling the itch of multiple injuries healing via the old fashioned route, natural healing. Because trying to down enough regen potions to recover from the sparring match on Mount Syren would have been literally toxic. His audience consists of his researchers, and several now-benched Talons operatives that had been pulled into this meeting. They¡¯d all screwed up. And Robespierre is also holding himself accountable too, mistakes and assumptions of security had been made. Attendance had been made mandatory after Val maimed one of her soldiers at the Mount Syren Mine, and said soldier is now wearing a knee brace on his leg in the back row. That had been a very uncomfortable visit to the medical wing. ¡°I¡¯m still waiting. What have we learned from this incident, and how can we prevent future incidents?¡± Robespierre asks calmly like he would an eight year old mage learning their most basic cantrips. ¡°Don¡¯t mess with teenagers with attitude?¡± Greg offers softly. He still has bandages on his neck and hands, and is rubbing at his thinning hair. ¡°Yes, that. That would be a fantastic lesson learned. But that¡¯s not the lesson we¡¯re here for, gentlemen. We¡¯re here because of¡­which specific mistake?¡± ¡°Threatening people who could easily trounce us?¡± Mackenzie is still favoring one leg, and his scruffy face indicates he¡¯s taking the down time poorly. ¡°Also that, yes. But what is the key takeaway that we should be focused on?¡± Crosomer said while tapping a claw into the table. It¡¯s annoying when his claw gets stuck, and he has to lightly pry it out. Really need to get used to that. I liked being human better, he thinks with an inward sigh. ¡°Don¡¯t discharge arcane firearms in close proximity to a chemical storage?¡± Nigel proposes. Crosomer points to him, and nods approvingly. ¡°Correct! This is why we don¡¯t give arcanists guns! Because negligent discharges lead to unfortunate incidents like this, where half a minehead collapsed,¡± Crosomer says with simmering contempt. ¡°Or, why someone likely left unsecured weapons in the mine while packing, such as an IM-15 incendiary orb lying around, and said device was part of that destruction. I look forward to hearing about who was practicing such abysmal weapons safety and storage protocols.¡± ¡°MacKenzie,¡± Nigel, Greg and Karl all say while pointing at him. He gives them an extremely rude finger salute with both hands. The soldiers in their fatigues all look at him with contempt, and Robespierre notes this is a teachable moment. ¡°Oh pike off, you wanks,¡± MacKenzie grumbles. He¡¯s got that look of embarrassment thoroughly baked in now. ¡°I almost bled to death from my screw up, thanks.¡± ¡°Thank you for the bold admission! It¡¯s very important to realize our mistakes, and learn for the future. We may be an organization that occasionally has a lower bar of respect for the law of the land, but we do care about safety when conducting our business,¡± Robespierre states with marked restraint. ¡°So, from now on, when we conduct business in clandestine areas with highly sensitive instruments, what are we going to be doing?¡± he asks. He¡¯s hoping they¡¯ll get this right the next time, and not end up blowing up another lab. Even if some of the fallout of that battle with Drenar and those other children had yielded promising results. Rashalda was exceedingly well trained and his magical talent could be through the roof. If the reports I¡¯ve read are correct, he was even better than Angela at melee. Though, I did technically lie when I said that was Valen in my journal. Guess he got tired of the name after several hundred years, or just didn¡¯t want to be attached to the failed image of the Luminaires. It was a startling discovery. Angela Shalinde had been using the same sword fighting techniques and had the same tenacity as Valen did. Seven hundred years later. Valen had dropped off the grid according to what King told him, up until he showed up in Opechea Falls and set up a training center fifteen years prior. Quite a mundane retirement from a life of adventuring. And then mysteriously died of a heart condition? He didn¡¯t buy it. Valen was still alive, doing something. But how had he crossed paths with Drenar? King hadn¡¯t fleshed out all the details yet, just the basics. ¡°Uh, Robespierre? You were going to comment on our proposal?¡± Greg asks quietly. He had tuned them out for a spell too long, and Robespierre clears his throat. ¡°What was the proposal? Forgive me, lost in my notes,¡± he offers as a half-apology. ¡°Weapons safety lockers, firearm training discipline, No weapons allowed in designated areas, arcanists are only allowed non-elemental firearms up to Class II in designated zones¡­look, do we ever expect to run into these kids again?¡± Greg asks with resignation. He¡¯s fatigued and likely still parsing through data from the latest activation of the Kilnstar¡¯noth, and the data suggests that more rune translations were required to increase the potency, field of effect, and impact arcane bio-zones. And not liquify several billion people into meat jelly. He¡¯s not about to repeat his mentor¡¯s screw-up. That screw-up at least had a partial solution worked out, based on the results in Opechea Falls from a limited, targeted activation of the device. ¡°No, you four need to focus on the research and the field data. Away from the front lines from now on,¡± Robespierre says sternly, before changing tacks. ¡°You there, minion one,¡± Robespierre commanded one of the off-duty soldiers, who is holding his shoulder. He¡¯d been shot in the shoulder by one of his own men in the minecart¨Cwhich was yet another teachable moment of very unfriendly fire. Rashalda was apparently quite savage at close range, and had activated a wand with little training. He had much promise, he thinks with a slight smile. ¡°We have names, Robespierre,¡± the soldier says with veiled irritation. ¡°Not if you don¡¯t have a name tag. See, I put mine on too,¡± Robespierre says with a bit of a grin. It is indeed a lanyard with his ID picture that allows him access to everywhere on the facility. The photo doesn¡¯t match, because, magical accident, but the intent is there. ¡°Yeah but, you¡¯re you. There¡¯s no one else that looks like you,¡± the soldier says. He digs his claws into the tile floor just a little. ¡°Not the point. You wear your ID¡¯s. Do you know why? Unsecured ID¡¯s are a point of failure. Unsecured ID¡¯s lead to certain teenagers with attitude breaking in, stealing documents, personnel being imitated and allowed free access, and then SAF comes barnstorming in. Or the Valkyries. Does anyone want that to happen?¡± The reluctant soldier pulls out his ID from a vest pocket and puts the plainly vanilla lanyard on. ¡°It¡¯s Mendez, sir.¡± ¡°Robespierre, there¡¯s no ¡®sir¡¯ required here,¡± he corrects. ¡°Now, where were we?¡± ¡°Learning to not ever let MacKenzie ever hold an arcane firearm again?¡± Karl proposes while tapping something on his phone, as if he¡¯s completely disinterested. ¡°No, we¡¯ll get to that. I¡¯m talking about securing facilities. Rashalda and DeVerdra and Shalinde just walked in bypassing a lock on a single door. I¡¯ve already spoken to Misha about upgrading facilities with basic cameras and mana-enhanced sighting equipment and automated sensors. Cheap upgrades, big impact on our operational security.¡± ¡°To be fair, I think someone left the door unlocked, Robespierre. Are you sure he¡¯s a drakensoul, and not half-dragon?¡± Nigel asks, anxiously tapping his glasses set over his auburn hair. ¡°We can¡¯t honestly tell if he''s either after the merge. But I think he might have one. He was getting super twitchy when I was observing him, like he was listening to someone else, you know, like the drakensouls communicate with their host.¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. This stops Crosomer immediately in his tracks. His personality does seem to be a bit similar to¨Cno, that couldn¡¯t be. Could it? Drakensouls randomly attach to human hosts that come out of that non-spatial fissure from the Aether. Space and volume are irrelevant there, it¡¯s a place lacking dimension and measurability, everything is everywhere all at once, if I had to break it down to a physical analogy. Alex? Did you find your way home? The only way for certain to know that is to find Rashalda again¨Cand that is not something he¡¯s going to risk, not with SAF agents in close proximity to his persona and his house now likely being watched. And attracting that kind of attention to him might be bad. Because there is someone he knows with an unfathomable hatred of the Rashaldas, someone who he was ready to kill once already, partnership be damned. I¡¯m leaving her completely out of the loop on this one. I¡¯ll need to talk to King to get more information. He¡¯s the only one I trust. ¡°Robespierre?¡± Nigel asks again hesitantly. ¡°I think we can leave that one alone. We don¡¯t go after people on a personal level Nigel, that¡¯s Val, whenever she thinks me or King won¡¯t notice. And I¡¯ve put her on notice that behavior was supposed to stop three years ago, after my second lease on life. Distribute the meeting notes and flowdowns Nigel, I want the training done in two weeks, let Misha know, then get back to setting up our research station.¡± Nigel nods quietly and closes his small laptop for note-taking. ¡°Greg, safeties and protective measures for the labs are on you, after that, help Nigel. Karl, MacKenzie, assist them, and I will expect this to be followed to the letter,¡± he states with authority. ¡°You men, you¡¯re on my roll call, don¡¯t report back to Valosterla. She does not treat failure as teachable moments.¡± His gaze lingers on the soldier with the knee brace¨Che¡¯d gotten into the room before Val could rip the poor soldier''s leg off as a testament to failure. And that wouldn¡¯t have been the most gruesome thing he¡¯d ever witnessed her do. Even as much as she could supply logistics, men, equipment, and command a battlefield, she was a violent, ruthless woman both in a corporate board room and on the killing floor of her field victories. And she¡¯s done utterly unforgivable things before that he will never forgive her for. A working partnership towards a common goal to expose the tyranny of the Conclave is the only thing that¡¯s stopping him from killing her for what she¡¯s done. A tremor shakes his right arm, his sword arm. Some of the effects of the failed experiment left him with a slight trembling¨Cor was it his conscience, reminding him of the pain he¡¯d inflicted? Even as much as he tried to shove those dark memories down and forge a better path, He couldn¡¯t forget. He couldn¡¯t. Nothing he did now would ever bring back friends and loved ones lost because of Zacharias. ¡°You know there¡¯s other people that can handle these sorts of things.¡± Crosomer breathes a sigh of relief when King enters the room quietly. He¡¯s a slender, medium height man with immense composure, long brown hair neatly trimmed with just a touch of gray, large brown, expressive eyes, and a tightly pressed face that serves him well during negotiations, or poker night¨Canother invention of the 21st century that Robespierre found intriguing. He has no facial hair, and is wearing his usual dark arcanist business suit with a kerchief stuffed in one breast pocket, and an antique wind-up watch at his waist. A device Robespierre knows is plainly arcane, but its exact function is unknown to him. King kept secrets. And he kept a lot of them. He was also a man he could confide in when the murder happy dragoness was in one of her moods, or too busy with her own personal endeavors on the corporate floor. King is a man of many talents¨Che always could sniff out a secret, with almost unerring accuracy. He could negotiate, turn peoples¡¯ persuasions, and could solve problems where violence was not part of the solution. A trait he quite admired. Though Robespierre realized he might not always be telling the whole truth when they spoke. He relaxes and clicks his claws on the floor lightly. ¡°Been listening in for long, King?¡± ¡°Long enough,¡± he states plainly. ¡°I saw the reconstruction of the battle from your recording device. Shalinde¡¯s well trained. Well disciplined. DeVerdra is a powerhouse, and she¡¯ll be a formidable warrior.¡± ¡°And a good shot.¡± He rubs at the bandages on his left arm where he¡¯d been shot with that beast of a rifle she¡¯d been holding. ¡°Do we know who trained her?¡± ¡°Presumably her father. Sato DeVerdra, US air force, commendable field record¡­and lost his life defying orders to withdraw from an untenable situation against a vastly superior attack force, in order to protect civilians during the insurgent movement of the Taliban in Afghanistan, May of 2017. I have reports his widow refused to receive a medal of honor for him for his exemplary efforts.¡± King lets out a soft sigh. ¡°The arcane world turns, and the rest of the world burns.¡± ¡°You say that a lot,¡± Robespierre comments. ¡°It¡¯s true though. Such immense, regrettable losses of life¡­and for what?¡± King leaves the question lingering in the air. ¡°His widow also has military training, but I can¡¯t seem to get close enough to observe even in-person. Someone has put shroud enchantments on her person. Powerful ones. Tracking her is difficult.¡± ¡°Protections orchestrated by her husband?¡± Robespierre proposes. ¡°No. Something far deeper. DeVerdra is a mystery that I haven¡¯t focused on, and I find it very intriguing that answers do not come easily.¡± ¡°What about Rashalda?¡± ¡°You already know all there is. His parents were normal. And now they¡¯re deceased. Perhaps the woman was a half-dragon, but, there¡¯s no records. Some mages do manage to decouple from the arcane world, and live mundane lives, it¡¯s their choice to do so.¡± He however, suspects King is holding something back. He¡¯s got very subtle tells with the way he talks, tells that most others wouldn¡¯t notice, the speed at which he skips over certain words, or emphasizes others. ¡°It¡¯s telling when you say that, King. What¡¯s the problem?¡± ¡°There¡¯s missing records. Omissions that should not be missed.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Consider the Rashalda family history.¡± King looks at Crosomer with a more somber, reserved expression. ¡°Consider what happened to¨C¡± ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Crosomer practically spits the word out. ¡°Don¡¯t bring that up. Ever.¡± King simply stops, his face a chiseled stone, lacking emotion. He took no offense to the rebuke. ¡°I understand. But a buried past always has means and ways of being unburied in the present. I have some suspicions.¡± ¡°As do I.¡± Crosomer looks right at King. ¡°Where did Drenar get that dagger?¡± King looks mildly surprised, before giving his answer. ¡°You mean the one that cut through your rune trap, and concrete? I do not know.¡± He does know something, but perhaps not the whole story. He¡¯s likely already investigating, knowing him. Robespierre just can¡¯t prove he knows something, not yet. ¡°Find out. Head back to Opechea Falls. I¡¯ve got good reason to believe that if we are to convince Rashalda to join our cause, or aim him at the true oppressors, then we need to play this hand carefully. He¡¯s likely going to keep digging into the origins of our device, the means and methods we used. He might even be useful in finding my notes. Know how I know that? Because he¡¯s tenacious. As are his friends.¡± ¡°Noted.¡± King is straight and to the point. ¡°Also, steer him clear of Val, if you can? That blood-hungry dragoness will likely try to murder him, and everyone around him. for what happened in the mine. If she learns of his existence. Hence, why Val¡¯s soldiers that went on an ill-advised torch and burn, now work for me.¡± ¡°I agree. But going back to the notes, yours and Volkir¡¯s. You do know Asqualia is a hard target, Robespierre. The teleportal gate is hard coded for biometric ID¡¯s that can¡¯t be spoofed readily, and land access routes are heavily locked down. Trust me, even with my ability to get an override access through some shrewd means, I¡¯ve had to be extremely careful, and limit my presence and use of the portal, lest the activity log pick it up.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s still a long game,¡± Robespierre concludes before frowning. If even King was taking his time, he was worried about tipping off SAF, or the facility. ¡°I¡¯ve had threads going for months, and my inside man is working hard, but we¡¯re not ready yet. And Val is going to get word of what we are up to.¡± King steps closer, and speaks softly. ¡°If Val gets word of us playing the quiet game, she will jump in and do it herself. If anything is mis-played, she will turn a clandestine effort without a shot fired into a bloodbath. And neither of us want that.¡± ¡°Then keep Rashalda and his friends close,¡± Robespierre says with a press lipped smile. ¡°You like doing this kind of work, King. It¡¯s what you¡¯re best at. Playing people. Just be careful, because I think this group of determined youth is a little sharper than average.¡± ¡°So the fun begins. I¡¯ll make preparations, when we have our ticket in, I¡¯ll signal you, in person. I think Val¡¯s men are sniffing around¡­does she not get that we¡¯re all on the same team?¡± King asks in a mild break of composure. ¡°The only team she¡¯s on is her own, King. You¡¯ve worked with her long enough, and tried to reign in her impulses.¡± ¡°To limited effect.¡± The disappointment in King¡¯s tone is palpable. ¡°It¡¯s¡­difficult to work with her at times, even given her connections and resources.¡± ¡°Yeah, the murder happy dragoness is as cuddly as a Scinthian Ravager,¡± Robespierre says with a slight growl. King tries to hide a soft chuckle. ¡°I¡¯d like less crawly legs and a chitinous nightmare in the morning, thanks. No offense meant to the Ravager.¡± Even Robespierre can¡¯t hold back a laugh this time. V1<-->V2 Intermission Two: Meanwhile, at VAL’s Vested Executive Summit I hate every single one of you, you mewling, pathetic, misogynistic prigs. Valosterla Roshanikov has been repeating that in her head at the company meeting, on the twelfth floor of the Magitech Industries Corporate Building, and for good reason. Terry is busy prattling on about projected growth for the next quarter. Matthews is eyeballing her shirt and arcane-enhanced business suit again in an extremely unsubtle way. And while her figure is divine, he is completely, utterly below her. He''d have more luck finding his way into a coffin first than into her bed. A single glare at him left him a lot less brave, and he turns his head to face the corporate meeting. It¡¯s easier than facing the glare of a 180-centimeter woman with all the right curves in all the right places, bright red hair with black highlights, smooth pale white skin that has all the quality of a porcelain doll, and the piercing glare of her blue eyes. Beautiful ruby-red eyes, she thinks, but they don''t know that. Her contacts are standard policy per the Conclave to not have dragons stand out, so blue will have to suffice for now. She could just use a glamor to change her appearance, but why leave a point of failure in maintaining a guise? If he ogles her again, he will become a corpse. In the meantime, everyone''s attention is to the windfall of cash coming their way on the presentation, and organic growth and realized gains. She''s otherwise busy with items far more worthy of her attention than this utter drivel. Such as reviewing the footage from the disaster at Mount Syren. Every Talons operative''s camera feed from her ordered scuttling of the mine to bury evidence has been utterly useless in identifying the culprits. Most of them had been turned off or the quality was too terrible for effective use during the torch and burn. The one that did work had been damaged mid-way through an engagement with three teenagers and four of Crosomer''s men. That had been interesting to figure out. Meaning, every one of them failed to identify the upstart youths who had put several of her soldiers into the medical wing, and Crosomer had swiped all of them afterward, and had them transferred to his controlling division, or King¡¯s. Trying to rip one of their legs off with her bare hands might have been a bit¡­excessive, in retrospect. I do need to watch my temper a bit. You¡¯d think that wouldn''t be a problem after 1200 years of life. Stupid psycho bitch mom, even though you''re dead and buried because I put you there, you left me with some bad habits that I have to force myself to not fall into. Not that she didn''t utterly relish the violence of the battlefield. Or in bed. She allows a single poisonous grin to emerge on her face for a few seconds at that thought. She glances down at the tablet again. That male, in the mines. The video is too blurry to make out a face, but those azure and silver wings are¡­familiar. Why is he familiar? An old enemy? No, he is just Awakening, he''s a newcomer. The other two females also showed some aptitude, too. Too far away to make out details, but the raven-haired girl had been a deadly aim, overwhelming spell barriers with concentrated fire. Who are they? Crosomer had hand waved some explanation, saying he had it handled. Just a couple of children who had been out of their depth. So, she''s sure they''re dead now. Crosomer might have been locked away for seven centuries, but he had re-trained rapidly after getting out of the resilient sphere, and is now back up to fighting form. And he is methodical to a fault. He doesn''t leave things to chance. But why does she have a nagging feeling that this isn''t taken care of? They found nothing of value. The equipment was already stripped, at least, the items that mattered. Nothing that could connect to Magitech Industries. And certainly not to me. She¡¯ll have to make sure King ties up any potential loose ends. He''s good with that, though she despises his reluctance to make corpses in the process. Witnesses might be unreliable, but they''re still living evidence that needs to be buried. ¡°Val, can you comment on the arms sales for next year?¡± Bernice asks politely, all business and no pleasure for her with her bouncy golden locks and green eyes. She''s a sweetie, and Val might relish taking her home, but some boundaries do need to be maintained. She''s not running this place yet. Though that''s in the cards. She stands and towers over the boardroom. She''d tower over it more if she could take her true form now, sleek black and midnight blue scales and feathers, with that lovely crimson feather mane, but reasons meant she couldn''t. She needs them to love her for making them money. And not see how much she''s been skimming, funneling money to her private army of the Onyx Talons. Not a single one of them has a clue. ¡°Thank you, Bernice,¡± Valosterla says sweetly before gesturing to the presentation. ¡°As you can see, our military division has been making considerable year-over-year growth in the sub-divisions of small arms manufacturing, military arms conversion to augment existing weapons platforms, and new armor prototypes. We are also diversifying into Arcanist communications with enhanced encryption, and decreased lag time on transmission with our new line of products.¡± This continues for a few minutes as she details the sales, expected contracts with SAF, and additional contract options with several government liaisons who had expressed interest in clandestine, low-visibility Magitech that could be passed off as conventional technology. Essentially, hiding their involvement in the development. The numbers please almost everyone in the room, and there are smiles. And a flushed look from Bernice when Val smiles at her at the end. Oh you are curious, aren''t you? Careful, dear. I¡¯m the delicious poisoned red apple that killed Snow White, and a lot of other adversaries who thought they could bed me. She might have to risk this delicious little Goldilocks, she isn''t lacking in personality, just confidence. Probably had been rejected more than once by terrible men or a demanding girlfriend, she theorizes. She''s good at figuring that angle. Usually. ¡°I want the numbers for our military division broken down by customers. We''ve been getting complaints that our contracts have been anti-competitive.¡± She''s usually exceptional at also figuring out which upstart is going to call out a discrepancy, and today it''s Bennett. He''s been sitting there the whole meeting, like he had a stick up his backside. And he thinks he can pull it out and smack people on the nose with it. She addresses him with her planned counterplay. ¡°Seventy percent to SAF, fifteen percent to PMCs such as the Valkyries, and the remaining fifteen percent to normal government actors,¡± she assures him. ¡°No. I want to know why we''re charging so much for our small arms. We could lose the contracts if we keep these prices high. Or the Conclave might go over to Gruber,¡± Bennett says with a sneer. Those prices are carefully layered fraud of about fifteen billion over five years, and no one even knew a dime was missing, because they were making so much money. Of course, she could just rely on the trillion-dollar worth of her personal mine and base of operations, but getting that much magicite out into the market without drawing attention is a problem she hasn''t gotten a solution in position for. Yet. To say nothing of the adamantine in that mine. That''s worth even more. Bennett must have been checking the books. Damn it. No one has ever bothered to audit them, even though the fraud would be virtually impossible to see. ¡°We have expenditures and engineering time baked into the price point, I can provide the detailed contracts and the terms, though you might want to specify one or two.¡± She smiles at him, and he just sneers further. Bennett Magia. The company founder''s son. A sniveling little weasel looking to protect his future throne, and accusations of nepotism would be quite accurate here. He''s been on her list of obstacles to running this place. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. And she dealt with problems one of two ways. Persuading them that there was much to gain¡­ Or burying them. She''s leaning towards the latter on this one. She even has a theoretical plan, and a false trail of evidence ready. It involves him choking on that thousand-dollar-a-case wine he indulges in. All it would take is a few drops into the bottle, and his insides would start dissolving slowly enough for him to realize he stood no chance. The forensics will, of course, determine that the wine was part of a bad batch of fermented firefruit, and merely cast blame on that unfortunate winery for lack of process controls. King really does think of everything, even if she had ninety percent of the plan already in position. He also suggested the scorned wife that Bennett had been beating behind the scenes as a backup plan. She hates an accidental serving of justice. But Bennett has been prying too hard for any rational actor now. He continues to chew on her answer. ¡°If we can charge less, we charge less. We retain customers that way, or they go to Gruber, or they go to Merlin Firetech. Get expenses down." She knows she can''t. Not without cutting corners he knows can''t be cut without causing problems. ¡°Aren''t we supposed to maximize shareholder profit? Something that your father believes?¡± she asks sweetly. Poisonously sweet. ¡°I don''t like what you do with all our military contracts, even with our margins this high. I think we get better margins on power systems. Magitech reactors are selling like hotcakes, we need to step up there. There''s no new war to fight with mages. That money tap will shut off someday,¡± he warns her. But he''s not trying to fight her, he''s trying to convince the rest of the board. And she''s spent time making them money, killing rivals a couple of times, and partnering with the rest to build her influence beyond her station as a senior VP of military sales. She''s worked on some of the weapons herself, in person. She loves new ways of destroying her victims. She smiles as he finishes, but not for the reason he thinks is the case. The meeting is concluding, and he stands to rise, with one last command--he dares to command her? ¡°I want numbers on my desk Monday on how we cut expenditures. We need to get our parasitic costs down ten percent.¡± She grins, even at the impossible task. He isn''t going to be going to Daddy Dearest to get what he wants this time. He won''t be going to anyone soon enough. "Consider it done," she says with enthusiasm. I''m going to devour you, Bennett. And I''ll start with the little bits of you that you don''t need to keep you alive. Those habits do seem hard to kick, she thinks.
Valosterla thought that her setbacks couldn''t get more severe, but King is on an emergency call now, and has forcibly removed her ability to screen the call on her end. So, she ended up as a semi-unwilling participant while her assistant Melissa Zelinski set up the conference on a secure Arcanlink. This is not a way to start this week. Melissa is all wavy black hair, leaf green eyes, and a business skirt and blouse, showing just enough to exude confidence, but not enough to entice lecherous eyes. She''s deeper skinned than Valosterla, more lithe, and a little less divine. As a Hinterland green, she is an exceptional member of the species. And quite competent in assisting in a wide variety of technically complex problems. Val didn''t like using her for wet work. Melissa can carry out such tasks, but reluctantly. She is indeed worth the pittance she paid to make paperwork disappear from a quiet Ukrainian orphanage ten years ago¨Cafter the little clever girl had pickpocketed her on a business routine with some arms dealer for more armaments for the Talons. Later, after Val caught up to her and threatened to tear her apart one limb at a time, the sneaky girl pointed out her flaws in her personal defense enchantment, and blind spots on her route. She even pointed out the shroud enchantment that she had used to approach so closely without being detected. No optical camo gear required. And she had picked Val specifically for the challenge. For the first time in ages, her murderous mood had been soothed by calm, collected words. She took in the upstart young dragon on the spot, and trained the teenage girl to be something more than just a clever thief. It was nice to have someone competent she sort of considered an errant daughter. Unlike her son, who her now ex-lover had shuffled away and tried to get him to focus on business, and not eviscerating his enemies. She allows herself a single growl of annoyance. ¡°Problem, Val?¡± Melissa asks in a soft, unwavering voice with hints of honey. ¡°I just like to have the bad news at the early hours of the day, so I can have problems resolved or dead by lunchtime,¡± she says with a soft huff. ¡°King, what is so important that you have to bother me at my work?¡± ¡°We have a problem. SAF is now aware of our efforts in Opechea Falls. Even despite my best efforts to redirect and otherwise get them to prioritize lesser efforts, higher-ups are aware of the Mount Syren Mine operation. They''re sending a team to survey the site and extract evidence. With the minehead collapsed, they''ll have their work cut out for them.¡± ¡°So kill them,¡± Valosterla growls. ¡°Val, you know as well as I do that killing our way to solutions is not practical, and will earn more attention. Our best move is to do nothing, in this case. By the time they find anything, it''ll be weeks-old evidence, and nothing to indicate our current activities. Robespierre informed me that all critical data and personnel,¡± he adds with the slightest hint of irritation, ¡°are now at our secure facility after taking inventory.¡± ¡°So what''s the problem?¡± ¡°I have reason to believe they may discover other activities. We should begin packing up our clandestine lab. And I want to make it clear that burying problems isn''t a solution this time, given its¡­location.¡± That''s the first time King has ever explicitly ruled out violence. ¡°I need a few days of distractions to draw their attention, and reprioritize personnel.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± He''s making a request of her--he''s going to owe her, and she knows he hates asking her, and prefers self-sufficiency. He must be in a tight bind. ¡°I still need some items from Gruber Arms Company. Make some noise. A lot of noise.¡± Even though he''s as professional as they come, he can still sneak in an errant bit of humor that most others wouldn''t get away with. ¡°We can be packed up and dismantled in four days.¡± ¡°Three,¡± Valosterla counters. ¡°I still have a business to run, you know. I''m busy working my way to the top, and by this time next year, you¡¯ll be greeting the new CEO of Magitech Industries, and then I don''t have to keep up the guise to that fat bastard, Bennett senior.¡± She can''t wait to see that old fogey die in his bed. She does want to make that one...intimate. She licks her lips in anticipation of the deed. King frowns even as she relishes the thought. ¡°Priorities, Val. Your day job is essential to our efforts, but this is a delicate dance. A misstep will be costly, and cooler heads must prevail.¡± It''s almost as if he can read her mind. ¡°Oh, I trust you, King. But patience is not infinite,¡± she states with a sneer. ¡°If I get you three days, will you be done?¡± ¡°Three days. You have my word. We¡¯ll be in touch.¡± He disconnects the call after she gives him a single nod. She taps her nails on the desk, and Melissa clears her throat. ¡°Your thoughts?¡± she asks her in an implied permission to speak freely. ¡°King¡¯s up to something. He is working on this, but he''s up to some secondary task,¡± she assesses. ¡°They don''t call him the Kingmaker for nothing.¡± ¡°It''s delightful to know that even as mortally weak as he is, he is still exceptionally good at securing his importance,¡± Valosterla purrs. She likes that in a man. He didn''t let his weaknesses stop him, few as they were. ¡°We¡¯ll keep an eye on him. Though, I suspect he''s also planned for that.¡± ¡°Awakening two point one million dragons, tearing down the Conclave, setting up a new government, and giving guidance to the rest of the world? He''s got contingencies to contingencies,¡± Melissa grouses with a toss of her hair. ¡°I still don''t trust him.¡± ¡°Well, I didn''t trust you either, when you successfully stole my brooch,¡± Valosterla retorts with a light smile. ¡°Let''s get back to tearing down this institution first, before I become the first dragon CEO, shall we?¡± ¡°I get Bennett Junior''s office. If he ever smacks my ass again, I won''t wait for you to dispose of him,¡± Melissa snarls. ¡°I even have a plan for an unfortunate industrial accident down in weapons testing. It''ll be quite tragic. And fitting. He''s still beating his wife weekly, and that''s one score I want to see corrected,¡± she adds with a grim smile. ¡°See, that''s what I love about you Melissa. Initiative,¡± Valosterla grins. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to reset the ¡®working days since an accident¡¯ counter soon, won''t we?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Melissa adds with a light smile. "Well, this is no singing and dancing gig, but it''s fun in its own ways." "Hmm, don''t I know it. Still say I could have the world to my dance and tune as a singer, but Friday nights will have to scratch that itch," she says with a contented sigh. All in a day''s work. 🎵 V1<-->V2 Intermission Three: The Baddest Dragon Suka Of The Land 🎵 Valosterla has one highlight to her week as part of her position as the co-leader of the Talons: strategies to keep morale high and incentives to keep operatives loyal to the causes. Or lacking that, a paycheck. Unbeknownst to many, she hasn''t always been a ruthless VP rising through the ranks, and had a prior career in many different flavors. She''d been a pretty successful warlord, and a head of a cult that had unfortunately Darwin awarded themselves collectively out of existence, and other less savory roles. Killing people for money was a favorite. But it got boring when she was sent out to kill utter weaklings. They stood no chance against a Siberian hellkite who could turn a human into a running tiki torch with just the right amount of black flame. She can''t help but hide a smile, they all screamed for mercy, or just just plain screamed while trying to put out the fire. It usually didn''t work. Unless, they landed in water. She considered that being a poor sport, and it ruined her fun. Then she''d just hover there, and wait for them to run out of air and finish the job. Even more amusing were the few who continued to play the ¡®holding their breath¡¯ contest. She won that game every time. But the best job was in her younger days as a young artist, singing with a melodious voice gifted to her by her father. The one positive influence in her life, done in by her psycho mother, because he flirted innocently with the wrong dragoness in a bout of humor. Mother was savage in dismembering him, and her children learned that happiness was not something they would ever have. So when a young Val left home to get away from the controlling sadist, song and theater became a pastime and a career for a while. Why waste such an amazing figure serving her lessers, when she could command a presence with it and inspire them? Which is why Friday nights are reserved for song, dance, and motivation. It''s the one time she emphasizes attendance optional, and everyone shows up. Ironic, that. ¡°Val, I should let you know, Zeke''s team is having some interference at the Mount Syren¨C¡± her assistant Melissa Zelinski starts to offer politely. ¡°Melissa, the show must go on,¡± Valosterla purred as she put on blood red lipstick, and pursed her lips together for that perfect application. Her dress and figure is the envy of world leaders and captains of industry alike¨Cmostly because there''s barely anything left to the imagination with those curves, and she pulls it just a little higher. It''s a bit of a tighter fit on her thighs, and it might look like it''s a completely useless defense, but the arcane runes on it means she can eat a hit from a tank round and keep on singing. ¡°Don''t spoil my fun¨Cor the rest of the team''s.¡± She glances back to the mirror, checking to make sure everything is in order. Her bright red, wavy hair with black highlights is tied back neatly, and her ruby red eyes almost shine with their own light, accented by her narrow cheeks, and pale color skin that is unmarred by blemishes¨Cjust the occasional faint battle scar, but those did nothing to detract others. If anything, some men¨Cespecially dragons¨Cfound it quite attractive. Even the narrow cheekbones and angularity of her face, like her dragon form, appeals to many, and suggests old-world nobility. She learned from an early age she was an allure to many, and she used it to full advantage, and worked hard on maintaining this apex figure. Partially as discipline for herself, and partially to command attention on her terms. Even though she''s shapely, that subtle musculature could cleave a man clear in half. And provided some notable endurance in all arenas. Especially the bedroom. She smiles lightly, though Melissa doesn''t get the context. Her assistant is a tall, spry woman with her black hair and green eyes, wearing a business suit like usual, and always on her secretary tablet. She''s always assisting Valosterla with all her above-board daytime activities, and her clandestine private military activities. ¡°What are you thinking, Val?¡± she says with a light tone, like someone laced honey into words themselves. ¡°As much as I love the appeal of conquest and ascension, it''s the small bits I love the most,¡± she says with a contented sigh. ¡°I can''t believe you used to do this for a living, before you became a VP of the largest mage corporation in the world. Doesn''t it seem a little¡­regressive?¡± Melissa asks with reservation. ¡°Darling, you spend enough time in the world, you acquire many talents. You are a mere hatching, but so well rehearsed in many fields of subterfuge and Magitech complexity. And running a business! Imagine what you can do with a few centuries more. Humans made you soft, made you think less of your potential. I simply showed you what you can be, with the right tools and the right motivation.¡± This is what she loves about Melissa. She always pays attention. Unlike her son, who is constantly busy obsessing over that stupid phone of his, and muttering about grudges against one kid who apparently beat him badly during a fencing lesson. She should look into that. Or even better, his uncle Davos can. Unlike her now ex-lover, his brother was actually quite useful, apart from providing money and influence. He killed people for fun and he was very good at it, even as a human. She wouldn''t have believed his boast about killing a Maridian silver in that hulking armor he always wore, and certainly not solo. The skull mounted on his mantle was the real deal though, in that little harem hall he kept for himself. She knew he wasn''t lying. A shame, really. If he''d been born a dragon, he would have been unstoppable. It''s probably the best compliment she can give a human. But those are later problems now. She''s ready for this stage, and she can hear the raucous sounds in the theater. For having a secret base away from just about everyone, she has incorporated a few decent perks during its construction. A small band of Talons foot soldiers have put on a decent band as a pre-show. The piano man is quite decent on his warm-up for her set. Maybe dragons didn''t have the monopoly on top talent, she thinks with annoyance. Well, that is going to get fixed once she finishes her project with Crosomer. Melissa has urgently been trying to get her attention again. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°There''s a¨C¡± ¡°If you say there''s a call or a problem that needs fixing, fix it. I''ll manage it later. Do be a dear and take care of it?¡± She says with a hint of annoyance. ¡°I''ll take care of it, Val.¡± She leaves the room, and talking angrily into a secure phone by the time she''s down the hall. She''s more focused on her prep, and goes through some practice notes. Pitch perfect. She''s still got it where it counts, and she¡¯s still early in her prime. She lets out a wicked smile when one of the men lets her know the set is ready. One short walk backstage, and she is greeted to cheers, and a few catcalls. She¡¯ll allow it. They all know she is the one who does the picking up around here, and they better beware that she is too much for any of them to handle. And they better not disappoint when she brings them to her quarters. Most are out of uniform, a few, perhaps just off their shifts and unable to switch over. Working a crowd is always fun, whether it''s on the battlefield, or in a less visceral arena. She taps the small microphone, and they¡¯re in awe. Even a few of the ladies. Hmm¡­it''s been a while since I took home a redhead, let''s see how this goes. ¡°Fellow soldiers, welcome, glad you could make it to our Friday night festivities! I can see you boys have been really busy out there!¡± She says with a wide smile. They''re all here for her now, and she''s got all their attention. Let them gawk awkwardly, even unsubtly. She''s a goddess, whether she''s in her scaled down human form, or in her mighty dragon form, and she commands this stage uncontested. ¡°So, there were some¡­requests that came my way. Due to the last incident, we kindly ask you to keep your limbs a respectable distance from the stage. Wesley is still in the burn unit, and we warned him, too!¡± Wesley also is an idiot, and got too close to a deadly Siberian hellkite who was having a good time, she thinks shrewdly. ¡°So, who''s ready for a good time?!¡± Roaring applause permeates the room. She knows why most of them joined and it wasn''t just a paycheck to keep their families fed. She knows the value of settling scores and doling out justice against the unjust. Even if it''s all to serve her interests and solving one massive personal grudge she''s got. ¡°Louder!¡± she roars, and circles the stage, and the audience follows to the letter. They love this. They might also love her, but that part''s inconsequential. ¡°Alright then! Let''s kick off this number!¡± She gives a nod to the piano man, who starts up a chipper, upbeat note that echoes in the chamber. This rhythm is different from the battlefield, it is controlled, and the emotion flows across her in a tempo. Killing wasn''t this methodical, and the pleasure is different, but it is on par. And then she sings... "When I was a wee young egg, I was happy in my shell. Breaking free, I came to see A place that wasn''t swell. So I vowed to change it, I worked and toiled hard. Now I sit o¡¯er my throne, Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. and look out to my yard. Minions all adore me, They know I''ve done so well. Those who see it different, They all end up in hell! So I quest for others to join my noble cause. Surely you will join me, Or end up in my claws!" She relishes this moment, when the piano man gives a wild sweep across the board. She breaks out to a boisterous tone, charisma and confidence exuding from her every fiber. ¡°The baddest dragon suka of the land! Oh yes, that¡¯s me! The greatest of the brand! Shredding and slashing, tearing and biting! You¡¯re best to look out, oh I''m so frightening! When my foes see me, they should all just hide, ''Cuz they know the end, they¡¯ll just all be fried! They all try to run, surely that won''t do! They all end screaming, torn by midnight blue! Because I''m the baddest dragon suka! It''s a life of villainy, and ain''t it GRAND! The roar of the crowd is breaking out, and cheers are all she hears. It''s easy to stride across the stage, flashing smiles in that brief pause. Her mother had a complete lack of love, so now she''s making up for lost time. ¡°Boys, you''ve seen me in the trenches, peeling spines and torching wenches! Carving swaths of broken bodies, on a path to golden lobbies! Surely we have hit a hitch, Someday soon, I''ll kill that bitch! So don''t worry, leave the benches The fool shills are out of wrenches! ¡°The baddest dragon suka of the land! Oh yes, that¡¯s me! The greatest of the brand! Shredding and slashing, tearing and biting! You¡¯re best to look out, oh I''m so frightening! When my foes see me, they should all just hide, Cuz they know the end, they¡¯ll just all be fried! They all try to run, surely that won''t do! They all end screaming, torn by midnight blue! Because I''m the baddest dragon suka! It''s a life of villainy, and ain''t it GRAND!¡± They love this. They love her. That kind of devotion, you can''t get with a payment of coin. She''s an acrobat on the stage, flashing her ferocious grin while the piano man plays an interlude, focused on his small but key part. Even Melissa is tapping and nodding along on the side, and the faintest hint of a smile. ¡°You''ve all been places rather dour too! Some of you remember our Waterloo! But we''ve come back, oh yes, with an axe to grind! We¡¯re the comeback kids, they better watch behind! The Conclaves¡¯ a speed bump, on a path to glory! Go pack an umbrella, this¡¯ll get quite gory! Your baddest dragon suka has a plan! Do join in, and kill them to a man!¡± Pianoman is hitting those notes, and she''s started to transform to her superior form for a show of force. They''re all in awe, maybe even afraid, but they all respect the might of their leader. She surveys the crowd, stretching her wings and feeling that the dress transforms along her to something a little less flirty, and more commanding. A sporty dress meant to show all her sleekness and deadliness, black and midnight blue scales and her blood red feather mane. Val prepares for her final note, all the power in this room seemingly flowing to her. It''s absolutely divine. On her final set, her deeper tone carries might and authority, fitting for her well earned victories in the boardroom, and on the battlefield. ¡°The baddest dragon suka of the land! Oh yes, that¡¯s me! The greatest of the brand! Shredding and slashing, tearing and biting! You¡¯re best to look out, oh I''m so frightening! When my foes see me, they should all just hide, Cuz they know the end, they¡¯ll just all be fried! They all try to run, surely that won''t do! They all end screaming, torn by midnight blue! Because I''m the baddest dragon suka! They don''t have a chance, and it''s oh so GRAAAAAND!¡± Valosterla lets loose a gout of controlled blue black flame on her final note, illuminating the theater in a brilliant blue shifting light. It''s a delicate motion, she really doesn''t want to burn her own house down. Or anyone not deserving a torching, and the crowd is on their feet, cheering as she finishes with a final flourish, deadly talons clicking on the stage, and a ruffle of feathers as she bows. She lets out a wicked grin, because this is motivation. This is the power of influence. She might lapse a little on the battlefield, but here¨Chere¨Cshe is in complete control. ¡°We love you Val! Let''s torch those controlling pricks!¡± Someone shouts bravely from the crowd. A minor lack of formalities, but she¡¯ll allow it. She''s in too good a mood. It''s followed by others, and she notices someone else off stage, clapping with marked restraint. King? I wonder what brings him here. She gives her farewells to the bustling crowd, and shifts back to her more compact human form before she walks backstage. She greets him with a cordial smile. ¡°Glad you could make it King. Come here for the show, or...something a little more intimate?¡± She teases wickedly. This man has not one iota of sexual drive, even as she tries her best to entice him with just the right motions. It''s almost a challenge to her. But business is business. Better to not cross that line and make a partnership complicated. He''s still wearing that grim look, and even Melissa looks anxious. Something is off. ¡°King, you look like you have bad news. It''s Friday. This is the mandated day of relaxation and morale building. Pretend to have a good time for once, will you?¡± A gentle caress on his shoulder is met with that stony expression he wears that makes him quite unreadable, even to her. A professional, through and through. Even if it made him a bit of a square at a festive event. ¡°Your scuttling of Mount Syren has a problem. Someone beat us there. Data is missing. Men are injured. And I''ve got zero leads. Crosomer says he handled it, but you might want to talk to him in person.¡± Her fingers tense like they would if she still had claws. ¡°Get me a phone. Now.¡± Her joyous mood instantly sank like a broad side to her psyche. No one ruins her fun and lives. V1<-->V2 Intermission Four: The Kingmaker Most people would avoid meeting in the middle of the day when it came to clandestine operations. Most people wouldn¡¯t meet directly and would use intermediaries, word-of-mouth, and be wary of watchful eyes. Eyes in the sky are a constant issue these days, even in the mage world¨Ca cheap hobby drone could easily be retrofitted with an enhanced observation package to render the most utter secrecy absolutely moot. Most people aren¡¯t King. He¡¯s the one who watches others. And no one gets the drop on him, at least, not in a way that he can¡¯t control the outcome to favor him at every turn. Today is no different. He¡¯s meeting with his contacts on the ground in Opechea Falls on Tuesday afternoon, and trying to ascertain just how much damage Valosterla and her underlings have caused. And, how much of a mess he¡¯s going to have to clean up. He¡¯s here to put the next phase of this operation into motion. And that particular operation requires several moving parts to align perfectly in order to make this work. One of them, is a technician who has been setting up for an operation into the Asqualia Research Center, the premier research and magical artifact disposition center of the mage world. The other more critical moving part is Drenar Rashalda, and his band of misfits whom he¡¯s been leading around, searching for answers, and were responsible for part of the disaster at the mine. King mulls their involvement while he¡¯s waiting for his contact at the small cafe just around the corner from the theater, sips a cup of tea, and traces the rim of the cup slowly with a well-manicured finger. To everyone else, he¡¯s just a face in the crowd with medium-length brown hair with just a touch of gray in a spot or two, soft brown eyes, and a smooth-worn face that has all the emotion of a slab of stone. He rarely allowed himself excitation in any direction when it came to feelings. Feelings got in the way of doing business, with the sole exception of knowing when someone was trustworthy or not. To the rest of the world, he¡¯s an unremarkable medium-height male, and wearing a dark vest over a button-down shirt and slacks. An ancient pocket watch is tethered to a clasp, and he checks the time¨Ca smartphone is always risky in his line of work, even given the simplicity it provides in keeping contacts, documents, and some other functions. But he still keeps a highly secured one with the bare minimal functions and all the impolite trackers disabled. ¡°Another cup of tea, sir?¡± the waitress asks with a polite tilt of her head. He glances up from his notebook of painstaking scripting and smiles politely. ¡°I¡¯ll have one more, thank you, miss¡­Dublin?¡± He recalls her name from one of the cooks barking out an order to her from the kitchen five minutes prior. She blushes slightly at this, as if knowing a name is highly personal. ¡°I¡¯ll also have the club sandwich. Two, in fact. I received a note that my associate will be delayed.¡± She smiles lightly at this. ¡°Yes, absolutely, Mister¡­¡± ¡°Roland.¡± It¡¯s the first name that comes to mind¨Crather unremarkable. He sees that she¡¯s in her early thirties, lacking a wedding band, and given the state of this town, possibly lonely and lacking true friends. It¡¯s a shame, really¨Cshe is quite decent-looking with mousy brown hair neatly tied back and colorful hazel eyes, perhaps she had missed the bandwagon to college in her early years and never could find a way out of this town. ¡°A pleasure.¡± She¡¯s blushing even harder¨Cthey must be either lacking in suitable company in this town¨Ca possibility that is more a probability, given the amount of time he¡¯s spent here¨Cor it¡¯s been a bad day for her and she needs a reprieve from the mundaneness. ¡°Yes, tea and two chicken clubs. I¡¯m uh¡­actually I¡¯m curious. Why the dress-up look? I get all sorts to come through here, but¡­not dressed like that.¡± He smiles lightly, not many actually comment on his attire. ¡°Professionalism can be carried anywhere, my dear. It¡¯s a mindset as much as it is a physical element, and my work requires the highest degree of focus.¡± He¡¯s not even lying when he says that, either, given the work he¡¯s been doing jump-starting a mage revolution, undoing a seven-hundred-year exile of a few million dragons, and dealing with the one dragoness who has the resources to pull it off. If only she weren¡¯t so utterly savage and reprehensible, given her past. Crosomer had warned him that she was power-hungry, and he wished he¡¯d seen the warning signs sooner. She had been very good at hiding behind the mask of a professional businesswoman for a long time and obscuring her own efforts in the Talons to the visibility of the world. Beneath that pale skin and rosy lips was a monster ready to devour the world if left unchecked. King never left threats unchecked, and he certainly put forward efforts to mitigate the worst of it and mold people to choose better paths. This one, however, he had his work cut out for him. But the decent-looking girl named Dublin, he¡¯d have to disappoint her. It was safer for her, anyway. ¡°So you work as an upstart venture capitalist with millions of dollars?¡± she observes shrewdly. It¡¯s not a bad guess. It¡¯s just completely lacking in the scale of what he really does. ¡°Billions,¡± he states simply, and she laughs at this. Hiding in absurdity is always a delight of his. ¡°Alas, it¡¯s more of a trick of accounting, I don¡¯t really have billions floating at any one time. And other people consider it their money.¡± ¡°Ah Roland, you¡¯re a breath of fresh air! What brings you out here anyway? I think I¡¯ve seen you a time or two before here, but I think Bernice was serving you,¡± she says with a contented sigh. ¡°Business. There are changes for the future of this town, and I hope they will be worthy investments,¡± he states simply. ¡°Hah, this place?¡± She laughs a little too loudly. ¡°Pretty sure you should look at Monroe down the road, or Denver if you want to do that.¡± ¡°Looks can be deceiving,¡± he says with a slight smirk. ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll try the herbal tea this time. I like black tea, but I do like a little variety.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± she says and practically skips off. King allows himself one soft smile. The small moments are really where the magic is. He looks back to his notes and dossiers of all the known drakensouls and half-dragons in the area¨Cand some who were decidedly off the regular registry. Jimmy Cabresa had really screwed up, letting that medical data get into the hands of a mister Nicholas Deshandrea. A man he had heard of before as a master monster hunter and professional agent, and his even more well-known friend and fellow investigator, Levine Dillenger. They knew he existed, which is a problem in itself, and Dillenger is persistent to a fault. Both of them were now in contact and guarding Rashalda, the Shalindes, and DeVerdra. Rashalda had Awakened, the other two were not far behind him, and they all showed exceptional aptitude and raw strength that he had seen rarely before. King knew the history of the Rashaldas. He knew of their potential. And he also knew that Val had tangled with the Rashaldas before, long ago¨Cwith Alexander Rashalda, in fact. She hadn¡¯t been forthcoming on the details, but he had correctly intuited a little obsession for grudges, and he suspects it¡¯s not the only thing she¡¯s not letting go of. Which is why it was important for this Rashalda to stay off the radar. He had plans for him, and his friends. It was probable they were already trying to track down the other Talons operations in the area, but King didn¡¯t know if they were aware of what they had planned for Asqualia. Dillenger and Deshandrea had gone effectively dark¨Ca level of obstruction he found amusing because they were giving up resources they really needed in order to stay off the radar. But he wouldn¡¯t underestimate any of them. Now, how to go about the next step¡­ You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Rashalda was pseudo-leading the group, and he could be convinced to step in and save the day, even given his lack of training. But he wasn¡¯t headstrong¨Che showed a degree of tactical and technical prowess to get through the mine and the fight against Crosomer in one piece. King does note there is the meeting this evening¨Cperhaps if someone were to drop a hint¨C There it is. The plan is in motion, he thinks with a smile. His miniature internal celebration is interrupted by the clanging of the tacky brass bell at the door, and someone sitting down across from him at the table, in the corner of the cafe. ¡°Problems, Lavernius?¡± King asks the newcomer in a quiet tone. The middle-aged blonde man with blue eyes shakes his head¨Che¡¯s a little out of breath, as if he¡¯d known he was late and tried to make up time. Bernard Lavernius. An old associate of his, from years ago who had walked back into the light after he met a certain dragon, currently his wife. A shame, really. He is rather talented at teleportal technology and leyline navigation. ¡°The hardware shipped in. I¡¯m moving it in now. We¡¯ll be ready hopefully by Friday,¡± he states simply, but he¡¯s anxious. ¡°You know what we agreed to. You know how important it is.¡± ¡°Clandestine. I understand. Which is why Val is out of the loop on this one,¡± King states quietly as he takes another sip of tea. ¡°So, no problems at all?¡± ¡°Nah. None so far. It''s a cakewalk to get the arcane circuitry resoldered. You know I did this for you for years, King. I didn¡¯t do this lightly this time. I¡¯ve got a family now. Kids. If Val ever gets word of this, she¡¯ll leverage them because she thinks fear is the great motivator.¡± King puts up a hand of easement. ¡°I know, Bernard. I didn¡¯t ask you to do this for a debt. I asked it as a favor because the alternative is¡­something I really can¡¯t afford in my conscience,¡± King says with a slight outward breath. ¡°We¡¯ll be in and out. Keycards will be spliced to get us in, down to the vault. You¡¯ve already provided the most complete prints, I don¡¯t expect much else, given the security level, and that Volkir might be alive in there somewhere. Hiding, as some of the old school dragons are wont to do.¡± Lavernius looks shocked. ¡°The Volkir?¡± he says barely over a whisper. ¡°The guy that caused the deaths of two million dragons? I thought he was dead!¡± ¡°I think the reports of his demise are¡­exaggerated. Asqualia was a construct he treated as a home, and I believe there is a probability he is alive¡­and he might have feelers out. He may know what¡¯s coming. He¡¯s a clever old dragon. Which is why it¡¯s imperative to stay as quiet as possible.¡± ¡°But you really think the notes for the Kilnstar¡¯noth could help us? Could we really undo Ascension?¡± King nods only once. ¡°It¡¯s another step. I have other teams at two regions scouring for old Dragon Empire archives locations. You needn¡¯t worry about those operations. Just promise me that after this happens, you go to ground, keep your nose clean, and never, ever get even remotely close to Talons operations. I¡¯ll keep you in the loop.¡± Lavernius nods wearily. ¡°I made my choices a long time ago, King. I worked with you. Some of the stuff we¡¯ve done¡­we don¡¯t plan on it, but sometimes, people got hurt. Or worse. Are we really the good guys on this, versus the Conclave?¡± King sets down his tea. ¡°Good and evil are arbitrary constructs, written by the victors of history. One mans¡¯ terrorist is another mans¡¯ freedom fighter. But there is nothing as egregious as the near-extinction of a species, and what the Conclave is doing to all Kin. The domino effect the Ascension events had on mage society has left us on the brink, and I believe there were other unintended effects of the artifact when it triggered,¡± King says with a look of concern. ¡°You better not trust Val on this. If your goal is to fix the world, make sure that murder happy dragoness is¨C¡± ¡°Bernard. This is not how we do business,¡± King says as if he were scolding a child. ¡°She will be useful for many endeavors, and despite some of her¡­predispositions¡­she is an effective business partner.¡± ¡°Just make sure that when you¡¯re done reversing the Ascension, and the Conclave goes up in flames, you torch that device. Bury the pieces in as many unreachable places as you can,¡± Lavernius warns him. ¡°I doubt I¡¯ll have much input. Best case, I keep my job and continue to be an unimportant technician out of all of this and fade into obscurity. Worst case¡­Make sure Maribelle and the kids get through this in one piece. I have a¡­contingency set aside.¡± Lavernius swallows uncomfortably. ¡°It won¡¯t come to that.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t know for certain. You¡¯re good, King, you¡¯re the best at what you do¡­but people like Val are irrational. Sheer, utter chaos. You can¡¯t predict every outcome.¡± He slides a biometric ID discreetly under his notebook. ¡°Access card. Meet me tomorrow night. I¡¯ll explain the layout and go over every step, it¡¯s best to survey it yourself. This card will work once, so we can¡¯t waste it. Beyond that, they¡¯ll pick you up on the teleportal access logs, this is an admin-level clearance. This was not easy to get.¡± King smiles faintly. Everything is in order so far. ¡°Perfect. Now, I have one question for you¡­your daughter knows DeVerdra, correct?¡± ¡°...What about her? Leave them out of this King, I know that look and I know that tone. They¡¯re kids, not pawns.¡± King closes his notebook, and leans in. ¡°Ask me who DeVerdra is.¡± ¡°What?¡± Lavernius looks legitimately puzzled. ¡°Ask me. Who she is.¡± ¡°Her mother? Kiera? She works in the hospital, that¡¯s all I know, very friendly, strong as a¡­well, a dragon I suppose, but that isn¡¯t my business to know. I don¡¯t pry into people''s lives, unlike you.¡± Lavernius looks distinctly irritated now. Best to cut to the chase. King leans in and whispers something to him. He lets out a gasp and instantly goes pale. ¡°No. No way. How the hell do you know that? They¡¯ll find you and kill you if they ever find out you know that.¡± ¡°Maybe that¡¯s the plan,¡± King says with a calm expression. ¡°I have backup plans. And rest assured, I do not enact such plans without a great degree of contemplation of the risks. You¡­understand what I am telling you, yes?¡± ¡°If things go to hell¡­She¡¯s the best shot at fixing our mess. Fates King, you play one dangerous game.¡± Lavernius slumps in his seat, and the waitress comes back with the meals and an additional tea for King. He grabs the meal reluctantly after a moment, and King nods. ¡°Don¡¯t we all, Bernard. Sometimes I wonder if the costs of what we are trying to do are more than we can ever bear. But change has to happen. And you know why.¡± Lavernius nods weakly, all while trying to enjoy his sandwich that likely tastes like ash in his mouth now. ¡°Your daughter is meeting with some of the local talent of the Talons. Don''t try to dissuade her. It will be safer if my plan works. Just make sure that when Friday rolls around, she is free and clear of Asqualia and the Mercadian Promenade,¡± King cautions him. Lavernius glares at him. ¡°You knew.¡± ¡°Of course I knew she Awakened. It¡¯s not surprising. And the best way I can keep her safe is to direct her to others who are more adept than I initially gave credit. Well, the best plan for now. We¡¯ll be in touch.¡± Lavernius finishes his meal, and rises slowly, but not before giving King one last warning shot. ¡°Anything happens to Kelly, I will come and bury you myself, King. People aren¡¯t pawns.¡± He doesn¡¯t take offense to this, he had dropped rather inconvenient information on this man whom he considered a friend. One of few friends he had, now that he thought about it. Maybe he needed more of those and fewer business partners. King leaves the bill total plus a generous tip, and a polite note for Dublin. He hopes he¡¯ll be able to revisit this place, if all goes according to plan. It was sort of¡­nice, having someplace quiet, where the risks weren¡¯t sky-high. But he¡¯d been down that road before. Now he had a failed marriage, and a son who didn¡¯t even know who he was, and it filled him with a slight remorse. Maybe when this is over¡­that¡¯s one thing I can fix. Among many. The bell clangs agitatedly behind him. V1<-->V2 Intermission Five: The Ranger and the Bard Sunday Evening¡­ Angela ponders how she got here. The moment when she¡¯s sitting in the kitchen of Drenar¡¯s house, busily talking about world-spanning conspiracies, insurrectionist mages with a history of violence, and an artifact that could alter the world. Also, dragons. It¡¯s her wildest dream to come to life. If only the dragon in her head wouldn''t stop chattering, poor Samarina is almost as frustrated as she is with the extremely limited communication methods. She''s fortunate that Samarina knows a small portion of Latin and French, for some reason. And draconic. That''s not going to be an easy one to learn after Nick recognized the phrases. It had been a very slow translation, cut off when Samarina would just¡­disappear. She couldn''t feel that slight tingle down her spine or wrapped around her mind at the moment. Drenar had explained that he had the same situation with Alex inside his head, before Awakening. He had been intermittent, and it wasn''t until the battle in the mine that his presence solidified. So, one mystery down. The bigger mystery is why Samarina hasn''t picked up English yet. Translating has been very slow for the obvious reason that no one can hear her, and the language is meant more for dragon physiology. Tonal notes from the throat are easier in that form. Nick had been spending the evening after an exhausting day of training cooking a meal with the well-stocked fridge, and Levine had also called in using a secure arcanlink¨Ca magical communication that was highly secure and high-quality audio, and continued with his forensic analysis. The files that they''d managed to secure had been easy to open; Crosomer and company hadn''t bothered to encrypt them. A lucky break that probably wouldn¡¯t happen again. ¡°So, Nick, know how I said it couldn''t be done?¡± Levine asks warily. ¡°Well, guess what, it can be done. Despite their atrocious combat record, those researchers know their stuff. I could use data analysts like them under the team.¡± ¡°Uh, minor problem. They work for team villains, and the pay is probably better on the dark side,¡± James points out in a way that causes Nick to wince. ¡°What, it''s true, man, who descends to a life of scum and villainy without recognizing that the path to money is quicker, if more risky?¡± ¡°Points to the young upstart, but the big takeaway is, that machine can pierce into the aether. It can activate dormant draconic genes to an active state, and begin a process almost identical to Awakening. And it is far from the only thing it does, if Crosomer is telling the truth. It destroyed almost all the dragons.¡± ¡°Dude, they built their own pyre, marched right up to it, doused themselves in gasoline, and dropped a torch at their feet. They went and had a knee-jerk reaction to staying out of history, and that''s the opinion I''m sticking with,¡± James retorts. ¡°They''re shapeshifters. They could have easily kept blending in. That talk of staying out of the way of history is bogus. Whoever was selling the story they could get off this world wanted this outcome. So who was the snake oil salesman?¡± ¡°Does it really matter?¡± Drenar sighs. He looks exhausted, and has a few more bruises than when the day started, much to Angela''s annoyance. ¡°History happened. Move on from it. What have we learned that is crucial to the next step?¡± ¡°They were working off a partially completed translation matrix. They took detailed notes from Crosomer''s journal. Nigel documented the whole damn thing!¡± Levine says almost proudly. ¡°The stick I got this from was only a backup, and Crosomer has the journal still. He had it partially translated seven hundred years ago. It''s ancient draconic. It''s so ancient I can''t even read more than a few symbols. And the language structural rules don''t seem to be the same. It''s very strange.¡± ¡°So they can''t reverse the whole process?¡± Nick asks while handing Angela a well-cooked chicken breast with salad greens. She feels utterly famished and smiles politely at him before digging in, along with everyone else. ¡°Sounds like they hit roadblocks. Energy limitations and the incomplete translation matrix. I see references to other sites they''re searching, but nothing concrete. Needless to say, I''m still digging through it. What about their local help, Nick? I know you guys are¡­still recovering somewhat.¡± Levine sounds hesitant over the line. ¡°We¡¯ll be alright,¡± Drenar answers back. ¡°So, um¡­I know we¡¯ve talked a lot about our plans about how to track these scumbags, and I think we have a plan for the school. Hah. School. What a joke now, I''m a half-dragon who had a hand in throwing a beating at an ancient mage warlord, and I have to concern myself with school,¡± he laughs, as if he finds it funny. "Is he¡­okay?¡± Levine inquires. ¡°He''s just digging into absurdity. He''s fine,¡± Julia says proudly and gives his shoulder a rub. ¡°Fear not, everyone will be brain dead after a three-day weekend!¡± ¡°You are unusually chipper, Tsundere,¡± Angela says with a slight smile. ¡°What did you two do last night?¡± ¡°Netflix and chilled?¡± He shrugs. ¡°Ah Fates, normalcy. I could use more of that here. Nick, intro time! I must hear about your exploits as the double-O dragon!¡± ¡°Oh no. The less you know about me, the better off you are. You''ll find I¡¯m quite boring,¡± Nick replies back. He''s busily carving up his meal and taking a break from cooking. Levine chuckles in the background. ¡°Don''t need any help here, Dillenger,¡± he says with a sigh. ¡°Oh he''s not boring, don''t let him fool you,¡± Levine says, and Angela has to admit, it¡¯s true. He is quite interesting. And even though she found it annoying that he''s had to keep his true form a secret, along with his job¡­she didn''t hate him for the less-than-stellar reveal. ¡°Nick''s a good little boy scout with a penchant for the wilderness, monster management, and a damn fine soldier. I''ll also say, I''ve occasionally had to pull him out of the way of fire. He tends to attract a lot of it.¡± ¡°Yes, Nick, I would love to know how you maintain a dual life so easily,¡± she says with a slight smirk. It''s telling when he looks a little flustered at her. ¡°Well, practicality for one. It kinda stinks, that I have to keep parts of my life separate but you get used to it. It''s no different than monster studies. Planning and patience. A lot less danger though. Usually. I''ve seen the world, fought the Talons a time or two, and a lot of other criminals who are now in jail or¡­well, worse off places.¡± ¡°Yes, but how did you start?¡± she insists as everyone else nods along. Dinner is mostly wrapping up, though everyone is leaning into ¡®story time¡¯ as a much-needed reprieve. Even Evan is leaning in, though he''s staying mostly quiet. He had been beside himself when everyone got back to the house, injured, soaked, and in a not-so-great mood. Nick finally relents. ¡°Well, since you must know because of infectious charisma, I grew up, right here in town. Three other sisters, all half-dragons like me. I was the oldest, bravest, and apparently, supposed to keep those three out of trouble. Hah. Mom should have worried about me,¡± he says with a smile. ¡°We spent a lot of time exploring the wilderness. There''s a mage bio-zone not far from here actually. And we went there a lot. Essentially they''re all monitored and flagged these days. Anyone without mana will usually meander around them by some simple enchantment or impassable terrain, and they act as miniature pocket planes. There''s a lot of them on the planet, surprisingly.¡± ¡°Hence the interest in magical creatures,¡± Angela concludes. ¡°That must have been dangerous.¡± ¡°Nah. My dad almost always went with us. He''s a talented researcher. He actually worked on some of Amaranth''s later works, and I''ve been¡­ let''s say a ghost contributor. SAF pays decently. Anyway, we never got into real danger except once. Right when I Awakened. That was¡­interesting,¡± he says with a distant look. ¡°When did you first transform?¡± Julia asks. "Fifteen. A little early, but my mother was proud. Anyway, long story short, the monster chased us, and then I chased him right back once I could burn him something fierce. That was something,¡± he laughs. ¡°A few years later, I was done with basic mage school, and got my ticket into SAF. Mom always said to join the Valkyries, but¡­as good as I am, I don''t think I''d have made the cut. Also that gender ratio. It would have been intimidating.¡± Strangely he glances at Angela, and she can''t help but feel like it''s a telling look. ¡°Who are the Valkyries? Crosomer mentioned them,¡± Drenar asks observantly. ¡°Real heroes. I mean the real deal. They¡¯re a lot of women¨Cand a few men¨Cof uncommon valor and training who have been around as long as recorded mage history. They¡¯re well trained, well armed, well disciplined,¡± he explains briefly. ¡°They¡¯ve taken on impossible tasks keeping our world defended. Even against the Outsiders from the Schism War. I know it sounds a bit like hero worship¡­but they¡¯re a shining beacon of good in a world that needs it. But they can¡¯t be everywhere. And they stay neutral when it comes to mage world politics. They don¡¯t like the spotlight.¡± ¡°Do they work with SAF?¡± Nick nods after a second. ¡°Sometimes, in joint-operations. Levine can attest to that. It¡¯s nice having professionals you can trust, but they aren¡¯t as numerous as SAF agents. I don¡¯t know if they have eyes on the drakensouls emerging, or what''s been going on with the Talons. I''ve been at this for a long time. Even though I know this whole situation is highly unusual. Unique, even. I never met a group like you who started from nothing and pieced things together like you did. I may have been stern before, because I care about your safety, more than anything.¡± ¡°Aye. Nick''s a stickler for rules and safety,¡± Levine comments politely. ¡°He''s a good kid.¡± ¡°I''m older than you, Levine,¡± Nick retorts smugly. ¡°You still get carded at the bar. Me, I''ve got that aged wine appeal,¡± he says confidently, and Nick scoffs. These two must be good friends, even out of work, when Angela thinks about it. ¡°For now, I think us flying under the radar is key. We need Angela and Julia awakened, so the second you get the signs, tell us. I''ve got word that the powers that be are sending a team to check the collapsed mine, but I doubt Crosomer and company left much for us to sift through. Jonaleth Winters is now our primary path to finding out their secondary contacts, and this bravo site they mentioned. I''m keen on finding out what other data and plans they''ve enacted.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Levine adds a slight roll to his words at the end. ¡°Nick, you might want to consider moving them to your base of operations soon. It''ll be safer in the short term, until we can assess how big the threat is, or what the Talons plan on next. And eventually getting ¡®the parents¡¯ into the fold.¡± ¡°Sounds good, Levine. I''ll be in touch later,¡± Nick concludes before turning the communicator off. ¡°We¡¯ll go over the plan in the morning. Winters may possibly know about me, but he doesn''t know about you guys. This may be our one window, but we''re playing this smart. Everyone, get some rest. We''ve got a busy day tomorrow.¡± With that said, everyone mostly drifts away from the table, with Evan and James trying small talk about cards, trying to find some semblance of normal. Angela looks at her brother and winces. He must feel completely out of his depth in the presence of five dragons, friends he''s known for a long time, and thrust into a fairy tale that shouldn''t be possible. Julia and Drenar discuss science, and Drenar gently pushes back on Julia''s methods. She grins and assures him she won''t hurt him beyond repair. He doesn''t stop looking nervous at that notion. Which left Nick, someone whom she hadn''t realized she¡¯d been spending a lot of time talking to during school. Maybe even more than Drenar lately¨Cand that bothers her. Samarina, why am I thinking of him and not Drenar, who could have suffered some mild to slightly severe trauma? Se-vous, nas¡¯tari? Ed dou vous. Her response is predictably undecipherable draconic. At least Nick knows how to translate it. She sighs. She really needs to talk to Drenar but he¡¯s otherwise being occupied by the raven-haired Viking, and she¡¯s grinning like she just won a prize on any number of her science projects. And James is predictably useless on matters of heart. Samarina, do I like Nick? As a more than friends sort of thing? The pause is telling because she feels her presence shift inside her mind. Vey. salai vius, ne-ta. She didn¡¯t need a translation to tell her the thing she¡¯s been dreading. Ever since her and Drenar kissed she''s had mixed feelings about it, and whether she should have dared him or not. He¡¯s¡­definitely boyfriend material for someone, because even when he occasionally gets lost in his own emotions, he¡¯s a good friend and a confidant. She just doesn¡¯t know if he¡¯s boyfriend material for her. Or, maybe it¡¯s the other way around, and she¡¯s not girlfriend material for him. I practically grabbed his hand and put it on my breasts, and he just got so embarrassed! This kid needs to read the room a bit better, but he still did alright. Oooh. tes¡¯na vaaaa, Angela. Do you understand what I¡¯m saying, but not the other way around? A sudden realization dawns upon her. Vey. So you can understand me. Well, that¡¯s an odd quirk, but I¡¯ll take it. Learning draconic is going to take a while, but Drenar and Alex understand each other. Why is that? Vio valos. Na-te. She interpreted that as ¡®I don¡¯t really know.¡¯ Another thought comes up. What is the word for ¡®dragon,¡¯ Samarina? Gaia. Angela frowns. Nick had mentioned Gaia earlier today, but James had said something snarky and Nick hadn¡¯t brought up the subject afterward¨Che¡¯d probably been put off by James¡¯ usual abrasiveness. Is Gaia a dragon? Vey. Madara vios Terra. Angela took a guess on that one. There were some fragments that sounded like word particles, something familiar. Mother of Earth? A guardian over all? Vey. Mother. Gaa¡¯rdian. ¡°Hey, everything alright?¡± She flinches and realizes Nick is standing by the next chair over, looking at her with concern. He¡¯s got a dish towel slung over his shoulder and his hair is untied and spread down. ¡°You were looking distant for a minute.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m okay. I mean, still processing this whole situation, but¡­I was also trying to talk to Samarina. She understands me, but can¡¯t speak the other way around unless I identify the words. It¡¯s interesting. It¡¯s almost like solving¡­¡± She searches for the word, ¡°A cryptogram, almost.¡± ¡°Nice word choice,¡± he says with a faint smile. She gestures to him subtly, and he takes a seat next to her and sets the towel down over the back of the chair. ¡°It¡¯s a bit strange. Drakensouls normally pick up the native tongue of the host almost instantly. But Samarina doesn¡¯t?¡± ¡°Nothing about this is normal Nick. Prior to last week, we were run-of-the-mill teens,¡± she answers flatly. She glances over his shoulder¨CJulia and Drenar had disappeared upstairs, James and Evan are over by the living room, talking quietly about¨Cdragons, it seems like, and James sounds like he wants to learn more. The bestiary is open and they¡¯re looking at it with interest. At least it¡¯s getting active use, and more than just as an inspiration for her art sketches. ¡°Did you know any other drakensouls before this?¡± He shakes his head. ¡°Nah. I knew a bunch of other Kin though." She looks at him oddly. ¡°Kin¨Cuh, a mage word for all people. Dragons, humans, everyone. I keep forgetting you guys don¡¯t know this stuff yet, and that bothers me.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not clueless, Nick. Just uninformed,¡± she rebuffs lightly. He runs his fingers through his hair with one hand, fingers tapping the table with the other. ¡°I wasn¡¯t saying you were. I was thinking about something else. The reason why none of you had any forward warning, and it¡¯s something I keep thinking about.¡± Even Nick has doubts sometimes, Angela realizes with mild surprise. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s good reasons. Mages pop up in non-mage families all the time. Even drakensouls. It just doesn¡¯t happen that often, you know? Anyway, how are you holding up, personally?¡± She stretches lightly. ¡°I¡¯m alright. I think. Nothings¡¯ as scary as a needle or surgery in a hospital though,¡± she says as a half-joke. He¡¯s not laughing though, and he¡¯s looking at her quietly, hazel eyes flickering with interest. Oh damn it, way to not deflect the guy who¡¯s my grandfathers¡¯ age and probably knows something is amiss! Samarina, we need to hide our thoughts better! Vey. Her sharp, one-word answer lays that out perfectly clear. ¡°A-anyway, tell me more about what it¡¯s like to be behind this veil of the world that mages wrap themselves in. What I¡¯ve seen has to be just the tip of the iceberg.¡± He lets out a long, calm breath, with just the hint of a smile. ¡°Well, I can tell you. Not all of it is this daring, pulpy action and danger. Mage life still can be pretty vanilla. For most of us, anyway. It¡¯s not all glitzy and glamorous. Though¡­one of these days, you¡¯ll have to see the places I¡¯ve been. There are secrets and wonders worth protecting in this world, and I''d very much like to keep them in one piece. With humanity bulldozing the planet though¡­I don''t know. That gets brought up on occasion. Magical ecosystems are resilient, but how much is it going to take before we''re talking about species disappearing overnight and forests turning into grasslands, or worse?¡± She smiles lightly. ¡°You really do sound like one with nature, you know that? I guess this life or mage life, some things stay constant for the mighty dragon ranger.¡± He responds by chuckling softly. ¡°Ah, believe me, there''s some stuff that I''ve seen and been part of that should stay partitioned behind that proverbial curtain. I''ve been an agent of SAF for a long time, and¡­some of that service history wasn''t as boring as the rest of it. Soldiers don''t lead normal lives.¡± If he''s trying to hint to her that he is damaged goods, it''s a subtle one. ¡°Alright, what''s really bothering you? I''m surprised you''re not wrapped around Drenar right now, trying to dissuade him from pushing himself too hard.¡± ¡°It''s¡­something to do with it.¡± She finally takes the plunge. She can''t stew on feelings forever. ¡°We uh¡­well, there''s a little thing between us, but we have to really talk about it, ever since dragons entered the conversation. He won''t talk about it, and I think he''s more worried about all of us collectively. And I haven''t had the uh¡­bravery to bring it up again, either. So it''s in limbo.¡± Nick listens along, and gently. ¡°Pretty sure Samarina has some opinions about it.¡± Vey. Calis¡¯te, Drenar vial solla. She takes another deep breath and tries to relay the words as best as she can back to Nick. He looks surprised. ¡°So, what did she say?¡± ¡°That his heart is still waiting for someone. That''s gotta be the most cryptic thing I¡¯ve heard in a while. Then again, I''m not one to second guess an ancient dragon who spent several hundred years away from the world.¡± They both glance towards the stairs, where Drenar and Julia had headed up earlier. ¡°From what I know of those two, and from you¡­they''re close. Super close. But not like, romantically?¡± ¡°They''re both scarred, Nick. Their souls still haven''t healed from what happened. Sorry if that sounded a little whimsical¨C¡± she starts to say, but he nods thoughtfully. ¡°I don''t think I like dredging up bad topics, but¡­I presume it was bad for Drenar?¡± ¡°Beyond bad. It took me, James and others a long time, just to bring them back to this,¡± she says quietly. Almost by instinct, James looks her way briefly. People said that there wasn''t really anything connecting fraternal twins, and he joked about being the bigger brother. He was merely born five minutes before her. But, sometimes, she wondered if there truly was something to the mysticism that surrounded it. Especially with magic now a thing that is going to be in her life now. ¡°I get this feeling that we''re all going to be hanging out for the foreseeable future. I can tell you more. Maybe, you can get to know them better, ya know? Maybe you work up the courage to ask him yourself?¡± He sighs softly while rubbing at an old scar on his arm. ¡°Maybe. What about you though? You think you guys will work out?¡± ¡°I¡­don''t actually know.¡± That lingering doubt is being drowned out by too many other things, including the creaking feeling in her spine. Was her Awakening getting close? Samarina has been talking to her regularly for a few hours now. ¡°I do care about him. He is a great friend, when he isn''t being a sardonic twit and risking his life.¡± Nick laughs a little too loudly at this, and James peers at him suspiciously again. ¡°Plus, dragons. It''s a girl''s dream come to life!¡± ¡°So should I be wary if you break out your sketch tablet?¡± He asks with a raised eyebrow. She sits up and smiles lightly. ¡°You know what? You just gave me a great idea, Nick. I want to learn draconic, and get familiar with dragons, something I can focus on. You can provide both.¡± She doesn''t think she''s ever seen Nick blush when she says that, and he tries a few half-formed words. ¡°W-Well, I mean, um¡­Draconic, yes. No to¡­risque poses.¡± ¡°Your clothes do transform with you, don''t they?¡± She asks slyly before grabbing her tablet out of her bag, and motions to the kitchen door to the backyard. ¡°C¡¯mon, don''t be a square! You might accidentally have a good time!¡± ¡°Said no girl who has an obsession with dragons, ever,¡± he says with a defeated sigh, but still has that warm expression as they head outside. V1<-->V2 Intermission Six: Victor One The blue glow of the teleportal dims and fades, and Victor One breathes a steady sigh of relief behind the visor of her helmet and the comforting wrap of her service armor. It¡¯s clean but shows signs of battles of the past on her plate armor, which bears the customary brass and silver colors, and golden runes of defense adorned on her gauntlets and greaves. Even with this many years under her belt. Her pistol sidearm sits within reach but is fastened to the soft-shell outer Kevlar wraps that serve as rigging for her gear. Even as often as she uses the teleport to get to and from her dedicated craft and calling, she still prefers walking or driving. Unfortunately, when you''re a Valkyrie who''s in an organization of some of the finest women and men from across the planet, you don''t always get to choose what you want to do, and practicality takes precedence. She''s greeted by Victor Six, slightly out of regulation with her hair not tied back. Nothing''s worse than getting blinded in your helmet or someone grabs it in a brawl. ¡°Misha, hair please.¡± ¡°Oh! Sorry ma¡¯am!¡± She scrabbles across the desk just adjacent to her workstation and pulls out a scrunchie to tie back her brown hair, and she does her best to do it quickly. She stands at attention and salutes her superior. ¡°Aye, didn''t expect you back so soon!¡± Victor One smiles behind her visor¨Cabout the only thing people can see is the flicker of the arcane HUD projected on the inside, and maybe her azure eyes and raven-black hair. Despite the bulk, the helmet is quite cozy and light, and the wingtips of the helm serve as additional sensors and radio frequency antennae. It still restricts her peripheral too much for her liking though, and R&D has been working on addressing that. Becky, one of their more recent recruits is a genius with magitech systems, and she''s probably working even this late at night with Carolyn. An even more robust power armor set would go a long way to increasing their field effectiveness¨Cand it¡¯s already higher than even SAF¡¯s most elite units. One of the advantages of private funding and generous donations from those that seemingly found their way to them¨Cthey could afford the best, pick the brightest and most determined, and not have to worry about a huge army. The Valkyries are a smaller organization that punches monumentally higher than their numbers would suggest. Victor one knows that record goes back millennia, even. At least the Conclave hasn¡¯t had the audacity to put them under the regulations of other PMCs. That respect has been earned for countless generations. ¡°At ease, Misha. I tied up some errands a little early, and we''ve got new assignments. Something is brewing in my hometown, and I think it''s big.¡± She gets straight to the point and has Misha walk with her, past the workshop and down the hall to the briefing room. ¡°Elaborate, ma¡¯am,¡± Misha says with a quick nod, and her soft brown eyes are still filled with that flicker of youth and daring that all recruits started with. Most kept it. The seasoned veterans, though, dimmed a bit when they dealt with the worst of humanity and eldritch horrors from beyond the world. ¡°Victor Three was saying you''ve been on edge. Your kid might be Awakening?¡± ¡°She''s smart enough to dig where she''s not supposed to, that one,¡± Victor One says with a slight chuckle. ¡°That conversation is coming sooner rather than later, I just hope I''m not missing the mark and she calls me all frantic about scales, claws, and wings. Actually, knowing her, she''d be wearing a beaming smile, that little radiant ray of sunshine that she is.¡± ¡°You never talk about your kid,¡± Misha says. Victor One nods. ¡°You know why.¡± ¡°Right. Personal deals. Sorry. I know some of the knights talk about family, but we don¡¯t know everything about each other,¡± Misha apologizes and gets a gentle tilt of the head from her. She pulls out a datapad. ¡°I got a report Sunday night, just came in¨Cthere was a Talons operation that got blown sky-high, according to a report from SAF. They¡¯re sending a team to investigate, by one of their top guys that earns his paycheck. Dillenger.¡± ¡°Dillenger?¡± Of course, she knows his name. He¡¯s been one of the best and brightest SAF agents of the past decade, a man who is deep into his career and could be command material, but chooses to stay in intelligence analysis, and some covert actions where sensitivity in Kin/human relationships is key. Dillenger is a man of integrity and decency she has personally worked with twice now, in different operations. Divorced, but a loving, caring family man whose wife couldn¡¯t live with the notion that there were a few nights he almost didn¡¯t come home alive. He also had a daughter¨CMystra? Victor One is usually sharp with names. Misha answers her before she ponders further. ¡°The Talons had a deep-cover operation in the Mount Syren Mine of Opechea Falls, Colorado. According to the field operative, they have a device that can trigger Awakenings. There are other notes but it¡¯s crazy, ma¡¯am. Sorry, technician''s words, not mine,¡± she says with a blush on her rosy cheeks. ¡°There¡¯s also a mention of local talent that went in and investigated¨Cbut nothing else on that.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll follow up with Dillenger,¡± she responds suddenly. In my own backyard? The brazenness of these monsters is escalating. First the school graffiti, now this? What else are they up to? ¡°Keep the techs going on this. Report back when additional reports become available. The Talons have been increasing ground operations and their equipment has been getting better. Find out who¡¯s funding them.¡± ¡°Done. We¡¯ve hit snags¨Cthey¡¯re covering their tracks. Their money laundering has been stepping up their game this time.¡± Misha taps in notes while they open the comm room, where Victor One sees other valkyries in armor, but unhelmeted and working at their stations, preparing equipment, looking over charts and intelligence, and a few opening up a 3D arcane hologram of schematics of a facility deep in the forests of Canada. ¡°Victor One, we¡¯ve got the Menazari base on visual¨CSAF ground teams are on standby, waiting for us to port in. They say the site is as cold as a grave.¡± ¡°Nonsense. That''s what they want us to think. The Menazari are thieves and pilferers, except now they¡¯re killers who took on the wrong arms shipment.¡± Victor One glances at the displays and talks to the command leads before they head to the teleportal after a briefing. This task should be a cakewalk¨CSAF rarely called them as backup, and when they did, it usually was a truly dire situation. It felt nice to be needed¨Ceven as thankless as this job is, She felt immense pride in what they did, and how they contributed to the safety of the world, even if no one ever really knew about it in the long run. That was the way of the Valkyrie¨Cto stay out of the spotlight of history, as best as they could. That didn¡¯t always prove to be the case. Little boys and girls would occasionally ask them to sign stuffed dolls in some of the places they visited, and she obliged a few times¨Cthe smiles on their faces were all the payment she truly needed, fighting the monsters of their world. With the briefing and the daily updates out of the way, she heads to her personal office, at the end of the hall, and enters the security codes¨Cone could never be too careful, even in the heart of Valhalla. She clicks the door closed, and powers on her laptop from her pack, and has to take the armored greaves off. Power armor does have some practical limitations, and she settles down her helmet¨Cwhile making sure the glass is polarized. It wasn¡¯t that everyone didn¡¯t know who she was. It¡¯s window dressing. She¡¯d been thrown into this position several years ago after an unprecedented tragedy, and there were secrets she¡¯d had to keep buried in her heart as a result of that. Secrets she would take to her grave to protect others. Secrets that would be unbearably painful if revealed to the wrong people. She knows that secrecy can''t last forever. She glances at the picture on her desk of her daughter, who looks just like the spitting image of her. Her husband got the short end of the stick¨Cshe got his hellcat ferocity and electric personality, but she really is her mothers¡¯ daughter, she thinks with a smile. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Well, time to get started for the day¨Cshe checks her secured email for any urgent messages, but there isn¡¯t anything even remotely close to crisis mode on her cover job. Nursing and traveling to conferences might last a while longer, but her daughter is smart¨Cuncannily smart. She doesn''t know how one of her other friends did it with her son for so long, that must have been difficult. She still doesn¡¯t even know why she never even mentions her husband¨Cit must have been a very terrible relationship, prior to her involvement in the Valkyries. A ping comes in on the arcane communicator. She quickly puts her helmet back on, if only to protect her identity. Clark Kent glasses aren¡¯t going to cut it for this. They couldn¡¯t chance their identity being leaked again. Certainly not after the last incident. That had been an unprecedented disaster, and she suspects the Talons had a hand with it, with a bunch of freelance, highly trained, highly funded murder army that had been thrown their way. That murder army had been effortlessly slaughtered by her predecessor, and she has truly lived up to her title. The only survivor of that battle had been their leader¨Ca monstrosity of a man in magitech armor they¡¯re still trying to find, almost six years later. A wayward glance to the other frame on her desk has her thinking, when she looks at the woman in the picture. Did we do the right thing, Trisha? The arcanlink waits for her response, and she clicks the activation button after a second. ¡°Dillenger? To what do I owe the pleasure?¡± she asks calmly when his image pops up, slightly fatigued. He''s been likely working without a break. ¡°Victor One, I must apologize for the unorthodox nature of this call. This is the most secure line I¡¯ve got. King is helping co-opt the Talons. This is big.¡± Her eyes widen slightly. ¡°Our enigma? He¡¯s personally involved?¡± ¡°That is all I can say over this line. My counterpart on the ground is working with others on this to get to the bottom of their activities, because they¡¯re as low profile as we can get.¡± Levine lets out a sigh over the call. This weariness he''s trying to wear subtly isn''t like him. ¡°They¡¯re using kids in their experiments. Kids. They¡¯re conscripting child soldiers out of the newly Awakened drakensouls and half-dragons. I¡¯ve got four recorded instances of runaways in the last week thanks to my counterparts¡¯ sharp eyes. This is the tip of the iceberg. I need your help finding King, and who he¡¯s working with.¡± ¡°This wasn¡¯t in the report¨C¡± ¡°Victor One, there are reasons for certain small omissions in the reports,¡± he says with his usual professionalism. ¡°I can¡¯t reveal much, because I think King has men inside SAF. I¡¯m moving my operation to Opechea Falls tomorrow, and I may need Valkyrie resources to aid us in staying off the radar. King is dangerous. Beyond any other adversary we¡¯ve encountered, he is the first one to give me a true sense of respect for his skill. And worse, Robespierre Crosomer has been confirmed alive and co-leading the Talons again.¡± Her cup of coffee nearly gets fumbled out of her hands¨Cuseless, considering she¡¯s still got her helmet on. That man should have been dead and buried seven hundred years ago. His war against the Conclave had led to the loss of more Valkyries in five years than the previous several hundred. ¡°How can he be alive?¡± ¡°Resilient Sphere. Some kids found it when they reported it to my counterpart on the ground, among other things, he''s been out and free for a few years now, at least. We may even have a partial identity match with the other leader. A woman named ¡®Val¡¯. I¡¯m still tracking leads on my end discreetly, but I¡¯m operating under the assumption King is three steps ahead. They¡¯re getting massive funding from somewhere, and I think it has to be a corporate sponsor. A damn big one.¡± ¡°Which kids?¡± She latches onto that particular little detail¨Cwhat were they doing exploring a mine, of all places? Dumb teenagers on a dare? No, the fact that they got out alive at all and she wasn¡¯t reading a casualty report is telling enough that this was a truly set of unique circumstances. ¡°Sorry Victor One, I¡¯m protecting their identities for now. But they did a damn fine job getting intelligence¨C¡± ¡°They flattened the mine,¡± she says in a raised tone. ¡°Was that Deshandrea¡¯s doing?¡± ¡°Incorrect. The Talons had the site rigged with demolition charges. The destruction was pre-planned to cover their involvement, and eliminate all traces of their presence, and Deshandrea found out they extracted massive hordes of mana crystals from the mine, too. We¡¯re talking low billion-dollar valuation if the shipping manifests were converted from silver to mana crystal prices. Victor One, if the Talons aren¡¯t blowing smoke, if they can Awaken two million dragons and undo Ascension, we are looking at a complete and utter shattering of Veil protocol. We won¡¯t be able to live in the shadows anymore. And that might be just the start. Treat this as a true crisis.¡± She sits back in her seat and processes this. Dillenger would not call them unless he believed the evidence was there to support it. He had called them only once before this. And that had been a truly dire situation. ¡°How sure are you?¡± ¡°Ninety-five percent. The Talons lack energy resources to pull it off at scale, and they¡¯re missing translations that work to activate the rune matrix on the device, based on the photos we were able to get. It¡¯s ancient. It¡¯s nothing any mage ever produced. Hell, there¡¯s even an early depiction of Gaia on it¨Cthe oldest one we¡¯ve ever found. I¡¯m not a historian and I know this is important.¡± She glances down at the datapad from earlier. Something is bothering her¨Cwho exactly had helped the groundside agent? Who could have crossed paths with him? She¡¯d heard of Deshandrea, he was posing as a student in the same high school that¨C Oh there is no way that¨Cno, actually, knowing my luck, it''s exactly what happened. ¡°Dillenger, I¡¯m going to ask a very cryptic question. I don¡¯t suppose any of these ¡®helpers¡¯ you aren¡¯t naming happened to have Awakened into a male Maridian and Azure hybrid recently, or if one of them is a female Auran goldback?¡± That five seconds of silence that follows leaves her shaking her head. ¡°Um¡­how do you know that?¡± Dillenger can¡¯t see it behind her visor, but her instant reaction pretty much spells out her feelings on the matter. ¡°Oh shit.¡± ¡°Why do I feel like you know these two?¡± Dillenger sighs. ¡°Dillenger, tell Deshandrea that if what I think has happened, has happened, I will personally be hanging his wings in my office if he lets either of those two get hurt. And if you breathe a word to either of them about this conversation before I can talk to them personally by the end of the week, you can forget about the next coffee not-date.¡± He leaves a rather telling pause. ¡°...It wasn¡¯t a date, was it?¡± ¡°Dillenger, you¡¯re a smart man, but yes, it was. I¡¯ve got operations to plan and the Talons are mobilizing on new operations we¡¯re tracking, keep me in the loop. The second things look like they¡¯re about to dive out of control, call me, and ring every alarm bell from here to London.¡± ¡°Done.¡± With that simple acknowledgment, the call ends, and she practically tears her helmet off and rubs the bridge of her nose. This couldn¡¯t be any worse timing. Either Drenar, Julia, or both of them have already Awakened. And now, they¡¯re right in the middle of a brewing conflict with the Talons. And she can¡¯t do a damn thing to intervene without looking extremely suspicious and compromising her position. This week is just snowballing downhill. But, if there is one silver lining, she knows one thing for certain: They''re in the hands of two of the best and brightest of SAF. Dillenger she trusts, based on his unwavering professionalism, either behind the data analytics, or his guile on the field of battle. The downside is, it''s going to be one massive headache waiting for her back at home after her ¡®conference¡¯ wraps up. An Announcement - Volume I, Awakening Enhanced Edition is now LIVE! Well folks, it''s finally happened. I have finally completed the not-so-secret update to Volume I, ''Awakening'' of "The Legend of the Luminaires". Please, if you''re reading this for the first time, It''s best to start from the very beginning. If you''ve seen any chapters that are strangely numbered, it''s because I had to insert some chapters to keep the rhythm going as I reorganized some stuff, and some reshuffling to the correct chapter order have been added. Links and reminders are added to return to the beginning , both for newcomers, and veterans alike. Some chapters were too...lengthy, let''s just say. Every chapter has been dusted off and given a quality of life upgrade from lessons learned and from a few brave souls who gave me much needed feedback, along with changes to pacing, content, grammatical fixes (tense mixing, the bane of my existence!) and other little goodies. Don''t get me started on the Oxford ? comma. Now, as is traditional for a release of this magnitude, I present the patch logs for return visitors, to let you know your author has not lost his mind, and actually kept, you know, notes of his exploits. Because, I dunno, some of you might have loved the slice-of-life-lite that I had for the first several chapters. I still have that wholesome dialogue between the characters in spirit, even if some of the dialogue has changed, and POV''s have been changed as well! Or added! *Gleeful cackles* Alright, here''s the log. This chapter won''t hang around forever, but I keep it as a courtesy to veterans who have been here since the beginning, and my many thanks to all of them! If y''all don''t want spoilers though, just head to the beginning. I believe this will be a real treat, and a preview of the labor and love I''m putting into Volume II. Chapter 1 * Minor grammatical fixes. Many of them. * Drenar is now 50% more adorkable! * Julia dialed back a bit--don''t worry, we see her in the next chapter! * Baldurs'' gate difficulty... unchanged and still masochistic. Even the author here hasn''t revisited it in quite a while... * Some reorganization of the dialogue between Alex and Drenar in the stranded lands, for better flow/pacing. * More natural dialogue/minor actions between Evan and Drenar near the tail end of the chapter. * Feather clue status increased 50%. Chapter 2 * POV CHANGE, HA-HAA! Julia patched with 100% more sunshine! (And black painted fingernails. She is who she is) * Some dialogue truncated for flow and not getting hung up, especially history class. It was getting too much. Julia added to world seed, too! * Visiting dragon gets a line of protest! Not fluffy enough, Drenar! * Nick buffed with a cool bomber jacket. Drenar wants one too, even if he won''t say it. * Some other dialogue clean-up between James and Drenar and now Julia. These guys hate shelling bootles of money for cards these days...and Drenar has no idea he''s gonna get his wish. * Many. Grammatical. Fixes. I''ll just stop mentioning this one, or this patch log might be longer than Volume I. * ZAP! Chapter 3 * BIG changes * Dialogue truncated between Evan and Drenar. He helps make dinner this time! * No urgent flight for Evan. He''s more chill now. * Some cleanup of Dialogue between Diane and Drenar, and later, with Alex during Dreamland. *Alex mentioned death has a permanence even for mages. Kind of a somber note. * A little dragon science! Drenar is quite analytical when he''s not in a crisis. * SCALES! Welp, we just kicked this one back up to eleven, and the scale (groans from the audience, followed by liberal beatings of the author for bad puns) goes to ten. Drenar''s gonna have a bad day... Chapter 4 Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. * BIG changes * Drenar tries to make some inference of his situation, and makes some not terrifying, but still troubling conclusions while stewing in classes. * Dialogue cleanup between Nick, James, Drenar, and Angela. Scale removed from discussion, too imbalanced for Drenar''s composure. * James still hates the outdoors... * Body still going through changes, but at least Drenar knows what it is, and not anxiety. * Nick still knows something is up. He''s good at sniffing out weirdness. Chapter 4.1 (new chapter!) * More dragon science! No actual dragons were harmed in the making of this story. Drenar usually knows when he''s doing something stupid... * Evan still thinks his brother is a weirdo... * Still no foxgirls yet...much to everyone''s disappointment. * Drenar''s mind is blown when he makes the connection. He recovers! * Julia''s tastes are...unique, I think is the word. * Uh oh. That person in the crowd, red herring, or plot relevant?! Chapter 5 * Drenar still makes dinner but he''s still thinking about pending crisis @ Julia''s house. * Some dialogue cleanup for flow and grammatical fixes. * Drenar can sass back too, heee. * No more MarioKart. womp-womp. * Julia knows something is up with Drenar (mentioned in last chapter) and when she sees it, amazingly, it''s more a sense of wonder. She also confesses to fragging the microwave a lot sooner Chapter 5.1 (New!) * Wheee! It''s Julia''s next POV chapter set! * Coffee time as Julia and Drenar discuss their findings. * More dragon science! (But seriously it''s magic, and magic only plays nice some of the time with the rest of physics.) * Julia has an electric personality and and plasmakinesis to go along with it (much sooner this time!) * Drenar''s dream: dragon rides for under- privileged kids, free of charge. Who doesn''t want to ride a dragon at least once? * Theories on the Aether/Stranded Lands. It''s a little wild, and they''re not sure how it connects. * Evan''s untimely call is even less untimely than before... Chapter 6 * New title! (Title was too much) * POV switched to Julia compared to the last version. * Many awkward and telling thoughts about how she feels about Drenar. She views hormones as her enemy. To be destroyed. * Dialogue cleaned up, simplified as they drive back to Julia''s place with Evan. He''s still mum on circumstances. * Drenar''s tension and irritation buffed 10%. He mad at Evan. * Julia puts things together, and then does something that should qualify her to never be a doctor. She might be a little too gleeful afterwards. This was definitely not in the original version. Chapter 6.1 (New chapter!) * Julia does science. Again. * Brothers have a heart-to-heart. Because they are indeed brothers. * More discussion of dragon species. Some of it is from earlier and some is brand new. * Jonaleth making threats that are going to land him in a grave. You do not mess with the Tsundere or her friends. (Don''t worry, our MC''s are reluctant to start a body count). Also, Julia zappy when she gets mad. * Mom''s home early. Ruh-oh. Chapter 6.2 (New chapter!) * Mom''s home. Hide the stuff! Some amusing dialogue between her and Evan while Drenar stalls. Seriously Evan, you might be plasma resistant, but she can still zap you. * Some minor elements adopted from Drenar''s version, about his mom''s passing and the anniversary coming up. It still hits him in the feels, even if he won''t say it to Julia. * Behold, our glorious Overwatch Raven! She''s awesome. And does approve of Drenar as boyfriend material. Poor lad gets so anxious sometimes... * Also Julia too. Insert claw in snout...she really is a teenager! * Julia does science! Chapter 7 * New stuff! Evan and Drenar call Julia. There''s science. Dragon science! She really needs to sleep though. * An uncomfortable thought. * Some of the dragon species details are the same as before, with some minor updates. * Drenar having some...feelings. He''s a teen. We get it. It just doesn''t happen for him that often. Chapter 7.1 * School scene mostly plays out the same. Some dialogue cleanup. * More *interesting* dialogue added between Levine and Nick. Drenar gets a slight hearing buff--another hint of his draconic heritage. * Drenar still takes a nap. That hasn''t changed. Chapter 7.2 (New Chapter!) * Mostly plays out the same as the split from the original. Some cleanup of dialogue for better flow, and Drenar no longer acting like he didn''t see this transformation coming. *Honestly most of the events are less back-end loaded, more evenly distributed. * MMA fighter dragon, with elemental plasma. And guns. Bad guys should just preemptively run away from Julia. Chapter 8/8.1 * Some info from Evan, who hears secondhand from an actual mage friend of theirs. Everyone''s wary about talking about magic in the open for obvious reasons. * Minor dialogue fixes throughout. Some enhancement to the Ascension events details. Chapter 9/9.1 * Mostly plays out the same, some minor dialogue updates. Julia still gets a little pissed off at Drenar. Chapter 10 * Much more detailed discussion of the Conclave and what they do, now that Evan is part of the dialogue, along with talking about Awakening. * Some theory crafting about the Aether. They''re not sure how this ties into the Awakenings, if at all. * James so hilariously vanilla, he makes vanilla seem fancy. But he''s right. Humans don''t belong in eggs. Weirdness. * Drenar has a slightly odd taste in music compared to most. 10% buff. * they''re all kinda mystified on what the dragons accomplished. And not all of it was fortuitous. Some did some very bad things. * Other minor cleanup Chapter 10.1/10.2 * Added dragon tech demo. It was wild. * Not so wild: the breath abilities, as explained. The dragons-to-be get grossed out a little. *Minor dialogue additions and clean-up. There would be too many to list if I tallied every one of them. Chapter 11-17 * Mostly bug fixes and minor updates on descriptors, verb tense. Nothing majorly different from the original. * some other minor updates--villains get some new lines, but the changes aren''t as drastic as the back half, that''s for sure! Annnnnnnnd there you have it! The patch log! Stay tuned folks, there will be a coming announcement about Volume II soon! There''s gonna be a big launch day, so you will all know! Vol. 2, Ch. 39: A Light To Guide The Way
¡°Should your time come, stand unwavering in the void of the heartless. Steel fast, for blades may shatter, armor be pierced, but our souls shall sing above the raucous roars of the malevolent.¡± ¨CFirst Champion of the Valkyries
Asqualia Research Center (ARC), 11:47 pm, Friday night. One week after Drenar''s Awakening... Shouts. Screams. The sound of combat is muffled and distorted in the manner of a scratchy analog radio, badly tuned into reality. Pain shouldn''t be an existential element to existence, either, and a woman obscured by debris in an ongoing battle groans, trying to get her bearings¡­ Get up! Get up, the fight is still going, wake up Joey! She¡¯s trying to get up, but her limbs ache and her head hurts. She forces her eyes open, past a layer of grime and dust, and the world is still dark. She can still hear the clang of steel, the supersonic crack of autobow bolts firing through the air distantly. Her vision is an utter mess, it''s all blurry and unfocused. She reaches for the tangled mess of her vibrant red hair, dulled by dust, and sees a trace of blood. There¡¯s a feeling of nausea that threatens to overwhelm her. Her training kicks her into gear. Concussion! Oxotane Mirazine, quick, before you pass out! Her hand reaches out to her alchemical hopper kit, and she hears the whir of metal and windings, and an alchemical canister pops into her hand. She fumbles with the opening and activates a charge of mana through her hands, priming the fluid to a slightly citrus color. She dabs half the application on her wound. Nothing else hurts this bad, and she¡¯s got no idea what happened, other than a support pillar collapsing down on her. She maneuvers her hand through the tightly confined space¨Cthe pillar barely missed her, she was just under the hollowed-out I-beam segment, any closer and it would have likely crushed her under its weight. She gulps the potion and winces¨Cit tastes like burnt blueberries, but it¡¯s not the worst she¡¯s had. She can still hear combat ongoing, indistinct, and shadowy blurs. Whatever¡¯s going on, she¡¯s dead useless if she can¡¯t see or think straight. The potion activates and she feels the pull of injured tissue, and a cooling, soothing sensation from the source of the concussion. The nausea fades and her vision comes back into focus as the concoction heals the injury, one of a few specialized chemicals she carries for serious trauma like this. ¡°Shit, the Valkyries are here! Valosterla, we can¡¯t hold this position, they¡¯re cutting through us and we can¡¯t slow them down!¡± It¡¯s not a voice she recognizes, and they¡¯re close by, on the other side of the pillar. ¡°Stand and fight until they¡¯re dead! I want that damn journal, throw bodies at the problem until I tell you to!¡± The voice of utter malice and lack of humanity carries in the room like an oozing dread, and Joey¡¯s lavender eyes widen. Val is still alive. But where are the others? There¡¯s the clang of metal, and a shout of pain. ¡°Hits different, huh bitch?!¡± Drenar¡¯s still alive! ¡°Tsunderebolt!¡± There¡¯s the crackle of lightning and the sonic boom. A blur of white and blue energy slams into an indistinct figure just on the other side of the debris, and sends them skidding backward. A teenage girl with black hair and azure blue eyes comes out of the ball of immense plasma energy, holding an autobow primed with crackling bolts energized with plasma. ¡°Welcome to a night of unforced errors, Val!¡± Julia! She scrapes her way past twisted metal and broken mana crystals, and sees her arcanist staff just in front of her, and she grabs it with one wrenching motion. She lets out a gasp of pain; she¡¯s cut up and bruised, but functional. But before she can do anything else, someone comes up from behind her and lifts her swiftly to her feet¨Cwavy brown hair and blue-gray eyes, light freckles, someone she instantly recognizes even though she¡¯s only known her a short time. ¡°Joey, Joey are you okay?!¡± the girl shakes her shoulder, and she nods weakly. ¡°I thought that pillar had crushed you!¡± ¡°It almost did. Ugh. Hi Angela, you¡¯ve got good timing, are we winning?¡± ¡°You mean is everyone alive? Yeah!¡± Even with the chaos of the battle and the errant close-shave of an autobow bolt, Angela still can manage a sardonic smile, and she¡¯s got a lightly enchanted sword in hand¨Cit¡¯s seen use, Joey notes grimly. ¡°Are you good?¡± She firms up and grabs her staff and slings it before picking up her discarded autobow, just under a pile of debris. The weapon is still intact, and her alchemical bolts are still loaded¨Cammo purposed for punching through armor. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t miss this for the world¨Cduck!¡± Joey grabs Angela with lighting reflex before a fireball sails at head height past them, and impacts into the far wall in a blast of intense light and heat, even at this distance. Joey sees the offending soldier trying to aim a disposable wand at them at a lethally stupid close range and she flings a cartridge of alchemical foam at his arm, sending his aim high. The foam expands and locks him in the yellowish material, utterly immobilized. He tries to grab a pistol off his side with his free hand, fighting against the restrictive foam. She drops the crossbow to grab her compact staff off her hip and clicks it to full length in a split second. She swings mightily just as Angela puts up a defensive barrier around her. Her skin prickles from the field of protection and she smashes her staff down on his arm, breaking it and Angela lassoes his pistol with a silvery kinetic grapple, stuffing it in a holster. Joey is deceptively strong for her size, and her opponent screams in reaction. A blunt hit to his jaw and temple put him out of commission, moaning from a fractured jaw and likely a fractured orbital bone. Angela grabs the fallen autobow and unloads on Talons soldiers who are engaged with a few determined defenders whose spell barriers are failing. The Talons'' spell shields aren''t strong enough to withstand the deadly force of the bolts and two go down, clutching at penetrating wounds¨Cautobow bolts could be stopped by heavy armor, but not Kevlar wrap. They both scurry to cover and Joey lands another sweeping blow at a distracted soldier that topples him, then a follow-up blow breaks his ribs. A foam canister keeps him locked in position, and the pain ensures he stays put. ¡°Zameren and Piers are pinned down, clear their flanks!¡± Angela shouts out and points to a few Talons soldiers firing from cover, past the row of consoles surrounding the crystalline tree that constitutes the heart of the mana core reactor. She and Joey sweep through them, smashing and flinging with ferocity. There''s a shout of appreciation from someone who has been hiding behind a broken display, and Joey presses forward, flinging an acidic canister at an armored knight who is trying to swivel a heavy rifle at them. The canister bursts open on his armor plating, sizzling, and smoking. He screams and scrambles with the clasp, getting the breastplate off before trying to grab his hastily discarded weapon. Angela has already closed the gap and whirls gracefully with her longsword. The biting edge slashes through his underarmor, and then she kinetic blasts him into the wall in a crumpled heap of man and metal. He groans from the overwhelming assault, and Joey locks him in place with the foam she is now in short supply of. He won¡¯t bleed out with the wounds covered, but he sure deserves death for what has happened here tonight. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Where''s Drenar?!¡± Joey shouts over the diminishing gunfire and recoils when a stray round flares her barrier. Angela has uncanny control over her defensive telekinetics to protect them so decisively, and Joey launches a fire bolt at the offender and pierces through his barrier, already weakened from a prior assault. He pats at the flames and drops his weapon, screaming. ¡°Drenar¡¯s fighting the demented Disney princess bitch!¡± Angela points to the far side of the room where the messy-haired teen with green eyes is facing down a monster the likes of which the world could use less of, locked in a deadly battle of the mighty blade of the Valkyries against that emanating dread of her crimson greatsword. His face is locked in focused fury as he finds an opening, pierces Val¡¯s armor, and lances into her side. Val swings wildly and misses¨CDrenar uses a massive telekinetic blast from his palm to shove her backward and she stumbles into a debris pile, snarling with fury. Most of her men are now down for the count or dead. A few of the brave defenders of Asqualia are badly wounded. Joey grimaces¨Cshe knows these people, but the danger is still present in the room in the form of defiant Talons soldiers who are reinforcing the room and firing a withering barrage of autobow bolts. Angela reinforces her defensive barrier and shields Joey while they dive to cover near the damaged shielding of the mana reactor, ducking low to avoid the fire. ¡°Leave the upstart youths to me! Anyone who kills them, who isn¡¯t me, will die screaming!¡± Valosterla roars. There are several other shouts, then the sickening thwack of autobow bolts piercing through soft flesh, and the crack of a high-powered rifle intermittently. ¡°You were saying, Val?¡± Nick! There¡¯s my favorite oversized iguana with wings, and in one piece! Nicholas DeShandrea hops out from his vantage point, autobow held in a readied state. He''s covered in grime and spider viscera, but otherwise fully functional. And he''s pissed off for the first time since she''s known him, and all that anger is aimed right at the woman whose armor appears almost painted in blood. ¡°Valosterla Roshanikov, your men are being routed. We offer you this chance to surrender unconditionally this one time only. Throw down your arms, and have your remaining men do the same. This will be your only warning.¡± Joey sees Levine Dillenger advance into view, dark hair marked with a trace of silver, dressed in his tactical armor and holding his marksman rifle at a readied position. Angela hops over the debris, and all of them close on Valosterla. ¡°Guys! We need medical help up here immediately!¡± Kyle bellows out from the second floor, and she turns her head to see him supporting one of the mages from arcaneering. His red hair is bloodied, but he¡¯s alert and moving. She turns back to glare at Valosterla, who is bloodied, beaten, and towering over her opponents in her ebony armor and protective crown, her hair looking like a bloodied mane, and her ruby red eyes exuding hatred. Joey despises this porcelain-looking doll of a woman being an utter monster beneath that exterior. She is mighty tempted to plug several bolts through her. Assuming her spell barrier is sufficiently weakened, and assuming she doesn¡¯t just regenerate from the wounds faster than they can dish out the damage. Why does it not feel like it¡¯s over? Joey thinks worriedly. Something has to be wrong. Val would never surrender. They shouldn¡¯t allow her to. Not for the people she¡¯s murdered. Not for the coworkers and friends she¡¯s taken tonight. ¡°You know what?¡± she says with steadfast determination and walks over to her new friends to be side-by-side with them. She raises her sights on Valosterla. ¡°It¡¯s better if we don¡¯t take this genocidal dragoness alive. Just throwing that idea out there. She¡¯s the kind that takes advantage of the mercy of the mighty.¡± Drenar tilts his head to the side¨Chis messy hair is matted and he¡¯s got a few wounds covered in field dressings, but his green eyes radiate determination. ¡°Hear that, Val? I think one of our team¡¯s got your plan figured out, and I¡¯m inclined to agree. But we¡¯re better than you. You need to answer for what you¡¯ve done here tonight. For Reeves. Claire. Derek. Saul. And too many others. You have to answer to the call of justice.¡± Valosterla, still brandishing that abhorrently evil blade, throws back a maniacal laugh that echoes in the massive room, surrounded by determined defenders who all had a bone to pick with her. ¡°Hah! You think¨Chah-hah¨CYou think you¡¯re heroes? You¡¯re nothing. You¡¯re nothing but children and malnourished lizards and rats. You know how many people I¡¯ve killed, how many self-proclaimed heroes I¡¯ve slain?! I lost count a long time ago. Who do you think you are, when you stand trembling before a goddess?!¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy! We¡¯re the Radiant Delvers!¡± Julia quips, and Angela groans. ¡°That title was so five minutes ago. We have got to come up with a new one!¡± ¡°We already have one.¡± Drenar smiles in that sardonic smirk that Joey¡¯s come to associate with him, even in the face of mortal peril. ¡°And I think it¡¯s gonna stick, Val.¡± ¡°We¡¯re the Luminaires. The light to shine the way. A beacon to a better tomorrow.¡± Joey can feel the mood shift in the room, there¡¯s a massive pull of mana somewhere and every nerve in her body tells her there is immense danger brewing. Valosterla stands there and snarls in rage. There is nothing humanlike about it¨Cher draconic form is bleeding through, it¡¯s a feral maw of deadly sharp teeth that are the product of night terrors and crying children. She exudes malice with each syllable. ¡°No, Rashalda. The Luminaires are gone. They¡¯re dead and buried, and they¡¯re never coming back! Crosomer never had the will or the strength to do what was necessary, just like you don¡¯t have the strength to do what is necessary here! I just want you to know, it¡¯s been fun tonight, truly. But now, it¡¯s time for you and your upstart friends to die.¡± Joey can still feel the danger from somewhere, mana flow is nearby, activating something. Her super sharp hearing can pick up an audible charge building. Val smiles as the others close. She knows she must have a backup plan, they¡¯d beaten them to the power plant first and killed a number of the defenders. Her eyes go wide and she gasps. That audible pitch is the same pitch before half the south wing became a blaze of shrapnel and deadly debris. She turns to see the lethal explosive primed, adhered to the support strut of the reactor¨Ca critical component. If it¡¯s compromised, it could destabilize the whole reactor and bring it down on top of all of them. Detonator on the strut! she thinks in the blink of an eye. Drenar goes wide-eyed and moves faster than anyone she¡¯s ever seen. He knows exactly what he¡¯s doing when he instantly sheathes Luminari and throws a telekinetic grapple, prying the deadly device free. The detonator sails through the air, even as Val is in motion, and hits a priming switch subtly blending in on an arcanist activation rod on her hip. And she¡¯s wearing, in that small window of time before a cataclysm, a feral, manic grin. Even as that monster made manifest is grinning at their probable deaths, Joey realizes two life-altering things. One, her psionics are now so firmly interlaced into Drenar that her thought reading is now going in the opposite direction, and he can hear her thoughts. Two, she¡¯d always had a strange intuition for knowing the people who were going to be important in her life long before the reasons became apparent. Now she knows for certain that Drenar, Julia, and Angela are far, far from ordinary, even for dragon-kin. And if they somehow survive this, she¡¯s going to stand side-by-side with them in the coming crisis. The detonator lands in Drenar¡¯s hand, and he grabs Volkir¡¯s journal off his satchel, fusing the two with the residual adhesive. He¡¯s in pure reaction mode when he blasts the device kinetically at Val, who knows it¡¯s too late to undo her error and goes wide-eyed, a silent scream as light fractures the device at the seams. Angela¡¯s in motion beside her, shielding the gathered team with a barrier of immense strength, and Drenar swerves to protectively cover Joey, shielding her from the coming death. The world becomes a blast of fire, and the last thing she sees before the flames lash at her and her friends is Drenar, bracing against the inevitable. Vol. 2, Ch. 40: The Ruby Alchemist Four days earlier, and minus one demented, murder-happy dragoness¡­ Josephine Pyromist is annoyed on this average Monday workday. She is more than annoyed, there¡¯s a level of annoyance that starts to trigger her OCD in ways that her meditation doesn¡¯t resolve, and this is past that. That annoyance stems from more than just the scrap metal sitting on her side of the lab. She spins in her rolling chair to confront the source of this irksome intrusion onto her laboratory floor. Her personal arcanist lab is filled with wonders, chemicals, inventions, and research projects, all at risk from carelessness. "Kylancer Edwin Bertance," she calls out in a stern tone to her lab mate. A young man about the same age as her, 21 years old, pops into view from his mechanic bench after tinkering with yet another of his golem side projects. He''s deceptively short, even with his spiky red hair, close-trimmed goatee and hazel eyes, and light skin complexion. He has a light frame and a sharp-shaped face, and she''d be forgiven for thinking he was athletically lacking. That misconception stops when he swings a forge hammer like it¡¯s an unstoppable force, a process she''s seen many times over the years. "Josephine Mitsune Pyromist, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He replies cheerily while adjusting the magnification goggles he''s just pulled off. His lab coat is smudged with grease again, and his ID badge is looped on a lanyard around his neck. From his perspective, he''s getting the receiving end of a death glare from a five-foot-seven woman with wavy, bright, almost strawberry-red hair extending to shoulder length that she ties back in a ponytail. More notable are her piercing lavender-colored eyes, and smooth, light-tanned skin with just a few freckles. She''s lithe, and also just a little curvy in all the right places, and giving him an evil eye. She taps her sneaker on the floor impatiently while she crosses her arms and taps a neatly trimmed, but plain nail on her wristwatch. Her lab coat is in a similar state, and sterile white. "Kyle. What is it that I do here?" She asks like she would a four-year-old. "Alchemy, Joey. Alchemy. Really good alchemy and Arcanist zoology, and a helping hand of Magitek inventing," he answers in a deadpan way. "And what do you do?" She asks calmly. Just admit the mistake, and fix it, instead of trying to annoy me in that disarming charm sort of way, she thinks. "Magitek science? Arcanist metallurgy and systems engineering? Building magical stuff to improve or save people''s lives?" He again answers deadpan. "Yes Kyle, but what is the difference between your side of the lab and mine?" She points to the neatly taped line on the polished tile floor. Maybe it¡¯s a little obsessive, but she outlines all the major equipment on her side of the lab, to inform her when the space is violated. "Yours is pristine? And mine is not?" "Exactly! It is pristine because I work on precision of a different sort," she says with just a little bite to her words. "I work on alchemical reagents and lots of cool other magical concoctions that can fry adversaries, dissolve tough compounds, superpower people''s magical skills, or save someone''s life. And what do I need, at a minimum, to do all of this?" "Okay, I''ll move the scrap metal," he sighs when he finally owns up to the blunder. She can''t help but get in a little sass. "Yes Kyle, that would be great. Because we can''t have contaminants in my lab. This is a precision operation, and I don''t want to mix up a regen potion that inadvertently causes people to vomit blood, Kyle." He stares at her blankly for a second. "That has never happened." "But it could, Kyle. So let''s not take a chance, shall we?" She smiles sweetly after this and hums a tune while working on her primer mixture. I''ll make an Arcanist out of him someday. I couldn''t date him, but I can at least make him a presentable Arcanist. She glances at him with interest while he''s moving the scrap. Alright Kyle, let''s see if you have learned your lesson. She tunes out the sound around her, and reaches out with her thoughts while glancing at him. That white static noise she associates with her ability fades away, and she can hear his internal dialogue. She groans audibly when she hears an all-too-familiar tune, and internally vows to cleanse that infectious tune from the world. With fire. And Kyle along with it. Who lives in a pineapple, under the sea¡­ "Oh my fates Kyle, you''re humming SpongeBob SquarePants in your head, like you didn''t learn a thing!" She accuses him. "You know I hate that song!" "It is very catchy, isn''t it?" He smiles slyly. She relents and just throws up her arms in acceptance before letting out a soft chuckle. "It''s very meta, knowing you know that I know¡­that you know. Or something." She sits back in her chair and errantly spins it around a couple of times. It''s definitely coffee time, and time to reacquire her focus. "You know I never use it. Like, ever. Well, almost never." "I know. The research center is still standing, and the Conclave hasn''t suffered from a massive political scandal," he teases. "How do you just not view that thought sense as some kind of tool to do massive good in the world, anyway? I feel like you¡¯ve changed your answer a hundred times. Usually, it''s ''because it makes life too easy'' or some variant." "Because, Kyle," she sighs, "I worked too hard at London Academy and under Amaranth to ever want to risk being labeled a cheat or a thief. That isn''t who I am, or something I ever want to be." He takes a moment to rub her shoulder after putting away the equipment, his warm smile faint, but still there. "And if you start waxing Peter Parker on me about great powers, I''m gonna melt your shoes when you''re sleeping." "Man, I didn''t even think that thought yet. Are you clairvoyant too?" He asks casually, and she lets out a soft laugh. "I think I have enough on my plate with my alchemical lab, and my magical creatures encyclopedia I carry around in my head." He leans back after a second, gazing at the hallway where there''s some discussion from the other techs at Asqualia. She looks at her watch, it¡¯s getting closer to the end of the day. ¡°Wanna go to town later for a drink? I know we have Trivia tomorrow, buuut¡ªit¡¯s just feeling like one of those days! Let¡¯s go grab Claire and Joel after work!" "Tempting, but maybe later. I was gonna read up on something. Bitters and Snags just went on a break out of town, they said that there were like, a half-dozen Awakenings over the past week when they checked topside. Actually, I was wondering if you had any input. Half of them were drakensouls." Her attention is immediately captured. "Half a dozen?" She echoes. "That makes no sense! There have only been about a few thousand cases of drakensouls emerging in the last hundred years. And there were three at once? Within this relatively tiny town?" "I know, right? There''s something funky going on. Maybe it''s like some kind of cluster event. Like, the emergence of one caused the emergence of others?" "That''s a cascade effect, and no. That''s not how it works at all, regular Awakening is just a biological clock, drakensouls are totally random, even if they happen around the same age span!" She counters forcefully. This is very interesting now. "What else do you know?" "Not much. Bitters said he heard that SAF got involved when he was near their garrison by the promenade, one of his SAF buddies said they were in containment panic, presumably because it could have been a breach of veil protocol." "Wow. Okay, I think that warrants a call to Amaranth. If only he ever picked up his phone, or was in an area that didn''t have high interference!¡± she adds in an annoyed tone. Amaranth is the scholar, but he spends every moment that he isn¡¯t in class in the field. In places very far from any easy means of communication. Pocket planes and mana-laden rock are a bit of a bear on even arcanist communications equipment. "What about his buddy in SAF, Nick?" Kyle asks thoughtfully. "Nick?" She echoes. She instantly thinks of that man with the fashionably out-of-date ponytail, hazel eyes, and unflinching professionalism she¡¯d seen with his forays with Amaranth during some of her mage-zone excursions in the wilderness. "I thought he was on reserves at SAF somewhere, but I haven''t heard much from him lately. I mean hey, he and Amaranth were good friends growing up, and he¡¯s like¡­an associate? I''ll try to reach Amaranth once I finish up here." Kyle goes back to his task, and she cracks open her secure laptop and preps a connection to the Arcanist archives before typing at a rapid pace. That''s a really weird coincidence. Amaranth mentioned about a year ago there was a spike of awakenings that happened around here. But nothing after that. It could have been a coincidence, just a lot of dragon families with kids close in age right when Awakening happens. But drakensouls? That¡¯s a lot rarer. She''d need to look at the data as a function of date, and compare it to the population, but that might take a while to pull together. She glances at her half-finished distillation. Better to work on that first, before she loses focus. ADHD, you are my best friend and worst enemy sometimes. It''s late afternoon when she finally wraps up her tasks and puts all the reagents back in their place, then follows up with wiping down the counter gently. She examines the area¨Cher lab is now clean and presentable, and she picks up one errant cloth under a table. On the way out, she looks at the nameplate at the doorway, and allows herself a faint smile. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Kyle and Joey''s Lair. It''s been there a year, but this lab and her research make her feel like a part of something special. It¡¯s a home for her, in the mental, and even physical sense. She takes a deep breath and realizes she''s overdone it on that cinnamon spice scent she loves. Ugh. Kyle didn''t tell me I overdid it. On the plus side, it did blend out some of the off-putting scents from her work. She locks up the lab before setting down the hallway. The massive crystalline windows in the hall paint a pretty picture¨Ca sprawling underwater cavern adorned with all manner of vegetation, and above them, Flotsam Lake, suspended above their heads by powerful enchantments. It¡¯s always surreal, seeing that much water suspended above them. There¡¯s a glow of sunset from up above, the bleeding orange and reds of the approaching evening. Outside this building is an entire ecosphere and mage research center, hidden from the world. That sight will never get old to her, she thinks to herself. Kyle''s already headed out, and she''ll see him later in the dorm. She has another purpose today though, mostly to satisfy her curiosity. She spots the thin, tall mustached administrator talking to one of the other senior staff, with his medium-length salt and pepper hair, slightly wrinkled face, and puppy-brown eyes. It sounds like they''re talking about material purchases. "Joey, good afternoon, how are you?" Drylasha Zameren asks politely after she waves to him, and he finishes up with his colleague. He turns back to her, a warm smile still present. "I heard good news about your patent for your alchemical dispenser system. It went through!" This news is a bit of a shock, she didn''t think it even had a shot at approval! "Oh my goodness! Kyle''s going to love to hear that! It was a half-and-half job, and it wasn''t that super complicated¨C" he disarms her long explanation with a soft laugh. "Ah, sometimes the best ideas stem from something simple and easily overlooked. So, what can I do for you today?" He asks with interest. "I needed to find some information about drakensouls. I was going to reach out to my old mentor, but I also wanted to see if we had any research journals not digitized from the initial events," she asks politely. "Well, I¨Cah, well I have no idea, we must have something here, it''s strange that no one even asks about it these days," he adds while stroking his mustache. "Is this a new research project?" "There might be. Kyle mentioned that there were a bunch of Awakenings in a short timespan around here. And while I know draconic biology like the back of my hand, the drakensouls are not something I''m as familiar with," she relays. He nods thoughtfully. It¡¯s so easy to get him to sign off on things, by emphasizing an academic curiosity. "Talk to Jack, he''ll give you full access to our archive department. What about the rest of your work?" "The new primer gel formula works nicely, I reduced the reagent usage by fifteen percent. It''s a nice slice of cost savings with the exact same performance," she beams coyly. He sighs contentedly. ¡°So, I do have some time to spare.¡± "Oh Joey, you never disappoint. Never say something is impossible because you always find a way. And tell Kyle that the new alloy project is overdue. And he''s been cranking that infernal furnace of his nonstop for a week!" The unexister engine. That infernally large, loud, and hotter-than-hell furnace of his has been running and making the lab a little too warm for her liking. She¡¯d been using her exogel to cool the room slowly, and wasting her supply of a few reagents, much to her annoyance. But, he¡¯s been obsessing about a new alloy for months that he says could change history. She has a theory on what it is, but¨Cgetting that formula right should be impossible. Even for him. She decides to keep it light. "Oh, he''s close to a breakthrough. He''s experimenting with the grain structure of an adamantine crystal and some additives for a new steel alloy. A bit of a mission creep, but he''s onto something interesting.¡± She also doesn''t tell him that Kyle had put a hole in the floor from a misplaced drop of molten slag metal. But, Kyle¡¯s produced some very weird metal alloys out of it, and they¡¯re closer to stability than ever. "The archives are closed now, but¨Ccould I just start today?" "Hmm. Do you ever stop working?" He asks with hesitation. She shakes her head enthusiastically. It doesn''t help that she grins and beams at him with her lavender eyes. "Oh okay, just make sure to log any materials you take out, scouts'' honor or all that jazz." He¡¯s still wearing a contented smile, likely at her assertive interest in the unknown. "Awesome, thank you so much!" She practically skips down the hall. Kyle said she had manic energy for days, but she needs to be more assertive. Well, today is a first for that second part! She wonders where this inquiry could go. After a quick trip to the archives and jotting down all the entries she gathered, she heads back to her dorm and opens the door with a soft click of the key, she pulls her bookbag off her shoulder and places the research journals neatly on her oversized desk. Home at last. She unties the clasp on her hair, and her wavy red curls fall and bounce at the lightest sway behind her. Ugh, Kyle, you had to mention Nick. Now I want one of his field-cooked meals because even in the wilderness, he cooks like a dream. She''s annoyed that while her alchemical skills are divine, her cooking is only average. Cooking for one is kind of tricky, and she doesn¡¯t like making a bulk meal and eating the same thing for several days. She takes a sniff again, her trained nose tells her that she should shower first after work, before attending to the wind down in the evening. I don''t get it. I still get musty, even when I''m like this all the time. How does that even track, there''s no physical part of my fur present! Even as an Arcanist, I still get to call out magic as weird! You¡¯re weird, magic gods! Or whatever powers this aetherial substance in our universe. Seriously, the arcane physicists are slacking on explanations. She sighs and realizes that her mild OCD is kicking in. She takes a deep breath and forces herself into a zen-like mind state. Sometimes, she just needs to take a minute to slow down, and she lets go of her form. It only takes a handful of seconds, and the discomfort of the transition is something she got used to a long time ago. The itchy skin, the subtle shift of bones, and the shape of her body changing are minor irritants. Maybe it''s not as extreme as a dragon''s transformation, but it is mildly jarring for the few who observe it. She flops down on the beaten-up couch a minute later, her one furniture holdover from the Academy. It has seen better days, and she could easily replace it, considering she has a huge chunk of cash tucked away. But it''s cozy, and it''s a bit of nostalgia for her. She pulls out her phone to tap away and jot a few notes. It''s annoying to her, how many times she''s scratched the glass with her small claws inadvertently. Note to self. Need to come up with a new glass-like resin that is scratch-proof, and still allows the touch display to pick up finger texture. I''ll put it on the back burner for now. At least the display picks up my fingers identically. Her eyes scan the news¨Csome local place called Delta Tech had caught fire, and the report is just coming out now. Mages might have been involved in a decidedly unusual event¨Csome group called the Talons? She wraps her tail around her torso like a blanket, adorned with bright red fur that matches her hair color¨Cit''s ridiculously poofy, like usual. This is one of the few places she can relax like this, one of the few places she feels comfortable letting her true form out. A place she can feel safe. Only Kyle knows. And no one else here does¨Cnot that she could tell, when she occasionally eavesdropped with her thought sense. She uses it a little more than she admits out of pure curiosity. Kyle is a bright beacon of light in a world that has not been kind to her people, and she hopes, someday, that she won''t have to worry nonstop about being found out. I shouldn''t have to hide, she thinks with a solemn expression, because she has so much to offer the world. But the world isn''t cruel. People are cruel, sometimes through overt means, other times by subtle nudges of passive aggression or codewords. Or slow trickles of legislation that make it perfectly fine to bias hiring towards humans and dragons, or call people repulsive names, or refuse service. And the Conclave is filled with lots of those people. Her ear twitches, and she glances down at her phone, trying not to think what it takes to fix an entire mage government to be decent to all Kin as a whole. She''s reading the local news again¨Cthe non-magical variety. She looks at the roster of kids hiding as mages in the local high school graduation year on her notepad by her side table, thinking that some of them might be interns this coming summer. It''s months away, of course, but Zameren has asked her to start looking into appraising them. They''d need security clearance, and some training to take an internship at such a high-end facility. But it¡¯s a nice thought, going from being an apprentice to teaching others. The class photo is also there¨Cnothing special, really¨Cand she notices a few kids standing out in the back row. One is a toned girl with long black hair and a smile for days. Another girl goofily hugs her with long, wavy brown hair, and a tall, thin kid with short brown hair makes a disgusted expression right next to them, with similar hair color and facial features. They look like siblings. Next to the raven-haired girl, there''s a medium-height teen with messy dark brown hair, and bright green eyes joining in the embrace with a smirk. She doesn''t know why he catches her attention. She checks the name, and compares it to the candidate list. Drenar Rashalda. He isn¡¯t on it. Well, shame he''s not on the list of known mage families. Kids these days would give an arm and a leg if it allowed them to see how magical our world is, she thinks with a smile. Then, she frowns. She looks closer at the photo¨Cthen she zooms in, to the maximum resolution. His eyes aren''t just green, they''re super green. Almost as if¨C She looks at everyone else in the photo and then checks the date. It was taken in late September, a few weeks into what she presumes is a standard school year. She''s seen this before, in dragons. Sometimes they have super intense eye coloring that they have to hide with contacts. Red eyes, amber eyes, and orange eyes tend to attract a lot of unwanted attention to the mage world, and Conclave policy is to have dragons mask it through contacts or magical glamors. But his aren''t. And he isn''t the only one. The two girls next to him have intense gray-blue and deep azure-colored eyes, respectively. The brother looks ordinary. But as she looks through the rows of kids, her focus deepens. The number of intense eye colors is unsettlingly high. Ten. Twenty? Thirty-five?! She¡¯s got better eyesight than most, and the first thing she thinks is, this can¡¯t be possible. They can¡¯t all be dragons. Can they? What would that mean if that were the case? How could that be possible? She examines the list of candidates. She knows there is a huge mage and Kin community out here in this town, but then her eyes widen and she rubs anxiously at the base of one of her elongated ears. The list of known mage families with school-age kids is about a few dozen. Assuming one kid per family, and every single one of them came from a draconic family, and not say, a Wargen or a pixie, or even an elven, or just an ordinary human mage, this makes no sense at all. She''s staring at something unprecedented. They are all about to, or have Awakened. The age bracket matches, but the names don''t. She stares at the names crossed off. The group of four in the top right fit none of the declared mage families. Not that some mages don¡¯t attempt to live a normal vanilla life, but magic has a way of making a mundane life a fleeting dream for most. She flips to her contacts and calls Kyle. He picks up after the second ring. "Hey Mitsune, I thought you were coming out with us later¨C" "Kyle, we''ve got a new project. And I have no idea how big it is because I''ve never seen anything like this." She cuts to the point. "Meet me at the lab, tomorrow morning, early. I''ve got to do some research tonight." He stammers a few indecipherable words, and she sighs while his brain catches up to her gut instinct. "Joey, what did you find?" She takes a breath as the words come from the heart. "Someone might have broken Awakening." Vol. 2, Ch. 41: Mage Training 101, Part One Monday afternoon, and not under a lake¡­ Julia DeVerdra thought there were some tough moments of training when it came to her martial arts or the absolute calm it took to hit a target at eight hundred meters with the gentle reassurance of her mother at the gun range. She¡¯s been able to tackle any challenge thrown at her to date, and usually, all it takes is a level head and careful study. That all got thrown out the window when Nick ¡®Double-O Dragon¡¯ DeShandrea crossed paths with them on that fateful Friday afternoon and showed them how woefully out of their depth they were. After a recovery for the past few days and one intense day of training on Sunday, Nick has decided to dump a new bit of information on them. No one¡¯s happy about leaving Drenar¡¯s house, where they¡¯ve been camping out whenever they can. ¡°No way. We''re not camping out at your place,¡± Angela states with crossed arms, and for once, James has her back. Julia isn''t keen on it either on Monday afternoon, after school. ¡°Tell us why.¡± ¡°They know your vital statistics and your address. I doubt Crosomer''s claims of testing you for funzies, because the smart thing to do would have been to just kill you three and be done with it.¡± ¡°He seemed to have an awful amount of restraint during that fight. Did anyone else pick up on that?¡± Julia poses. ¡°Like he could have killed us without much effort. Well, some effort, we gave as much as we got.¡± ¡°He was teaching.¡± Drenar makes the revelation with a finger in the air. Angela tousles his brown hair just to annoy him and leave it even more of a mess than usual, and she grins mischievously when he frowns at the interruption. ¡°Alex told me that Crosomer was a hardcore academic. The battle triggered some memories for him. And the one thing that rattled out first was how boring Robespierre was during his lessons, even though Alex was the senior. Well, year-wise. A-anyway, that¡¯s not important. What¡¯s important is he was teaching us to defend ourselves.¡± ¡°Better question, why?¡± Angela chimes in. ¡°He¡¯s an old geezer who now gets his kicks out of beating up teenagers with attitude?¡± Drenar proposes. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m still figuring that part out. Unless he was deadpanning us when he said we¡¯d be the tip of the spear that gets thrust into the beating heart of the Conclave.¡± ¡°Gonna be real with you, he could do way better than investing his time in us, people who have a bone to pick with him for an experiment gone horribly right that¡¯s changing us all into dragons.¡± And yet, Julia can¡¯t dismiss the idea. Crosomer had been remarkably in control of the entire fight. The only major surprise had been¨C ¡°Drenar, what¡¯s the deal with your dagger, by the way?¡± The question catches him off-guard. It''s something she hasn''t even really thought about until now. ¡°You mean why do I still have it strapped to my person? I dunno, maybe because I expect danger at our doorstep any second now? But not at school. That''s like, sending a bad message¨C¡± ¡°No, not that. Are you aware that it¡¯s glowing a little bit?¡± she asks. Nick is instantly at attention, and Drenar pulls the dagger out and runs his fingers along the flat of the blade. His motion stops when he gets to the hilt. His eyes widen. ¡°She¡¯s right. It¡¯s glowing.¡± ¡°Did it do that before?¡± ¡°Oh for¨CJulia, you honestly think I¡¯ve been holding out on a magical dagger, which is utterly trivial compared to being a flipping dragon?!¡± His animated reaction isn¡¯t exactly unwarranted, she notes. ¡°It had to be something to do with that spell trap I got tangled in. Maybe there¡¯s some residual¡­mana, I think? Yeah, mana is covering the blade surface.¡± ¡°No, look closer. It¡¯s originating from these weird shapes on the hilt. They look like sigils, or some glyph language. Or runes? Are runes a thing in magic?¡± Nick nods in affirmation. ¡°They can be. Runes are sort of the way to engineer magical effects on items if they¡¯re not baked in immediately into the construction of said item, or the process of how it¡¯s made. May I?¡± Drenar doesn¡¯t even blink before he hands the dagger to Nick. The light instantly dies out, and he frowns. ¡°Um. Okay. That was strange.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t like you,¡± Julia teases. Nick picks up the cue and hands it to her. The glow resumes, much to her surprise. ¡°Well, now, aren''t you a curious little thing! Angie, I need to borrow you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a fan of daggers, but alright¨C¡± she barely touches the dagger and the glow gets even brighter, and she looks at it apprehensively. ¡°Uh, hey Nick. Two questions. Why is this dagger now glowing, and why does it get brighter when I touch it?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t the foggiest, but you can bet I¡¯ll find out.¡± He takes the dagger back and the glow dies in an instant. ¡°Oh, fine then, mystery weapon, I guess I¡¯m not worthy. Give me time, I¡¯m more of the slow charmer kind of guy.¡± ¡°Uh¡­are you talking to the dagger?¡± Julia snerks at this. ¡°Julia, you¡¯re going to find that a lot of weird stuff happens with mages. And your best recourse to not lose your mind is to just roll with it,¡± Nick suggests. He furrows his brow and examines the dagger, tip to hilt. ¡°This construction is highly unusual, this is not mage steel, this is something else. Mythril? Nah, not light enough. Alarite? Wrong color. Grain structure is all wrong, it looks like this all grew from a single crystal of metal.¡± ¡°You seem to know a lot about metallurgy,¡± Drenar says after a second. Nick shakes his head, his blonde ponytail swaying gently for a second. For a man who¡¯s seventy years old and looks less than twenty, and having spent almost five decades fighting men and monsters, he can wear whatever style he wants. Even though she feels it''s a touch dated. ¡°Only enough to get by. I¡¯m not an expert by any measure, but you learn stuff over the years. The aesthetics of the dagger are¡­Celtic? Scandinavian? And five runes. Five? Who the hell made this thing?¡± He tries to pull back the leather on the handle, but it seems resistant. ¡°Sorry Drenar, I don¡¯t want to manhandle this thing, but a smith mark would typically be underneath these windings, and they seem firmly attached.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t?¡± he says edgily. ¡°That¡¯s my mom¡¯s dagger.¡± ¡°Well, why do you have it?¡± ¡°Because she gave it to me, Legolas.¡± James laughs out loud, and Nick shoots him a glare that could melt steel. ¡°That nickname sucks, and hasn¡¯t been earned, either,¡± he says with annoyance. ¡°Besides, I was more of a fan of Game of Thrones, before they jumped the shark.¡± ¡°Which season?¡± ¡°I meant the book.¡± ¡°Oh. in that case, Storm of Swords. A feast of Crows was alright. But Dance with Dragons sucked. You know there¡¯s two more books left,¡± Drenar reminds him. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll be dead of old age before that gets finished,¡± he rebukes. He gently hands the dagger back to Drenar. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s magical. I can¡¯t tell you what it does, but it¡¯s likely because of your Awakening.¡± ¡°Wait, did I enchant it?¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°It¡¯s not unheard of, but in your case¡­no. They were already there.¡± ¡°So, my mom picked up a magical dagger from a bargain bin store, and it just started working? Nah, that seems like a long shot, Nick.¡± ¡°You¡¯d be surprised how many magical weapons end up in normie hands,¡± he says with a sigh. Julia raises her eyebrow. ¡°Normie? Normal, non-magical humans?¡± ¡°It sounded pretty derogatory.¡± ¡°Fine, just non-mage hands. Does it really sound that bad?¡± he asks with reservation. ¡°Guess it¡¯s lingo you picked up?¡± Julia asks with a hint of anger. His expression confirms it, even in silence. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t use that term. If we think it sounds bad, it probably is.¡± ¡°Right. Damn. It''s been a while since I¡¯ve interacted with people that got violently thrown to the shadier side of the Veil,¡± he admits. He turns back to Drenar. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be honest, it¡¯s possible this was a random find for her. It happens sometimes. There¡¯s a heap of magical items and artifacts that find their way to non-mage hands, and nothing ever comes from it. Most of them require just a hint of mana in your body to activate or be useful, anyway.¡± ¡°That¡¯s reassuring,¡± he says before securing it away. ¡°It cuts through body armor like butter. I¡¯ll keep an eye out if it does anything else.¡± ¡°If it starts demanding blood, Drenar, better to dump it,¡± Julia reminds him. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s sentimental! And it¡¯s also a really nice dagger, I got a lot of use from this while camping and during scouts.¡± ¡°It actually is really high quality. Some idiot must have thought it was a Renaissance fair impulse buy,¡± Nick says with distaste. ¡°Do you¡­mind if I send a photo to Levine?¡± ¡°Nah, go ahead. I feel like this isn¡¯t that big a mystery to solve, and that broadsword that we brought back is clearly a plus-one weapon.¡± Julia giggles at that, and Drenar scowls. ¡°No seriously, it¡¯s a straight-up magical upgrade. It¡¯s lighter than standard steel for a blade that length, and it cuts a sheet of paper if I drop it on the edge.¡± ¡°You actually tested that?¡± ¡°You realize I want to be an engineer as a profession, right? Problem-solving and observations of physical tests are kind of my bread and butter.¡± ¡°Yeah, now we can add a magical engineer to the title!¡± He sighs and simply shakes his head. ¡°Okay, I see how this is going to go. What''s a magical engineer without sounding dorky? A magitech engineer, a magineer? I''m kinda keen on the job title of ¡®technomancer¡¯. For an aspiring chemist¡­what''s that in magical terms?¡± ¡°Alchemist,¡± everyone but Nick says simultaneously. He looks warily at them. ¡°Spooky. Are you guys some kind of hive mind?¡± ¡°You realize we''ve known each other since forever, right?¡± Angela says crossly. ¡°So what''s your job title? Officially?¡± ¡°Captain Nicholas DeShandrea, SAF special investigations. The military rank doesn''t mean too much. I get called ¡®the verdant fluffy hunter¡¯ to the amusement of some of my coworkers'' kids.¡± This elicits a few laughs. ¡°But that doesn''t detract from the fact that I''ve done plenty of tracking and investigative work over the years.¡± ¡°Amaranth kinda missed the mark a bit, I didn''t realize Hinterlands have so much feather coverage. You''re more bird than dragon,¡± James comments while holding the magical creature bestiary that had started this whole adventure. Nick looks at it and walks over. ¡°Hey. I know this copy. One of the first editions! Four volumes later, he''s still begging me for permission to put me on the contributing author list. It''s tough, I tell you, that this is like my second job that I enjoy more, and do mostly as a pro-bono effort.¡± ¡°Doesn''t being a dragon make it a little too easy?¡± Angela asks with a raised eyebrow. ¡°No wonder why you talk about the outdoors all the time. I wonder how many of those stories pale in comparison to the truth?¡± It''s almost adorable how Nick reacts in a subtle way of arching backward. ¡°Uh, well¡­you know the secrecy of mages is a whole thing, right? I can''t exactly talk about any of my hunts or magical creature management sorties. And there''s a lot of them. And some of them did cross over the line of military importance. Damn bloodcaps,¡± he mutters. ¡°What''s the story behind that one?¡± Julia prods further. ¡°Little bastards with sharp, fetid spears who bleed out way too slowly and will eat humans and other Kin. They''re not sapient, but they''re intelligent. And just nasty.¡± He rubs at his shoulder uneasily. Maybe the reminder isn''t just a mental one. ¡°Look, let''s not talk about me all day. As much fun as it would be to amuse you teenagers by regaling you with old tales and of harrowing hunts, we have priorities. All of you recite to me the principles of Veil protocol as I asked.¡± ¡°See no magic, hear no magic, speak no magic,¡± Angela sighs. Nick looks at her with an amused smile. ¡°Close. But less memes, please.¡± ¡°Alright, fine. Conduct all magical business in veil-free zones or in the absence of non-mages. We don''t talk about mages, Kin, or magic harder than we don''t talk about Bruno to anyone not already a Kin or a mage.¡± Drenar¡¯s brother Evan fights back a laugh at this. His brother. That¡¯s a phrase that¡¯s still taking some getting used to. Up until last week, Julia had known him as an adopted brother of Drenar. It must have been pretty awkward for Drenar¡¯s father to walk back into the scene and see his ex-wife now with a son that wasn¡¯t his on the way. Evan said he didn¡¯t want to know who his dad was, because it¡¯s something he doesn¡¯t want closure on. She still doesn¡¯t understand why. Nick¡¯s ongoing quiz breaks her train of thought, and she focuses on it again. ¡°Better. Recite to me contingency protocols in case of accidents.¡± He points to Drenar. ¡°First priority, the safety of civilians and non-mages, immediate life-saving responses as deemed necessary. The second priority is to call SAF on a secure line, and inform them of location, witnesses, and if there are suspected audio and video recordings. Containment falls on us to the best of our abilities or any other responders.¡± Drenar¡¯s been studying, she notes, even though he should have been resting. Drenar might be a bit of an improv planner in a crisis, but he can hit the books when he needs to. ¡°What about imminent hostilities, say a Talons kill squad starts shooting?¡± ¡°You have permission to defend both yourself and others from aggressors of that nature, but refrain from doing so unless it''s critical to defending others,¡± Nick replies. ¡°Dragon forms okay?¡± Julia interprets that as ¡®Is it okay to curb stomp those hateful fiends into oblivion for daring to hurt innocent people.¡¯ Except she would just outright state that. ¡°Proportionate to the threat, yes. But try to avoid collateral damage, dragons have powerful abilities that can kill or injure non-mages. We¡¯ll be going over that too.¡± Nick points to James. ¡°What is containment policy priority?¡± ¡°Wipes of cell phone data using magical fields, and digital recordings. Mages have contacts at all major media outlets to drop stories or convince people they''re fakes. Memory alteration is allowable for non-mages where such efforts are considered non-traumatic and are to be done by professionals only. Seriously, anyone with a trickle of mana can''t be mind-wiped?¡± ¡°Correct. The enchantment effect is highly sensitive, and prone to failure, and highly controlled in its application. It''s easier to build trust by bringing a few non-mages into the fold.¡± Nick points to Julia. ¡°Protocol for post-event debrief?¡± ¡°We sit in a glass box with SAF and go over the events, and fill out paperwork. I presume that breaches of the Veil protocol are rare?¡± This part is boring, she''d rather be firing that new autobow. Or that .50 BMG beast of a rifle. Her shoulder still hurts from the incredible recoil force and she''s annoyed at the heavy bruising, but what a treat it had been to put Crosomer in his place. She''d been somewhat annoyed her aim hadn''t been better, but the conditions of being injured and exhausted hadn''t helped, either. If she hadn''t been fighting crippling pain, that last round would have got him right in his smug grin. It¡¯s frustrating when even a .50 caliber weapon has trouble stripping arcane barriers. She ponders if a dragon could carry an even bigger weapon. I wonder what it would take to make a dragon-portable 20-millimeter autocannon? Nah, that¡¯s overkill. Maybe a 14.5mm round? Hmm¡­I¡¯m getting worked up over this. I¡¯ll have to pester Nick later! ¡°Breaches are rare. But the consequences of the whole world waking up to find magic and mana are real things, and, you know, dragons, would be¡­bad. Bad on a lot of levels.¡± ¡°You don''t want it industrialized, do you?¡± James asks quietly. ¡°Mana and magic could do a lot of good if we could solve energy shortfalls, and it sounds like mana is the next great renewable resource.¡± ¡°Or a dragon-backed army. I know we¡¯re not at our original numbers, but dragons are a force factor multiplier just like a regular mage. Mages already have their own internal issues as it were.¡± ¡°But you know the secret can''t last forever,¡± Julia says boldly. ¡°Someday, someone is gonna screw up badly, and it won''t stay hidden.¡± ¡°Until that happens, we keep the peace,¡± Nick says stoically. ¡°Plus, I don''t want the magical biozones becoming tourist traps or dump heaps. That''s my personal stake.¡± ¡°Eh. I can respect that reason,¡± Angela agrees with a shrug. ¡°Glad you agree. Now, field training time.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 42: Mage Training 101, Part Two Training time. Julia likes this part in particular. ¡°Just so we¡¯re clear, the parents are all MIA?¡± Nick asks Drenar before he loads an autobow with a full magazine. They''re out in the backyard now and Nick already adjusted the weapon to fire subsonic bolts, because even though there''s no propellant, sonic booms tend to attract the attention of the wrong kind. ¡°Diane and Dave are attending to her father. He''s recovering from a heart attack. A pretty bad one too, not even related to bad diet or health, just bad genetics.¡± He''s still looking grim at this, and his own parents'' demise is still weighing on his expression when he talks about it. ¡°You realize that they''re gonna freak out if we have to tell them, right?¡± ¡°When we have to.¡± ¡°Did you add an ¡®when¡¯ to that statement? You''re just going to do it eventually?¡± ¡°Less risky. For now.¡± Drenar shakes his head but says nothing more when Nick tugs the primer back into position. The bow is tensed, ready to fire. There''s a light glow from the kinetic primer on the bolt end. ¡°This is a GRC 15-A autobow. It''s a common armament of SAF and other law enforcement for mages. Before you ask, yes. It hits like a truck. The bolt head is designed to pierce and penetrate, and then tumble to cause extra trauma. It''s like a gunshot. So for safety''s sake, treat it the same way as you would any firearm.¡± ¡°Why a crossbow?¡± James asks. ¡°We have a hundred years of modern firearms.¡± ¡°Because it''s mechanically simpler, costs less, and enchanting bullets is a pain to do in volume. Magically enhanced munitions need a certain amount of mass to adhere to effectively. Hence, bolts. The muzzle velocity is still pretty high, and the range is more limited¡­plus with an autobow bolt, the round won''t spall due to the higher mass and still can incur kinetic damage to barriers and armor. Most mage firefights are medium range or closer, it''s rare to be engaging over several hundred meters.¡± ¡°That''s¡­actually well thought out,¡± James concedes. ¡°I agree. But when you say magically enhanced munitions, I''m guessing a standard steel bolt or with an armor core penetrator doesn''t do much against monsters.¡± Nick nods at her. ¡°Correct. Most monsters that you''ve read about require a specialist approach to neutralize or deter. They either have resilient anatomies, incredible healing, or special abilities that render some attacks useless. I mean there''s always brute force, but you pick the right tool for the job.¡± Nick spends several minutes breaking down the weapon showing the components, and being safe when operating the weapon. Most of it is the same as a regular firearm, much to Julia''s relief. Nick even demonstrates proper firing procedure, and everyone gets a chance to engage in a few target dummies he''s set up on the far end of the backyard. Julia instantly falls in love with the design. It''s simple but effective. The rate of fire is slower, but controllable. Still, she is disciplined enough to fire only in two-round bursts, with incredible accuracy. Is that the first time she''s seen Nick smile since yesterday? It has to be a fluke. After a while and more practice, Nick talks about firearms and mage applications. The Dragonslayer, as she calls the .50 Cal rifle, doesn''t get a return visit. She pouts when he explains that setting off that cannon is just too much noise here. Maybe next time, my beauty, she thinks with a childish grin. Drenar looks pale at the mention of the massive firearm, and her gleeful enthusiasm for it. ¡°Lighten up a bit Drenar, if things go to shit, I''m your gunner lady.¡± ¡°I''m not worried about me, so much as whatever you''re aiming at. And remember, standard ammo against shielded opponents is going to be weak-sauce,¡± he states for emphasis. Julia winces, and looks at the wraps still covering her fading burns. She ejects the magazine and pulls a bolt out. ¡°Uh, what are you doing?¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know.¡± She does have an idea she doesn¡¯t want to telegraph just yet, out of concern for doing something really stupid¨Cor ingenious. She thinks back to the fight with Crosomer, and her desperate idea to channel her plasma across her arms. When she¡¯d done that, some of the energy had channeled to that metal staff that was sitting tucked away in the living room, because she was not about to give up her newfound toy without a fight. Plasma is conducted by metal. But it didn¡¯t heat the metal. Otherwise, I would have scorched my hands. But it did heat the foam to the point of decomposition. Why? She¡¯s going to test something. ¡°Nick, what is the standard counter to arcane barriers?¡± she asks. Drenar and Nick are immediately at attention, while Angela and James are arguing over how to zero for extended ranges¨CAngela has a firm grasp, but James seems to think the ballistics are different for bolts due to the lack of tumble and the increased lift from the stabilizing fins. Evan is sitting back, lazily typing something on his phone. He¡¯s not counting on being in a fight, and she doesn¡¯t blame him. Nick clears his throat. ¡°Shielded opponents present a higher threat presence due to the ability to soak damage and protect more vulnerable teammates. Not every mage is capable of creating a durable barrier with their mana generation. The standard counter is elemental plasma, or overwhelming kinetics. A rapid-fire telekinetic attack from a Maridian silver, or a pulsing energy ray from a Hinterland¨Cmyself, in particular¨Care good counters. Plasma is the best but typically requires close contact. Not ideal against a ranged opponent.¡± He¡¯s still peering at her with curiosity. ¡°I have an idea. Go put up a defensive screen on the dummy at the far end.¡± ¡°You want me to put myself in the line of fire?¡± It¡¯s more surprising he doesn¡¯t outright say ¡®hell no¡¯ to her request. ¡°I won¡¯t miss.¡± She focuses that plasma spark with a snap of her free hand, and lowers it to the bolt. She feels a charge of draining energy when she contacts the mage steel bolt, and the bolt vibrates lightly and crackles with a slight blue glow. She loads the bolt back into the magazine, inserts the whole mag, and chambers the bolt. Nick is now at the target, standing away from it and projecting a faint silver barrier. ¡°Weapons¡¯ live. Standby.¡± She aims down the simple 4X magnification scope and lets out a slow breath once she focuses on the training dummy¡¯s torso. She can see the shimmer of the barrier, and can see Nick in her peripheral vision, looking just a little anxious. She squeezes the trigger past the break point and there¡¯s a sizzle of energy as the bolt flies home, and impacts in a crackling cloud of scintillating plasma energy. The barrier holds for an instant before shattering in flying golden sparks, and the bolt is firmly embedded into the torso after the energy dissipates. Nick looks at the bolt, then her. He¡¯s mildly impressed. ¡°Told you I wouldn¡¯t miss. How much power did you put into that barrier?¡± He wipes off the golden sparks that evaporate into the air and shrugs. ¡°Not much. So how did you know mage steel could conduct the plasma?¡± ¡°When I was busy giving myself plasma burns, the metal of my staff conducted the energy, but it didn¡¯t heat up. It just stayed on the outer skin without heating by the resistivity of the material. I figured, the bolt is just like a miniature version of that." She sets the safety on the weapon and stretches lightly. ¡°But I¡¯m guessing you already have seen stuff like this.¡± ¡°It is a good strategy. Your plasma lasso also can do the same thing, but the range is extremely limited.¡± It¡¯s not her imagination, Nick can smile on occasion. ¡°Now, I won¡¯t be doing that again, because standing on a firing line is dangerous, but I hope everyone is paying attention.¡± ¡°Can you pre-channel those bolts before a battle? How long could you conduct the energy? And how many can you prepare without fatiguing yourself?¡± Drenar raises good questions, but she puts her hands up. ¡°Drenar, let¡¯s boil it down to basics. My electric personality spells certain death for mages who think they¡¯re safe behind magic walls. And you¡¯re my mobile battering ram for actual walls with those telekinetics,¡± she grins. ¡°Angie, too.¡± ¡°Hey, I serve a more important role than that!¡± It¡¯s telling when he can¡¯t help but smile back, but then he¡¯s peering upwards. ¡°Uh, Julia¡­you are having a day.¡± ¡°Uh, what now?¡± ¡°Gold and seafoam feathers are sprouting from your hair now.¡± Her eyes widen at this, and she quickly pulls out her phone to try to take a selfie. She squeaks in delight, then quickly shuts up and tries to put on a stern face. Drenar¡¯s trying not to die laughing. ¡°Guessing you¡¯re not going to school tomorrow.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t ditch school! My mother will know! Then she¡¯ll barnstorm home and then see her baby daughter molting feathers!¡± she groans audibly and raises her hands to her head. ¡°Nope, can¡¯t ditch, need a new plan!¡± ¡°Just ditch, I¡¯ll cover for you,¡± Drenar offers. ¡°I can say we were both skipping.¡± ¡°Aw, you¡¯d do that?¡± she coos. ¡°No. Diane would murder me before chastising you, too. I like not being dead.¡± She narrows her eyes at him. ¡°You would do almost anything for me, except that?¡± ¡°Yeah, two days ago there was a near-certain death. Diane catching wind of what we¡¯ve been up to is going to be guaranteed death in my case. And mages don¡¯t get rez scrolls, Julia.¡± ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s up with that? Mages craft regen potions that heal grievous wounds, but you can¡¯t bring back the dead?¡± Angela piles on. ¡°Dead¡¯s dead. There¡¯s a certain finality in it,¡± Nick states calmly. Too calmly. Julia suspects it¡¯s because he¡¯s likely participated in causing death too; she¡¯s not quite mentally prepared to ask the fluffy green dragon how many people or monsters he¡¯s killed in his career at SAF. It¡¯s even less likely he¡¯d want to tell them. ¡°We all return to the aether, someday. We all find our way home to the cradling arms of Gaia, one way or another.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Nick''s never been very religious sounding, but those softly offered words catch her attention. ¡°Mages have their uh¡­beliefs, too?¡± ¡°Something like that.¡± He doesn''t elaborate further and sounds almost distant when he responds. ¡°The things I''ve seen¡­ make it hard not to think about where mana comes from, and the effect it has on our world.¡± ¡°It is pretty surreal, isn''t it?" I still have a problem where I look like a freaking raptor girl,¡± Julia sighs, though it''s not the worst thing to happen As awesome as the feather crest is, it¡¯s also a sign her first transformation is imminent in the next few days. ¡°Thoughts?¡± ¡°Trim them?¡± Drenar proposes with a sly smile. ¡°Actually, don¡¯t. It¡¯s quite a colorful look.¡± ¡°I¡¯m firmly convinced you have some fetishes. Like scales.¡± Julia can¡¯t help but smirk when he goes red in the face and stammers out a couple of incoherent words before recovering. ¡°Oh, am I close to the mark? Now I wonder if that has more to do with the species upgrade or your preexisting concepts of the feminine form?¡± ¡°All speculation and zero substance.¡± He crosses his arms and glares at her while looking extremely flustered. ¡°Besides, sexy is sexy, regardless of scales, fur, skin, feathers, or hide.¡± I have got to mess with him! She thinks with a predatory grin. ¡°Angela, I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯ve¡­observed his browsing history, have you?¡± Angela lights up at this opportunity, and now she¡¯s smiling evilly. ¡°Oh, have I ever?¡± ¡°Nick, they¡¯re plotting. Don¡¯t believe a word they say,¡± Drenar tries to cut off where this is going. ¡°Oh no, I want to hear about this. Consider it a teambuilding event,¡± Nick says with a quick smirk. Drenar scowls at him. ¡°Seriously, I just fought a goddamn dragon. You guys could give me a few days to not mess with me, my arm still hurts something fierce.¡± He waves his bandaged arm for emphasis, and bites his lip because the motion likely aggravates the bite wound. ¡°So what does he really like?¡± Nick leans into it so well, and Julia can¡¯t help but enjoy the moment. ¡°Well, there were a few visits to a few risque sites. Some involving a little¡­hmm¡­a little bit of fur and fluff?¡± ¡°Haha, jokes over. The fantasies that I keep in my brain, stay there,¡± he says frigidly. ¡°Jokes on you Drenar, you actually can live that one out!¡± Angela shows her phone of a scantily clad fox girl with a leering grin, and Drenar goes just a little red at this spectacle. Otherwise, he¡¯s tapping his foot impatiently. ¡°Maybe you¡¯ve met a kitsune in your life, and never known it! They grant you a wish if you discover their true form!¡± ¡°Bah, old wives¡¯ tale. Kitsune don¡¯t grant wishes!¡± he counters. ¡°No, but they can read your mind. Well, some of them,¡± Nick says with a chuckle. Drenar looks his way and lets out a soft sound of surprise. ¡°They can?¡± ¡°Yep. The extent to which they can do so is something that I don¡¯t know the limits. They¡¯re¡­kind of shy.¡± Drenar taps his foot impatiently again. "Boy, does that sound like something to unpack later." He lets out a soft sigh. ¡°Look, this is all very entertaining at my expense, but I¡¯m pretty sure my preferences for the feminine form are otherwise unaltered, unlike the rest of my physiology.¡± ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is, you¡¯re still into scales?¡± Julia leans in and goes for the kill while he¡¯s off balance. ¡°Yes¨Cno¨Cdammit, you know what I meant!¡± he says with a scowl, and she can¡¯t help but laugh heartily. ¡°Even if that were the case, making fun of people in a wacky world where dragons are the tip of the iceberg is hardly funny. It¡¯s actually a little mean.¡± ¡°I agree. Love is unbounded by form!¡± She says with a heartwarming smile. ¡°You know what, that¡¯s a great line! ¡®Love is unbounded by form.¡¯ I like it!¡± Drenar shakes his head and simply sighs, but that dour-looking funk on his face is gone and he smiles faintly. ¡°Alright, I can get behind that idea. Now, how are we handling tomorrow?¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t,¡± Nick says with a shrug. ¡°Angela, you said your heart rate spiked a few times?¡± He pulls out a small notebook after jotting a few things down. ¡°Yeah, why?¡± ¡°Anything else symptom-wise? I¡¯m trying to establish a timeline of triggers so I can predict just how many warnings we¡¯ll have. Dragons transforming in front of a bunch of non-mages is a bad thing.¡± ¡°About an hour ago. The only time today, actually,¡± she says while putting a hand to her chest, and rubbing uneasily. Julia wonders if her scars are bothering her. It¡¯s almost as if she¡¯s become very conscientious of them lately. Maybe I should talk to her later about it? Nah, she¡¯d just wave me away if I asked about it, better to wait a bit before I ask her. ¡°Hey, Nick. I have one question, actually.¡± Nick turns to face Drenar, who¡¯s wearing a somber expression. ¡°You¡¯ve been around a while. I don¡¯t suppose you¡­knew my parents, did you?¡± After a few seconds, he shakes his head. ¡°No. I never did. About the only highlight I¡¯ve got is that you¡¯re related to Alexander Rashalda, the man who led the Luminaires, by Crosomer¡¯s own admission. Why are you asking?¡± ¡°Because¡­there¡¯s some unanswered questions, Nick.¡± Julia folds up the autobow and places it back into its carrying case. ¡°We¡¯re half-dragons. One or more of our parents likely were, too. And dragons¡­live a long time. Long enough to cross paths with many others.¡± She just hopes he¡¯s not lying to protect them from a bitter truth further down the line. ¡°Prior to coming back into town a few years ago, I hadn¡¯t revisited long enough to get acquainted with a lot of people. I spent the better part of almost fifty years away from here, traveling the world and doing a lot of good. The reason I stayed was because I had to¡­I had to attend my mom¡¯s funeral. Me, Dad, and my three sisters.¡± It suddenly seems much quieter in the yard now. ¡°There¡¯s something to be said about being a dragon, how it has a lot of great perks¡­but as you guys might have figured out, some of them can be a bit of a curse. My mother lived to be ninety-three. My dad is closer to four hundred, and¡­her last wish on her deathbed was for him to not mourn her till the end of his days, a thousand or more years down the line.¡± Julia can¡¯t help but look at James, who¡¯s gone quiet when he looks at his friends. His bitter words about being dust while they¡¯ll still be young still ring in her mind, from only a scant few days ago¨Can entire lifetime ago, it felt like. ¡°After that, I stayed. I was tired of running around the world when I really needed a home to stand by.¡± ¡°Scarla, Elaine, and Maribeth, right?¡± Julia pays attention to Angela, and a burning bright idea pops up. A notable void in the things that Angela tells her on a regular basis. She always leaves out her interactions with Nick. She''s totally into Nick. I knew it. That''s why she didn''t totally jump Drenar''s bones! Before she can process the thought further, Nick nods and continues speaking. ¡°You know Scarla, from her art studio?¡± ¡°I thought she looked a little similar to you! The facial features, and the long straight hair! She mentioned she had a brother, but I thought it was a weird coincidence!¡± ¡°Yeah, she''s the one who stayed closest to home. Dad teaches a couple of towns over. He still enjoys it. He turned down more than a couple of offers from Brentson Academy, and London Arcanist Academy too, the crown jewel of mage higher education. I think¡­I think it would have been hard for him to move from here. Even with having access to teleportals. He left me the house I now use as my lair and base of operations, after mom passed. There are still scratch marks by the kitchen door frame from when we were all growing up, trying to get a quarter inch on each other,¡± he adds with a soft laugh. ¡°What about your other sisters?¡± James asks, his curiosity tweaked. ¡°Elaine works at the college too, in a different department, she does theater. Maribeth moved to Worcestershire, Massachusetts, where she works as a consultant for major architecture projects. Mom was proud of all of us, even if we didn''t get to advertise our true nature to more than a select few. I spent a lot of time in the field. The mossy forests of the Mirada biozone, and the burning sands of Zethira where literal land sharks roam became a tourist stay for me. The Panglian boreal forest of Norway became my home for a time.¡± ¡°Are these real places?¡± Angela asks, eyes slight with interest. ¡°This planet is pockmarked with the essences of parallel pocket planes, and gates to every corner of the globe. If the Outsiders hadn''t been such an omniscient threat, there''d still be astral gates to far away planets.¡± James'' jaw dropped, he hit his limit break. ¡°Other worlds.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Kin have officially colonized other worlds.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°We have goddamn space wizards. Space dragons. Wizard space dragons.¡± James starts laughing in the way someone would if their mind completely broke. ¡°We broke the threshold for colonizing the far corners of the universe, and it''s buried in a mage history that got wiped out. IT''S NOT FAIR!¡± he screams upwards out of sheer anger. ¡°Oops.¡± Nick''s subdued reaction is telling. ¡°We have space dragons now?¡± Drenar repeats. He looks like a kid who got their Christmas wish early. ¡°Man, I want to hate mages for keeping this all secret, but it''s too awesome to hold a grudge for long!¡± ¡°Okay, Angela, go help James reboot his brain. Drenar, you''re taking your dragon form and sparring with me. I have the impression you quickly adapted your fighting form to your draconic body, correct?¡± ¡°Still a work in progress. I got some pre-training with Alex. My uh, drakensoul.¡± He''s still clearly coping with that part, even as small as it might seem. ¡°Oh, I''ll be watching, too. Intently.¡± Julia grins like the Cheshire cat, and Drenar shudders when he sees it. ¡°We are clearly too weird to be disturbed by all this crazy stuff, aren''t we?¡± ¡°Yes, we are.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 43: Mage Training 101, Part Three It''s still surreal for Julia to watch Drenar and Nick transform, and Nick makes sure there are no passers-by, deeper in the backyard. There are no sight lines, and he made sure to set a motion sensor by the front yard earlier in the day. Drenar''s feathers come out first, while Nick apparently just grows bigger and all his claws come out first. There''s a certain randomness of which step kicks off first, and Drenar¡¯s wings come out next, along with the change in his leg structure. He''s prepared for it better this time and takes a wide stance. Unlike last time when he hulk-busted his clothes, his long-sleeved shirt and jeans seem to merge and disappear with the change in form. And he''s wearing nothing again, and when he realizes it, he scrunches and grabs his tail to hide the indecency. ¡°Hey Drenar, I didn''t realize we were getting a show as an added bonus!¡± Angela cheers. The scales on his cheeks turned a slightly rose color¨Cit¡¯s utterly fascinating, watching the response, they are not solid armor plating, and there is an organic component to them. ¡°James, give me money.¡± ¡°I highly question the ethicality of that, wait a month when he''s eighteen.¡± Angela turns to stare at her brother. ¡°And you''re not bothered at all?¡± ¡°I already saw him baring all once before, remember? He does have an impressive physique. Objectively speaking.¡± ¡°I¡¯m getting some vibes from you, brother,¡± she growls. He shrugs. ¡°It¡¯s kind of telling, that you bring this up now after traumatic life events.¡± ¡°I like strong personalities.¡± ¡°I''m not judging. He does have a certain boldness to him.¡± ¡°I can still hear you guys, the ears don''t stop working when transforming!¡± Drenar says while still looking wide-eyed and anxious. ¡°Why does Nick have pants and a shirt, and I don''t?¡± Drenar states with vitriol. Nick ruffles his green and blonde feathers and wears a smug look. ¡°Mimetic clothing. It''s a simple enchantment, most shifters have clothes just like this. Dragons, Kitsune and Wargen and fey. And maybe a few others, there are some pockets of other Kin that aren''t as well documented. Or they''re just hiding,¡± he adds as an afterthought. ¡°Great, fantastic mage culture lesson and I''ll gladly listen to more, but could I have some pants, please?!¡± Drenar anxiously exclaims while avoiding her and Angela''s lecherous smiles. ¡°One second. You''re about the same size as me, so¡­¡± Nick rummages through a duffel bag he brought with him, and throws what looks like bike shorts and an intricate shirt with openings and straps to accommodate his wings to Drenar. He catches them with a kinetic grab with one claw, another subtle sign he''s learning his abilities. Julia reluctantly lets the silver and azure blue bestie get dressed, and he looks much calmer after getting on some clothes. He''s still rubbing at his thigh like there''s an itch. ¡°This fabric feels pretty¡­decent. I thought I''d have less feeling with armor scales.¡± It¡¯s kind of funny how Drenar runs his fingers across the fabric, testing the texture as if it were foreign to him; usually, he just threw on whatever wasn¡¯t messy. But this was technically all new for him¨Ca new body, different senses, different feelings, a thought that resonates with her. ¡°It''s still organic, still has nerve endings. Besides, that material is mana-infused, it''ll be far more durable.¡± Drenar finishes with a zipper to accommodate his wings, and he lets out a sigh of relief when he tests the motions, it leaves his mobility unhindered. ¡°Looks like it fits well.¡± ¡°It kinda does. Thanks. Uh, where do I even buy clothes for a dragon, anyway?¡± ¡°Not on Amazon,¡± Julia mutters. ¡°Hey Nick, what''s our long-term plan anyway?¡± ¡°Keep off the radar, as best we can. Levine has a team monitoring the Talon''s communications. Looks like the mine head collapse caused them to be more cautious. I''m not going anywhere, and I figure you guys will go looking for trouble, regardless of what I say. So I''ll at least train you the best I can.¡± ¡°If you can''t stop them, join them?¡± Evan says with a twinge of amusement. ¡°Welcome to the Radiant Delvers.¡± ¡°We need a way better name than that,¡± Angela counters. ¡°Evan, you''ve been in on the whole mage world thing for a few weeks. What can you tell us about Jonaleth?¡± ¡°He''s a complete fiend is what he is, and he''s violent. He might come after me again,¡± he says warily. ¡°He didn''t do anything today. Hell, it looked like he was being amazingly well-behaved,¡± Drenar states. ¡°Maybe his ¡®handler¡¯ told him to lay low. Our misadventure may have actually bought us some space. They don''t want dead kids or burnt houses attracting attention.¡± ¡°Crosomer seemed pretty pissed that his guys do stuff like that,¡± Julia comments. ¡°He''s a bastard, but a bastard with standards at least. It makes me hate him a little less. Actually, on that note, I got a better idea. Let''s go after Jonaleth.¡± She has an idea. ¡°Nick, your expertise is tracking, right? Have you tracked Jonaleth?¡± ¡°Up until now, I was only aware of his history. He''s a Talons agent?¡± Nick is sparring with Drenar, a series of quick kicks and throws that Drenar adeptly blocks or dodges, but he loses his balance. Nick lunges and sweeps his leg with his tail, and he goes down hard. Julia winces, normally it''s just her beating up Drenar in a non-permanent way to keep him well-disciplined. ¡°He has to be. Smug son of a bitch threatens to kill us, alludes to the ¡®new crew'' or something. We should surveil him.¡± ¡°He''s right. Crosomer has other pieces in motion. And we know nothing of his other associates. All I know is that he''s looking for some old research of his, his journals, or Volkir¡¯s, or both.¡± ¡°Volkir Menrayas? The sage who completely screwed up the world of dragons?¡± Nick''s caught off guard and Drenar lands a series of quick strikes and one impactful kick. Nick rubs gingerly at his torso while Drenar beckons him forth by flexing his claws to come again. ¡°What could he possibly need in old research journals?¡± ¡°They''re the key to using the device. But they also need a power source, too. We need to deny them both, and buy time to expose them. The books translate the runes on the device, making it controllable without disastrous results. In theory.¡± ¡°I''m more concerned someone could just turn the device into a giant bomb. It wiped out a few million dragons, and that is magic that doesn''t have a comparison in the world. Where did he find this thing?!¡± Nick grapples Drenar and lets out a burst of fiery embers at his wrists, but he quickly counters with a kick and tries to wrap a leg with his tail, in a show of adaptation. Nick doesn''t fall for it and keeps pressing the attack, pinning Drenar to the ground. ¡°Hey, you''re jarring my train of thought!¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Think and fight, gotta do both, if you want to survive. Again.¡± Julia can''t help but admire Drenar brushing himself off a few dozen times and ignoring the jarring impacts Nick sends his way. He just puts on that sardonic smirk of his and keeps on fighting, even pinning Nick down in the last few rounds. ¡°Again.¡± Nick quickly throws Drenar off balance and he fights with all his might, not letting Nick grab his wings or position him to take a tumble. Each time he''s getting knocked down, it takes longer for Nick to keep him down. ¡°Boys, I hope you''re not putting this show on just for us,¡± Julia coos, and breaks Drenar''s focus just long enough for him to take a faceplant, with Nick sitting smugly on his back with a knee between his wings. He groans in discomfort. ¡°Oh. Sorry, I didn''t mean to interrupt.¡± ¡°You want to step into the ring, Tsundere?¡± Drenar asks with a hint of ire. She thrusts herself forward to give him a tap on the snout, much to his annoyance. ¡°Hardly a fair fight, me against a half a metric ton of dragon. I don''t want to beat up Nick too badly,¡± she says with a grin. Nick simply smirks. ¡°Hey, we''ve been over this. No boop on the snoot. It''s like, special. And Crosomer ruined it. Stole the first boop from Angie,¡± Drenar adds with a growl. ¡°Or me.¡± He spends half a second processing this, then laughs. ¡°Alright, first off, I didn''t know you felt that way, second off, I''m a one lady at a time kind of guy, thirdly, Nick, please get your knee off my back.¡± ¡°Technically it''s a digitigrade joint. But, okay. I think we''ve been at this for a while.¡± Nick helps him up, and they all take a look at the setting sun. Drenar narrows his eyes, and sighs. ¡°Nothing''s going to be the same after this, huh?¡± ¡°Would you want to go back to being vanilla and just above average?¡± Julia poses. He wraps his wings tightly before sitting down, so that he''s now more or less at her head height. ¡°I''d at least have wanted it as a choice, I suppose.¡± ¡°They took away our choices, Drenar.¡± Angela is also looking stoic, and Julia swears she''s got the cat-like slit of a pupil in her eyes. Actually, that is the case, and she shudders a little bit, hand going to her chest. ¡°We had a future where we could have just lived normally. Made stupid decisions, made friends, and never had to worry about the underbelly of the entire mage underground movement. A place and people we know virtually nothing about. Except Nick here, he''s our guide.¡± Nick also goes lotus pose on the ground, and she ruffles his feather crest a little. ¡°C¡¯mon, admit it. You haven''t had friends at school. Just people you know.¡± ¡°So, you''re offering friendship, for your chance at artwork?¡± He proposes. She laughs and smacks his shoulder. A gesture Julia would have thought she''d share with Drenar. ¡°Oh, that''s a request. Totally optional. Nah, I mean, you teach us, we learn to defend ourselves, go find Crosomer, and put him out of business.¡± ¡°Yeah, that last part has me worried. The response from the higher-ups has been remarkably muted. They''re busy putting fires out elsewhere, it''s like the Talons decided to come crawling out of the woodwork this week, and with the minehead totally destroyed, it''ll be weeks or even months before we can dig down. Even magic has some practical limits,¡± he says with a head tilt towards her. ¡°So, what, we¡¯re supposed to do nothing?¡± James says. He looks anxious at that notion. ¡°They know who we are, man. There could be consequences. Like them coming to our house and merking us, or our families.¡± ¡°Like hell I¡¯d let that happen, between me and Levine,¡± Nick said sternly while digging into the browning grass with a claw. ¡°No. It''s time to throw out the playbook because the Talons did, too. They had help for that mine operation. Tons of funding. Too much. Alarm bells weren''t raised. Or they were and were silenced.¡± The implied suggestion is concerning to Julia. ¡°So, what next?¡± Drenar asks. ¡°We have some leads. We should do something. Me and Julia and Angela do have some training, otherwise we''d be flat-out dead by now.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we focus on just not getting killed?¡± Evan says with rising ire. ¡°You are so quick to try and play being a hero, man. History is littered with dead heroes.¡± ¡°Evan, I¡¯m no hero. But if this is just the start, and we do nothing, the Talons will try to turn everyone who is Awakening into soldiers, or unwitting pawns. And we''re likely to see far worse before the end.¡± Evan slumps lightly at this. ¡°Plus, Jonaleth might come a¡¯knocking, and I¡¯d prefer a solution that doesn¡¯t involve trading blows or worse." ¡°Well, you''ve got my back Drenar. You always will. But you gotta let the ladies take the lead. It''s like, an unwritten rule,¡± Julia says in a playful tone. ¡°Heh. With your silver tongue, that might not be a bad idea.¡± Evan balks at this. Loudly. ¡°So, all of you are so stupid to think we''re just about to take out an entire cult and short-circuit their plans? There''s no scenario of this where you don''t all come home as corpses, Drenar. We lost mom and dad. I would lose my mind if I lost you guys, and I''m no fighter.¡± ¡°Then be a support role. Not everyone has to fight. The military has ten guys backing up every single soldier,¡± Drenar explains. ¡°Still sounds like you''re trying to play the hero. That ain''t healthy.¡± ¡°Look, at the end of the day, we come home alive. And I have a couple of ideas.¡± He nods to Julia. ¡°We''ve got a plan that we cooked up.¡± ¡°Oh Gaia, we¡¯re letting Julia present?¡± Evan gasps. ¡°You yanked a tooth out of my shoulder to drive a point home, then grinned about it like you got a crackerjack prize out of a box!¡± ¡°It was exciting to prove you were a dragon,¡± she replies smoothly. Nick grimaces at this. ¡°This is how you found out?¡± ¡°Well, I fried a microwave first. The dragon was coming out of the bag eventually. Plus he healed,¡± she adds unapologetically. ¡°Utter menace,¡± Evan exhales. ¡°It means she likes you,¡± Drenar says. ¡°Alright, the plan then.¡± ¡°I think I know where Jonaleth is getting his intel on who''s changing. The mural. I think it''s enchanted to detect new drakensouls and half-dragons. It''s a theory, because he was hanging out there every time I walked by. Leering. A couple of people walked by it and it was like they saw something. Which means, he''s now our primary lead. Nick, thoughts?¡± She redirects. ¡°Hang on. We didn¡¯t see anything,¡± Drenar interjects. ¡°We weren¡¯t Awakened yet." Julia''s statement gets Nicks attention, and he snaps his fingers. "Actually that¡¯s a good point. Maybe it needs a secondary trigger?¡± Nick proposes. He spends a few seconds thinking it over. ¡°If it''s triggering on newly Awakened people, it''s possible I would have missed it on my first check. It''s clever. Can''t believe the school hasn''t taken it down yet, I think something is going on there that smells rotten. And I got that feeling when Jonaleth wasn''t kicked out for any number of misdeeds,¡± he adds in a moment of contempt. ¡°The priority is to make sure you guys stay safe, first. We aren''t going into this half-arsed like you guys did.¡± Julia grins widely at this. ¡°Oh, well, looky here, I think he''s on board! Double-O Dragon has joined the party!¡± ¡°We are gonna die,¡± James sighs in resignation. Vol. 2, Ch. 44: Stealth Is An Option? Part One Tuesday¡­ I hate sneaking. It''s unprofessional. Hey, stealth is a perfect strategy Alex, we are level two dragons versus an entire army. We really do have to play this one smart. Drenar can''t help but throw a little shade at Alex internally. Their target is Jonaleth, who everyone has collectively tracked his every move throughout the day. Nick would have been doing it sooner, but he''s been keen on making sure he and the rest of the crew are being discreet. Nick has, however, placed a discreet camera to observe the mural, and Drenar is chilling by the far side, waiting for the creep to show up. He''s still furious about what Evan had told them. You don''t make threats like that, Jonaleth. You don''t dare to hurt my friends and expect to get away with it. He''s a bully Drenar. They talk big but when presented against someone who can fight back, he¡¯ll cave. I¡¯m not so sure about that Alex. He''s got an attempted murder rap under his belt. Remember anything new? No. It comes in intermittently. Some of my memory recollection may be triggered by your experiences, so, do some wild and unexpected stuff. Drenar sighs and pretends to be busy on his phone, browsing theoretical Kin species. What would a Wargen look like in real life? Or the fey? Fey are this¡­strange bird-like amalgamation, a third, completely different thing than dragons or humans. Kitsune are completely off the map. Maybe cat girls exist too? Cat people? Anthropomorphic felines? What would the proper term be? I''m totally overthinking this. He continues browsing blindly. ¡­Why are you looking for magical fox girls on this arcane device? He goes wide-eyed and clicks his screen closed when his browsing takes him in a direction he didn''t exactly focus on. No reason. I was totally not looking to stimulate my adolescent mind. None whatsoever, great grand-dragon who is constantly present in my psyche. Alex laughs uncontrollably, and Drenar wants to sink into the floor right now. We have to establish some rules and boundaries, Alex. For my own mental sanity. Oh no. This is too rich. Do tell me, what interests you about this arcane world you''ve stumbled into? I am¡­merely curious as to what other Kin would look like. Like, have I met one and never noticed? Like, if a fey walked right up to me, would I see the signs? Or a Wargen? You really want to meet a Kitsune, don''t you? They are pretty shy. He groans audibly, and someone gives him a questioning look as they walk by. Hey, don''t forget what Julia said, love is unbounded by form! And she herself is a complete gem of a personality. Ugh. This is so going to take some getting used to. For the record, if I need to state the obvious of when to tune out¡­can you oblige? I''ll try to. I get it. You''re young. You don''t know what you want in life. Or you did, until you learned there''s a whole new world layered under everything you''ve ever known. Drenar breathes a slight sigh of relief. Even as much of a presence as Alex is, he also has this quieter, respectful side too. Besides, I very much would prefer not to be paying attention if any carnal desires flare up. That could be awkward. Maybe we should discuss this later¨Cah, there''s our target. Alex lets out a quick grunt of acknowledgment when Drenar spots Jonaleth with a gaggle of people during the last stretch of the day when everyone is about to head home. The hallway is empty, and Jonaleth is looking all menacing in his jeans, black leather jacket, and laid-back black hair. Two of his friends are nearby¡­as is Kelly, and Tristan and¡­is that Violet? Kelly being there is bad news, with bouncy blonde curls and blue eyes and looking at Jonaleth with scorn. She would never voluntarily join the Talons, from what he knew of her personality, and she''s one of Julia''s closer friends. She''s also heavily martially trained in close fighting, and goes to the same place Julia trains. He narrows his eyes and keeps out of sight. Luckily no one''s nearby to see him. ¡°Cut the crap Jonaleth, I''m here as a courtesy. What''s with the super creepy mural?¡± Kelly asks with a touch of southern girl accent. She is tapping her foot impatiently, and it might turn into kicking Jonaleth through a wall if he doesn¡¯t stop antagonizing her. Something he would actually pay money to see. He would probably feel more sympathy for the wall Jonaleth gets smashed through. ¡°Hey Goldilocks, cool your heels. You want in, and not your sister, you check to see if you pass our little test. We need to see if it''s just right,¡± Jonaleth quips, and Drenar curls his fingers into his now recording phone after he sends the red alert to everyone. I hate this guy. He coerced her too? Stay the course. We need to see where they''re taking recruits. Alex¡¯s reminder calms his tension along with the grim notion that four people in school had run away¨Cthere had been a quick bulletin, and it worried Drenar. What happens if the Talons don''t find their new fluffy dragon allies trustworthy? That''s a question he hopes hasn''t been answered yet. ¡°Jonaleth, you touch my sister, and I will rip your goddamn spine out through your throat, and beat you to death with it,¡± Kelly snarls with just a hint of azure scales crawling up her arms. What''s more telling is that her eye color changes from blue to a deep amber for a few seconds¨Cthat is as odd a quirk as it is fascinating. Jonaleth flinches ever so slightly. He would be far less willing to recruit Kelly if he didn''t have his buddies as a backup right next to him, though his lackeys are lacking in power. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Plus Drenar is a dragon now, and beating these fools up should be trivial if necessary. A silver glow wraps around his hand faintly, a reminder of his telekinesis that he lets go after a second. He has to focus and make sure Kelly and her friends don''t drop out of sight. The mural flashes with light and distorts¨Ca faint halo of a projection appears above her head, and the others, with arcane runes. Jonaleth''s ice-cold expression warms with delight. But not the good kind, Drenar thinks with suppressed fervor. ¡°Good. Just what we''re looking for. Maiden forest, that old ranger station that¡¯s off the beaten path that everyone used to go drinking at, 6 o¡¯clock, tomorrow night. Don''t be late. And I shouldn''t have to say it, don''t tell anyone¨C¡± ¡°Listen, creep-ass,¡± Kelly says with a deadly calm tone and gets to within centimeters of his face, ¡°I heard from my father what you did. Lack of evidence? Or did your stepfather bail you out like he always does every time you go and jump the script?¡± Whoa. Kelly already knows quite a bit, this might be a good sign. He edges his phone by the corner and uses the camera to zoom in. Jonaleth smiles in that hideous way that he does, like he''s debating how he wants to hurt you first. ¡°Lavernius, careful now. Wouldn''t want to fling unfounded accusations, would we? From what I''ve heard from my guy, your dad doesn''t have a leg to stand on¨C¡± Kelly slams him into the brick wall, scales still growing on her arms, and Drenar tenses. This could get really dangerous, really quick, and he needs to make a decision now on if he needs to intervene. Jonaleth simply keeps smiling even when his guys are about to move in, and he puts out an assuring hand. ¡°Oh? Little Kelly doesn''t know about daddy''s history? You should go ask him sometime.¡± ¡°My dad is a decent human being. Unlike you.¡± She stares at him for a handful of seconds before letting him go. ¡°Tristian, don''t trust this creep to not sell you up a river, same for you Violet. We¡¯ll be there. But after this, you lay off of us. We¡¯re only going to listen to what you have to offer. Nothing more.¡± Within seconds, everyone departs like nothing absolutely disastrous could have happened, and Drenar blends in with a gaggle of people coming down the hall, on his way out of the school. He stops at his locker to grab a now utterly trivial calc book when someone taps him on the shoulder ¨Cand sparks him. ¡°Ow! Julia enough with the zapping¨C¡± ¡°Hey Drenar. You seem pretty informed of all things, don''t you?¡± Kelly announces with a firm look on her face, and he sighs. ¡°I saw you and Julia lurking in that area all day every time I walked by. What are two up to?¡± ¡°Us? Attending high school? Same as you?¡± He proposes. You suck at lying, Drenar. I know! Charisma doesn''t boost every stat uniformly! He retorts at Alex internally. Kelly clearly isn''t buying it either. ¡°You barely even flinched when I sparked you¨Cyou Awakened, didn''t you? I knew something was up yesterday between you guys, and you look like you got the hell beat out of you over the weekend, both of you! And Angela!¡± ¡°Extra rounds on sparring?¡± Stop trying, she''s onto us. We can''t lose this chance to track Jonaleth. Drenar finally relents. ¡°Kelly, let''s just say we had a rough weekend. For reasons I don''t want to get into, right here in the open.¡± ¡°You did awaken, didn''t even answer my question. What about Julia? I swore she had feathers in her hair.¡± His grimace tells her everything and her blue eyes widen. ¡°Oh. Oh wow. Her too?¡± ¡°Kelly, I need to be clear about one thing,¡± he said, before straightening up. ¡°We¡¯re trying to figure out what the Talons are up to. Jonaleth included. You need to go to that meeting, and you won''t be alone. You''re gonna have backup.¡± ¡°Am I going to get the long version of this and why should I listen to you?¡± She asks with narrowed eyes. ¡°Okay, short version, the Talons caused our Awakening prematurely, and en-masse, along with a bunch of drakensouls. They''re building an army and are going to burn the Conclave down to the ground, and crack open the Veil Protocol in the process. Life¡¯s gonna be very messy if that happens.¡± She looks unmoved by this bold statement. ¡°Well, sometimes you gotta burn a place down to start over ¨C¡± ¡°Kelly, these people tried to kill me, Julia, and Angela over the weekend. And Nick too.¡± That stops her mid-stream and she gasps. ¡°Nick works with SAF, and he''s the only person along with his intelligence officer friend who are treating this like the threat it is. We need to find out their next move because the artifact they used to start this ball rolling is the same one that killed almost all the dragons. We''re still digging into it.¡± ¡°You expect me to believe all that? Just at the drop of a hat?¡± she asks as if she''s still in shock. He gives her an irked look. ¡°Did we not just establish since we''ve been kids that I suck at lying?¡± he says with a tense voice. She shrugs and slowly nods. ¡°Okay, that''s too much to unpack. So what''s the scoop, when did Tsundere awaken, and why didn''t she tell me she''s got some scaly beauties in the family line?¡± she asks and immediately switches tracks with a delighted face. ¡°We were, uh¡­apparently not informed of our heritage. And with my parents currently¡­well, not here, I was left clueless too, and we still don''t know why yet. We need Jonaleth alive and breathing to track what the Talons'' next move is and who they''re working with.¡± ¡°Okay, done. But afterward, I''m making that son of a bitch bleed for threatening my sister,¡± she growls. ¡°Deal. I''m sure Julia would love to share in the endeavor.¡± Sometimes, things work out better than expected, he thinks with a great sense of relief. A ping on his phone gets his attention, and he feels a sinking dread. ¡°Hey, uh gotta go, text us using an encrypted app, and we¡¯ll go over details!¡± He turns to start a light jog down the hall, and out to the gym. ¡°Do not tell Violet and Tristian, operational security!¡± ¡°Why are you running?!¡± Kelly shouts and keeps up to pace, blond curls bouncing behind her. ¡°There''s a¡­situation.¡± A situation involving Angela awakening and potentially busting Veil Protocol wide open! Vol. 2, Ch. 45: Stealth is an Option? Part Two Five minutes earlier¡­ Angela thought she knew pain. She was quite wrong in that assertion when she felt silver scales start itching their way into existence underneath her clothes, and she could feel the churn of her insides during the last period of school. She looks waywardly for a path out of this disaster of a situation unfolding. She¡¯s so sure that she hadn''t missed any of the signs, otherwise she would have booked it out of here sooner! Okay, quick check, still human looking outwardly? A quick check indicates that''s a yes. A quick check of her phone shows her eyes as normal. Okay, I need to get out of this class. Immediately. Where''s a private place that no one goes into that I could transform? Llarivois, Angela, salalthi nas! She translates Samarina¡¯s draconic to roughly as get her backside in gear, and find an excuse to ditch class that no normal human being would question. There''s only ten minutes anyway. She rises abruptly from her seat after sending a red alert to Julia and Nick and approaches her teacher''s desk. ¡°Angela, can I help you¨C¡± ¡°I need to go to the nurses¡¯ office, urgently,¡± she whispers as she feels a sharp spike of pain up her spine. ¡°Angela, there''s only ten minutes left of class for the day, surely you can¨C¡± ¡°Mrs. Carroway, I am having monthly issues. I am in pain,¡± she whispers with as much restraint as she can summon. That would have still been less painful than this. Carroway nods quickly with a bewildered expression. ¡°Okay, you can go. I''ll email the assignment notes to you then, pages fifty through seventy.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± she says as she gets through the door, already with a plan in motion. The east wing has some renovation work and is cordoned off with a padlock, and she''s got no problem with that. Breaking Veil protocol would be far worse than a rap for breaking and entering. She darts down the empty hall and feels a shift of something at her back, just on either side of her spine. Oh no. Bad wings, go away, this is absolute rubbish timing! She pulls open her bag, gets her lockpick, and gets to work at the padlock. Luckily none of those annoying cameras they''d put up in the school are close by, and she gets the padlock off in a matter of seconds. Playing a rogue in their tabletop is one thing, but in a beat of sardonic wit, she''d also taken a liking to opening locks for the challenge. It also didn''t hurt when her vainglorious mother engaged the deadbolt every time she and Dad left town, and forgot it needed a separate key. She got pissed off climbing up to the second floor to fish for an open window at her own house and had almost fallen that one time. That had been the last straw. She strips the padlock off and resets it to be mostly closed when she gets into the machine shop¨Ca place that conveniently is open. The ceiling is higher than the regular drop-tile ceiling and shows the metal trusses and some concrete slabs. She sends out a fast message to Julia.
[Transforming now. Stripping clothes.] [Make sure to warn Drenar]
She presses ''send'', even while her fingernails are turning into dark blue claws and those lustrous silver scales are spreading across her wrists. It¡¯s actually quite a pretty sight, but the churning of her insides is just not agreeing with her and she almost doubles over from the pain. She quickly strips down to her underwear and bra¨Cthose are likely going to get shredded, but she doesn¡¯t want to be utterly naked in front of everyone. *crack* *crunch* Yep, that¡¯s the sound of my body shifting bones and growing teeth in my jaw that has no business being there right now OH OWWW! Even her internal thought gets disrupted by the shift of bone and the grinding sound of more teeth coming in, and her nose sort of¡­joins with her upper lip. It¡¯s unsettling, and she really doesn¡¯t want to watch this body horror anymore and forces her eyes shut. Outside she can hear the shuffle of people departing for the day, all the while she¡¯s meditating in the same way Laresten used to instruct them during fencing class. The first teacher she truly learned something special from. It¡¯s still amazing he¡¯d also found a dedicated student in Drenar. Those calm thoughts keep her focused even as she feels foreign limbs spread from her back in the form of massive wings, but she¡¯s not focusing on visuals. She¡¯s focusing on a memory. Her last lesson with Laresten. She still remembers that day, in the cozy suite near downtown that Drenar¡¯s foster mother Diane would take them to after school. It¡¯s how she got¡­well, a lot closer to Drenar than she ever could have expected. After his mother¡¯s death, he had been really¡­withdrawn. Distant. Maybe even worse than Julia when her father was killed in combat six months later. Fencing and other martial practice had¡­dulled the edge of that awful experience for him, and she kept him on his toes. Eventually, he surpassed her. Hell, he might have even surpassed Laresten. That middle-aged man with hippy-like long gray hair, a hint of stubble, and soft brown eyes spoke of a man of utter calm and tranquility. Someone who had lived a long life and seen many wonderful things. He was a tough teacher, but he had always driven one point home: Learn from your mistakes. Adapt. Grow. Never look back when it could hurt you, only look to the experiences that you could make better in the future. When she thinks of that last lesson, even with Drenar limping after a bad fall, he looked at both of them proudly and told them they would be his finest students, and that there was no limit they couldn''t surpass. It was more validation of her skills than she¡¯d ever gotten from her mother. That thought of her cold, calculating mom who didn¡¯t seem to think much of either of her kids, despite how many high marks they brought home or athletic endeavors they excelled at, never got one moment of recognition. She grits her sharpened teeth and feels nothing but utter contempt for her mother. She lets the errant thought off to the wayside, even when scales spread across her body and her claws come in a stretching, splitting sensation radiating up her legs and arms. Laresten treated her like a daughter more than her mom and dad. On that last lesson, he¡¯d given them permission to use proper swords¨Cnot blunted, not training, real steel, and challenged her and Drenar to what would be their last lesson. They¡¯d won. And Laresten had never looked any prouder than when she offered a hand to lift him to his feet, same as Drenar, when the lesson was over. Two weeks later, he was gone. She sheds an errant tear¨Ceither from the pain of the transformation of her own body, or the memory of someone important in her life fading out in an instant through the bad luck lottery of a heart having finally run its course, even as healthy as he was. It isn¡¯t fair. Why is she alive, and he isn¡¯t? She looks down at her scaly chest, the bra not now really covering much of anything resembling human, and she can still see it. The faint scars from when she¡¯d had surgery at the tender age of five. Dad had mentioned it was worse than she''d ever believed. About a month ago, he told her she''d been clinically dead for over ten minutes before the surgery. They''d almost given up. Mom had been livid afterwards, as if it should have never been said at all. She shouldn''t be alive right now, feeling this radiating surge of pain and primal strength from creatures of legend. She shouldn''t have the most amazing friends on the planet, despite the brutal hand life had dealt them. She should be buried right now next to her stillborn sister. But she is alive. And that''s what matters. Which means every moment from this point on now is a gift. A gift she isn''t going to waste, nor a precious moment lost with her friends and her brother. She opens her eyes to look down again, seeing that reminder in the faint lines on her silvery scales. A reminder not of death, but of life. Well, guess I better take these off now, before it''s too late. She takes her undergarments off before they can become a finely shredded mess. These claws are absurdly sharp, and she still cuts a small hole through the fabric, much to her annoyance. She focuses back on that lesson, ignoring the pain as her tail starts slithering from the lower portion of her back, and she can feel a vibrant course of energy almost shimmering around her. She hears a gentle tap at the door. ¡°Angie? Are you decent?¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Come in, make sure no one sees you. All the cameras are pointed away from the door, I think,¡± she says and tries the same tricks Drenar had told her about to speak. It takes some practice, her jaw isn¡¯t the same, and it hinges far wider than she¡¯s used to. She dares a peek, and can see seafoam feathers tightly bundled on her forearms¨Ca secondary foil. She looks back at her beautiful wings and gingerly stretches one¨Cit¡¯s still only partially formed, but those silver and seafoam-colored feathers really are quite something. She hears the loose rattle of the padlock and Julia peeks her head in, all blue-eyed and filled with wonder when she sees Angela posed on the floor, using her focus to will away the pain. Her insides feel molten and her spine has sharp, shooting spikes of pain that wrack her from neck to tail tip. Drenar pops in a second later, then shies away. Julia pulls him in any way, and he¡¯s slightly flushed. She is naked, after all. But her human anatomy is all but gone now. Angela? Se Vous? I¡¯m here, Samarina. I¡¯m alright. Julia is in awe, and Drenar is adorably trying to shy behind her¨Cshe sees right through that and playfully moves and brings him forward. ¡°We would have come sooner. Stuff happened,¡± Drenar says hastily, even while she can¡¯t help but laugh. Even though the motion feels like liquid fire through the rest of her body and she grimaces. ¡°You okay?¡± That is the moment the pain starts as her body starts stretching to its true size, and she has a fleeting thought of the conservation of mass and just where in the universe is it possible for energy and matter to be convertible, and she finally shouts in pain. More teeth come into her snout, and more itching feathers sprout on her wings like little tiny icepicks of pain. She bowls over and is sprawled on the ground, propped up on her now increasingly massive claws. ¡°Does it look like I¡¯m okay?!¡± she snarls. Her meditation is only effective up to a certain point, and she taps a claw angrily into the concrete floor. Aaaand it leaves a hole in the floor, great, she has armor-piercing claws that are going to make a handshake an effort of finesse now. Julia coos and gives her a pat on the shoulder. ¡°Angie, you¡¯re doing great! Just remember, this is just like¡­well, I suppose the best analogy I have is that your body is giving birth! To a whole new, scaly, amazingly sleek and slightly sexy body for reasons I don¡¯t even know why I¡¯m talking about right now, because I¡¯m in awe¨C¡± ¡°That was the weirdest and most unhelpful thing I have ever heard you utter, Tsundere!¡± Angela shouts while gritting her teeth. ¡°Also, ¡®sexy?¡¯ I¡¯m going to let that one pass, because I know you have some vibe for the fairer gender at times!¡± ¡°Uh¡­I am currently undecided on that one,¡± Julia says like she¡¯s unsure, and beaming red in the face. That''s a notable rarity. ¡°Julia, trust me. It¡¯s normal. Everyone has feelings for things they think are weird or unusual at times,¡± Drenar assures her with a gentle pat on her shoulder. She pokes him and a slight sizzle sound emerges and there¡¯s a wisp of smoke where she zapped him. He barely flinches from it this time. ¡°Would you and Kelly stop trying to burn holes in my clothes?! I think you secretly enjoy zapping me, and it¡¯s losing effect,¡± he says in annoyance. She grins at this. ¡°What can I say, I now have two itty-bitty dragons I can now safely experiment on and cause no harm!¡± she says with practically a squeal. Angela however is moaning as her transformation is likely just about done, and she feels like that molten fire feeling on her insides is cooling. Her senses feel wired in a sensation she doesn¡¯t even have an analog for. Everything is in high definition now, sight, hearing, smell¨Cshe flicks her elongated tongue out and can¡­taste that lavender dryer sheet scent that Drenar always seems to have around him. That¡¯s a weird feeling, she thinks even as her scales begin to glow with silver light. ¡°Guys, move. Drenar almost hit you with furniture last time Julia,¡± Angela warns her. She curls her claws deep and forms fists, she can do this. She¡¯s almost there. Suddenly she feels the pressure release off her body, and Drenar and Angela hide behind a bench. The sound is deafening and likely is about to draw attention if anyone is too close by. She collapses on the floor, out of breath, but there¡¯s a residual charge of energy through her body that almost feels like a cool blanket on her skin¨Cer, scales now? She cranes her neck to look at her body. It takes her a long, good look to accept what¡¯s happened, and she sits cross-clawed on the floor in a lotus pose after a minute, and takes a deep breath. Drenar is still looking in awe, and Julia is trying her hardest not to say something Tsundere. She fails to keep it in. ¡°Yes! All my besties are the cutest, most adorable dragons I¡¯ve ever met, and we will be friends forever and have amazing times, and soar through the clouds¨C¡± ¡°If you squeal any louder, we won¡¯t need Crosomer to crack open the Veil, Julia,¡± Drenar shrills with a panicked face. ¡°Okay, we need to bounce, it sounded like a sonic boom went off in here. Angela, can you transform? Are you good?¡± Vey¨Cah, yus? It¡¯s almost cute when Samarina tries out a few words of English that she¡¯s been able to coach her through. Nick had been immediately useful on that front¡­what¡¯s Nick going to think though, when he sees her? What does happen when a drake meets a dragoness¨Coh no. No feelings, go away, I don¡¯t want to feel the feels! It''s strange that even with the complete form change, it feels like a heated sensation on her cheeks. Confirmed, dragons can be embarrassed. Great. ¡°Hey, why are your cheek scales all rosy?¡± Julia asks with a sly smile. ¡°You having some¡­thoughts?¡± ¡°Oh no, Julia, leave it be. This was painful,¡± Angela grunts and rises to her clawed legs after a moment of contemplation. She wobbles a bit on her new leg structure, and her horns¨Cor what she thinks are her horns¨Cscrape gently into the ceiling. ¡°Love the dragon, hate the transformation. It hurts. I don¡¯t know how the hell you didn¡¯t scream in pain from that sooner, Drenar, you held out until the end.¡± ¡°Oh, it was bad, Angie. I wouldn¡¯t want to go through that again.¡± She pats him on the shoulder gently and tries to not put another hole in his clothes and she smiles at him with sharpened teeth. ¡°Alright, so, Nick was saying, you should be able to feel a charge or something, like an instinct on how to revert to your human form. Reach out to that thread and mentally just give a tug.¡± It¡¯s far easier in practice, and her body starts shrinking and getting¡­well¡­softer around the edges, instead of armor scales. She wobbles unsteadily as her leg structure reverts to plantigrade, and Drenar and Julia are red in the face and trying not to look her way. Julia¡¯s expression isn¡¯t shocked¡­more elated. She remembers why in an instant, covers her arms across her chest and below, and lets out a shout of surprise. This is awful in the worst way. She just gave a full frontal to both her best friends and totally forgot about her clothes now sitting on the far end of the room, thrown by the telekinetic burst at the end of her transformation. ¡°Wow, Angie. Exhibitionist mode? Never knew you had it in you,¡± Julia says, even as embarrassed as she is. ¡°Julia, let¡¯s be clear,¡± Drenar states as he grabs Angela¡¯s clothes and bag and tries not to look at her as he gently hands her them. ¡°We don¡¯t talk about stuff like this. Like, ever. We can keep this one between us.¡± ¡°Damn woman, you have curves!¡± Julia beams, and Angela glares at her. ¡°Little bit jealous here, just a teeny tiny bit! But proud that you''re a shining silver beauty, too!¡± ¡°Tsundere, go away. Before I fling you a distance you won¡¯t survive the impact from, either,¡± she threatens even as Julia grins wildly. ¡°Hell yes, fling me, my draconic queen! I will die happy!¡± Angela glares daggers into her soul. ¡°Privacy, Julia! Have some respect!¡± ¡°But, dragons!¡± Angela sighs. There is just no turning Julia off. The ¡®off¡¯ lever was broken and thrown in a lava pit ages ago. ¡°Girl, I''m pretty sure I don''t subscribe to the fairer gender in that way. At least I don''t think so.¡± ¡°That''s okay, that''s what Drenar is for!¡± She nudges him with his elbow and he goes red in the face in the instant. ¡°If either of you says the word ¡®harem¡¯ I will go fight this damn Talons army myself,¡± he growls. It¡¯s more telling when he turns away¨Cnot even to take a peek. "One lady at a time policy, thanks." ¡°That might be even hotter, Drenar. Checkmate,¡± Julia says with a smirk. He groans in frustration. Well, at least Drenar is still predictable, post-Awakening. Vey. Sexy. Samarina, did you just¡­Fates on a stick, don''t you start, too. Oh, it''s worse now. Samarina is laughing now, inside her head. Vol. 2, Ch. 46: A Wizard Did It! Tuesday evening¡­ No. No. This isn¡¯t it. Joey flips through periodicals at a pace no other human can even try to keep up with, and she attributes it to her speed reading skills and near-eidetic memory. She¡¯s still coming up empty on explanations of what could cause this cluster of drakensouls and half-dragons to occur all at once. She¡¯s done the math with the population sample she has, and it¡¯s well outside of predicted standard deviations and probabilities. The math doesn¡¯t lie. Something impossible has happened. Szivak¡¯s theories on the drakensouls are insane. Ergath¡¯s completely lacks scale. Why has no one done a full, comprehensive report on the physiology of drakensouls?! The sound of a tap at the door breaks Joey¡¯s focus, and she looks down at her watch¨Cit¡¯s about nine at night. She¡¯s been working the entire day researching, even during her normal working hours, in between rounds of chemical distillation and other routine efforts. She sits up and away from the various academic journals she pulled from the Archives, and rubs her cheeks. She still doesn¡¯t have a complete picture of what they are, and why they are. This is maddening for someone who could have gotten an entire Ph.D. in dracology to complement her Arcanist zoology degree. She would have only needed a few more classes during her grad studies, plus one academia-altering thesis paper. Maybe there¡¯s still time for that, afterwards. But she¡¯s got one massive mystery to solve first. That tapping is getting impatient¨Cmost likely Kyle, especially at this late hour. She loosens the clasp on her wavy red hair that she never undid earlier and pushes away from her desk and laptop. This research can wait a little while longer. ¡°Be right there,¡± she announces before shuffling over the hardwood floor and the throw rug near the couch. That beaten-up couch is never going to go away, barring a natural disaster. She unlocks the door and Kyle is standing there, out of breath. ¡°Why are you wheezing?¡± ¡°I ran. From one end of the facility to the other. I think you¡¯re going to want to read this,¡± he says after he pulls out a binder that looks like an academic journal. ¡°You remember asking me about the drakensouls and looking into whether there were any other reports of unusual stuff going on nearby at the same time? Well, I think I might have found something of interest.¡± ¡°Kyle it''s nine at night. You''re still on this, too?¡± She is surprised at this unexpected fervor. ¡°One of the brightest students I know told me that someone broke Awakening. Which is as dire as it sounds, so, you know. I decided to help her out as a friend. Not just as a colleague,¡± he says with a soft smile. ¡°Flatterer. So, whatcha got?¡± ¡°Mana storms.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°There was a report about a month ago of a mana storm off of Mount Syren. It''s near the flank of a magical biozone. It''s not in the zone, per se, but close to it. The event scared the pants out of researchers by the Maiden forest biozone, there''s not usually enough mana to create the charge needed.¡± ¡°Okay, first off, do you even know what a mana storm is?¡± Joey asks before beckoning him inside. ¡°It¡¯s like a thunderstorm, but the lightning isn''t lightning. It''s pure mana in an elemental plasma form, but looks similar enough that most normies¨Cer, sorry, non-magical people don''t even notice the difference. They form over magical biozones where there''s enough ambient mana in the air and it condenses into storms. Now, it still follows the same rules of normal thunderstorm development, but when they do form, it supercharges everyone and everything with mana in it. It can also lead to mana arcing, and can be dangerous. Come on Joey, you know I know these things! It''s first-year academy stuff, it''s like I''m taking earth science all over again. But, with magic!¡± he says with an exasperated face. But, he''s also excited. He''s talking at his normal verbal barrage rate like he does when he''s talking metallurgy or arcanist metamaterials. ¡°Okay. So you''re saying that a mana storm formed where it shouldn''t. I''ll bite. Why? And how does it relate to drakensouls, or normal half-dragons?¡± ¡°This might take a while.¡± She grabs a set of mugs and starts a couple of cups of coffee while he plugs in his laptop to her TV screen. The display switches to a few files he has open, and he taps away at the keyboard. She''s glad she''s been able to inspire him to become an actual academic, rather than just an armorer. Though, she has to concede his work is impressive¨Che¡¯d built a homebrewed magitech armor set at sixteen. It had been dangerous, but a few fixes later, it was a stellar accomplishment for someone so young. In the meantime, she''d been searching for samples in magical biozones, while he''d been formulating new magical metamaterials. He could publish someday¡­if she could get him properly trained in presentation. And get him to wear a tie of some kind. She doesn''t know how his lab coat gets so dirty all the time! ¡°Coffee, how do you take it again? Cream?¡± ¡°And sugar.¡± She adds both, and then hands him the mug gently while waiting for her own. ¡°Alright, so, let''s hear it. You ran all the way here. The question is, why? You must have found something big. Or something you think is big, but you need my input to solve a piece of it.¡± ¡°First, let''s understand why mana storms form. They''re formed by the ambient mana in mage biozones, but not all of them have enough mana crystals near the surface. Some form from the magical biomatter itself, usually at a reduced scale. You see this all the time across Europe, Australia, and most of the US. Now, what does a mana storm do, you ask? It''s dangerous for mages. It can trigger mana poisoning if severe enough and exposed outdoors, it''s why a number of these places have shelter-in-place facilities and warning markers.¡± ¡°Okay. I follow so far.¡± Kyle''s done his homework this time, even if it isn''t his expertise. ¡°Mana storms are dangerous, or can be. So what?¡± ¡°There''s a theory that with enough ambient energy, you can crack a hole right into the aether. The stranded lands. Which we also know terrifyingly little about. Anyway, not important. What matters is that I found something very interesting. Look at this compiled report for our area. This is a record list of mana storms over the last ten years.¡± He pulls the list of readings and other Arcanists working outside Asqualia, and she takes a sip of the completed coffee. She follows the numbers line by line. But then she sees it. And it''s something she never would have known to look for. ¡°Is this accurate?¡± ¡°Doubled.¡± ¡°You''re telling me that in the last three years, mana storm occurrence has doubled.¡± She doesn''t even know what this means. Magical creatures could normally shrug this off, even in extreme cases, but the occurrence rate is¡­strange. ¡°No. If you look at the historical trends for the last hundred years, it''s tripled.¡± ¡°Okay, so, no one''s even noticed? What''s causing more of them?¡± she asks. ¡°This would require¡­oh let me see, quintuple the magical biomass, or the presence of mana crystals that exceed the area¡¯s density averages by a factor of two. You''re sure these¨C¡± ¡°The biozone grew, Joey. And it started three years ago.¡± She looks at him, wide-eyed. He nods solemnly. ¡°Magical biozones have shrunk for the past hundreds of years on a historic downtrend. Humanity wrecking the planet, in a nutshell. No one has seen a biozone grow fifty percent in three years. And the growth started around that old mining facility at the edge of town, right dead center of the mountain.¡± She almost drops her coffee mug. ¡°Kyle, how big is this? What''s the relation? I mean I get that this is a surprising finding, but¨C¡± She stops. She''s seen this theory. Amaranth had commented on drakensouls and half-dragons, and theories of when the transformation process starts, all the exact triggers. Usually, it¡¯s a natural process. But there were always exceptions. Ambient mana was a theoretical factor, but because there were so few dragons and mana storms were relatively infrequent, data would of course be spotty and hard to come by. ¡°I pulled some research from Professor Vertimer. He commented that a massive dose of ambient mana, like a mana storm, could in theory prematurely trigger Awakenings. Kyle, you said you heard that a half dozen people Awakened. What other data do you have?¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t the only ones. Grand total over the month? Close to twenty. I got data from the local municipal office, after Snags clued me in on this.¡± He taps in a few more commands and shows the screen when he''s ready. ¡°Census data predictions for this area, given the people of age and with known genetic markers from voluntary interviewees, peg us at about five to six a year. Average.¡± He shows the data of the number of reports of Awakenings. She almost drops her coffee again. ¡°Dear Gaia. Two dozen inside a month? But, when¨C¡± she scrambles for words. ¡°What''s the correlation? This could be a coincidence ¨C¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Last year, twelve. Double the predicted average, and add a percentage to account for people who don''t like their bio-data being shared. The year before, ten. The last mana storm occurred just under two weeks ago and passed by Opechea Falls. The Awakenings started a couple of days later, if what I''ve read is correct. And no one has made the connection.¡± She sets her mug down because she can''t believe what she is seeing. This is an academic find of the year. Of the decade. Hell, even the century. ¡°Kyle. We have found the finding of our lifetime. And I don''t even know the why just yet.¡± she grins wildly and gives him a high-five. ¡°There''s a connection to the storms! There has to be. Kyle, if this is the case, we can¡­I mean half-dragons alone are impressive, but if there''s a link to the emergence of drakensouls, we have found something no one has ever seen! I have so many questions left!¡± ¡°Hey, your tail is showing.¡± ¡°Yah! Damn it, got too excited!¡± She missed the telltale sign of her transformation starting, and wills that bottlebrush red furred tail away. She can''t go do research with that showing! And usually, she was so in control of it, too! Kyle chuckles softly and she looks at him dejectedly. ¡°Hey, don''t make fun of me. I''m part of a marginalized community of magical Kin.¡± ¡°Joey, being a kitsune sounds cool. Like seriously I don''t get why half the magical world doesn''t see it the way I do! I mean winter would be completely bearable out here in Colorado with a layer of fur!¡± ¡°It did not help in Missouri,¡± she says with a contented sigh. ¡°Summers sucked. Plus I think you have a thing for fur or something.¡± He looks at her blankly. ¡°No, I don''t.¡± ¡°Uh-huh. That was the quietest I''ve ever heard you talk,¡± she says with a sly smile. ¡°Nah, you''re reading too much into that.¡± She knows that''s the case, but it''s still fun to mess with him on occasion. ¡°So, questions. Half-dragons I get¡­but why are drakensouls coming through? It''s supposed to be purely random based on what I''ve read!¡± ¡°Sounds like we''ve got some research to do. And maybe survey Mount Syren, that''s a fascinating thing, the biozones growing too! It can''t all be a coincidence! We need data!¡± ¡°Um, we can''t.¡± The way he says it gives her pause. ¡°Why?" She asks with an arched eyebrow. ¡°Because before this, I asked Snags if he knew anything unusual about the mine. Turns out, someone blew up the mine on Friday. There was some kind of massive battle outside the facility, and now SAF is investigating with a full team. I heard it might be the Talons had set up shop there, and someone just took a giant wrench to their plan, whatever it was.¡± She grabs her cup of coffee and takes a sip before collecting her thoughts. ¡°What in the hell is going on?¡± If she still had her tail, it would be bristled on end by now. The Talons are bad news in this quaint little town. Blowing up mines at the epicenter of a series of unexplained mana storms can only mean one thing: Trouble is brewing. And the big kind. ¡°We¡¯re headed down to the archives. Jack gave me a pass to go in there whenever I want, and we''re digging for answers.¡± ¡°Uh, we are? It''s Tuesday night trivia. Claire''s gonna be pissed at us if we drop out.¡± ¡°Well, I think she''ll forgive London''s finest if we go crack the mystery of the century, instead of killing brain cells with bad questions and even worse alcohol. Come, Watson, we must do some sleuthing!¡± she declares, and he lets out a groan. ¡°Guess we''re not sleeping tonight, then. And I thought I was Ron to your Hermione.¡± ¡°Fates Kyle, you can¡¯t get over the fact that we dated for a hot five minutes,¡± she groans. She had almost forgotten about that in the way that it was a bygone era. ¡°Best five minutes of my life,¡± he quips. It almost brings a smile to her face.
Joey pushes the archives door open after swiping the badge reader with her ID. After a short while, she and Kyle have a stack of journals trying to find out more about the mana storms. Everything anyone had ever written about them. It''s surprising how little has been written about them. More surprising is their research into the mine and some of the town history, with a couple of quick searches of the arcanet. ¡°Okay, priorities. First, I want to know what in the actual hell happened on Mount Syren on Friday. You have contacts at SAF, use them. I want to know what was so important there that someone blew up the top of a mountain to cover up something. The second thing I need is the history of all the biozones in the area that we have accounted for. I need to know if any other mana storms have cropped up since. I also need you to look at the nature of mana storms, and if anyone else has researched their impact on mana-based organisms. The academic world is severely lacking on this subject, it seems!¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯re psyched about this. There¡¯s the Joey I know!¡± he says with a smirk. ¡°Well, I do have you to thank for a massive research project now, even if you stumbled on it by accident. Me, I¡¯ve got to do some research on the drakensouls. How they came into existence, the Ascension events¨Ceverything and anything we can find. I know the numbers are small, but if this stuff is related, what we think we know might be just the tip of the iceberg. This could be a publication highlighted by London! Brentson! Any university in the world could take this and run with it!¡± ¡°But, what about the biozones? Them growing in size to an effective area over double their original area? We don¡¯t even know what¡¯s causing that!¡± His exclamation raises a relevant point. ¡°Joey, let¡¯s assume this is a chain of events. Drakensouls emerging, along with half-dragons, is the end result. Caused in part¨Cin theory¨Cby the proximity of the mana storms. Storms are caused by, again in theory, enlarged biozones. What¡¯s causing the biozones to become larger? Why now? There¡¯s a lot to prove here! And how it relates to the drakensouls, which should be random! There should be no pattern at all!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re attacking this from every angle. You dig into the physical sciences, I can look into the biological sources. There must be something that helps us advance our understanding of this phenomenon, we just need to look at all the sources!¡± She doesn¡¯t waste time and peers through more of the academic journals going back further¨Cthe half-dragons, to be specific. She knows there¡¯s a lot more documentation on them than drakensouls, and while the end result is the same for Awakening, the appearance of wayward dragons¡¯ souls is still poorly understood. She spends more time looking at various publications from Warthog University, then London, then from Brenston, and Salem. She is scribing notes as fast as she can type them, then scanning them for future perusal. Anything new or with recent dates, she prioritizes. She needs the cutting edge of research on this one, to supplement her own understanding. The hours click by. She glances down, and sees her wristwatch is now past midnight. She¡¯s got work in eight hours, and she just can¡¯t put the academics down. ¡°Kyle, how are we doing over¨C¡± She sighs in defeat when she is greeted by the sight of Kyle, face down on a desk, and nodding off with his hands curled instinctively over a page of old journals and maps of the area. ¡°C¡¯mon, it¡¯s not that late,¡± she says with a contented smile. ¡°Lazy bones.¡± ¡°Gimmie five minutes. Then back to it,¡± he mumbles. ¡°You¡¯re going to fall out of that chair, and crack your head on the tile floor. Maybe we can call it a day.¡± He slowly rises out of the chair, and one of the maps falls to the floor. She picks it up and glances at it. It¡¯s the map for the town, right at its inception over a hundred years ago. There¡¯s not much to look at¨Cit¡¯s a topographical map that is by all means atrociously out of date, and not really useful to their needs. Except¨C ¡°Kyle, is this map right? There¡¯s a biozone right by the edge of town that isn¡¯t the Maiden forest?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± He looks at it and frowns. ¡°Nah, that¡¯s no biozone. That¡¯s been bulldozed for decades, there¡¯s a small housing development, all sorts of quaint houses now. It''s been gone for a long time. Even magical biozones do disappear if the mana crystals disappear, or the magical organisms, depending on which is more prevalent in the area.¡± ¡°So, we don¡¯t know why it¡¯s gone?¡± ¡°Nope. No clue. Could also be just an out-of-date thing, bad mapmaking¨C¡± ¡°Mages don¡¯t make bad maps, Kyle. Dragons can fly, for Fates¡¯ sake,¡± she states with impatience. ¡°I want to check this out.¡± ¡°It¡¯s suburbia,¡± Kyle states again like they¡¯re wasting their time. ¡°Why are you so interested in this, compared to all the other threads we¡¯re looking at?¡± ¡°Biozones don¡¯t grow fifty percent in radius within three years. It shouldn¡¯t even grow three percent a year¨Chell most of them are shrinking, thanks to pollution and people tearing the forests down. Thankfully, we have pocket planes¨Cbut that nastiness does filter through.¡± ¡°Okay, but you¡¯re going to be disappointed Joey when we go check it out tomorrow.¡± ¡°Want to make a bet on this? I want to see what a dead biozone looks like, and take some readings. What if whatever caused this could cause an invigoration of other zones? Would that not be a place to start? And if that were the case, what would be the stimulus to create it?¡± ¡°You think there¡¯s something external to this madness?¡± ¡°There has to be. This surge of drakensouls and half-dragons seems artificially induced, it¡¯s too much happening at once. And with the Talons blowing up a mine, we need to ask ourselves, why are they doing that?¡± He finally relents and throws up his hands. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s drive out tomorrow. I still got my car parked at the long-term parking garage, I just hope no one stole the rims off of it yet,¡± he adds with a grumble. ¡°What else are we going to do in the meantime?¡± ¡°Find more on the drakensouls. I need to go back to the source. 1917. When they first came back after six hundred years of annihilation.¡± She motions to pack up, and he follows along reluctantly. Joey doesn¡¯t know why it¡¯s important yet, but these events must be part of something big that is going on. There are telling signs from what Kyle¡¯s told her that indicate these items may all be related¨Cpossibly. But they need more data to start making truly sound theories. She¡¯s almost at the access door when she hears a ringing in the faintest corner of audible range, and hearing it causes her to stop and look around for a second. ¡°Problem?¡± Kyle asks. ¡°Do you hear something?¡± ¡°Nah. The lights, maybe,¡± he says nonchalantly as he points to the fluorescent lighting. She peers upwards, eyes narrowed. It¡­could be. But when does lighting sound like a crystalline chime? She¡¯s exhausted after a long day, and thinks nothing more of it when they badge out for the day. Tomorrow should hopefully be more productive. Vol. 2, Ch. 47: Advanced Dendrology & Geology Wednesday¡­ Kyle''s ¡®car¡¯ if Joey can call it that, is a giant hand-me-down of a sedan that''s seen too much use by too many previous owners. The interior fabric is fraying, it smells like a can of Doritos much to the detriment of her advanced sense of smell, and Kyle''s accessory plug-ins look like a fire hazard waiting to happen. ¡°You make a ton of money, and you drive this. Why?¡± she asks after a few minutes of relative silence. The scenic fall colors of red, orange and yellow are interspersed by the hardy evergreens and distant mountains in the late afternoon, and it¡¯s a little bit cloud-covered. A fall day by any measure, and her favorite season. ¡°Because I spend my money bankrolling my retirement,¡± he replies with a smile, all while playing an album that is an absolute banger of musical perfection. ¡°Mages gotta have a retirement too, even though yours is much further off.¡± ¡°Hey, there''s plenty of things that could kill me before I hit three hundred and change. I know when to splurge on a good time,¡± Joey says with a smile. ¡°Also, where did you get this album? I never heard of Unicorn!¡± ¡°It''s by some band called Gunship. It''s like...new retro, but they are fantastic. Also, I love their sublime track called ¡®Kitsune¡¯.¡± She narrows her eyes at him, even while he grins. ¡°Oh, are you offended? It''s a fantastic song. Even though the word doesn''t show up on the track. Ironic, that.¡± A thought comes up, and she gives him an amused look. ¡°Is that what you''re been humming every five minutes at work besides SpongeBob? You know that¡¯s a pretty subtle joke, Kyle. Though, I''ve worked pretty hard to be incognito.¡± ¡°Yeah, that part sucks. It''s like sealing half your life away. But it is a catchy song. Here.¡± He changes the track, and she starts listening. ¡°Joey, I still don¡¯t get the ¡®why¡¯ portion, even though I¡¯ve known you for years. Other Kitsune walk around in Veil-free zones. They don''t bother hiding.¡± ¡°At their own peril,¡± she answers distantly. She hates that he brings this up every now and then. ¡°People are afraid, Kyle. People are afraid of kitsune because of a lot of things.¡± ¡°I heard about the old stories. I even read up on it, with what professors I could trust to be truthful. The older generations had manias, severe migraines, and out-of-control psionics that could hurt people. Kitsunes were forcibly created and molded through some pretty effing sick and twisted experiments by dragons four thousand years ago. That¡¯s not on you. Meanwhile, dragons can turn people to ash, render them into a liquified puddle, or implode objects or bodies with a mini-singularity. Or, they can just slash you to ribbons with their own natural talons. Yet no one raises that up at all. It¡¯s utterly absurd. And I hate how no one is willing to call out hypocrisy. Humankind is also good at killing each other without magic.¡± ¡°You know it¡¯s not just that.¡± ¡°Then what?¡± ¡°People still believe kitsune can control minds. That they can make you do the worst things imaginable to others. Or yourself.¡± She clenches her fingernails into her leg more than lightly. ¡°And who perpetuates that myth?¡± he asks pointedly. ¡°It¡¯s not a myth, it''s been done.¡± ¡°By how few, Joey? And how do we know someone wasn¡¯t telling a fantasy about that to further their own interests?¡± Kyle glances at her briefly and notes her digging her fingernails into her leg. ¡°If I was to hold dragons, wargen, fey, and all the rest to the same level of standard, I¡¯d have too many ¡®what ifs¡¯ or ¡®they could be dangerous¡¯ notions. Hell, humans are the most dangerous of all, if I had to point a finger.¡± ¡°Just drive. I get it, Kyle. But you just don¡¯t let this go. You never have.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t let it go until all Kin get treated the same, with humanity. Even though I know you don¡¯t want me to try for that¨Cfor you¨CI¡¯ll still keep trying.¡± She dares a glance his way--he is sincere. He always has been for this. ¡°The cure for hatred is bookended by the cure for cancer, and a cure for death,¡± she says in a biting retort. ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is, I should help you find those other two first. I give you fifty-fifty odds.¡± Even though she shouldn¡¯t, she still laughs softly. ¡°Besides, the only compulsion I¡¯ve gotten from you, is to make omelets every weekend.¡± ¡°Oh no, that one''s all yours Kyle.¡± Even though he does bring up the touchy topic, she¡¯s glad to have someone truly in her corner. Even if the long-term goal of breaking longstanding stereotyping might take generations to undo. The trip doesn''t take long and they enter the neighborhood adjoining a large swath of forest¨Cthere''s a large black truck that drives by that she takes interest in. Some young man with blond hair that¨C The truck passes before she can finish processing the thought, and she shrugs. They''ve only got a couple of hours before it gets dark out, and they have no idea where to start when she unpacks the alchemical equipment. They''re in normal clothes, no lab coats, just her normal slim jeans and a hoodie that allows a few stray red hairs to drape down. ¡°I can''t believe Zameren allowed us to use this side trek as work allowable time. With what we''ve dug up, he''s fascinated, too. I mean are we being too optimistic? Could some of this be a chance?¡± ¡°Joey, you are unfathomably good at sniffing out the strange and wondrous. Don''t second guess yourself. That yearbook picture alone showed me there''s something funky going on, along with confirmed Awakenings. Here, I''ll lead the way.¡± He grabs a small drone and syncs it before it takes off in a burst of speed. He looks at the map, trying to find a landmark. ¡°That ridge is unchanged. See it?¡± She peers over his shoulder to look at the drone feed, then the map. ¡°Looks about right. And¡­Kyle, that tree with purple leaves. Zoom in or get closer, it''s about¡­a couple of hundred meters in.¡± ¡°You sure that isn''t Japanese maple?¡± Surprisingly, he can identify a tree that would look similar. ¡°No, it''s not. It¡¯s a Findian oak. It''s not supposed to be here, it''s a mana-infused tree. Look at that, there''s more than a few smaller ones popping up around it.¡± He zooms in, and she can see very, very faint lines of blue in the leaves. Active mana circulation. It''s barely visible now, but there''s no pocket plane, no cordons, or mage barriers to keep people out. This is in the open. The tree is young, but it''s tall¨Cindicating rapid growth. She taps the screen to zoom in further, to the maximum resolution. ¡°Kyle, let me ask you something. How does a magical tree grow where there''s no mana?¡± ¡°I¡­don''t know. There are no known deposits of mana in this area. Or, they were dug up and removed. You know I do know plenty about mana crystals, it''s like bread and butter for me.¡± ¡°Okay, but you don''t know how they apply to magical botany,¡± she points out. ¡°Magical plants require a small amount to germinate for those first few years. After developing to sufficient size, they can generate their mana via biological mechanisms just like every other magical organism. But they need that initial kick. So where''s the source?¡± ¡°Maybe someone dumped a canister of mana primer?¡± he proposes, even while directing the drone to hover and have them in its view angle. ¡°This way. Let''s walk and talk.¡± ¡°No paths. We''re roughing it for sure.¡± She''s tempted to take her alternate form and the scratchy branches wouldn''t even bother her over her cushioning fur, but there''s also a non-zero chance someone like a hunter could spot them. ¡°I''d say that, no. Artificial sources of mana tend to dissipate their energy. Mana crystals constantly emit and convert surrounding minerals into mana-laden material. But it takes a long time, we''re talking years or even decades.¡± ¡°Right. It also explains why the whole planet isn''t encrusted in mana crystals. It takes the right circumstances. Mana primer would¡­yeah, it''s a silly thought. It would dissipate in days. Then you''d need to have a seedling in the same spot. Both happening at once? Not likely." ¡°Let''s check the ambient mana in the air.¡± She pulls out one of her arcane tools that looks almost like a Geiger counter, but it''s designed to interpret mana energy which isn''t usually harmful to people. It''s typically referred to as an archometer--the proper arcanist name is just too many words for people to say routinely. Mana crystals rarely grew dense enough to be dangerous to Kin. But, she couldn''t say never. Exceptions did exist, there is an area in the Alps in Switzerland that could cause fatal mana poisoning if someone stood next to the crystalline structures long enough. She''d checked before they got out of the car and the concentration was¡­elevated. Definitely above baseline, which in most places was zero emissions. What''s more interesting is that the further they travel towards the hovering drone, the higher it gets. She nudges Kyle. ¡°I''ve been extrapolating a gradient on the ambient. It''s not just linear, it''s a power function of some kind. Not near hazard levels, but...for a place that''s supposed to be zero, it''s strange.¡± ¡°Maybe there were some residual crystals in the soil that regrew? It''s a stretch, because crystals don''t grow that fast. But over several decades¡­maybe?¡± He doesn''t sound confident in the theory. When they get to the tree, Joey nearly loses her grip on the archometer. ¡°Kyle. Am I seeing things, or¨C¡± ¡°Oh I don''t know if this is good or bad, but it''s something.¡± The tree in question, along with the nascent grove surrounding it, couldn''t possibly be construed as normal. The bark forms strange angles in its silky white coloration and texture, and the purple leaves are a dead giveaway that it¡¯s magical, plus the faint veins of blue mana are evident in all the limbs. Other small magical vegetation is starting to grow, even with the pending winter not that far away. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. But the emergence of light fluorescent mana crystals from the soils that have an eerie translucency is the icing on the cake, with a hazy blue illumination from within. Kyle takes a step forward, but Joey holds him back. She checks the readings. ¡°Kyle, this reading is¡­getting to the hazard zone for humans, maybe I should go?¡± ¡°Hang on. If it''s hazardous for me, it should be hazardous for you¨C¡± ¡°All magical Kin can tolerate this level indefinitely. Normal humans or those with minimal mana capacitance need shielding. We didn''t bring any protective gear.¡± This is fascinating and mildly disturbing. ¡°We need data. Get photos. I''ll get numbers. Anything I should look for?¡± ¡°I need the crystal length, and the translucency. Get a sample if you can find a stray shard, it''s strong but brittle. Older crystals need a shaped charge to crack apart. These ones look new, but they''re huge.¡± He hands her a geologist''s hammer and metal spike, plus a few sample vials. ¡°You''re sure this won''t hurt you?¡± ¡°No, and it wouldn''t hurt you for short exposure. Let''s not take that chance.¡± She sets down her nonessential equipment and takes photos. ¡°Zameren is going to blow a fuse when he sees this. There isn''t anything hiding this from the world! I need to call Amaranth and the Magical Biological Preservation Services after this, this is absolutely unprecedented.¡± "You still keep in touch with MBPS?" "With the people who cared about the job." She doesn''t mention the onerous policies they started enacting, like biological screenings every year. There was no way in hell she was going to have a Conclave-appointed physician give her a routine physical and confirm in about five seconds that she was a kitsune. That violation of privacy had been eye opening not in its brazenness, but that no one batted an eye or protested. Kyle takes photos and mutters something she can barely hear, even with her attuned ears. He''s worried. He''s been worried about her ever since he found out the secret of her origin in a protective way, but he''s really worried this time. Crystals don''t grow like this. It''s unnatural. Artificial, even. But she needs more information to start piecing this together in a way that makes sense. The counter alerts her that she¡¯s above the normal tolerance level of a human when she gets to the tree, and she traces her hand across the bark. Its silky texture almost feels comforting under her fingers. Reassuring. It''s a young tree, maybe under a decade old, but she doesn''t have equipment for a core sample. The crystals have erupted throughout the earth, and she measures them with a tape measure. ¡°Six centimeters in diameter,¡± she calls out. ¡°Internal glow is a very bright, very healthy crystal. It''s almost perfectly translucent. For a crystal this large, it should be opaque.¡± ¡°Are they all a single crystal?¡± he shouts out over the distance. She examines the surroundings. They''re all separate. But growing at a significant pace collectively. ¡°Separate. For now. This tree specimen is three years old, tops.¡± ¡°Did it grow that much?¡± He is in disbelief. ¡°Trees of this species slow down in growth once they''ve gone past the sapling stage,¡± she explains while looking at her arcanist field guide. ¡°It''s a little unusual, but not unprecedented. Think of it like bamboo--" She hears a cracking sound, and she looks up. Is it the tree limbs? There''s no wind¨C Dragons might have that sixth sense down to fine art, but kitsune also possess it, a preternatural awareness of danger. She gasps when that cracking sound gets louder and she feels the earth crumble away beneath her feet--but she''s already in motion, and throws herself to the side the instant her danger sense alerts her. She grasps one of the crystals sticking out of the ground and feels that faint but gentle buzz, even while a maw of open earth is right below her. After a few seconds, the collapse stops, and small dribbles of soil fall in and make a piff sound on the bottom. ¡°Joey!¡± Kyle screams out and tries to dart over but she hears a few cracking sounds. ¡°Stay back! It''s undermined or something!¡± With a quick lunge she''s back on solid ground, and peering down at the hole in the ground. He breathes out an audible sigh of relief. ¡°It''s a three-meter drop, at least I could jump in, but getting out would be tough. Got any rope?¡± ¡°What am I, a wizard or something?¡± he grunts. ¡°Why did that fall apart?¡± ¡°No idea. Looks like an earthen tunnel¨C¡± she peers down and gasps. ¡°Kyle, this isn''t undermined. It''s a burrow! I think this is a tunnel that Sardavian moles make, they¡¯re native to the area!¡± ¡°You mean those cuddly critters that everyone wants to turn into purses, because of their durable hide?¡± he asks with a slant of sarcasm. ¡°Do they get this big?¡± ¡°I think it just dug too close to the surface. They do make big nests. Room to grow, you know, and they prefer to be next to mana crystals for illumination.¡± ¡°Dear Gaia, you really are a walking encyclopedia.¡± He exhales as if he''s been holding his breath. ¡°Can you peer in, and check to see if those crystals go underground?¡± ¡°I can? Hang on.¡± She remembers that she did have a short tether of cord in her pack. In mage biozones, it''s prudent to camp off the ground, because Kin are typically not at the top of the food chain in most areas. ¡°I forgot I had this! Forcible habits for the win!¡± She tethers to the tree and drops down slowly, using her phone for illumination. She hears the scurry of the industrious moles digging through the earth nearby, they''re utterly harmless except to magical grubs and other pest species. It''s smoothly carved, and large enough to indicate a permanent residence¨Cthe moles even had reinforced it with stubby tree limbs. Maybe a year old or so? A blue shine from the wall gets her attention when she hits the bottom. ¡°Holy Gaia.¡± All the crystals above the ground are part of one networking formation down below the earth, a twisting ribbon or even a vein of mana forming beautiful fractal patterns through the soil. Her counter is clicking upwards and she feels a tingle on her skin. The mana exposure is definitely higher down here, but still not harmful. She taps the crystal gently and feels that subtle hum¡­even hears a crystalline chime. People had claimed in the past that the mana could ''hum'' or even ''sing'' to them. Whether it was superstition or an actual, undocumented phenomena, she didn''t know. ¡°Well, old girl, what secrets are you hiding I wonder?¡± she ponders aloud. A clink of something by her boot gets her attention when she shifts her stance. A perfectly sized specimen of mana crystal is at her foot. It''s still glowing, too¨Cit probably fractured when the moles excavated their burrow. Up above she sees lightly exposed tree roots, going in every direction. The faint veins of mana illuminate the grotto with an otherworldly light. I''ll never tire of the infinite being converted to the finite and wondrous, she thinks in a play on the motto of her Alma mater, London Arcanist Academy. Her first true home. Asqualia is now her second home. It may not be that way forever in the physical sense, but it will always be a home at heart. ¡°Joey? You okay?¡± Kyle shimmies down the rope while she''s been reflecting on the strangeness of this situation. He rubs his arms. ¡°Yeah, I feel that tingle, a lot of mana in the air. It''s one continuous crystal. This growth indicates decades of maturity. Centuries. Joey, I don''t know if we stumbled on some small deposit that was just buried deep enough to not have an impact till now, or if we''re on the cusp of something spooky weird. But we''ve found something truly crazy.¡± ¡°Do you hear that ringing sound?¡± she asks. ¡°Nah, just my heartbeat going at a near-record pace. You know that''s the second time you''ve said that in a day, you alright?¡± he puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder. ¡°I know you have far more sensitive hearing than me, but¡­¡± ¡°I feel fine. Nothing really out of the ordinary. The migraines come and go¨Ca minus to being a psionic, I suppose.¡± What''s strange though, is she had a light migraine since this morning, but now it''s completely gone. It could be a coincidence. Or maybe something to do with her mana circulatory system getting a boost? She reaches down and feels her chest. Outwardly in her human form, she passes flawlessly, well, minus the lavender eyes that some people can see. But inside, the internals are just different enough to be noticeable. And that extra organ next to her heart that connects all the mana filaments in her body and acts as a big circuit breaker¡­that''s decidedly not human. And she feels a tingling sensation deep within. I hope I''m not getting mana poisoning, I don''t want to have to purge my body of that over the next few days. Those chemicals suck to ingest, she thinks with a sigh. ¡°Kyle, take photos. We can''t linger, I might be able to resist this, but you need to leave in two minutes, max.¡± ¡°Then let''s get to work.¡± They stay longer than two minutes, but they get as much data as they can on the roots, crystals, and even the burrow. The annoyed trilling of the moles indicates they should leave, otherwise the little animals might abandon the little grotto. Joey practically pushes Kyle upwards, and then climbs up with grace. Technically she could make the jump with her springy legs, but it''s always wise to keep that agility in reserve. When they get topside, she looks at all her notes. They got a lot, even a few samples. A theory is forming. ¡°I think there''s an artificial source. Something is making these crystals grow. They''re too translucent to be this big already. They''re growing, but not mature. I remember that from my academy classes.¡± ¡°So you and I agree then. Definitely not normal.¡± Kyle rubs at his beard before pointing to the small grove. ¡°So this is not by itself abnormal. The root cause¨Cno pun intended¨Cis the crystal growth. If this keeps growing geometrically, it could also trigger mana storms in this area. Spooky.¡± ¡°No. We''re past that point. It should already be doing that at these concentrations, and maybe it already did. But what is making the crystals grow? Only Gaia can make a crystal grow¨Cas the saying goes.¡± Kyle peers at her curiously. ¡°I didn''t take you for a follower of Gaia.¡± ¡°I''m not, actually. I''m more interested in the theory that she''s actually a real entity. I mean there''s some evidence past thousands of people claiming they met her. Lots of people claim to meet gods, and¡­well, they''re just crazy,¡± she adds with a soft laugh. ¡°Also a bit of Groundhog Day there, too.¡± ¡°I totally missed it,¡± he adds with a smile. ¡°But seriously, I''m drawing a blank on what this all adds up to. Or how it could be related to dragons Awakening, let alone drakensouls.¡± ¡°Maybe there isn''t, and it''s a coincidence,¡± she says when she looks down at the crystal shard in her sample vial, along with a few samples of the dirt adjacent to it. A chemical analysis of the composition of the soil, along with Kyle¡¯s metallurgy skills, might give them a baseline. Her gut instinct is telling her that there is a connection. And it isn''t just that crystalline chime she swears she keeps hearing, either. ¡°That''s the research pivot I want to get to. We''ve got a ton of work to do. I think they¡¯re connected. Cause and effect. But¡­drakensouls¡­that¡¯s the big link I don¡¯t know yet.¡± And she¡¯s going to find out any way she can. Vol. 2, Ch. 48: A Lair Of Scum And Villainy, Part One Wednesday, late afternoon¡­ Drenar checks the time. Ten minutes to six, and they''re in position. For the previous day and this afternoon, they scoured over footpaths, and satellite images, and used his scout drone over the derelict ranger station structure in the Maiden forest, just at the edge of town. They planned every scenario they could. Nick had even drilled into them the sense that this could be a very delicate situation, and made sure to equip them properly for this stake-out. And this time, he¡¯s going all out. ¡°This vest feels tight,¡± Angela comments after adjusting the now camouflaged vest that they''re now all decked in, and she shifts uncomfortably. ¡°Is this kevlar?¡± ¡°Mage weave. Spidersilk armor, layered with ablative resin. It''s chemically resistant to all common acidic attacks, and it¡¯s fire resistant. It looks like Kevlar, but it''s much more robust. Autobow rounds will still chew through it. That''s what those plate inserts are for.¡± Nick opted to keep this operation as quiet as possible, and they had instructed Kelly to not call them, and wipe her message data. They needed this as natural as possible. Nick had also opened his portable armory and gotten them geared up defensively while he grabbed observation equipment. Drenar also saw him tuck away the dragonslayer rifle in that impossibly small pack on his back¨Cjust where did that thing go in that folded space? They couldn''t afford to tip Jonaleth off, or whoever he was working with. Drenar peers through the scope of the autobow, and keeps both eyes open in order to maintain his peripheral vision. ¡°This place is a dump. Why are we not going in?¡± ¡°Glamor charm is active. There''s distortion in the scope. Get close enough, and the illusion dissipates. It can be done for clothes and items, but it''s much tougher to maintain. It''s easier on static structures and fixed locations. Most are powered by a low-level emitter and a mana crystal for a power source.¡± Nick had even brought multiple autobows, now that they were sufficiently trained. ¡°With a trained eye, you can spot them. Sometimes there''s a lensing effect or things don''t line up, even distortions. Dragons can pick it up with their vision.¡± ¡°It''s weird, not having to wear glasses.¡± Drenar winces, it feels like he is naked, without wearing them. But, being able to see this well, even in human form, is one hell of a boon. He scopes the structure again. And frowns. ¡°I see it. The porch distorts where it touches the ground. Like it clips into the earth.¡± Angela nods after borrowing the weapon for a moment. ¡°Nick, James, are you seeing it at your angle?¡± she whispers over the radio channel. ¡°Can confirm,¡± Nick says, along with James grumbling softly. ¡°Keep your finger off the trigger, James. You don''t put your finger inside the trigger guard unless you''re ready to fire, and prepared for what follows after." ¡°Alright, fine. Guess it''s better to not pop the cork early." ¡°Good discipline makes for fewer mistakes or panicking,¡± Julia emphasizes over the radio, barely over a whisper. She''s already got a perch and is as incognito as a pile of leaves and vegetation further up on the hill. Drenar peers through the strange scope with an unusual prism lens. He''s surprised, too. ¡°I see it. There''s light where there shouldn''t be. No one would notice this just walking by. Talk about hiding in plain sight.¡± ¡°Evan, report in. Has Jonaleth arrived yet?¡± Nick asks quietly over the radio. ¡°Nah. The roads are clear. It''s getting dark here, we should make sure not to flash any light.¡± Evan isn''t keen on being anywhere close to combat on this one, and there''s a good chance the Talons are lurking inside. They had all taken up a vantage point on a rocky outcropping and were easily concealed. ¡°Nick, we really should consider looping in our parents. This is getting dangerous.¡± ¡°I agree. Jonaleth¡¯s aggression in school is either sanctioned by the staff, or his recklessness knows no bounds. Drenar, after this, Diane and Dave¨C¡± ¡°You¡¯re just going to drop that on them?¡± He barely can contain his anger, and makes sure his weapon is pointed downrange. ¡°You¡¯re just going to flat-out tell them that their foster kids are dragons, if they don¡¯t know already? And that they could be in danger?¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what¡¯s going to have to happen. If they weren¡¯t out of town, I would have already done it. Which is why I haven¡¯t mentioned it, until now. I already tasked an agent to keep an eye on them.¡± ¡°So now you¡¯re spying on them?!¡± Julia hisses. ¡°Keeping an eye on them, a big difference. The Talons have shown demonstrable competency. If they knew this much about your lives before, who''s to say they aren¡¯t looking to make sure they tie up loose ends? You guys made one hell of a spectacle at the mine. This ¡®Val¡¯ may be trying to put two and two together already. She¡¯s a probable serial killer, if your observations hold up,¡± Nick rebukes. Julia doesn¡¯t let up. ¡°You guys have no respect for how disruptive this is going to be for them.¡± ¡°I do, actually. It¡¯s going to be a nightmare for them. You think you guys are the first people I¡¯ve had to do this for?¡± Nick says. Drenar sees that he''s not even taken his eyes off the target area. ¡°No. People stumble across the Veil all the time by accident. Not in huge numbers, but often enough. I¡¯ve been in this situation before. We don¡¯t truly live in separate worlds. Plenty of people have been in the wrong place at the wrong time when things go bad, and our world spills over for everyone to see.¡± ¡°So why did everyone tell us jack shit, Gorbash?¡± Julia growls. ¡°Not everyone gets the automatic heads up, Julia. Kids talk. Kids do stupid things. You guys have held up remarkably well, but what you did at Mount Syren was ill-advised. You should know that, so you can learn from the experience.¡± He pauses for a second, then laughs. ¡°I''m cooler than Gorbash, though. I don''t need to eat limestone to fly like a dirigible.¡± ¡°Fates, you''re nerdier than us if you have that memorized,¡± Julia groans. ¡°You still didn¡¯t answer the question. What¡¯s so damn important that Drenar and I were given zero heads-up? What, is my mom some kind of magical superhero or something?¡± she asks snarkily. ¡°It¡¯s a possibility, given her military training,¡± Drenar suggests. ¡°Look, let¡¯s sort that one out later. James, thoughts on our situation?¡± ¡°Just one. How many magical felonies have we tallied up?¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± Drenar trails off for a second. ¡°Have we?¡± ¡°Breaking and entering. Discharge of a firearm in concurrence with a felony. Assault with deadly intent while committing another felony. Magical discharge on mooks, destruction of property, and destruction of my sanity.¡± James¡¯ biting wit isn¡¯t exactly surprising. ¡°Um, okay, first off, we broke into a bad guy''s secret lab. Second off, the corpse pile¨Cthey murdered people in there. Third off, we defended ourselves. They shot first.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Um, technically, you armed a grenade first,¡± Angela pointed out. Drenar sighs softly. ¡°See point two. Barbequed humans. Plus they were aiming weapons at me first. Nick, back me up on this one.¡± ¡°I¡­will stay notably mute on this one. The fact that no one died during that whole disaster is amazing. Well, I doubt the Talons would own up to being slaughtered by a bunch of teenage dragons, if that had been the case.¡± ¡°I aim to knock people out of the fight. Not kill them,¡± Drenar states solemnly. ¡°That¡¯s a thing I realized early on. We have abilities and skills that can kill. Which means it¡¯s important to use restraint, when we have the option to do so.¡± ¡°...That¡¯s a surprisingly mature point of view,¡± Nick says after a second, and James grumbles. ¡°So, we¡¯re trying to not become murder hobos,¡± Julia quips softly. ¡°Reasonable enough for you, Nick?¡± ¡°When this immediate crisis is over, proper law enforcement like myself will step up to the plate. I can¡¯t believe we''re stretched this thin.¡± ¡°Not that I like to agree with Legolas here, but he¡¯s got a point. We are going to end up on the Talons¡¯ radar soon enough, and what happens then?¡± James asks quietly. Drenar knows what the natural conclusion to this thought is. Especially after Jonaleth. ¡°They come after us, and try to kill us, and our families. That¡¯s what happens.¡± ¡°Good. You¡¯re learning,¡± Nick concludes. ¡°Kind of a bad time for lessons,¡± Julia grunts. ¡°Learning now keeps you from getting in over your heads. It¡¯s been a fresh change of pace to work with people who learn fast. Keep doing that,¡± Nick says firmly. ¡°Actions have consequences. If this goes poorly¨C¡± ¡°We¡¯re here for recon, we¡¯re not here to crash the party¨C¡± Drenar starts to say. ¡°No. Thinking of multiple scenarios is necessary to survival--yours, or others. Let¡¯s say the meeting goes badly. Kelly and Jonaleth get into a fight. The Talons¡¯ handlers panic. Someone gets hurt or killed. Do we intervene, or do we pack up and write the report?¡± No one answers for a second. Not even Drenar. Julia¡¯s tone is as chilly as the grave after a pause. ¡°If you tell me to stay put when she¡¯s in danger, I will stick my boot so far up your¨C¡± ¡°Answer the question, if that scenario occurred, what would you do? Do you have a backup plan? We can¡¯t plan for every scenario, but we can plan for the most likely ones. You always need a good contingency if plan ¡®A¡¯ fails.¡± ¡°Nick¡¯s right. We need to be closer up if we need a fast intervention. That''s why Drenar and Angela are at intercept range, and Julia covers us from afar, the hillside just to our left. Good vantage point, and lets you cover most of the second floor and part of the first. Nick, you stay put here, that gives us overlapping fields of fire in case we need to make human pincushions. Angela is back up at close range with Drenar.¡± James gets straight to the point like he did before. He doesn¡¯t like agreeing with James, but he has a point. They need to be smarter. Bulldozing through this could be a disaster. ¡°Alright. We stick to plan, but be ready to move if things go south. A telekinetic blast should knock out the wall. We need to move like ghosts if things go bad,¡± Drenar instructs. ¡°Nick, keep the cameras rolling.¡± ¡°Got something better. Levine, is that UAV up?¡± ¡°You know this took a lot of favors. Belmont is pissed at us for that mess over at the logistics company. Your paperwork still isn''t finished,¡± Levine answers. ¡°They can fire me later. Right now the Talons are recruiting child soldiers. This is getting ugly. If this is what they can do with minimal personnel and one artifact, scaling this could be a disaster on a scale that''ll shatter the geopolitical balance. So, thank you for getting me eyes in the sky.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you mention the drone before?¡± Drenar sighs. ¡°I wanted to get your tactical assessment and planning first. It was decent between you and James calling the shots,¡± Nick reasons. ¡°Nothing better than a field task to set it in stone. How long a window do we have, Levine?¡± ¡°It has to land for refueling in three hours. USAF was given the green light on this one for sovereignty reasons.¡± ¡°Noted. When are you coming in person?¡± ¡°Tonight, as soon as we wrap up. Talons back chatter is going silent, it''s down to next to nothing. They''re planning something big. That theft at Mishra armory is a big tell. A lot of weapons stolen, two contractors dead. It was a bold move in broad daylight, they caught the guards unaware. Messy.¡± From what Drenar knows of Levine, he doesn''t embellish, he tells facts the way they are, even if it''s inconvenient for some. ¡°Nick, the Talons that Drenar and the others saw at the mine. What weapons did they have?¡± ¡°GRC-15¡¯s, and various small arms. They were well equipped, well armored, too,¡± Drenar relays after Nick offers him the radio. ¡°You guys have worked together for a long time, huh?¡± ¡°Twenty-two years? Nick carries the physical age more gracefully than me, but I''ve got the aged wisdom down,¡± Levine offers with an amused tone. Nick simply sighs. ¡°Ah, cheer up, Nick. Drenar, has he got that sour look on his face?¡± ¡°Yep. Wow, you''ve got quite the read, don''t you two?¡± Drenar says with a smile. ¡°You have to, in this business. Drone''s coming into range, I see your signatures, plus Evan''s. This drone has optic camo and noise-canceling enhancements, but it''s not undetectable. I''m keeping it as high up as I can with the pilot. Smith, keep the mana scope up. I want to know the second something activates. That glamor is too much effort to dress this up as a derelict structure.¡± Someone in the background chatters indistinctly. ¡°Alright. Recording now, let''s make this count. Rules of engagement, no firing unless fired upon, emphasis to disengage. I''m correct in assuming civilian teens will be there, who have no affiliation with the Talons?¡± ¡°Three. Jonaleth will be present plus presumably his handlers. We¡¯re armed, but treating this as recon only.¡± Nick adjusts his grip and leans into the enhanced optic scope he''s using after giving his autobow to Angela. ¡°You didn''t tell us you were this close to awakening, you good, Angie?¡± He keeps using her truncated name. They''re a thing, I''m telling you! Alex says heatedly. They''re friends, and Angela and I haven''t exactly talked about our situation. He hates it when Alex chimes in on sensitive matters that he''s still figuring out himself. So talk about it, then! What are you, a teenage dragon or something¡­oh. Drenar rolls his eyes at this discourse. Never mind that. ¡°I''m good, Nick. Fatigued, but good,¡± Angela says with a hint of warmth.. ¡°You trust me with this thing?¡± She asks when she grips the autobow. ¡°Better to have it, and never need it. For a situation like this, you pack light, but you don''t leave yourself defenseless.¡± ¡°I''m a Maridian silver, Nick. I''m a biological tank who can claw through a tank, too,¡± she retorts. ¡°Still, glad to see you¡¯re opening up to us.¡± ¡°Not gonna lie, you guys¡­are surprisingly adept. We need to be ready to move into position. We¡¯re coming up on time.¡± Drenar sets his watch, and hopes that this goes smoothly. If the past several days are any indication, it probably won¡¯t. He clicks the radio. ¡°Evan, change of plans. Take the truck and go. I want you out of the line of fire, we have our egress by the teleportal we set up earlier. Nick, he''s got his license, but¨C¡± ¡°No, it''s a good call. Evan, drive it and park it outside my house''s garage, and wait there. After this, we¡¯re relocating there, because my house is warded against prying eyes with a full suite of countermeasures.¡± ¡°Relegated to the bench again,¡± he growls. There''s the slam of a truck door. ¡°I''m still playing Beastie Boys at full volume. Hope you don''t mind.¡± ¡°Ah, I miss those days when music actually was music,¡± Nick sighs contentedly. ¡°Fates, you''re old, Double-O Dragon.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 49: A Lair Of Scum And Villainy, Part Two Several tense minutes go by. They¡¯re late. Drenar is worried they got word someone was snooping and decided to just abandon the trip. This isn¡¯t exactly on the beaten path, this far out here. The old fire watch tower up above is a tinge ominous in the twilight. ¡°Targets coming into range. Two vehicles,¡± Levine relays crisply over the radio. He tightens his grip on the autobow and scopes in on the house, scanning for motion. It still looks dead, but he knows it¡¯s hiding something. It has to be. ¡°Also getting an energy read from the drone. Nick, anything on your mana sights?¡± Nick slowly leans in from his prone position, when Drenar looks at his concealed position. ¡°I see something. Energy buildup. Coming from a generator likely below ground, maybe a mana crystal reactor, small-scale, the draw-time is pretty short.¡± ¡°Nick, I see it. Mana lines, just below the foundation. I think¡­ah¡­I think my mana sight is coming in.¡± Drenar instantly recalls Amaranth¡¯s books¨CAurans could see into a spectrum of vision beyond any dragon that wasn¡¯t merely ultraviolet or infrared. That means Julia could detect arcanist circuitry that flowed mana to and from devices¨Can analog to electricity, but with its own unique properties. ¡°There is something obnoxiously bright below the ground level Nick, it¡¯s giving me a migraine just to look at.¡± ¡°Teleportal most likely, if it¡¯s giving off that kind of mana spike. One spliced into the grid, and well hidden,¡± Levine responds over the radio. ¡°The Talons were rumored to have a master teleportal engineer in their ranks. It takes years to get that good to hide one like this.¡± ¡°Focus on the details later. Levine, can you identify who¡¯s bailing out of the cars?¡± Drenar relays quietly. There¡¯s a brief pause. ¡°Based on yours and Nick''s Intel... Jonaleth, two of his affiliates. Kelly, and two of her friends¨Cwould need to check the yearbook to confirm. They¡¯re working their way to the cabin. Jonaleth just looks smug. Cocksure little bugger. I''ve read his file, can''t blame him for him being the way he is, though.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Drenar demands with a hint of anger. ¡°Let it go, lad. I hear that tone. I get that he threatened your family, but he''s¡­not right. And I''m not going to air this history over the line if the reports I''ve read are accurate. You learn to gauge threats based on the potential to follow through.¡± ¡°He''s still a creep,¡± Julia says with a tinge of anger. ¡°A bolt to the ass might change his life outlook.¡± ¡°Don''t even joke like that. We got lucky in the mine that no one died, but if we killed someone for real? With our powers?¡± Drenar leaves the question hanging. ¡°You think you could live with that?¡± ¡°Depends. If they''re about to seriously hurt or kill someone, it''s open season, and my dearly departed dad would likely agree,¡± she says with an ice-cold voice. ¡°Recon, only. Leave the radio for critical chatter,¡± Drenar states with renewed focus. He observes the wayside and scopes in again. He sees Jonaleth leading the teens to the entryway. They have a good vantage point, and Kelly looks nonplussed. Tristan is there too and nervous looking, and Violet looks anxious and is wrapped around his arm. She¡¯s scared. Really scared. Drenar opens the radio. ¡°Nick, is Violet on the registered mages list?¡± ¡°Tristian and Violet, registered mage families¡­yeah. Same with Kelly. Azure, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. The burn hole in my shirt can attest to that,¡± Drenar radios back, and tries to stay as still as possible. ¡°Are you serious about that contingency?¡± ¡°If they get into trouble, we¡¯re their only lifeline,¡± Angela affirms gently. ¡°James, keep the film rolling. Document everything. We need evidence and we need faces to find out who is supporting this operation.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s local handlers, I wouldn¡¯t get your hopes up. We may have more homework to do later.¡± Nick barely even moves to shift the weapon to look at the building, which is shimmering like a desert mirage. ¡°Levine, can confirm static glamor. The building is not derelict, it¡¯s¡­¡± He trails off. The building looks like a formidable two-story building now, with lights inside and well furnished¨Ca home in the cabins, in essence. Jonaleth bows mockingly to Kelly, who slaps at his outstretched hand before marching inside, along with the others. Jonaleth peers around suspiciously before he closes the door behind them. ¡°Think he knows something?¡± Angela whispers. ¡°Nah. He¡¯s a skeevy creep, but he knows to watch his back when he¡¯s up to creeping, so no one can witness it,¡± Drenar says icily. The long game is just not his style. But it¡¯s necessary. ¡°Drenar, clip that directional mic to the accessory rail. Let¡¯s listen in.¡± He installs the small cylindrical device with a small parabolic dish to listen to with barely a motion, and he takes the weapon in hand and points it at the exposed windows. He¡¯s got a clear line of sight to the inside, and rocks and bushes obstruct most of his body. ¡°New targets. They just came up from the basement, that power source is down now, but there¡¯s a residual¡­echo,¡± Julia relays. ¡°Teleportals eat up a lot of energy. The leylines sometimes leave an afterimage for those looking at it with extra-sensory equipment,¡± Levine answers. ¡°Keep the chatter down. Remember, only relay critical information. Don¡¯t want to miss something while observing.¡± ¡°Aye.¡± It¡¯s pure tactical mode now, Drenar thinks grimly. Four new people are on the first floor and greeting Jonaleth, his lackeys, and the semi-unwilling participants of tonight''s stake-out. Drenar looks at each of them in turn. Two mercenaries armed with shouldered pistols stand stiffly at attention but have no insignia and no body armor. They¡¯re otherwise unremarkable. The man on their right though¡­He¡¯s interesting because he¡¯s deceptively ordinary. Dark brown hair, brown eyes, a trace of silver in his hair, clean-shaven and well-groomed. He wears a button collar shirt, vest, and tie, and an old pocket watch is clipped to the vest. It¡¯s a touch¡­preppie if he has to put a word to it. But the garb is likely itself a deception, because he also sees a sidearm holster on his thigh, a small pistol tucked away. He¡¯s got a ring on his right hand, and nothing else remarkable about him other than his average height, and a face that reads like a stone slab. Either his resting face or someone deeply in control of his emotions. The audio crackles when the device activates. It¡¯s nearly perfect audio, like they¡¯re inside the room. ¡°Jonaleth, glad you could come.¡± ¡°Ki¨C¡± ¡°Roland,¡± the man corrects as if the name is verboten. ¡°Roland Kingsley.¡± ¡°Right, Right. Mr. Kingsley,¡± Jonaleth says with a wicked smile that no one else in the room sees. ¡°I thought Simmons was supposed to be here, it''s an honor.¡± Jonaleth snaps to attention and his tone goes cordial. ¡°Forgive me, we didn¡¯t expect such high-profile attention.¡± ¡°At ease, we don¡¯t bite. Well, I don¡¯t,¡± the man says with a slight smile. It¡¯s barely a twist of the lip. Nick lets a telling exhale. ¡°Levine, we¡¯ve got two big goddamn problems.¡± He relays this while they make introductions inside¨Cit¡¯s calm, so far, but out here, he and the others know it isn¡¯t. ¡°The first problem is that King is here himself.¡± ¡°King is there?¡± Levine sounds alarmed by this as well. ¡°Lay low like a corpse in a grave, Nick. Something¡¯s not right.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t heard the bigger problem. There¡¯s a woman inside, 190 centimeters and built like a coliseum champion, with wavy red hair, ruby-colored eyes, wearing a business suit that costs more to manufacture and enchant than I make in a decade. That suit is only manufactured by one company. Magitech Industries. And their senior VP of military development is inside that room, wearing that suit.¡± ¡°Ah, bleeding hell, red hair? I know her,¡± Levine growls. Drenar barely hears them because he¡¯s scoped in the woman too, and he feels an unnatural tremor crawl up his body. He doesn¡¯t know why, but this woman fills him with unfathomable dread, like spiders crawling over his soul. Drenar¡­I¡¯ve seen someone like that before¡­ Alex is apprehensive now. Even fearful. It¡¯s the first time he¡¯s felt anything like this. A nerve pulsing dread. This is a monster that should have died a long time ago, and I don¡¯t know why I can¡¯t remember the memory of her. I just feel it in my soul. ¡°Drenar?¡± Angela nudges his shoulder, breaking his trance. He turns to her and nods almost imperceptibly. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He focuses back down the sight. ¡°Nick, who is that?¡± ¡°Valosterla Roshanikov. One of the senior VPs of Magitech Industries. The odds of this meeting being a coincidence are zero now.¡± It¡¯s the first time Nick sounds tense, too. ¡°Levine, what have you got on her? I keep rap sheets on all the higher-ups, but hers is unnaturally clean, plus her¡­image as a porcelain doll that can rip your bloody arms off and beat you to death with them.¡± ¡°Ah yes. She¡¯s a Senior VP who¡¯s been climbing the ranks for several years. Know how I know about her?¡± Levine asks. ¡°All her rivals started becoming corpses or disappearing. Or suicide cases. A lot of suicides, actually. I know Magitech Industries is¡­competitive, but I was called to investigate as a favor to an old friend of mine. Keep the tape rolling.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Drenar hears her voice, and it sounds like poisoned honey. Sickly, deadly sweet when she speaks to Kelly and the others. The same voice he¡¯d heard on the radio inside Mount Syren. Kelly has no idea the danger she¡¯s in¨Cif a senior executive is on the rolls of the Talons, or worse, leading them, this is bad news for everyone involved. ¡°Thank you for coming, I did have prior arrangements here tonight, but I do like to meet the new recruits. It¡¯s a bit of a tradition of mine, getting to know the upstart youth looking to make our world a better place,¡± she says with a sweetened smile. Drenar feels like it¡¯s fake. Forced, even. There¡¯s something about her gaze on Kelly that just seems wrong. Focus. Get the details. Insignias, equipment, the way they interact. Alex is a saving grace of clarity, and Drenar is suddenly aware of the unique advantages of being a drakensoul. He isn¡¯t alone in this fight¨Che might lack a little privacy for some things, but this battle isn¡¯t his to bear alone, or to shoulder the fear or dread of who they are up against. For a few minutes, they chatter idly and take seats at a small conference table, and Valosterla talks about her role. She introduces herself as ¡®Val¡¯ and Tristian makes the candid remark if that was short for Valerie. She nods politely. They talk about the history of the Talons, and how history has smudged their image as terrorists when they are instead trying to unshackle people from the invisible chains of the Conclave. She tells them the Conclave uses their web of controls that forces people to put the shackles on themselves. ¡°Can I shoot her?¡± Julia growls over the radio. ¡°I only need one autobow bolt.¡± ¡°That suit can eat a tank round, Julia. Don¡¯t even try. The glass of the windows is reinforced with mana filaments, it would be like trying to shoot at a reinforced concrete wall,¡± Nick warns her. ¡°This is well thought out. This is a small logistics hub. With this level of effort, they must have something bigger. Way bigger.¡± ¡°So, those two in the room together are bad, right?¡± James whispers. ¡°Unfathomably bad. Val is one, maybe two steps away from the CEO position, and if Bennet Magia kicks the bucket, guess what happens?¡± ¡°She¡­gets rich?¡± ¡°The Talons have a CEO of a hundred billion dollar magical equipment and arms manufacturer company, that¡¯s what. And King is the man who can make that equipment¡­disappear into the wrong hands,¡± Nick answers in a dreaded manner. ¡°So we¡¯re in deep shit, like always,¡± Drenar says under his breath. ¡°Fantastic.¡± ¡°Having any regrets yet about your amateur hero moves?¡± Nick asks with just a bit of a sass. ¡°Too late to worry about that now. Guess telling the folks is going to have to come as soon as they all get home. Where the hell are your parents now, Angela?¡± Drenar asks. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a problem I didn¡¯t convey earlier. I¨C¡± Angela clicks the radio next to Drenar impatiently. ¡°Don¡¯t know, don¡¯t care. James and I have spent more time with them out of the house than in during the past two years. Doing Fates knows what.¡± Drenar¡¯s kept the audio piece in, and nothing¡¯s really stood out, except that Valosterla has meandered to a small office away from the conference table, and latched the door. King is standing there, by the wide windows that grace the room and is looking composed and calm. ¡°What was the show for, Val? You know that there¡¯s a risk someone can identify you,¡± King says stiffly. His hands are folded behind his back, a ready pose that looks almost military. ¡°Because it¡¯s fun,¡± she smiles. ¡°You don¡¯t win a world revolution by being a cold caricature of a poster on some war-torn street. You show the people who their savior is, and you get down with the masses, and you show them how bloody you can get in the name of victory.¡± ¡°Yes, Val, that¡¯s what we¡¯re trying to avoid. The whole point of a bloodless revolution is to skip that point of futility altogether. I know your¡­proficiencies are different from mine, and I know you got to where you are with a little bit of a devious character and the will to seize opportunity at every turn. But my skills require patience of a different sort.¡± King turns to face her, and even seated, she seems to be a towering presence in the room. ¡°King, you hid something from me. You didn¡¯t tell me you got a way into Asqualia already.¡± Drenar sees that slight flinch from King, composed as he is. ¡°I know nothing of what you¨C¡± ¡°Are you¡­trying to lie to me, King? That¡¯s something. It¡¯s adorable. And the best part is, it actually took quite a bit of effort to sniff it out.¡± ¡°Someone talked. Who?¡± ¡°A little dragon told me.¡± King narrows his eyes at her. ¡°I run a tight ship. No ¡®little dragon¡¯ told you anything." She practically purrs while folding her delicately manicured hands on the desk, and taps ruby-painted fingernails together. ¡°We are on the same team, Valosterla. I keep operational security specifically because others could tip off SAF. You know who I¡¯m talking about. A certain boastful killer dressed in a walking tank of armor that you keep on a leash.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, I had to hurt a couple of people. You were being too forward about our efforts. I figured you already had a plan, and were going to do it on your own. Spoil the fun for me,¡± she says with a grin. ¡°I don¡¯t like it when people ruin my fun.¡± It¡¯s unusual because she grins like the human mouth can¡¯t hold that many sharp teeth¨Cpart of her dragon form is bleeding through, and it¡¯s disturbing. ¡°My work isn¡¯t boring, Val, but I can assure you, this was no ¡®fun¡¯ task. I was laying the preparation work for this for six months. I have men inside Asqualia that can get us the missing components. Individuals in SAF are positioned to silence any alarm that goes off. We only need Volkir¡¯s journals, and Crosomer¡¯s. Barring that, the locations of the dragon arcanist towers where we can get the full translation set. "We need the translation set fully decrypted, if we want to get to the intended end result and bring all the dragons back, and accelerate mana growth on this world back to, or above baseline.¡± Drenar has an inkling this is more bad news. Nick had previously mentioned Asqualia as some kind of research institute. We can kiss college goodbye, Alex. And I don¡¯t ¡®do¡¯ good-byes. Why¡¯s that? There¡¯s a certain degree of¡­finality in good-byes. His gaze drifts down to his wristwatch, only for a second, before he sights back in. Valosterla is still sitting at the desk, talking to King. ¡°So, we can just walk in, no issues?¡± ¡°I¡¯m certain. But let my man work this. I have a precision team selected.¡± ¡°And I have a demolition team that¡¯s now heavily armed and armored, King. Either one works, and it¡¯s best to have both in your pocket when you want to choose the quiet approach. When will you be ready?¡± King looks tense now. Like he was hoping to do this on his own without any interference. Valosterla acts like she wants to bulldoze this place into the ground. ¡°Friday. Maybe Saturday. I want to wait till the weekend when more personnel are off-site. The keycard access problem for the lower vaults is an issue. I have a solution working right now for that effort. The journals are listed as being in the deeper archives. Keycards may only get us so far, but I trust my men to do a job without a single issue. We even have an extraction plan. No one will ever know we were there.¡± ¡°I love it when you make plans, King. It¡¯s so¡­delightful.¡± She rises from the cushy-looking chair that Drenar secretly wishes he had too in his room. ¡°But, you know that this effort isn¡¯t why I¡¯m here tonight.¡± ¡°Then why?¡± ¡°The debacle at the mine. I want these kids¡¯ heads on a platter on dry ice, and delivered to me,¡± she says with a vein of anger. ¡°How were none of my men using their operational recording cams, and the ones that were, had utterly useless footage? You also rolled those men into Crosomer¡¯s team and now I can¡¯t find them.¡± ¡°They¡¯re being handled, Val. Some local kids stumbled in. We¡¯re bringing them into the fold after we¡­cleared the air.¡± Hearing this surprises Drenar mildly. He swears King looks right at them through the window for a split second. ¡°Rest assured, this has been taken care of.¡± ¡°It¡¯s taken care of when I see corpses in my corporate office, King,¡± she snarls and Drenar hears the shift of the mood in the room. There¡¯s a menace to her that was not present before¨Calmost like when he¡¯d first seen her earlier in the evening. ¡°Crosomer is too soft about threats to our operation. I want the research logs and all the candidates we¡¯ve screened from the Bravo site.¡± ¡°You want to¡­what? Go to the site, and get records now? No, Valosterla, it¡¯s out of the question. You know where it¡¯s located. We can¡¯t just waltz in, we keep the smaller team there to post-process data. There are petabytes of data that we can¡¯t just send over the arcanet,¡± he says in a vein of protest. ¡°Do you know why we don¡¯t duplicate the data? Operational security. Single source control ensures that SAF doesn¡¯t learn our long-term game. The more copies floating around, uncontrolled, the bigger the risk. Now why do you want these individuals dead? They¡¯re hardly worth the trouble." ¡°All three of them were using draconic powers. Which means it¡¯s likely they all show up in the records. I want names, and then I want bodies after that,¡± she says with all the charm of a slasher killer, and she grins maliciously. ¡°I don¡¯t like it when people ruin my fun, you know. I tend to be quite disappointed by it.¡± ¡°Just like your scuttling of the mine? I could have had that handled, but then Jimmy Cabresa choked on a shiv stuffed down his throat in SAF custody. Making more bodies has been counterproductive, Val,¡± he says sternly. She simply swirls her hair around her finger and smiles. ¡°Problems were solved.¡± ¡°And more problems were created. This is why you brought me into the fold, Val. To manage issues that violence and brute force can¡¯t solve and require gentle hands. If the school facility is compromised, SAF gets word that we are about to tip over the proverbial gameboard of both the magical world and the geopolitical landscape. They will come after us with everything they have. Usurpers crush threats that they are fully aware of. Currently¡­we¡¯re more of a ¡®next month¡¯ sort of problem for them. I¡¯d like to keep it that way.¡± Drenar¡¯s eyes widen. ¡°They built a lab inside our school?¡± Oh, these chumps have crossed a line THIS TIME. The validation from his wayward dragon soul only adds to his low-burning fury. Vol. 2, Ch. 50: A Lair Of Scum And Villainy, Part Three ¡°Say that again?¡± Julia chimes in over the radio. ¡°They have a lab at the school? Oh, these creeps are toast. We¡¯ve been guinea pigs the whole time, that¡¯s how they know so much about the students, and why Jonaleth got off scot-free on everything! Hell, even the new security cameras were likely watching our every move, and why they had such massive teacher turnover! They¡¯re all Talons scumbags or useful idiots!¡± ¡°Are we dumb? Did we just not want to believe the obvious or the brazenness that would entail?¡± James adds in with a sigh. Nick immediately radios in Levine. ¡°Levine, Talons confirmed to have a covert facility at the Grady Biggs high school. We need to get in there and sweep the place, there might be valuable intelligence,¡± Nick says with urgency. ¡°It gets worse, now that I think about it. Multiple clandestine Talons operatives likely infiltrated the school. Start doing background checks, and dig through every single discrepancy.¡± ¡°Excuse me? They did what? How the hell did they pull that off?!¡± Angela suddenly goes wide-eyed. ¡°The mechanic bay. In that area, they¡¯ve been doing renovations forever. What if that was a cover story so that they could cordon the place off, a place where no one would look? All it took me was a lockpick to get inside. There has to be something in that wing, a secret entrance, or maybe a pocket plane!¡± ¡°Focus on that later, I¡¯ll get a team in there and dismantle the place down to the bedrock. Focus on the now,¡± Nick says sternly, and Drenar never lets his focus off the room. Val and King have been talking idly for a moment, mostly about the corporate job¨Cand a very telling suggestion that Bennett Magia is going to suffer an unfortunate accident that would be fatal for his advanced age. ¡°Val is making power moves, fast. If she finds out who we are¨C¡± ¡°I told you it was a mistake to delay the rollout,¡± Levine scolds. ¡°I¡¯m listening to the audio feed. Drenar, focus on Jonaleth, I want to know what else is going on. Nick, keep James focused on Valosterla.¡± ¡°Done.¡± He shifts aim to focus on the surprisingly calm tone that¡¯s taken the room, while King and Valosterla talk. Drenar hates that he can¡¯t listen to both, but Levine seems to think it¡¯s important. ¡°So, Goldilocks, you know your dad¡¯s rotten to the core, right?¡± Those are the first words he hears when the microphone adjusts to the new focal point. ¡°You don¡¯t ever stop being a Talons soldier. Ever. It¡¯s a lifelong commitment against injustice.¡± ¡°Yeah? Is it also a lifelong commitment to kill people, just because you don¡¯t like them?¡± Kelly growls. ¡°You almost murdered a fifteen-year-old girl. Why? Were you just born bad Jonaleth? Is that why your mind is so twisted and evil?¡± ¡°Listen, Goldilocks¨C¡± ¡°Call me that again, and I¡¯ll pull your teeth out one at a time Jonaleth. With my bare hands.¡± Tristan tries to reach out to put a reassuring hand on Kelly''s shoulder, but an errant spark on her skin dissuades him. She keeps her focus locked on Jonaleth. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°She disrespected my dad," he answers. Kelly scoffs at that. ¡°You don¡¯t believe me? You and I are alike, far more than you ever will admit to yourself.¡± ¡°Almost killing someone over that? An act of disrespect?¡± Kelly has a stone-cold tone to her words. ¡°You''re broken, Jonaleth. There''s something wrong with you.¡± ¡°Oh, there absolutely is. But I digress, she didn¡¯t just disrespect me. She kicked me to the ground, and her cronies were trying to beat me to death. That¡¯s the inconvenient fact the courts left out. When your dad¡¯s a major official in the Conclave, untidy problems¡­go away,¡± he says with a sneer. ¡°It¡¯s why my foster dad protected me. I was justified in what I did, I defended myself. I won¡¯t apologize for it. She¡¯s alive. My dad isn¡¯t.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s not bullshit that you¡¯re an orphan, is it?¡± Jonaleth shakes his head. ¡°Wanna know why I hate the Conclave? Why I hate the Valkyries? Why I hate every single authority who thinks that those with the wands get the last word?¡± Drenar nudges Angela and points to the window. This is a problem that is threatening to boil over, and Nick is otherwise zen-focused. ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me, then.¡± Drenar is more surprised she''s even bothering to listening to this delinquent. ¡°Sure Go¡­Kelly,¡± Jonaleth halts, as if he had to pause himself. ¡°I was born to bad parents. Like you. The difference between us is your parents got out, and cleaned up their act. They became a vanilla white, happy suburban family in a town nobody even knows exists in this country. Mine didn¡¯t. Mine went as far down that bad path as you can go. They got killed over it. "I learned a lot of stuff¡­later, when Roland showed an interest in me. He does that, you know. He recruits talent, the best and the brightest. He saw my potential, so I kept my nose clean¨Cwithin reason,¡± he adds with a soft laugh. No one joins in, not even his cronies. ¡°See, my parents, they did some bad things, same as yours.¡± "Oh, really? How bad could it be?" Kelly challenges him. Drenar knows though, by Jonaleth''s face, the way he clenches his jaw, there is nothing good that''s about to spill out. Jonaleth sits back, fingertips pressed together lightly with arched hands, and his head is angled low. ¡°My parents killed people, Kelly. A lot of people. They used to cut them up for spare parts, to make a quick buck in black market organs for various Kin species. Kitsune are easy because, you know, no one cares about them. I sympathize with them; they have an entire racial sob story that kinda sucks the wind out of any conversation.¡± ¡°Get to the point, creep,¡± Violet growls. Jonaleth leans in, eyes focused on her, almost like a predator on the hunt--slow and deliberate. ¡°Wanna hear something sick and twisted my parents found out about Kitsune? It turns out, you can make a lot of money off that extra organ of theirs that regulates their mana. It''s something that humans don¡¯t have, but they¡¯ll try to transplant one into their bodies, even if the cellular rejection kills them within six months. Shocked yet?" "I--oh god," Violets voice flickers out, and she covers her mouth. Jonaleth continues without missing a beat. "My parents killed people who were...problematic for those in power. But their side gig, in making money? They would carve Kitsune up while they were still alive¨Ckept it fresher, they said. Yeah, my Pre-K days were spent listening to screams, and after a while, they became¡­white noise. Your childhood was likely spent in a quiet little home, or a nursery where love and care are real, tangible things.¡± Kelly looks utterly revolted at this sickening turn of events. Violet looks like she wants to wither. Tristan looks¡­grim. ¡°Fates on a stick.¡± Drenar can¡¯t help but find the smallest sliver of sympathy for the teen who had threatened to burn his house down. He keeps listening. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Go on.¡± Kelly looks at him with that dead-calm expression she wore during martial arts, like a slab of granite. ¡°So, when you eventually kill the wrong kid and their influential parents come a-knocking, you¡¯ve signed your death warrant. And that¡¯s what happened. A squad of three Valkyries came into my parent''s little shop of horrors, and killed six people. They¡¯re efficient killers, I¡¯m telling you, I mean they¡¯d have to be in order to be the legends they are. The thing is, legends have dark spots, too¡­and they killed a five-year-old kid¡¯s parents, right in front of him. That memory will never let go of me. Never.¡± Just like I¡¯ll never forget Mom¡¯s severed arm and those last few words¡­Drenar clenches the weapon tightly. He knew exactly what Jonaleth meant by something that would never let you go. Jonaleth continues after a brief pause, where the barest warmth of humanity crawls back onto his face. ¡°I see it every day. I can hear that slice as my dad loses his head, trying to grab a wand. You know something, the heart doesn¡¯t stop pumping after the head pops off like a Pez dispenser. No. It keeps going for a few seconds. It showers the room with blood, and his body just kinda jerks for a couple of seconds. They don¡¯t tell you how gruesome real death is,¡± he says with the faintest bit of fear. ¡°Mom tries to stab one of the shiny brass and silver knights, and then gets a fire bolt straight through the chest. Bam. Two and oh. The Valkyries didn¡¯t even take a scratch, and now they¡¯re staring, trying to figure out what they do with the sobbing, screaming kid whose parents they just merked in the worst way possible.¡± Kelly looks aghast, as do the others, and a sickening feeling creeps into Drenar¡¯s stomach. ¡°Have you ever smelled human barbeque? I did that day. That smell of my mother¡¯s charred flesh from the wound that killed her. Oh, they tried to save her, but they shot her straight through the heart like they¡¯re instinctively trained. A regen potion wasn¡¯t going to fix that. "That¡¯s the other thing that triggers me. People talk about cookouts like they¡¯re fun events for the family. But every time I¡¯m near one, all I can picture is the smell of my mother¡¯s smoldering flesh. I wouldn¡¯t wish that on anyone.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way the Valkyries would ever do that¨C¡± ¡°No? I can show you the records. I can tell you which Valkyrie killed my mom. Victor One. She and her murder squad. For them, it was a Sunday morning drive of virtually no consequence. They just happened to destroy my whole world in the process. Them, and the Conclave that keeps them on a leash. Oh, they say they¡¯re independent, but they kowtow to the Conclave because if they didn''t, they¡¯d be running the mage world right now.¡± Jonaleth looks more and more human--more afraid, the longer he talks. Both Tristan and Violet are dead silent. ¡°That Valkyrie with the shining green eyes and the braided brown hair even tried to comfort me. She told me that my parents did bad things. She promised me they¡¯d take me somewhere safe, and that I shouldn¡¯t have to suffer for their litany of sins.¡± Jonaleth shook his head. ¡°Ironic. The woman who killed my mother spoke the kindest words I¡¯ve ever heard in my life, and I still can¡¯t entirely hate her. But you can¡¯t fix that. They dropped me off at the nicest orphanage, and I was left to stew for a couple of years, all kinds of therapy¡­I remember it vividly.¡± ¡°You''re lying. What a sob story, Jonaleth¨C¡± Kelly starts to say, but Tristan pulls her back to her seat that she''d been slowly rising out of. ¡°What if he''s right, Kelly? Even heroes make mistakes. I doubt the Valkyries are pitch perfect, but¡­¡± ¡°Jonaleth is a chronic manipulator, everyone knows that,¡± she says in a firm rebuke, and looks right at Jonaleth, eyes narrowed. ¡°Maybe something like that happened, but you were young. You might not remember it correctly.¡± ¡°You can believe whatever you want, Kelly. But you can''t ever file that away. You can''t take away that memory, and all those years of therapy didn¡¯t take away that feeling of rage I¡¯ve kept bottled up at the very depths of my soul. This is the story I can never tell anyone outside the veil. So I scream in rage on the inside, every single day. And that is why I joined the Talons. It is why I will burn the Conclave until there¡¯s nothing left but ash. Because even though my parents were psychos, they were given no due process and the Valkyries killed my parents right in front of me without a second thought.¡± ¡°Your parents were killers, Jonaleth. They did what they¨C¡± ¡°¨CWhat they had to do? Maybe. Even pretty-eyes, I could someday forgive her. Maybe one day, my parents would¡¯ve carved me up for my organs if I broke my toys again¨Cstill got the scar from that one,¡± he says with a bitter smile and gestures to his chin. ¡°Maybe she saved me from a grim fate, but who knows? "All I do know is that later on, the world decreed I was bad blood and I would never have a shot at being normal. I got the Valencian red from my dad, a lot of good it does me. I¡¯m no saint, but I wasn¡¯t a sinner until three Wargen were trying to kill me because I got mad at them for disparaging my dad¨Cand me¨Cbecause of who I am. That¡¯s the first time I fought back after months¨Cyears¨Cof just taking the hate and marching along, numb, and trying to tune it out. The hate flows in many directions, Kelly. You should ask your dad about it sometime.¡± ¡°My dad is a good father,¡± she snarls as if she no longer holds the advantage in the room. ¡°He¡¯s all I could ever ask for in a dad. And if your parents hadn¡¯t met their end that day, you would have ended up just like them. And you¡¯re terrified that I''m right.¡± Jonathan lets out a puff of air like his soul is trying to leave his body. ¡°Yeah. Shame though how the Fates work against us sometimes. Your dad and your mom got into some bad deals early on, but they got lucky. They got out. Then your mom fell into another hole, didn¡¯t she? She is still¡­taking her medication?¡± Kelly gets right up from the table and slaps Jonaleth with a full swing of fury. He barely even flinches and wipes a trickle of blood from his lips. ¡°Ooh, I hit a soft spot, did I?¡± ¡°You¡¯re an utter bastard, Jonaleth. You claim to be the victim, but you¡¯re quick to jump to violence and goading others. What¡¯s this I heard about you beating up Evan? You know that they¡¯re gonna come for you on that one.¡± ¡°Asian bitch and the poor little orphan boy?¡± Jonaleth laughs hard enough that everyone is looking at him uneasily. Drenar tightens his grip on the autobow, this is bad in all the worst ways, and he is too far away to intervene. ¡°You know why I hate Drenar the most, ever since I got here? He doesn¡¯t talk about it much¨Cif at all, but that kid is broken to pieces over his mom being dead. I can see that look in his eyes, it takes one to know one, you know?¡± He almost flexes his finger past the trigger guard, but Angela softly shakes her head, in his peripheral vision. ¡°You know what¡¯s even funnier? That Valkyrie that killed my mom¡­she looked awfully similar to him. Good reason to hate on a kid, yeah? Just gotta¡­what¡¯s the word, displace the hate, project it onto someone else? The shrinks taught me a lot of things, and those words they used, they were a blast.¡± ¡°Drenar¡¯s never done anything to you. Him and Julia combined have been through awful things and they came out of it in one piece. I''ve known them since they were five--they both took a beating from bullies trying to defend others, and that speaks volumes of their character." She leans forward over the table, eyes narrowed. "If you call my best friend ''asian bitch'' one more time, I don¡¯t care who tries to stop me, you will die screaming before they do,¡± Kelly says with a deathly quiet tone. ¡°Damn it Kelly, don¡¯t be stupid,¡± Drenar says with as much restraint as he can muster. This could explode into violence in a heartbeat, and he really hopes it''s not because Jonaleth is trying to rile her up on account of him and Julia. ¡°Nah, see, that¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong. Drenar is a goody-two-shoes knight in shining armor, a defender of the defenseless who''s broken beyond repair, like me. He and Julia combined. They¡¯re gonna be troublesome when they Awaken, coming in with superpowers and trying to find their footing in this world. It¡¯s gonna be on you to make sure they join the fold before the Conclave gets their new pet dragons on a leash. Or, you know¡­orphans meet a sticky end, because¡­they¡¯re one refusal of their medication away from a grim fate.¡± ¡°Oh hell. Get ready to move in,¡± Drenar relays to Angela, all while Kelly rises from her seat and looks at Jonaleth like he''s her next target to obliterate. ¡°Oh, Jonaleth. You really should not provoke those that can utterly destroy you.¡± Plasma starts dancing across her arms, and everyone in that room knows that Jonaleth is a dead dragon walking. With those words, Drenar knows, that Plan A has run its course, and now Plan B is in effect. The chaos plan. Vol. 2, Ch. 51: Fight and Flight The door bursts open in an instant, with King looking stony-faced at Jonaleth. Kelly¡¯s dancing plasma goes out like a lightbulb, and she gives one piercing glare at him before turning her ire towards King. ¡°Keep your creep in line, whoever you are. If this is how you run your revolution, you can stuff this up your¨C¡± ¡°Kelly, right?¡± Drenar is as tense as he¡¯s been since this whole night started. He carefully moves his finger away from the trigger again¨Cmistakes can¡¯t be afforded here. ¡°Please understand that we have¡­many different opinions on how the operation gets run. We do not coerce people into service¨Cthat would be something the Conclave does all the time, and gives lip service to condoning in practice.¡± ¡°Right. Like I was saying, the Conclave doesn¡¯t like loose ends, and Julia and Drenar are loose cannons. You need to keep them in line, or people other than us could cause problems for them.¡± She crosses her arms and ignores Jonaleth. ¡°I hate all the attention we¡¯re getting,¡± Drenar mutters. ¡°Not gonna lie, Angie, we might have done something really boneheaded going up to Mount Syren.¡± ¡°Maybe. But then we¡¯d have zero clues on what they¡¯d be up to. Don¡¯t look back, plan forward,¡± Angela insists. ¡°Why is King covering for us?¡± ¡°Power play? Maybe he doesn¡¯t like wanton murder and wants us to be good little soldiers still,¡± he responds while rolling his eyes. ¡°We¡¯re in trouble, either way. I¡¯m calling Diane and telling her to lay low once we clear out of here. James, make sure your parents get the hint wherever the hell they are.¡± He leans back into his cheek weld against the frame of the weapon, pulling all his focus on making sure that this meeting ends without a shot fired and that everything goes by routine. ¡°Is it true? My dad¡­worked with you?¡± Drenar curses, he missed a few seconds of the conversation¨Chopefully he can get some context. King¡¯s composure slips for a second¨Ca look of regret. ¡°I won¡¯t lie, he worked with me for a time. Before the Talons. Your father is a good man, Kelly. You shouldn¡¯t lose sight of that.¡± ¡°Does he work for you now?¡± she demands, arms folded and stance tense. ¡°No. He doesn¡¯t work for me. Occasionally we¡­help each other out. But I haven¡¯t had much contact with him since he¡­requested to step back into the light. He¡¯s a man I trust, in a world of gray where actions can be construed as hostile by the powers that be.¡± ¡°Roland, save the sob words. We have things to finish discussing,¡± Valosterla calls from the doorway, and eyeballs Jonaleth with those piercing ruby eyes. ¡°Did we not discuss this ¡®provocation¡¯ that you seem apt to use?¡± ¡°Nah, Val. Just laying out some hard truths. Right, Roland?¡± It¡¯s almost like Jonaleth is in on the joke that isn¡¯t his name. ¡°Correct. Val, I believe that we should allow them to depart for the evening, you and I still have some business to discuss.¡± Strangely, the armed men haven¡¯t even flinched with the commotion in the room, but one pulls out a phone and Drenar focuses back on him, out of curiosity. ¡°One of those brats is recording. Got a live stream going with a few hundred viewers. Tell Val right now.¡± The man nods his head almost imperceptibly, while Valosterla is talking, and he nods to the other men. ¡°Nick, trouble. They¡¯re onto them!¡± Drenar says in an elevated voice. ¡°Levine we¡¯re going to have to move, I¡¯m guessing one of my fellow students did a stupid thing and live-streamed their interview with the devil!¡± ¡°Ah, ballocks¨CNick, get in there! You got your teleportal escape pad ready?¡± Levine is scrambling on the end. "Smith, keep the drone feed rolling, be prepared to track moving targets east!" ¡°Plan C, extraction exit!¡± Nick barks out. Drenar goes by rote memory, they¡¯d set up a teleportal pad well out of the way in a field in advance, just in case they had to make a fast getaway. For a plan they cobbled together in two hours, they¡¯d done a damn bit of contingency planning, just not like this. ¡°We¡¯ve got thirty seconds, Drenar and Angela, prepare to breach, use those alchemical grenades, they¡¯ll stun, but they won¡¯t permanently injure!¡± ¡°Ah crap, here we go again!¡± James says in a scramble to get the equipment packed up. ¡°You guys suck at planning!¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t screw up this time!¡± Drenar barks, already in motion. He keeps the audio feed going even as he preps the flare grenade¨Cit should be enough to blind a dragon, and Angela¡¯s already shifting to her dragon form just out of the view of the window. Even stranger is how the armor morphs around her and now seems size-appropriate over her nascent draconic body. He also reaches out to his draconic form and feels the bulk of muscles and raw power course through him, and the armor vest and clothes feel tight as they twist and transform with him. Two giant dragons trying to stack up on a doorway would probably seem like either a hilarious or terrifying sight to passersby. With the adrenaline pumping on the prospect of seeing three peers get murdered for breaching trust, he¡¯s not taking any chances on this one. He pulls the pin on the alchemical grenade with one claw. He can hear the conversation turn heated. Val¡¯s mercenaries burst into the room with a stomp of boots. ¡°Miss Roshanikov, we have a¡­situation that requires immediate resolution.¡± ¡°Can it wait? We¡¯re just about to depart,¡± she snaps. The voices are muffled but his draconic hearing allows him to pick out a mouse shuffling through grass from a hundred meters away at least. ¡°Val, I think you need to hear this.¡± One of them puts out the phone and there¡¯s distant audio, and he swears he can feel malice permeate the air. It¡¯s disturbing that even with an armor-scaled body, he¡¯s never felt this vulnerable against something that doesn¡¯t have a physical presence, what is that awful feeling he keeps getting? ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°Take their phones. Find the culprit. And kill them. Make sure the others are watching when you do it, then have them take the body out in the woods and dump it. Actually, you know what¡­I¡¯ve got a better idea. I didn¡¯t have a meal before I caught my flight here.¡± ¡°Oh, what the fu¨C¡± Angela whispers before Drenar motions for silence, claws still tightly wrapped around the safety after reminding himself of what happened last time. They¡¯re not going to get another shot at this, and he charges his free hand with telekinetic energy. That glass might have mana filaments reinforcing it, but it can¡¯t take a concentrated impact like this, based on the practice he¡¯s had over the past few days. He motions for her to get ready. ¡°Julia, anyone lines up a shot on Kelly¨C¡± ¡°They¡¯ll be dead before they hit the floor,¡± she says with a deadly tone over the radio. ¡°On your signal Drenar, I can see a circuit breaker just to their left. Break the glass, and the shot should go right through. Call it.¡± He waits for the right moment when the mercs and Valosterla stomp back into the room. ¡°Does someone have¡­something they want to tell me? Something pressing? I thought we had a level of rapport and trust,¡± Valosterla says, and that sickly sweet voice grates on Drenar¡¯s nerves. She has a figure that borders on drop-dead gorgeous, but beneath that exterior is an utter monster that he can¡¯t reconcile the difference. Told ya. It¡¯s always the redheads. Great words to die by Alex. Here we go. He waits for the pause. Violet shrieks, and there¡¯s the clatter of a phone on the ground. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I thought you were here to kill us!¡± she squeals. ¡°I didn¡¯t want my last words on this earth to my mom to be utter anger at her grounding my ass for ruining the living room when I transformed!¡± ¡°Well, we weren¡¯t¡­¡± Val starts to say. Drenar doesn¡¯t wait and taps on the glass with a claw, and everyone turns to face him, utterly bewildered. He waves to Val, who looks at him with disgust. ¡°Didn¡¯t I kill you already?¡± she sneers. It¡¯s a very odd statement before the disaster that follows. ¡°Candygram, bitch,¡± He utters with contempt before he smashes the glass with a kinetic blast that shatters the whole row of windows. The two mercs shield Valosterla from the shards where it pings off their spell shields. He chucks the flare grenade at their feet and veers behind the wall and covers his ears. ¡°NOW!¡± Two high-pitched shots ring out and plunge the room into a sputtering darkness that lasts all of a second. There is a deafening blast of light and sound and then screams of two mercs and a dragon hopefully with ruptured eardrums. Angela is in lockstep and rips out the wall and Kelly and the others are covered behind the conference table. Tristian forgot to cover his ears and currently is wailing in agony. Drenar follows suit and kinetic blasts the foes against the wall, bringing part of the ceiling down on them in a shower of debris that blocks their way. ¡°Hi kids, way to screw up! Double-time it!¡± ¡°Um¡­did we just get sassed by a giant dragon?¡± Violet says while squinting her eyes, then gasps. ¡°Holy shit, you¡¯re¨C¡± ¡°Clark Kent, and we are getting the hell out of here!¡± he barks. Drenar grabs Kelly who firmly latches onto the base of his neck, and Angela grabs Tristian, who is steadied by Violet and they get a running start. Drenar hears bad news as soon as the radio crackles again while trying to get to flight speed. He¡¯s attempted this twice at an extremely low height behind the house this weekend, but not with extra weight. ¡°Drenar, reinforcements coming from the house! They must have been camped in the basement!¡± He¡¯s greeted by the sharp ping of a bolt off his flank which harmlessly bounces off his armor scales, but it still hurts. ¡°Nick, are we allowed to shoot back?!¡± ¡°They¡¯re opening up on civilians, weapons free, and watch your fire!¡± Distantly, he hears the sharp crack of more autobow bolts and he arches his spine to take the brunt of the damage¨Cthey ping off harmlessly and flare the barrier faintly, and the sparkles of blue light protectively wrap around Kelly as well. They get airborne in a few strides and massive spring of his legs up and forwards, and he feels that bubble of lightness envelop him. Nick had explained that dragons don¡¯t typically have enough lift in their wings to get past the thrust-to-weight ratio problem. But when a dragon attempts to fly, they instinctively trigger a distortion of gravity magic within them that makes them lighter¨Clight enough to soar through the air with ease, given the wingspan. He had politely explained to Nick that getting hit by anything heavy in the air might result in him being yeeted through the skies. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Nick had dead-eyed stared at him and told him not to get hit. Which is why he¡¯s in pure adrenaline panic beating his feathery wings, and hoping he clears the top of the trees before he crashes into them at the edge of the clearing. Angela is a powerhouse, and Nick surges to his dragon form and grabs James. Bullets and bolts ping off his shield but they might as well be tiny wasp stings, and Julia springs to motion when Nick lands briefly and she catches a ride on him with an incredible jump of grace. They take a bead on the clearing about a mile away, flying in tight formation. ¡°Fantastic plan, idiots!¡± James screams out. ¡°Not like they''re gonna come looking for us and know where we live, which one of you dumbasses was putting wizards and dragons live on Tiktok?¡± ¡°Me! Sorry, I didn''t know how verboten that was¨C¡± ¡°It''s very verboten, and we already got yelled at for it!¡± James shouts over the roar of the wind. ¡°Nick, you know what, we need to give them ¡®the talk¡¯ I''ve been saving up.¡± ¡°Stay seated, it''s difficult carrying two passengers,¡± Nick snaps with a swivel of his head. Julia slings her weapon in a saddlebag and taps Nick gently. ¡°Yes, Tsundere?¡± ¡°I see a gun. Big gun. Can I shoot it?¡± ¡°The M82M3 is designed for a fixed firing position, and using that on unshielded humans is, well, probably a war crime¨C¡± There''s a deafening blast and a crackle of purple energy behind them, and half the ranger station explodes outwards, and Drenar turns his head just in time to see it. Oh. We have messed up, big time. You think? Alex''s rebuke can''t convey the feeling of dread when he sees a monster from a nightmare dash out of the damaged structure in a blur of midnight blue scales and a blood-red feather mane, and wings that beat with incredible strength, unburdened by the proximity of the interior. Nor is there any hiding those razor-sharp teeth and claws and a scream of anger that emanates from behind them. If there is a Hell on earth, her emanating shrills are the open portal to the screams of the damned. Valosterla is one massive dragon with an array of deadliness matching her demeanor as an apex predator in a business suit. ¡°Siberian Hellkite, on our six! Two more Valencians transforming!¡± Drenar relays to Nick, who grunts audibly. ¡°One really big Siberian hellkite who might just be a little pissed at me for calling her a bitch.¡± ¡°Your snarky one-liners are gonna be the death of us, Drenar!¡± Angela screams out. Violet and Tristan look terrified of her. ¡°Long story, folks, we¡¯ll¨Cyikes!¡± Drenar feels the danger before he hears the crackle of energy, and swerves right while Angela swerves left. A globule of scintillating dark purple energy blasts past them and detonates like a flak cannon round, and pings his scales with buzzing purple energy. A near miss felt like he got hit by a cloud of nails against his scales, and it stings. ¡°We are being shot at!¡± he roars. "Dragon brats, stomping in?! Do I fear? Nah, I''d win," Valosterla sings out in an almost manic tone. "Did--is she...is she taunting us in verse?!" James shrills. "What is wrong with this woman?!" ¡°Big shooty gun now please, Nick!¡± Julia screams out over the roar of the wind past them. ¡°We can''t use the teleport while we''re being shot at, we need to ground her or lose her!¡± ¡°Julia, if you manage to hit anything with that weapon while bucking mid-air against a highly mobile target while clinging to me for dear life, I''ll name my firstborn daughter after you!¡± Nick retorts but doesn''t outright say no. Drenar tries to land a kinetic blast like a globule and holds it until Valosterla is close enough, and relaxes his claws. There''s a sonic boom and it disrupts her flight, slowing her down. ¡°I''m calling that one depth charge!¡± he roars in triumph. It''s kind of hard though because he''s panting from the effort of beating his wings at maximum speed, and Kelly is clinging on for dear life and squeezing his neck tightly. ¡°Are you just insane Drenar, or are you naming your attacks like a shonen anime?!¡± she screams out and punches him in the scales for good measure. ¡°It''s stress therapy! And why was Violet going off script?!¡± ¡°I didn''t tell her shit for this explicit reason, she¡¯d have blown our cover sooner!¡± she shouts out. ¡°Sorry Drenar, you guys did cover our ass but good. Jonaleth got under my skin too, you probably saw that.¡± ¡°He gets under everyone''s skin¨Cscales¨Cwhatever. I dunno which phrase to use anymore.¡± He swivels to look back, Val is picking up speed behind him. ¡°Nick, Siberians are vulnerable to plasma, right?¡± ¡°Against her? That''s suicidal, she''s a dragon matriarch judging by her size and scale thickness!¡± Julias grabs the massive rifle and braces it against the harness, and straps herself into an attached tether that secures her to Nick''s back. ¡°Julia, keep your aim steady! That''ll punch a hole right through my wing!¡± ¡°Then I won''t miss! Keep her distracted!¡± she barks out to Drenar and Angela. "A whelping flees my claws, oh it''s so endearing! You really should die now, paralyzed by fearing!" There is something seriously wrong with this woman! Drenar thinks frantically. I''ll say. Her meter is decent, her word choice quite flavorful. And terrifying. Alex chiming in at this manic dragon behind them isn''t improving the situation. ¡°Drenar, I have an idea!¡± Kelly announces from his back. ¡°You''re half Maridian and Azure, I think I can give you a fighting edge!¡± ¡°How?!¡± ¡°Brace yourself, this might sting!¡± She presses one palm on the valley of his back between his wings, and he feels a current of energy radiate from the spot, stinging like biting ants. But it doesn''t discharge, it instead increases in intensity and spreads across his scales, glowing white-blue and arcing intermittently. ¡°Let me know when it starts to hurt! Your scales are superconductive for plasma energy!¡± ¡°Why is everyone experimenting on me like I''m a lab lizard, damn it?!¡± He can feel that charge across his body, flowing through him, and while it might sting, he feels the surge of power he can unleash. Another shower of dark energy is unleashed and he dodges several of them. More surprisingly, his barriers seem enhanced¨Che can barely feel the stinging impact anymore! He files it away as a new protective tactic. But can it be used as an offensive tactic? Valosterla and the two distant Valencians are closing¨Cone of them looks like Jonaleth with the close-cropped feathers and ice-cold eyes, along with a slight scar on his snout. An analog of an idea crops up, and he focuses that charge to his claw, pivoting his body to look back at Val launching more deadly attacks. He¡¯s running out of maneuvering room, she¡¯s bigger and faster than they are. ¡°Kelly! I need advice, have you used your plasmakinesis before? That grappling beam?¡± ¡°Once! It¡¯s like throwing a fishing line!¡± she belts out. He swerves to dodge a volley of deadly purple energy¨Cwhatever this attack is, even near-misses hurt, and his feathers are slightly singed on his tail, much to his annoyance. A brilliant idea comes to mind. ¡°The yeet has not been yotten!¡± he belts out with a laugh. Kelly looks at him like he¡¯s lost his mind. ¡°Julia, wait for the moment!¡± ¡°Ready!¡± He waits for Val to commit to the attack, she¡¯s close enough that he sees her inhale sharply¨Cbreath attack! He folds his wings and plummets down, just as a belch of blue-black flames occupies the space he was in, and she tries to track his motion. He¡¯s still more agile than her, and he screams towards the awaiting forest, trying to keep as much speed as possible. He charges that energy to his claws, waiting to break the tension. Valosterla laughs when a few feathers smolder, and he shouts out¨Cthose flames are abysmally hot, even from a near-miss! Kelly shouts and holds herself pressed against his body, but the effort has slowed Valosterla down a little. The embers eventually die out, much to his relief, and he waits for her to charge energy in her claws once more. ¡°You can¡¯t outrun me, little hatchling! Why don¡¯t you tell me who you are, we seem to have gotten off on a bad start¨C¡± He flares his wings backward to catch as much drag as possible and she zooms past him, surprised by the maneuver, and overshoots on her next attack¨Cthe bits of energy sting his face, but he¡¯s got a new target, and throws out that charge of energy in a brilliant beam of plasma that tethers to her right leg! She looks behind in surprise and swerves, but he¡¯s not done yet! He¡¯s done a rough calculation while he¡¯s tethered onto the literal kite from hell, and prepares his primary skill, a shimmering white globule of kinetic energy. She inhales sharply, she can¡¯t miss at this range! ¡­Unless he wasn''t where he was supposed to be. He snaps the tether of energy in a massive constricting motion, sending him flying forwards and upwards and over her, and tucks his wings to ensure maximum speed. Meanwhile, the recoil motion jerks her downwards and she swerves her tail and tries to recover. But this time he¡¯s right where he needs to be and kinetic blasts her torso with as much energy as he can summon from the high-up angle, shouting in fury as the point-blank attack impacts her. She is sent veering off-course, trying to correct her spin into the ground. ¡°NOW!¡± Several shots ring out from Nick¡¯s position¨CJulia dumps the entire magazine into Valosterla, and amazingly, the shots connect in a flare of bluish-purple sparks, and the shielding flickers. It barely holds, but momentum still carries and sends her downwards, where she clips into the top of the nearest tree¨Cher forward speed saves her, and the tree splinters, but the second and third impact slow her down and she can¡¯t recover. She crashes through the trees and lets out a scream of rage, and several trees topple from the massive impact of the dragon line driving through the forest. ¡°Yeah-hah! The yeet has now been yotten¨C¡± Kelly shocks him again and the stinging rebuke stops him mid-sentence. ¡°Your sardonic wit is going to drive me insane, Drenar!¡± Kelly screams out. ¡°Ow! Let me have this moment!¡± They beeline for the now active teleportal on the characteristic one-time-use pad that looks similar to the one that Crosomer had used, and Nick and Angela had already landed. Julia is wincing and rubbing at her instantly bruised shoulder, looking confident. ¡°You got to use the fifty again.¡± ¡°I got to use the fifty again,¡± she says with an infectious grin, even as she slaps in another massive magazine and keeps it trained on the tree line. ¡°Let¡¯s mosey on outta here, Nick, are we going to be under capacity for this thing?¡± ¡°Barely. James, everyone else okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to be sick,¡± Tristan moans. Everyone scrambles onto the folded plates that are glowing with silver light, and Drenar is the last one on, the platform already charging. A blast of unnatural blue-black fire incinerates the trees closest to the clearing, and that murderous dragon with midnight blue scales and the fiery red feather mane storms past the burning kindling and leers right at Drenar. She should be furious. But she''s wearing a manic grin that is unnerving as it is out of place. ¡°You¡¯re not her, are you? You surprised me even at my age, but you¡¯re still dead hatchlings walking!¡± she shouts out from the couple hundred meters distance. ¡°In the words of my generation, get stuffed, Val!¡± Drenar says while giving her a triumphant one-claw salute. The world flares to light and he forces his eyes closed¨Che feels utterly weightless¨C Vol. 2, Ch. 52: Out of the Frying Pan... When reality pops back into existence and Angela staggers to the floor, she¡¯s immediately set upon with an intense case of dizziness. She clips Nick with an errant wing and stumbles to the concrete floor of the building they¡¯re in, and sprawls out, trying not to throw up. ¡°Oh. Oh, dear Fates. Oh.¡± It still feels like the universe is spinning, and she forces her eyes shut. ¡°If I hurl, don¡¯t judge me.¡± ¡°Um, I¡¯m not gonna judge the dragons that just pulled us out of the literal fire. Oh my goodness, Angela?! You, too?!¡± She dares to open her eyes and Kelly is peering right at her, and it¡¯s still a little disorienting when her vision clears. Everything since her transformation has been in extremely high-definition to where she can see Kelly in all her fine detail. ¡°You are gorgeous, dear! And Julia! And, and¨CDrenar too, I guess.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Drenar sighs. He¡¯s sitting on his haunches and looks like he¡¯s not having a good time post-teleport. ¡°Everyone in one piece?¡± They all sound off, and Kelly gives a tight hug to Angela, who strangely tries to nuzzle in her mane feathers. Um. I am strangely okay with this. ¡°Hi, Kelly, it¡¯s been a spell, how are ya?¡± she says softly. ¡°Well, I uh, er¨C¡± Kelly trails off and lets go, looking extremely flushed, ¡°I was just happy to see you guys. I guess I haven''t been the only one going through disruptive life changes, I thought you were normal!¡± ¡°Take a ticket and get in line, our lives are completely fubar,¡± James complains. She very gently grazes his hair and tousles it with her tail, much to his annoyance. She can¡¯t help but get a toothy smirk in. ¡°Nick, any chance that psycho can follow us, and¨Cwhere are we?¡± Nick has been busily tapping in commands to his teleportal in the sprawl of a massive modernized barn, with the lofts leading up to a cushy second floor. The main floor is a workshop and armory of immense proportions, and she glances around at the place. It¡¯s Nicks¡¯ home. His base of operations. Well, guess I went over to his house. Wish he¡¯d invited us all over sooner. She glances down at her chest and notes the scars are obscured by the fabric armor vest over her persona. It¡¯s a little itchy on her scales, but it¡¯s manageable. Nick glances up, all blonde and green feather mane spread in every direction. He looks tense, to put it mildly. ¡°Thanks, while you¡¯ve been all giving yourself a pat on the back, I¡¯ve been busy spoofing the exit leyline, scrambling my encryption key, and wiping all the teleport data. So the Talons murder army doesn¡¯t come looking for us,¡± he says with a little bit of bite to his words. Oh, he¡¯s super pissed. Great. Guess we¡¯re about to get an earful. She¡¯s always had an instant read on Nick¡¯s mood, maybe even better than she did on Drenar and the others. James has been watching him tap the console, and he frowns. ¡°That encryption is out of date, Nick. Change it, because there''s known exploits. I¡¯ve seen that method, the NSA baked in vulnerabilities,¡± he says after a second. Nick looks at him, surprised. ¡°Didn¡¯t take you for a cryptanalyst.¡± ¡°Hey, I can¡¯t transform into a dragon and so far I haven¡¯t had my ¡®yer a wizard¡¯ moment, so I¡¯ve made up for it with my other life skills,¡± he says sourly. ¡°Also, your password is too short. Twelve characters with alphanumeric, symbols and capitals buy you at best a couple of weeks before someone decrypts it. And don¡¯t use variants of people you know. Names that end and start with the letter ¡®A¡¯ for instance¨C¡± ¡°I will use your sinew to floss my teeth, James,¡± Nick growls. James looks at him, unimpressed by the colorful threat from the even more colorful avian dragon. ¡°Uh-huh. Sure. Now, are we safe?¡± ¡°For now. Ladies, gents, and teenagers of all flavors, welcome to the barn out back! You¡¯re now all sworn to silence. This place is too cool¨Cand secret¨Cto spill the beans to a soul, are we clear?¡± he says in a half-serious, half-humorous beat. ¡°Looks like a gun lab here!¡± Julia ejects the magazine from the massive rifle and extracts the round in the chamber with a sharp tug of the charging handle. ¡°Damn Nick, you¡¯ve been holding out on me! This puts my mom¡¯s armory to shame! I¡¯m moving in!¡± ¡°Oh good. I was about to suggest that. For a multitude of reasons for the short term,¡± Nick says after closing down the console with a tap of his claws, and he runs his fingers through his feather mane. It¡¯s quite a human gesture, she notes. ¡°Drenar, Angela, good breaching tactics. That was fast and efficient. Julia, fantastic aim. James, good call on the tactical positioning. It was a B+ effort, you¡¯ve all got more to learn, but you are learning.¡± ¡°Does flunking mean we die?¡± Drenar asks with a light gulp. He looks a little singed in retrospect, but he doesn¡¯t seem to be in any severe pain. ¡°No. It means I¡¯m slightly disappointed at the outcome. Debrief, five minutes.¡± Nick slowly shifts back to his human form, takes off his tactical gear, and winces at a grazing wound on his shoulder¨Ca great big red welt. Angela reaches out to grab the medical kit before reminding herself that her hand is now the size of a frying pan. She hands it gently to him, and he looks at her, surprised. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡°Still looks painful.¡± She hates that feeling of all the energy leaving her body when she shifts back into her human form. The thought gives her pause, even as her wings shrink and eventually merge with her back, and her tail just¨Cslithers away to nothing. My human form. It¡¯s weird to think about. I¡¯m not one or the other. I¡¯m both, at the same time. Is it weird to think about something like that, Samarina? No. Child. Vissa¡¯ les¡¯tho. She doesn¡¯t quite catch the last part, but her vocabulary is slowly growing. But it¡¯s not growing in the way she would normally expect a human child to learn words¨Cmaybe the analogy doesn¡¯t quite work here. Angela staggers a bit when her leg stance changes in the last part of the transformation, and Nick catches her with a firm grip on her arm before she falls. ¡°It¡¯ll take some getting used to.¡± ¡°Digitigrade stance, versus plantigrade? Is it normal to forget?¡± she asks softly. He tilts his head thoughtfully. ¡°It¡¯ll take some adjustment. I¡­haven¡¯t spent that much time as a dragon myself, to be honest.¡± James, Drenar, and Julia are busily scolding Violet in the background, who in turn is throwing some unsavory terms at all three of them, and Tristan is¨Cbeing apathetic and withdrawn. Kelly is leaning in, and swivels between examining Angela and Nick, her blonde curls bouncing like always. ¡°So, when did you two bone?¡± she asks with an impish grin, and Angela and Nick both exclaim their disgust at the thought. ¡°We didn¡¯t!¡± they both snarl at her at the same time. Kelly smiles like she¡¯s gotten the reaction she wanted. ¡°Yeah, I give it a week. Dragons are super horny, don¡¯t you know yet, Angie?¡± she says with a slap on her shoulder. The thought is very discomforting, considering she''s still holding onto her Victor Express card, so to speak. ¡°Oh my goodness, you are totally brand new at this! I transformed about a month ago, mom was so proud! Dad was a little anxious, but anyway, how did you guys end up in this mess?¡± ¡°You¡¯re glossing over the huge landmine of ¡®did you two bone¡¯ and not even going to apologize?¡± Angela says with a piercing glare. ¡°Really, Kelly, you think I¡¯d just jump ship on Drenar like that?¡± ¡°Listen, Angie, this is just me thinking out loud, but Drenar¡¯s got a lot of other things on his mind lately if tonight is any indication. Chief among them, making sure all his supernerd friends don''t die. Speaking of which, I should probably go scold Violet¨C¡± ¡°Kelly. Thank you for your assistance, but I am the adult in charge,¡± Nick says firmly after Angela finishes with the bandage on his shoulder, and secures it before he rolls his sleeve back up. ¡°DeShandrea, you¡¯re a skeevy creep hanging out with a bunch of teenage girls. You¡¯ve got no claw to stand on,¡± she says with a snort. ¡°Oh?¡± He turns to face her, arms crossed and looking unamused. ¡°Do you have any idea how backlogged I am on paperwork because of these four alone? How dangerous the Talons are? That dragon chasing us could have turned you to ash inside five seconds. There wouldn¡¯t be enough left for a funeral, Kelly. That¡¯s the stakes. And now I have to worry about your families and witness protection, as soon as I make calls. I am not done discussing this, so I suggest you start listening and cop the attitude. Leave whatever perceived relationship you think Angela and I have out of this.¡± ¡°Yes, Kelly, we really should discuss that later. I¡¯m not cool with being accused of being a fey spirit,¡± she adds with a surly tone. ¡°We could have died. Again. Do you have any idea what we survived last week alone?¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°Good. Then just take my word for it. Julia, your twin from another mother needs a talking to, please oblige me,¡± Angela says before tying her hair back with a spare elastic she had in a pocket. Where had the other one disappeared to? She wonders if she can manage that mane of feathers in her dragon form into something stylish. Ah that¡¯s a weird thought. I haven¡¯t seen myself in a mirror when I take dragon form. Probably the least pressing issue, now that we¡¯re on the radar of a monstrous Siberian Hellkite. Risking their life is now becoming disturbingly routine, and now she can add a giant nightmare of a dragon to the growing list of people who want to make them into corpses. There is something seriously wrong with Valosterla, the way she looks at people, that aura of malice that makes her scales itch when she¡¯s close. Evil isn¡¯t a real thing, is it? Is that even a word close enough to the wrongness she felt in her presence? After a few minutes and one quick intervention keeping Kelly from punching Violet, Nick leads them out of the barn door and after locking up. The twilight hides the colorful trees wrapped around the house that¡¯s now dimly lit. His home is a two-story log cabin style house, but updated for modern aesthetics. She can¡¯t help but feel a little impressed. It¡¯s like a vacation home in the forest, unlike that awful place they¡¯d just been. He leads them into his command room¨Cwhich is really just a den with several display screens and communications equipment, and Levine is already tuning in on a monitor, shaking his head. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Did you get the data?¡± Nick asks slowly after taking all the memory cards James and the others had collected and uploading them. ¡°I did. I¡¯ll have to parse through it. Good job on the intelligence work, though I must call out a certain individual¨C¡± ¡°Excuse me¨Cwho the hell are you people?¡± Violet demands angrily. ¡°You left the kids out to dry, you assholes! You let us walk right into the dragons¡¯ den with no warning, except for Kelly, and used us for bait! Kelly I¡¯m pissed at you, speaking of which¨C¡± ¡°Enough. We will get into that in a minute, you also put yourself in a position to be killed, Violet. Sit down, and be thankful that we were there to assist.¡± Nick takes command of the room in an instant. He¡¯s really good at having a commanding voice without needing to be loud, Angela thinks abstractly. ¡°Levine, we need to move fast, tonight. I want your best guys here to keep an eye on the newcomers. Drenar and I are going to the school to dig up evidence, before the Talons burn the lab to the ground to hide whatever it is they¡¯re hiding.¡± ¡°Uh, what now? You want us to go out again?¡± Drenar asks with surprise. ¡°Consider it a sign of trust--you guys did pretty good. We need to move fast. Levine, is that drone still in the air?¡± Nick asks, and Levine taps something on the console. ¡°We have two hours of fuel left. After that, it needs to return to the airfield and refuel. You really think we have a limited window?¡± ¡°Between us making that much noise, and Valosterla making moves on the global stage, yeah. We have to¨C¡± he looks at the console that he plugged the memory cards into, and gasps. ¡°Shit, they¡¯re blank¨Chow?! Levine, pull the data feed, NOW!¡± ¡°Viral injection? How?! there was no physical connection¨Cgod damn it!¡± Levine roars. ¡°Viral package just dosed the data on my end. It¡¯s all gone. Gonna guess this is how King doesn¡¯t leave a digital trail everywhere he goes!¡± James lets out one, long, and well-earned explicative. ¡°You mean to tell me we got zero evidence now? And Valosterla is about to walk off scot-free?! We¡¯re witnesses!¡± ¡°Our hard evidence just got deleted. I¡¯ve seen this kind of enchantment before¨Ca data worm suspended by a digital mana converter. We use the same tech to wipe people¡¯s phones when we have a larger-scale Veil breach, to ensure no evidence survives. King just wiped out everything.¡± ¡°Fantastic.¡± Drenar finally hits his limit break and slams his fist on a table. ¡°How are they this many steps ahead of us? Did King plan this? He looked right at us when we were observing, I swear, he knew we were there in advance!¡± ¡°But¡­how?¡± Angela asks softly. ¡°And why? Why would King wait that long? Was he waiting for us to play our hand, if that were the case?¡± ¡°No, I scoured the area. There were no sensors, no trigger enchantments, no tripwires. There was not a single thing that would indicate they would have been aware of us beforehand,¡± Nick says, and sits in a beat-up computer chair, tapping an armrest impatiently before spinning back to view Levine''s¡¯ screen. ¡°What about the drone feed?¡± ¡°Still intact, separate feed. But it''s not going to be much use, all we''ve got is a giant dragon blowing up half a ranger station and flying off, along with the flight. Nick, we are playing a dangerous game here. You want to go to the school now, and put these kids at risk again?¡± Levine now sounds worried. ¡°We¡¯ll volunteer,¡± Drenar said stoically. ¡°The Talons are led by a VIP of the biggest Magitech company in the world. We are so utterly screwed if we don''t get ahead of this. Our chance of survival if they put two and two together? It''s between zero and nada.¡± ¡°While I don''t share your youthful prose¡­¡± Levine trails off for a few seconds. ¡°You understand that I can''t ask you to do this. This would break every regulation I adhere to within SAF. Even being aware of it, there''s a good chance I lose my job or get detained, and then I''m useless to you guys.¡± ¡°Then keep that drone overhead, and make sure we don''t get ambushed while we''re digging for records. If they''re set up like the lab in the mine, they don''t have network connections, and it''s all air-gapped. Single source control, or portable hard drives. We steal them, and their research is gone. That includes records of us.¡± Angela smiles, once he gets into his strategic mode, Drenar actually does sound like he knows what he''s doing. As opposed to being a slightly awkward teen with dragon issues. ¡°That''s a big gamble, Drenar.¡± ¡°So is letting the murder-happy dragoness roam around. Letting her get the reins of Magitech Industries with a dragon army to back her and Crosomer up, even worse. Violet, Kelly, Tristan, you guys stay put, until we get back. James, and Evan, you guys coordinate with us and keep us spotted, you two are staying well out of danger this time. Julia, Nick, Angela and myself will search the school. I''ve got two places to check. The admin office, and the mechanic bay. We¡¯ll search both, starting with the office. If the Talons show up, I doubt we¡¯ll be able to pull the same trick twice where I crash-landed a dragon into a forest.¡± ¡°That was pretty impressive, if a little dangerous,¡± Nick comments warmly. ¡°¡®The yeet be yotten''? Fates, Drenar, you''re seriously messed up in the head, if you can sling one-liners while dodging deadly energy projectiles,¡± Kelly scoffs. Drenar looks at her unapologetically. ¡°Fine, next time, I''ll gun and you fly. How''d you do that, by the way?¡± ¡°Azures and Maridians are besties! You''re basically immune to the plasma, and I can direct the charge over your scales and supercharge your abilities. Mom told me, she uh¡­had some wilder days back a while ago. She doesn''t tell me much about it. She also doesn''t talk about how she looks so ragged lately.¡± ¡°Guys, wasting time,¡± Nick says with a tap of his fingers on the desk. ¡°We need to change loadout this time Nick, get us more of those alchemical grenades. We''re aiming for non-lethal takedowns only,¡± Angela insists. ¡°Um¡­autobows should probably stay reserved unless we get in a firefight.¡± ¡°Yeah, firearms at a school? That''s uh¡­that''s a pretty bad image there, Nick,¡± James says in a tacit agreement. One of the few things she and her brother agreed on. ¡°Resin grenades.¡± Nick pops open an ordinance case, and withdraws several canisters that look similar to the ones that acted as a flash bang. A slightly viscous yellow fluid sloshes inside. ¡°Just don''t aim at their face. They''ll lock them in immobilizing foam. You were already at the receiving end of these before, Angela.¡± ¡°Don''t remind me,¡± she sighs. ¡°That stuff took forever to clean off, and it totally ruined one of my favorite shirts.¡± ¡°Uh, excuse me. You''re just gonna let the dweeb and the hot mess junior babysit us?¡± Kelly fumes. ¡°Nah. I''m in. If what you''ve said is right, they screwed with our lives.¡± ¡°You''re also not on a short list of people whose heads Valosterla wants on a platter served over dry ice,¡± Drenar states firmly. ¡°Kelly, we are trying not to pull more people into the danger zone on this.¡± ¡°Doing a really great job there, Rashalda. This whole room is a bunch of dead dragons walking!¡± ¡°Kelly, the adults are talking. Now I know that you want to help, but we''re on a deadline,¡± Julia counters while Kelly fumes. ¡°Jewels, seriously cut the shit. You are all in over your heads by the sound of it!¡± ¡°Unless we get to the school right now, the Talons'' efforts will continue,¡± Angela interjects. ¡°This will get worse. So please, do me a huge favor. Don''t do anything stupider than what we''re already planning.¡± ¡°Oh, like hell you guys are. I''m going. Jonaleth flat out told me my own father is working with these creeps, or used to, and that''s a lot for me to unpack!¡± ¡°Kelly? Sit this one out. Please. The last thing we want is more reckless teens like ourselves putting themselves in harm¡¯s way. We have a plan, well, sort of,¡± Drenar says with a more persuasive approach. ¡°Why are you so damn special, anyway? You think that you''re a hero?¡± She spat. Oh boy, here we go. Teens being teens. Vey. Reckless. It''s cute when even Samarina agrees. Drenar and Julia both fold their arms and look at her crossly. ¡°Kelly. I am doing this, because I was already targeted. Jonaleth was going to try to recruit me into the Talons, with or without my input. He beat the ever-loving tar out of Evan, to drive the point home. Crosomer¨Cthe man who is leading these hyenas¨Cis a seven-hundred-year-old wizard who now is sporting a healthy helping of scales, claws, and teeth, courtesy of the same artifact that triggered our Awakenings. He has a very personal grudge against me, simply for being born with the wrong name. You are sitting this one out, because I don¡¯t want dead friends.¡± There he goes again. Angela knows Drenar has a power of persuasion most people don''t have, but he saves it for the moments that matter. At least his heart is in the right place, Samarina. Leader. Make hard decisions...someday. ¡°Kelly, he¡¯s right. Sit down, let the cavalry handle this one. Nicks¡¯ friends will be here soon enough, and we have to book it, right now. Please try to see reason on this.¡± It¡¯s worth a shot, Angela thinks. Kelly takes one good long glare at both of them, then looks back at her. Angela she sees her processing this before her mood softens. ¡°Fine. But I want details after. Angela, I¡¯m holding you to that. And California here has to come clean!¡± ¡°That is such a derivative name. How many people call me that?¡± Nick ponders while loading up equipment. ¡°We leave in five minutes. Drenar, we are making a call tonight, afterwards.¡± ¡°To do what?¡± ¡°Break the bad news and keep your foster parents well out of the line of fire on this one. Angela, you too. Julia, same.¡± He nods grimly, but Julia isn''t having it just yet. ¡°Hell no. If my mom gets word on this, Valosterla will be the lesser threat to my existence!¡± Julia fumes. ¡°Do it.¡± Nick loses his patience and glares at her. ¡°You know, I had a fellow soldier like you who thought they could take on the universe. There wasn''t a set of dry eyes in the room when I led his coffin down the row.¡± He takes a breath, gauging her expression is less combative. ¡°You have the skills and strength, but you also need the tactical acumen, too. You need to know when the danger level is too high.¡± Even she''s taken back by his tone, and Angela winces. This moment has probably been in the making for a little while. ¡°A good agent knows when to follow, and when to lead. If not for their safety, then the safety of their team. We need to move, now. We are making this call after this is over. I need you to focus on the critical matters.¡± ¡°Julia, he''s right. We need to play this one out the right way. Even if it''s not the easy way,¡± Angela finally says after a second. It doesn''t take Julia more than a few seconds to glare at Nick, before nodding firmly. ¡°Your playbook, then. Let''s go grab this data, and smash some eggs in their face.¡± ¡°Good.¡± He grabs a GoPro, ties it to his vest, and hands out multiples to everyone. One by one, they sync to the monitors, and he gestures to James. ¡°Levine, keep James on the line, same with Evan. Oh, and don''t touch anything. Reona likes to play ¡®peekaboo¡¯ with people.¡± ¡°Uh, who''s Reona?¡± James asks nervously. ¡°My pet glacian viper. Don''t bother her. She bites people when she gets annoyed.¡± James finally just gives up. ¡°Ya know what? It''s comforting when a monster who bites people is the least present danger to my life,¡± James sighs. ¡°What about us? Are we safe here?¡± Tristan says; he¡¯s all pale and practically shaking. This disruption to his life is just getting started, and Angela hasn¡¯t even weighed how to break the news to her parents, either. ¡°This house is warded. We are off the radar of everyone who could hurt us. Evan, James, keep an eye out for Levine, don¡¯t open the door for anyone but him.¡± Nick finishes gearing up and readjusts his tactical armor. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go and disappoint that giant murder lizard. Delvers, roll out.¡± Drenar states with determination. He¡­radiant soul. So few left. Julia, too. Angela finds herself nodding softly to that small but impactful statement from Samarina. She¡¯d used the same words for his departed mother, too¨Ca radiant warmth that shone through, even when Drenar and Julia were facing their toughest moments. Vol. 2, Ch. 53: Into the Fire, Part One Nick almost floors the vehicle to its maximum speed, as they try to make up for lost time. Levine has already moved the drone over the school and reports that it''s devoid of life. Angela still feels uneasy, wearing magical body armor and nothing more than a couple of alchemical grenades, and Drenar¡¯s hunting dagger in a pinch. She''s hoping that they will be in and out, and that SAF will get to the site ASAP. Everyone else is similarly geared up, and Drenar has one additional item that he''s refused to give up¨Cthat gleaming broadsword he''d made use of in the mine. Nick had not been happy. But Drenar insists that he has a level of finesse on who gets injured with the blade flat, or other. Angela speaks up. She''s had enough of Nick trying to dissuade them. ¡°Drenar is one of the best damn martial fighters I''ve seen, Nick, between him and Julia. He gets to keep his arms. We also can hulk out and tear the school apart as dragons, but that might be veering to the overkill side. But we¡¯re not bringing firearms into the school. Period.¡± ¡°Villainous bunkers of twisted science are fair game?¡± Nick asks dryly. ¡°I¡¯m also keeping my bolt pistol, I will not be going in under-armed. The rest, I stash in my portable armory.¡± ¡°I can live with that compromise.¡± ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s hope we can be in and out before anyone makes a big bang.¡± That pretty much ended the discussion. Big bang. Heh. Samarina definitely likes that notion. But it doesn''t stay quiet for long. ¡°The hell you mean the garrison is diverted?¡± Nick shouts into the radio towards Levine. ¡°You heard me. Thirty seconds ago, I got an alert. Talons soldiers just launched a smash-and-grab at one of the mage shops by the promenade, right before dinnertime. They made a hell of a spectacle, but no one was seriously hurt. They weren''t in uniforms, but we got a camera ID on one of their local talents.¡± ¡°It''s a diversion!¡± Nick shouts. ¡°How much of the SAF garrison by the promenade was dispatched?!¡± ¡°Their responding force is tasked with this. And I know what it means.¡± ¡°It means there''s going to be a full assault force on the school in a really short period of time. Damn it. King didn''t waste any time, did he?¡± Nick taps the steering wheel at a steady clip--its rare to see him anxious. ¡°I hope it''s him, and not this Valosterla we just met. She seems like a real piece of work, from the audio side,¡± Levine growls. ¡°We need to upgrade to shielded data retention, pronto. I''ve already made the requisition order, that trick of his isn''t going to work twice. His tech must have a range limit, because it didn''t wipe the drone. I''ve never known anyone who has access to the underlying magitech for Veil wipe procedures.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got some shielded packing bags I¡¯ll use, it should be enough for now until we get the data to a proper lab. I''m tired of being one-upped by these guys, Levine. Which is why we are breaking traffic rules to get there first,¡± Nick says even as the speedometer climbs up to the point that Angela is glad she''s working with sanctioned law enforcement. Because at this speed, she''d earn more than a traffic ticket and a certain death warrant from her mother. ¡°James, keep an eye on their feeds the second they go in. The cameras can spot mana signatures, and Julia is almost Awakened, if she can see mana with her vision now.¡± ¡°Correction, am,¡± she grunts as she arches her back a bit and grimaces. ¡°I am going through the process. This is absolutely the worst timing and I am in pain. I''d rather eat glass than endure this.¡± True to her word, she''s got claws emerging from her fingernails that are pure black, and her dark hair now has plumes of seafoam and black feathers. ¡°Uh, we should abort¨C¡± Drenar starts to say. ¡°Drenar, we have to do this now! If they get those records before we do, everyone we know is dead! Val strikes me as the kind of person who murders everyone, just to drive home the point!¡± He doesn''t take much offense at her deep-throated growl, because her Awakening is going faster than his ever did. ¡°I''ll be fine. No one''s gonna be more dangerous or scary than me tonight. You''ve got my word on that.¡± Angela puts a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. ¡°Julia, we trust you. You say you can do this? Alright, let''s say you can. But the second you feel like you can''t, you find a shady spot, fast.¡± ¡°Great. Another dynamic to worry about. Julia, I think it goes without saying, don''t trash the place?¡± Nick asks softly. ¡°Who, me? That''s adorable Nick, you worried about me. I hit a big bitch of a dragon with a giant magical boom stick while riding another flying dragon, and holding on for dear life. This''ll be easy!¡± She manages to grin, even with her being in pain, and a few feathers emerge from her cheeks. ¡°Well, almost as easy. Man this itches, how do you guys put up with that?¡± she directs to Angela and Drenar. ¡°It gets easier. I barely noticed any pain when transforming the last time.¡± It''s still slightly disturbing when her body morphs and transforms, and her acute hearing can detect all those weird creaks, cracks, and squishy sounds as the body moves in ways it''s really not supposed to. ¡°Nick, by the way, the Barrett rifle is mine now. I even named it! Matilda is my bestie!¡± Julia breaks her train of thought again with all things gun-related. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Hey, teens with guns is not a theme I want to set, even with your incredible discipline with such a deadly and precise firearm!¡± Nick protests, then looks like he has a moment of intrigue. ¡°And¡­do you also name your weapons?¡± ¡°Yep! Who doesn''t? Ow, by the way, dragon teeth are sharp.¡± She rubs her jaw where she''s likely having a bad time. ¡°I also get to name your first kid. Who''s the lucky lady?¡± Nick goes stone-faced at this reminder and Julia leans in, grinning. ¡°Aw, you''re mad at me for landing about eight or nine hits on the big bad dragon?¡± ¡°I find it improbable that you hit her with that many rounds while in a dragon rodeo in mid-air, and didn''t shatter your shoulder from the recoil,¡± he adds in a beat of humor. ¡°You might be waiting a while on that promise of mine.¡± ¡°That''s okay, we can fix that! I know a couple of people who could help!¡± ¡°Fates, if Julia breeds, our world is doomed,¡± James groans over the radio. ¡°Do me a favor, Nick? Don''t doom the world.¡± ¡°Oh, not me. This itty-bitty dragon isn''t quite my style,¡± Julia says with a smile and glances in her direction briefly. Ah great, even Julia thinks we''re a thing? ¡°Weeeell?¡± Oh no. She knows. Which is awful, because I¡¯ve never breathed a word of it to her. Drenar has also put two and two together, and doing that thing he does with rubbing the bridge of his nose, and Nick is looking like he might be having heartburn of the worst kind, based on his expression. ¡°Nick and I are¨Cum¨Cwell, just friends Julia. Having little baby dragons is just not a thing I am quite mentally prepared for, in any capacity at this junction of time. With anyone.¡± She doesn¡¯t mean to growl out those last two words, but she wants everyone focused on important matters. ¡°Holy hell, you deflected something fierce Angie. Okay, this explains a lot,¡± Drenar sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. ¡°Look, if you think I¡¯m blind and I haven¡¯t noticed¨C¡± ¡°Okay teenagers, we can bag the drama for now. We can talk about what we think is going on later. Perhaps when we aren¡¯t running head-first into probable danger against bloodthirsty mercenaries. Or more worrisome, the giant murderous Hellkite that¡¯s bigger than any dragon I¡¯ve ever seen. Julia seriously, you grin any wider, and you¡¯re gonna scare even me,¡± Nick offers in a scathing rebuke. Julia giggles and even the pain of transformation can¡¯t take away this moment from her. ¡°Oh, no. I¡¯m just gonna leave this out there, you two would make adorable-looking babies! How does that work? Amaranth didn¡¯t spell out how traits get distributed and what hatchlings from off-species parents would look like¨Cgrah¨Cfriggin tuuth,¡± she groans when her mouth structure starts changing, and she winces before putting a hand to her emerging snout. ¡°When your body structure changes, speak from the throat. It helps,¡± Drenar instructs her. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about stuff later. We have a job to do first.¡± She nods softly. It¡¯s another tense moment before they¡¯re in range of the school. It no longer feels welcoming anymore, when she looks at the twinkling stars above. Now it¡¯s just a looming dread, with what''s been implied to have been sanctioned within, and below it. ¡°Nick, I see you coming into range. Park on the north side, by the loading bay. There''s a camera rolling by the door, but the kitchen exit doesn''t have good coverage, and they just padlock it because someone keeps busting the main lock,¡± James relays. They leave the truck away from the school, and quickly pick up pace. There''s no telling how much time they have. ¡°We¡¯re making our approach, keep us apprised of anyone driving this direction. Get me an estimate on when the garrison can send a squad. I need an intelligence recovery team with possible armaments against heavily armed and armored foes. The Talons had a full crew of twelve pop up out of nowhere at the cabin, and between myself and Julia, only two took any significant injuries.¡± ¡°Only two?¡± Drenar echoes. ¡°Tougher guys. Their armor saved them from autobow rounds. But their knees aren¡¯t so well armored,¡± Julia adds savagely. She¡¯s mostly got the hang of speech already. ¡°Regen potions can fix that kind of injury, but it¡¯s a nightmare pulling a bolt out of your leg like that.¡± ¡°Gross. I really don''t want to get hit by those again,¡± he grimaces. ¡°I was already shot once. It kinda hurt.¡± ¡°Nick and I have been injured before. Keep yourself out of the line of fire when you don¡¯t have armor or barriers,¡± Levine says firmly. ¡°I''ll keep pinging the garrison. So far they''ve said they are at capacity dealing with the chase.¡± Angela looks up grimly, the two-story building no longer seems comforting, it''s an alien presence now, hostile even. They''d use their school as a giant lab experiment. How many of the staff are in on the secret? Are her teachers Talons sleeper agents, and if so, for how long? Three years since Crosomer was dug up is far too long, and they could have been laying out precursor work before she even set foot here. She tightens her fist, and resolves to do something about this, even if she has to burn this place to the ground to prevent further experiments. She''s got a lockpick out before Nick gets out a compact set of bolt cutters, and she jiggles the lock open within fifteen seconds. He''s mildly impressed. ¡°Has¡­Angela become our team rogue?¡± Drenar asks with a beat of amusement. She smiles politely. ¡°Hey, it''s a practical skill. Do you know how many times my mom has locked us out of the house by mistake when they go globetrotting? Too many.¡± ¡°Yeah, I''d really like to know what it is they do, too,¡± James says icily over the radio. ¡°Add it to my bingo card, our parents are mages and work clandestine lives so they don''t ever have to tell us, in some misguided attempt to control our lives even more.¡± ¡°Put me down for that too. Mom is gonna flip when she hears she has a dragon for a daughter,¡± she adds wryly. ¡°See, James? We can agree on some things.¡± ¡°Just not many. The coast is clear, move in.¡± They strip the lock and chain, and Nick covers their back while everyone darts inside. The connecting hallway next to the kitchen loading bay is dark except for a few night lights that give off a pale amount of illumination. It''s more than enough for her improved night vision, another boon of being a dragon now. And her sense of smell, while still mildly overwhelming, is pretty useful at picking out scents in terms of intensity and distance. Nick quickly takes point with a backup bolt pistol, but she knows he has his portable armory. He''s never without a backup plan. She just hopes that Plan A goes smoothly. With who they¡¯re up against, It¡¯s doubtful they¡¯ll have much breathing room before things get perilous again. Vol. 2, Ch. 54: Into the Fire, Part Two ¡°We¡¯re closing on the office. Let''s start there, then sweep to the mechanic bay. The agriculture wing might also be a candidate, but I''m not as sure on that one.¡± Nick presses forward at a brisk pace, and stops briefly to point at a camera. ¡°Not active. Strange. Maybe they only keep them on during the day?¡± ¡°Or maybe, they turn them off at night to run their shady activities,¡± Drenar suggests. ¡°The school admin has to be in on this, or they''re laughably incompetent. The number of skulls I need to slam together is getting pretty long.¡± ¡°Really gonna break your pacifist playthrough there, Drenar?¡± Julia grouses just before the intersection at the main office. "I said slam skulls together, not make meat pi?atas. Sheesh. That''s what our adversaries do. Oh, and I prefer a healthy helping of justice, too." "It''s still admirable that you think we can beat the fight out of these guys, and not kill a soul." "I''m not quite at that level of proportionate response yet Julia, and I hope it never comes to that to defend myself, or others." Drenar keeps peering around the hallways like he''s expecting an ambush. "Besides, you''re a living stun rod, and can give me the ability to knock ''em out of the fight non-lethally. You can buff me." "Drenar getting buffed. There''s an image that I''m relishing in my head," Angela practically purrs, and he looks wonderfully frozen in awkwardness for a second. "You know what I meant. I can channel Julia''s plasma energy, which means you can, too. Kelly teaching me that trick was mighty helpful. Funny enough, I don''t think I can actually generate it on my own. I haven''t tried," he admits after a second, and shrugs before glancing down at his hand. "Maybe I just have to get angry." "If you ever get pissed off to that level, our adversary''s bodies aren''t going to be hitting the floor in whole-number units," Julia grouses. She peers past the glass of the admin area and gives a dip of her snout. ¡°It''s clear. Rogue me.¡± ¡°Um¡­that was a tad suggestive,¡± Angela sighs. ¡°The lock, Angie.¡± Julia tries not to laugh, and Nick watches the hallway while she gets the basic tumbler lock open. Amateur hour. They really gave no thought to security? What an invitation to disaster, I should leave a note of all their security vulnerabilities. Once we''ve had all these sleeper creeps arrested for a long list of making kids into flying avian-lizard hybrids, and sanctioning violence against those who don''t sign up on the Talons¡¯ dotted line. ¡°Got it. Check the office. But like, try not to break anything?¡± Nick suggests. Julia tears open a cabinet with wrenching strength, and she peers at him, face scrunched in a low-burn fury. ¡°We don''t have time to be subtle. They''re probably already on the way, and we need to be gone. Ah, shit sticks, it hurts,¡± she groans while holding her ribs. There are gold scales now growing on her arms and up past her neck, and little sparkles of silver scales are mixed in. It''s very alluring¨C Um, Samarina, why did I just think Julia was kinda hot for a second? Actually, you know what, don''t answer that one. Care for her...sister? Or friend? Maybe both. This crisis is clearly playing havoc with my perception and thoughts on the world. I need a healthy dose of normal after this, to figure out what I really feel. She bold. Caring. Good friend. Angela notices something she hasn¡¯t noticed before, when she says that. Samarina¡¯s vocabulary has improved significantly. Not full sentences, and not following any logical progression, but smaller phrases. Words that cut straight to the point. Nick, too. Lonely. Brave. And Drenar? She steals a glance at him watching down the hall, his hand drifting to his sword out of instinct. She can feel that long pause when Samarina renders the words. Sad eyes. Soul hurt. Long healing. Guardian of good. She''s glad she''s not the only one to see it. I don¡¯t know if he can be healed back to what he was. I don''t know if I can. It took me this long to get Julia and Drenar back to this, and there¡¯s so much of his spark missing. I don''t know if he will ever be the same. Someone heal. Share hurt. Heal as one. It''s the most cryptic thing Samarina has said. It''s almost as if she knows something deeply hidden, but either doesn''t have the words yet to describe it¡­or she simply can''t reveal it now. Samarina, I don''t know what that means yet¡­but thank you. Focus. Stop fiends. Help others. That part is all too crystal clear. Julia has patches of scales on her cheek now, and she''s ripping through the filing cabinet locks with a furious look. ¡°Gonna kill these creeps for making us into a lab experiment. This was so irresponsible, what if this had hurt someone, or worse?¡± she fumes aloud. ¡°Julia, we are here now. We can stop future experimentation, but we can''t change the past,¡± Drenar states firmly, even as he pops open a lock without any effort. ¡°Besides, I think you like being a draconic superhero or something.¡± ¡°Oh hell yes, I¡¯ll keep the plasma kinesis, beastly strength, and scaled beauty parts, thank you very much,¡± she beams. ¡°Let¡¯s keep digging,¡± Angela suggests with a smile before popping open another lock. Nothing but useless paperwork. Julia perks up and circles around, looking at a wall with intensity. ¡°Hey uh, Nick, does SAF carry hazard insurance?¡± she asks as she pulls her boots off to reveal her emerging draconic limbs now forming. She steps carefully to test her new stance. Having seen Drenar go through this, she quickly adapts, and rests on her new clawed feet steadily. ¡°Yes, we are covered for uh¡­property damage and liability, as a function of our activities. Why?¡± Julia tenses, eyes focused like she¡¯s in a sparring match, and her stance becomes coiled. ¡°Because there''s a safe buried in the wall with mana radiating at the seams, and I can see the outline. I''m not going to dig around for where the safety catch is.¡± She recoils in one fluid motion and kicks an open section of the wall, and the concrete cracks. Nick groans before she kicks it again, making a bigger hole, and she tears out a couple of loose bricks with her fully-formed claws. She snaps her fingers to summon a spark of light, and points inside. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Um, Julia, hazard insurance covers when bad stuff happens, like bad guys shooting at us. Not kicking in a concrete wall, for the record.¡± Nick presses his fingers against the bridge of his nose, as if he knows this is going to add to the paperwork pile. Luckily, Julia doesn¡¯t come up empty-handed. She turns her head, and she''s got the biggest child-like grin from half-formed dragon teeth. She grabs a dusty lockbox from the hidden enclosure and presents it like she just found a treasure chest in The Legend of Zelda. ¡°Ta-daa! Who¡¯s the bestest girl here?!¡± ¡°Oh stop showing off, we''re on a clock!¡± Nick huffs in mild protest, but doesn''t hesitate to get the casing open. Angela sees motion in the corner of her eye, but when she focuses on the hallway, it''s gone. Julia also sees it and frowns. ¡°Did you see something just now?¡± she asks. ¡°I saw motion,¡± she whispers. ¡°It''s gone now. Was it some kind of drone?¡± ¡°Or, we¡¯re on an overdose of adrenaline for the day,¡± Julia suggests. Nick opens the casing with Drenar prying it open with his dagger, and looks inside, stunned, and distinctly not happy about the contents. ¡°Well, crap. The school admin knows the story of what''s going on. There are listings to what I''m guessing is a very flush offshore bank account for their silence.¡± ¡°So let''s steal it, as compensation for ruining our lives,¡± Drenar suggests deadpan. It''s a little uncharacteristic of him, but he''s got a wolfish grin on his face a second later. Or dragonish? The similes are just not working anymore. ¡°Nick, what else do they have?¡± ¡°Names. Four men were assigned to the bunker. And the ¡®renovations¡¯ were supposed to continue for as long as needed until their ¡®experiment¡¯ was completed. With a per diem payment for covering the subterfuge too, nice clause. This is actually¡­quite binding Arcanist contractual law, that is enforceable. Anyone who signs this and breaks it voluntarily, could suffer a financial or health collapse.¡± ¡°A literal contract with the devil?¡± Julia narrows her eyes. ¡°This descent into madness just doesn''t let up. What else?¡± ¡°Dossiers of all known kids with draconic blood. My records are cleansed, so, that''s fine, but¡­ah crap, all of your guys are on here. I wish someone hadn''t offed Jimmy,¡± he mutters. ¡°Offed?¡± ¡°Yeah, dead. Five minutes after he signed a contract for cooperation with law enforcement, he got a shiv in his throat. By the time they noticed, he was gone. Don''t ever sign contracts in the magic world, that''s for sure,¡± Nick warns. Everyone exchanges anxious looks, including herself. Hide behind words. You got that one right, she thinks worriedly. ¡°Nick, bag the evidence. Anything special about us?¡± Drenar always sticks to the serious business, at least. ¡°Yeah let me¡­oh.¡± It''s a telling ¡®oh¡¯ that fills Angela with dread. ¡°Oh, this is bad. Your file also includes a psychological file. And genetics work beyond the¡­baseline? What in the hell is this?¡± ¡°Is this¡­bad? Or worse than bad?¡± Drenar asks hesitantly. ¡°What''s it say about me?¡± ¡°From a five-second glance? You have a rare strand of draconic DNA that they want more data on. Same with Angela.¡± Both of them stare at one another. ¡°Nick, you better tell me that we''re not related. Because that statement just made me super anxious.¡± ¡°You''re not related. Awkward reveal averted,¡± Nick says with annoyance. Angela breathes out a sigh of relief. ¡°But, your draconic genetic makeup does probably stem from a small group of clans somewhere way up the line. They didn''t have complete data. Cripes, getting this data at this level of fidelity couldn''t have been cheap.¡± ¡°That''s¡­still not great, Nick,¡± Angela says uneasily. ¡°Let''s bag the evidence and head to the mechanics bay, either way. I¡¯m raiding that lab to send a message,¡± Drenar growls. ¡°Nick, Valosterla and King are going to torch and burn the lab, we have to get in there now. Hopefully, we figure out what they¡¯re trying to study with forcing these Awakenings, and how they''re doing it. I¡¯m not going to let these guys keep screwing with everyone''s lives like we¡¯re a lab experiment. Them, or Crosomer." ¡°Or we repurpose it and use it against him! Dragon science!¡± Julia chimes in, even as she grits her teeth. Wings emerge from her back in a plumage of gold and seafoam-colored feathers that are absolutely gorgeous to her artist''s eye. ¡°Owie. Miiight be a little preoccupied for a bit,¡± she winces as she pinches her index and thumb claw together. Miraculously, her armor vest conforms around the wings. Magical garments are quite handy. ¡°Hey uh Nick, thanks in advance for the form-fitting wear, really was not looking forward to a naked jaunt through my school.¡± ¡°Um, you might wanna hold up for a second Julia, this could take a bit¨C¡± ¡°Nick, we have trouble. Two large vehicles just pulled up at high speed to the school. They¡¯re unloading by the far side from where you guys are. Jonaleth Winters, some of his cronies, and two Talons soldiers in black body armor. The soldiers are armed to the teeth and at the front door. They¡¯ve got a ton of gasoline tanks they¡¯re unloading now. Drone feed is going to be useless in a few minutes.¡± Levine instantly alerts everyone into high gear. ¡°Ah great, the party¡¯s about to get hot,¡± Drenar groans. ¡°Literally, in this case.¡± Angela sees the motion again, and she hears a whir of a small electric motor. Julia snaps a scintillating spark into her hand. ¡°Hey! Show yourself! We''re teenage dragons with attitude, and we''re mighty dangerous!¡± She says in a bit of a roar. It''s mildly intimidating, even though she''s been used to Julia¡¯s ferocity for almost her whole life. A small device with four limbs seemingly shimmers into vision, and Nick levels his bolt pistol at it. Drenar kneels and observes the small device waving a mechanical three-fingered ''hand'' at him, with a small electric chirp. ¡°Nick, this looks like a construct with a mechanic''s dream lab of spare parts! What is this thing?¡± ¡°Doesn''t look like Talons, that''s a custom-engineered golem. Might be operating on remote,¡± Nick muses, but doesn''t lower the weapon. ¡°Hey, it didn''t start shooting at us, so maybe it''s not hostile?¡± Angela asks as she gently tugs at Julia''s arm. A spark of energy still stings her hand, but Julia nods with her increasingly draconic head, along with a short set of silver horns that sweep backward. It''s very pretty, and she will need sketches later. ¡°Hello! We''d very much like to not have more hostile people chasing us today!¡± What catches everyone off guard is when the golem thingy starts talking in a slightly spicy feminine tone. ¡°Um, I think we can manage that. Hey Nick, it looks like you''ve got some new friends! By the way, you still owe me a home-cooked meal, and I''m calling it due!¡± Nick almost drops his bolt pistol and Angela sees him recoil in surprise for the first time since she''s known him. ¡°Josephine?!¡± ¡°It''s Joey, my favorite feathered iguana with wings! I think the names¡¯ been earned.¡± This is too much for Angela, and she glares at him with all her draconic fury. ¡°How many women want to jump your bones, exactly?!¡± ¡°Really now, it¡¯s not that kind of relationship.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 55: Advanced Draconology, Part One Ten minutes earlier, before the fireworks start... ¡°Joey, you want to run this by me again? In layman¡¯s terms?¡± After the quick report to Zameren, Joey and Kyle had bee-lined to her apartment. Not that she minded his dwelling, but it constantly smells like grease, and sintered material. Her apartment is much less¡­intense with the scents, and has a few posters from her academy days still shamelessly framed and on the wall, and everything neatly put away. Her center room is an array of lab equipment, a TV, her laptop, and various other arcanist gear. She¡¯s started taking a liking to his tinkering skills with magitech, and has tried her hand at a few things, including her automatic alchemical hopper. But after they get in, it¡¯s all business. They run the samples with the quiet hum of the analyzer sitting on a shelf, like a stainless steel-clad oven with dials and displays still churning out numbers and data. It¡¯s a contrast to the simple furnishings she keeps in the main room, and the gentle hum of music turned down to background noise. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll run it by you one more time, from a different angle.¡± Kyle¡¯s still trying to keep up with her logic process, and she peers at him when he taps an image on the TV. She wills herself to be patient and give the longhand explanation. She puts the image of the school yearbook on her screen and mirrors it to her smart TV display. ¡°Let¡¯s start this from the top. What¡¯s a drakensoul?¡± ¡°Um¡­a dragon¡¯s soul that got split asunder in the great Ascension. Also known as the greatest epic fail of magical history?¡± he suggests in an edged tone. She taps a claw impatiently on her keyboard for him to continue. ¡°Okay fine, less sarcasm. They were lost for about seven hundred years, and randomly found their way back to the planet by getting absorbed in other human souls?¡± She lets out a sigh of disappointment. ¡°No. No, that is not how it works. At all. That is too simple! We have to get to the core question. Why is a drakensoul?" He looks at her blankly. She''s so obsessed about this, that she forgot to transform back to human when he met up with her earlier, after their field trip to a magical biozone that shouldn¡¯t exist. It had been overwhelmingly distracting, and she had scrambled to slam the door closed when he arrived at her dwelling. It could have been a costly mistake. "The theory goes, around 1.6 to 2 million dragons tried to open some planar gate to another planet. In gross violation of every law we have to keep the Outsiders from coming back and making us into food, slaves, or worse. And that they spectacularly failed and vaporized themselves. That''s the why of things. They Darwin awarded themselves off the planet." He recites it as if it were the snarkiest professor in history. "That¡¯s better. They used massive hordes of mana crystals to try to open a gate, but vaporized everything but their soul and magical energy. That¡¯s the theory. The problem is, all their notes also got torched. So no one has a clue, or even how to replicate what they did," Joey says sourly. "We have no concrete proof that they achieved what they intended. For a near-miss on wiping out an entire sentient species, that''s terrifying that we don''t have better answers than that." "I know. Dragons ghosted themselves in a plan that hilariously backfired. So then what?" She pulls up the next image. An old black-and-white image, taken from the late days of the First World War. This photo is famous in the mage world¨Cthe photographer had been trying to capture the horrors of the trench war. He had instead witnessed something unprecedented and miraculous. In the still image, a silver dragon is surrounded by Imperial German Army soldiers, who look in awe at the mythical creature, the shreds of his soldier¡¯s uniform still clinging to his body. His name was Wilhelm Gadwall. An eighteen-year-old boy, who had thought he was going to die that day. His prospects would have been grim: either shredded to pieces by withering machine gun fire, choking on poison gas, or vaporized by the errant strike of an artillery shell. None of those had happened. That man is still alive today over a hundred years later, because of the bonding of a wayward dragon''s soul and a human body¨Ctwo souls, in one form. Today, he still spends his time in the mage world advocating for peace, and his efforts bleed into the normal world, funding projects for improved renewable energy sources. He became wise in his years, knowing that war is driven by hatred, money, or strapped resources. He chose to focus on the one that could be most easily fixed, and his discreet funding has driven the latest generation of solar panels, the efficiency creeping up beyond the traditional thresholds. He was not the only drakensoul, as they were soon called. More emerged in the intervening years, but the spectacle and novelty eventually died off after some decades. Now, it was as run of the mill as a half-dragon¡¯s Awakening. To her, it¡¯s still a vastly undocumented process that hints at the secrets of the dragons. Something that could change the course of world history at a fundamental level. ¡°Joey, how long are you going to stare at that photo?¡± Kyle asks. She¡¯s been so focused on reciting the history texts in her head from memory, that she almost forgot she¡¯s in the middle of her explanation. "Sorry. Anyway, they found a way back. We think they made a connection to the aether, this transition¨Cthis interstitial¨Cbetween planes of existence. But, maybe they didn''t have enough juice to complete the connection bridge between here, and where they were going. So they ended up stuck. "Dragons are composed of massive amounts of magical energy, it''s integral to their entire biology. They have dedicated circulatory routes and special organs as part of that. So, their soul and magical essence endured, even though they dusted themselves. Now, the first drakensouls showed up during the trench warfare in France, about September 1917. What a system shock that was, I tell you." She waits for Kyle to catch up, and he tilts his head in understanding. "There''s still no sound theories on how they started merging with human souls. The best theory is that genetics-wise, we''re related to dragons. There is a commonality in our genetics that indicates either some massive genealogical modifications, or rapid evolutionary off-shoots. So, these souls latch onto us, but not purely at random. Those who may have had a dragon in the family tree tend to get them more with the data I have, but not enough to Awaken by genetics alone. It''s weird, it''s wacky, and of course, it''s not consistent, just like everything else with mana flowing through them!" She can''t help but notice that he''s enthusiastic about this now. "So, two different triggers, but similar effects?" Kyle proposes. "Precisely, but with some caveats. The result is Awakening, where the body restructures and the DNA is transformed to a draconic baseline. It''s not quite like normal Awakening, where it''s puberty part two. It''s not like it just happens once their body starts building up mana. It''s usually much more sudden." "Hang on a second. How did these loose souls get back?" Kyle asks. ¡°What¡¯s the connection?¡± "I took your theory about the storms, and looked at every record I could find back in 1917. There was a mana storm around a week earlier reported in a magical biozone nearby. After that, a lot of teens started getting symptoms of Awakening. But of course, they didn''t know what was going on, so this was a huge crisis at the time. So they did some studies and found that the souls were fused, in some remarkably stable format. "After that, just a trickle at a time, two, three, here and there. All across the world, with almost seemingly random intervals and physical locations. So this big crisis just became muted and labeled an oddity of magic, like it wasn''t worth the bother to study," Joey says with a slight huff. "Your tail is all puffed up. You''re pretty worked up about this." She narrows her eyes at him. "It''s like this all the time, Kyle," she replies icily before gesturing to the screen again. "So lo and behold, there''s a few thousand documented cases of this phenomenon over a hundred years. Kind of a drop in the bucket, I''ll give you that. They''re a little different than half-dragons in that they usually go right into their adult form, and not a juvenile dragon. Also, these kids end up with a dragon stuck in their heads. The soul and consciousness and memories of the dragon endure, and the people they merge into? They hear them, and can mentally connect with them. No one has bothered to study it with the extreme precision needed to understand such a thing. Or why this happens." ¡°Wouldn''t you, as a psionic, have some ability to hear them?¡± he asks. She''s drawing a blank, and it''s fascinating that no one has even mentioned this in any report, which is why it''s almost exciting. ¡°I have no idea.¡± His face brightens at this. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Holy crap. If you have no idea, then we might truly be onto something. But, the storms! It¡¯s a common link! Well, maybe. We¡¯d need more correlative data, we have just two points in space so far. That¡¯s not even close to standing up to peer review scrutiny. We¡¯d actually need to test this theory!¡± ¡°How would we test this theory, exactly?¡± she asks. She doesn¡¯t like where the question could go. "Um¡­we do have some candidates, judging by that high school yearbook photo," he adds drolly while gesturing to the image. ¡°You¡¯re sure they¡¯re Awakened? I mean this could be just bad camera imagery.¡± ¡°First off, grossly unethical by what¡¯s implied,¡± she responds testily. ¡°Second off, look at their eyes!" She points out the kids in the rows. "This is a well-documented phenomenon associated with Awakening for half-dragons, something Amaranth knows by heart and almost every other professor we had! Seventy-five percent of half-dragons and drakensouls report a change of eye color! ¡°Now you¡¯re right, it could be coincidence. So I did compare it to the previous yearbook photo. World of difference. No one who knows these kids would notice the subtle shift, unless they stepped away for a while, or looked at an older photo album. For some, it could easily be dismissed as some kind of photo chromatic aberration, or exposure issue on the camera." She shows the comparison for emphasis, and he relents. "That was a long-winded way of saying, they''re all dragons. How many?" "Thirty-two. I miscounted on my first pass. But in a class of a hundred and fifty, it''s mighty weird to find that many in one place at once. It''s statistically impossible, even with known mage families in the area." She softens her gaze at him, and he''s slowly coming around to the idea, which he usually does when he knows she''s right. She''s always done the research, he''s figuring by now. No mind-reading is required when he sighs and realizes the truth. "Okay, so, we got a bunch of Awakening kids. The question is, why?" He finally asks the question that she hasn''t finished solving. ¡°Could the storms be causing this? Just triggering mana generation earlier? Maybe something else about the storms that we don¡¯t know about?¡± "That''s the fascinating part. I have no idea!" This is truly unknown, and while a little startling, it could be something of a massive discovery! "It could be the storms, it¡¯s a strong candidate to look for more information on. But, there could also be other factors. Chemical exposure, mana energy, some kind of weird magical effect or spell that I can''t even fathom that could produce this drastic effect on a bunch of teens. Maybe if they all had a higher percentage of draconic DNA, that''d be something to study too. We need more information," she says decisively. "We should interview them. Start with known mage families, and go from there. That would be an excellent data source, maybe give us new leads!¡± "And the kids who aren''t mages, you also plan on talking to them?" Kyle asks incredulously. She nods enthusiastically. "Isn''t that just asking for trouble, since some of them aren''t in on the greatest secret of humanity, the Veil? You know. This massive secret world we hide behind, which contains all sorts of magical critters¨Cyourself included? And that they roam around the planet in the millions. "Not only that, but there''s also a hidden biosphere of some really crazy things, all curated by a secret mage society. Does this track as being even remotely a good idea? Even if it''s in the name of arcanistry?" he asks with a rising tone and word count per second. She tenses her claws on her notepad. "Yeah. Exactly. We must press for answers!" "Let me stop you there, Kitsune Mitsune. Allow me to elaborate on how much of a bad idea that is. These kids probably have no idea what''s going on! None! Approaching them like they''re a pending lab experiment, is probably going to further reinforce the notion that they should have great cause to be terrified. Please be human about this," Kyle reasons. "I am human. Ish," she adds before brushing a stray hair that fell in front of her eyes. ¡°Well, I mean, I¡¯m also a magical fox girl.¡± ¡°Kitsune,¡± he corrects. ¡°Shut up! Let me roll with it,¡± she says a teasing rebuke. ¡°Don¡¯t sell yourself short! You¡¯ve done that for years, and I¡¯m not gonna let you do that here in Asqualia, especially with the prestige this place carries. You earned this place, Joey. You¡¯re also more human than a lot of other humans I know, and that¡¯s saying a lot,¡± he adds in an upbeat moment. ¡°Your mom was telling me this story when I was over there at your guy''s place last Christmas. She said you wanted to be the greatest arcanist ever. She still remembers errantly telling you that no Kitsune had ever attained so high a standing, and that you stomped your paws at this notion. You said you were going to be the first to be recognized internationally as a true master of the arcane with patience, planning, and passion!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t stomp my paws. She embellished that,¡± Joey growls playfully. ¡°Nah, I think you did. It¡¯s very in line with your personality,¡± he says with a confident smile. ¡°You don¡¯t back down from a challenge, you never have. Speaking of challenges, how are we tackling this one, since we¡¯ve taken our eye off the ball?¡± ¡°Being human,¡± she answers deadpan. Kyle lets out a heartfelt chuckle after a brief pause. "Alright, Joey, you know what I meant earlier. Having humanity. Which is not, contrary to popular belief, exclusive to humans." She lets out a wry smile at that notion. "You can sweet talk me all you want Bertance, but we aren''t dating again." "Yeah, you need someone who won''t wither under a barrage of arcanist lingo like I do. And, doesn''t have allergies to fur." She playfully punches his arm. "It''s hypoallergenic!" she retorts with a sharpened smile. Her fur color is pretty rare, even among Kitsune. Sadly, most mages wouldn''t appreciate it, given the multi-millennia subtle racism and bigotry against Kitsune. Kyle did appreciate it, though. "You know this, don''t be a butt munch, Bertance." "Well if I''m off the menu, then at least find someone outside of Asqualia to make friends with! C''mon, not all mages suck at life and are zealots or bigots! Or maybe find another Kitsune! I know this pop-up club opening up next month, Wargen and Kitsune are preferred, but anyone can tag along. Sierra was telling me about it. We should totally go! I''ll be the wingman. Wait. Does that work for a guy helping a girl find a date?" He asks while stroking his short beard. Joey glances at him and is slightly impressed by his concern, and she flexes her elongated toes into the carpet. It''s sort of therapeutic, and she shifts on her elongated ankles. The digitigrade stance always takes a bit of an adjustment if she spends too long in her human form, but at least it¡¯s a quick transition. "Kyle, I do appreciate the notion. I really do. And I would settle for someone down to earth, once I got about fifty different projects done, finished my PhD in Arcanist zoology, and worked on something truly incredible like solving a mystery as big as the drakensouls! Or even better, why magical biozones are being reinvigorated! Either one of those¨Cor both of them, if they¡¯re even tangentially related¨Ccould be the find of a lifetime!¡± "Careful, Joey. Many a heroine has uttered such words, and consequently been thrown into a messy, chaotic adventure in like, two-thirds of my books," he grins. "We aren''t suitable material for messy adventures involving heroes, fighting giant monsters, and saving the world. We''re scientists! Okay, technically, an Arcanist is a scientist with several extra steps, but still." "Way to derail a serious topic, Kyle," she sighs with just a hint of amusement. "Let''s get back to finding a means to interview these kids. We must have some way to reach them without looking all skeevy! I still think we need more thought on that. We still have to dig through that field data from earlier today. Anyways, back to interviews...college recruiters, psychology case study volunteers¡­let''s see¡­" "Or, we could just talk to them now," he said while staring at his phone that he''d pulled out a few seconds ago. The way he says it catches her attention. "You know how we were just talking about that ancient group, the Onyx Talons? Remember how I said they put up that enchanted mural at the high school, like they get their kicks out of their creepy propaganda?¡± ¡°We know. They¡¯re bad news if they blew up a mine. Plus the graffiti. What about it?¡± ¡°Well, so, Snags uh¡­asked me a favor. He asked me if I could put some of my little automated observer golems in the school to keep an eye out for his little brother Fritz, totally stealthy, no one would ever know. I went to the school and blended in for a spell. I put a couple of my observation golems in little nooks and crannies to see if those creeps showed up again.¡± "Kyle, short version, and slower please,¡± she sighs. "Um¡­you know those kids you were on about, that group of four?" He asks nervously while staring at the phone. "I''m not a hundred percent sure, but what did Nick look like again?" "Eh, five-ten, out-of-date beach boy blonde hair, hazel eyes, a nearly perennial calm demeanor and a lean body like coiled steel, and a bomber jacket he wears all the time. Why?" Something has Kyle startled. "Well, he''s with a group of three kids that look mighty similar to the ones you were talking about, and they''ve broken into the school. And are currently searching the main office for something.¡± For the first time in a while, Joey¡¯s muzzle opens wide and she covers it out of instinct. ¡°You wanna run that by me again?!¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 56: Advanced Draconology, Part Two The moment of shock is over in an instant. Too many questions fly through her head in a blur, but Joey knows one thing: If Nick is breaking into a school and looking for something, whatever he¡¯s looking for must be really unpleasant news for a lot of people. She snaps her fingers and points to Kyle¡¯s phone, a nascent plan already forming. ¡°Kyle, move the golem closer, get audio on them.¡± He clicks a few buttons, and then the audio comes in. He manages to get the golem to crawl along the wall, until they are within earshot of the group. She¡¯s stunned. A half-transformed Auran goldback female with black hair thunderously kicks at the concrete wall and puts a giant dent into it. ¡°Damn. is she in the middle of Awakening?¡± Kyle asks in awe. ¡°Based on the half-transformed body, yep. She must be made of sheer willpower if she¡¯s pulling off feats like that. She must be fighting through a high level of pain¨Cor she''s really pissed off,¡± Joey comments observantly while they listen in. ¡°Um, Julia, hazard insurance covers when bad stuff happens, like bad guys shooting at us. Not kicking in a concrete wall, for the record,¡± a familiar male voice states with little restraint. There are more than a couple of protests as the female kicks in the wall again with unrelenting force and puts a giant hole in it. She peers in before pulling out a lockbox and turning around and roaring in triumph, shining blue eyes and seafoam feathers accentuating her face. ¡°Holy shit. That''s Nick. Now committing felonies, or doing his job?¡± Joey is nearly speechless, she never thought she''d run into him again, and certainly not like this! ¡°Goddamn, Joey, you just got replaced for the feminine badass in my life,¡± Kyle breathes. It''s not even an insult¨Cit''s the same dark-haired girl from the photo of the other teens goofing off in the yearbook spread! They¡¯re chattering about the contents while Joey and Kyle stare at each other. ¡°You think this is a coincidence?¡± ¡°Joey, we¡¯re so past that point.¡± They both continue to watch the discussion unfold. Joey swears the half-transformed Julia looks right at the monitor golem for a second. ¡°Let''s bag the evidence and head to the mechanics bay, either way. I¡¯m raiding that lab to send a message,¡± the messy-haired teen says firmly. ¡°Nick, Valosterla and King are going to torch and burn the lab, we have to get in there now. Hopefully, we figure out what they¡¯re trying to study with forcing these Awakenings, and how they''re doing it. I¡¯m not going to let these guys keep screwing with everyone''s lives like we¡¯re a lab experiment. Them, or Crosomer." The wild-haired kid with green eyes seems to be acting like he¡¯s in charge¨Cand stranger still, Nick nods quietly. Why is he deferring to this kid? What is going on here? They continue talking, and the dark-haired girl grows a set of beautiful gold and seafoam feather wings. That one apparently hurt, based on the way she winces. ¡°Joey, why do I get the feeling we just got right into the middle of something so big, that I can¡¯t even understand how big it is?¡± Kyle whispers. She¡¯s trying to put the pieces together in her head at a frenzied pace, and there is just not enough to go on. She doesn¡¯t even answer him yet. She swears she sees the dark-haired girl look right at the shrouded observer golem again with a puzzled expression, then glances around, like she¡¯s been buzzed by an invisible fly. Joey hears a radio crackle again, a new male voice with a moderate accent--Scottish, maybe? ¡°Nick, we have trouble. Two large vehicles just pulled up at high speed to the school. They¡¯re unloading by the far side from where you guys are. Jonaleth Winters, some of his cronies, and two Talons soldiers in black body armor. The soldiers are armed to the teeth and at the front door. They¡¯ve got a ton of gasoline tanks they¡¯re unloading now. Drone feed is going to be useless in a few minutes.¡± They immediately set into action. Joey drops her tablet and stares at the image, her fur on end. "What?! Kyle, get SAF on the line right now, we can¡¯t let those kids die, we''ve gotta help them!¡± ¡°Isn''t Nick like some kind of Uber commando?¡± he asks sourly before clicking a couple of buttons. "Kyle, focus!" she snarls. "Nick''s one of the best, but even he needs backup sometimes! What can we do with the golems, can they help them out somehow?" ¡°Yeah, but I need to set up manual control. I never planned on using these golems other than passive observance, gonna have to improvise.¡± ¡°Wait, I thought you said these were passive golems, no weapons at all!¡± she expresses worriedly. ¡°Nah. But, I can cause some mayhem. I¡¯m going to go get their attention. Joey, plug in the console over there, I need the expanded controls, then press F4 and F5.¡± She follows the instructions and suddenly the phone display distorts, and a 3D hologram pops up around Kyle, giving him a map of his surroundings. ¡°Okay, press F3 for voice command. And you better switch to your human form, we don¡¯t need to hit them with too many crazy things at once.¡± She narrows her eyes at him, and her fur bristles. ¡°You know I have intimate knowledge in a hundred different ways to dissolve flesh and bone, right?¡± she suggests menacingly. ¡°In theory, but zero in practice. They have, in all likelihood, never seen a Kitsune. And Nick doesn''t know either¨Cprobably,¡± he points out while swiping the displays. The golem springs to life, and the four-limbed contraption slides down the wall while the noise startles the assembled crew. ¡°Okay, Joey, might as well get their attention,¡± he says as she shifts back to her human form, he waves one limb of the golem to get them looking his way. ¡°Headset, quick. We¡¯re live.¡± She makes more than a little commotion when the half-transformed dragon summons a plasma spark into her hand upon seeing the golem. The messy-haired teen kneels down and examines it, and after a few words, Joey decides to crack the ice. ¡°Hey, Nick, it looks like you''ve got some new friends! By the way, you still owe me a home-cooked meal, and I''m calling it due!¡± Nick almost drops his bolt pistol and recoils in surprise for the first time since she''s known him. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Josephine?!¡± ¡°It''s Joey, my favorite feathered iguana with wings! I think the name has been earned.¡± She can¡¯t help but sound a little sassy on that last line, and Nick grimaces. This is too much for the girl with wavy brown hair, and she glares at him with all her draconic fury. ¡°How many women want to jump your bones, exactly?!¡± ¡°Really now, it¡¯s not that kind of relationship,¡± Joey says in an assuring voice. ¡°So, uh, this situation¡¯s about to be a little screwy, if what we heard is right.¡± "Wait, she''s the same woman you were talking about when you went out with Amaranth? As part of the academy field research trips?" the male teen says with a snap of his fingers. Nick nods while both of them peer at the golem. "This is some destiny-level kind of coincidence, I gotta tell you, man." ¡°Okay, enough with the wide-eyed looks you two, you have trouble coming your way, I¡¯ve got two other golems watching the Talons, they''re cutting their way past the front door right now. Look, it¡¯s a long story, and your investigation might tie into something that we¡¯ve been looking into, the drakensouls. There¡¯s something super strange going on in the nearby magical biozones. We want to help, me and one of my friends. ¡°Kyle, scan the golem around, they''re going to be boxed in at the office." She grabs her tablet and swipes furiously for the town hall records maintenance and logistics¨Ca floor plan of the school finally is unveiled, and she throws her focus into the effort. "Okay, can any of you guys fight, any of you that have Awakened?" "We can and have before," the young male responds quickly, and he motions the team out the door. Kyle scouts the golem ahead, keeping them just in focus as he looks behind. "Short hall up ahead, on the left. Josephine, right?" "Yeah, just Joey. You?" "Drenar. How''d you even find us?" he asks inquisitively. "Nick mentioned you were a student of his old friend." "Long story, kiddo. We didn''t expect to run into you guys like this, one of my friends set up these observer golems after the Talons showed up, and you set off their motion sensors. Okay, I need to focus." She looks at the displays from the other golems, and sees two Talons soldiers accompanying the other hoodied goons taking charge and splashing gasoline. "They''re dousing the main hall with gas, they''re heading east, down the long hall. Looks like¡­some mechanical shop up at the end past the intersections, and the agriculture wing¨C" "That''s the lab. They''ve been doing maintenance and renovations for months down there, ever since last year, what a great cover to keep prying eyes away." "What lab?" she echoes. "Okay, the really short version, the Talons unearthed some guy named Robespierre Crosomer, the guy that started the War of the Magi, and found some artifact that can force Awakenings. The power of this thing is immense. They''re using the school and the students to tabulate the results of their experimentation. This device is part of a bigger play to reverse the Ascension events. Which is just really bad news for everyone." She completely loses her focus and stares at his intense green eyes. "That''s an awful lot to unpack at once. I knew it, I knew there had to be an external influence!" she admits excitedly. ¡°Oh, and it is affecting magical biozones, too. Probably. Still digging into that thread.¡± He looks at her blankly. ¡°Um, on a scale of one to nightmare fuel, where¡¯s that one falling?¡± ¡°Nightmare fuel.¡± ¡°This just gets more and more fun,¡± he sighs as if this isn¡¯t the worst news he¡¯s had all week. ¡°Joey, if we get through this, I think we need to meet up somewhere to pool our info, you¡¯re absolutely right. Where are you currently?" She doesn''t even hesitate to give him the answer. "Ah, Asqualia Research Center¨C" "Ah, crap. Hold that thought. They''re looking for a way in there, they need some kind of research or academic journals, we just crashed a party of theirs earlier tonight. They indicated they might have a way in. You need to alert everyone at the facility that the Talons are coming. I doubt it''s gonna be a token force. They''re trained and well armed, from what I''ve seen so far." "Focus on you not dying, first? What are you planning on doing?" she asks worriedly. "They have to funnel at the far doors at that hallway intersection. Julia, you and me, we''ll cut them off. Nick, beeline to the mechanic bay area and hold the door, find a way into the lab with Angela, and grab every electronic device that isn''t nailed down. Expect reinforcements once we floor these creeps. Joey, run a distraction with that golem when they get to the double doors marked with the east wing. Give me a target count and their formation." She looks at the other golems stealthily shadowing the troops, plus the others. "Six hostiles, in a line formation. Two of them have autobows, first and last man. Please be careful. They''re moving fast, but they''re not checking corners." She can only hope that Nick and these kids live through this unscathed. "Kyle, got anything to surprise them?" "Just a little shock gel as an emergency escape. These were built with passive observation and evasion," he answers before directing the golem to hustle up the corridor. Drenar and Julia are just in sight as they loop ahead of the foes, with Joey making a mental map. "It might be enough to zap one of them, not both." "Drenar, focus on the lead soldier. The one on the rear we''ll handle, but what about the rest?" she asks. They didn''t appear to have weapons. "We''ll knock them out, Crosomer''s men have been using kids to do some of their dirty work. Like they''re the magical equivalent of the Boy Scouts," he affirms quietly. Whatever he is, he¡¯s decisive. "Okay, get in position, down the short connecting hall. Julia, I need a charge." She reacts instinctively with now fully draconic claws, and Joey is amazed to see her transfer an incredible amount of plasma energy into his partially emerged scales. She has heard of feats like this from battles involving dragons in wars long since passed, but never anything like this. He has azure and silver scales that seem to insulate him from the plasma, and he can hold the charge. Like small scales of chrome and sapphire gems gleaming brightly. "Um, if we get you guys through this¡­can I ask you to volunteer some samples as a newly emerged drakensoul or half-dragon?" she asks meekly. He stares at the golem blankly. "Purely professional, I promise you, arcanist zoology and alchemy is literally my career." "That has got to be the strangest way I''ve ever had a girl ask me if she can check me out. But, alright, I''m game. Purely professional." Joey feels her cheeks blush as red as her hair at his reflexive response. Kyle looks at her with a curl of a smirk emerging. "I think you like this kid¨C" "Oh my Fates, Kyle, shut up and focus on making sure they don''t get killed!" she snaps and tries her best to regain her composure. She has no idea why what he said got to her just now! "Right. Wait for the first guy to go down. Stay alive!" The golem skids forward and they hide the small automaton by the door as the Talons stalk by, with their unaffiliated lackeys not paying attention at all. "Kyle, shock gel, prime it. We only have one shot at this, and that dosage should be enough to knock him out for a couple of minutes." The small automaton opens up a compartment on the arm. Inside, a canister of blue gel sparks energetically, and the golem closes on the oblivious rear guard. Okay guys, here we go. Vol. 2, Ch. 57: Enemies Scale With Level, Part One Drenar is hiding in an alcove just by the double door, with Julia on the other side and barely fitting in, considering she¡¯s halfway to a dragon. He can hear the heavy boots clack against the tile floor, no more than ten meters away. He quickly signs to Julia, and motions to wait. "Jonaleth, you giant pain in my ass, when we are done here, I never want to see you again," someone snarls at their probable ringleader. They''re very close. "Then you should have read the fine print. You¡¯re in this mess because you were right next to Violet, and she was live-streaming stuff to a bunch of people outside the Veil. This means Val is furious, SAF likely got a bead on it, and we¡¯re going to face trouble on both ends unless you man up. And if you don¡¯t, being a corpse will be the least of your problems." The boot steps stop. "No, hold up, you Gestapo wannabes. You say that again, Jonaleth. I dare you." "You think Val will forgive failure? I have no one waiting for me at home¨Cand my foster father is quite useful to her. Me? If we don¡¯t deliver, I won¡¯t live past the week, and I certainly aim to keep breathing. Which means you need to shut your mouth, and do as I say. Or Val will likely send her men after your house to tie up loose ends¨Cdo you want that? Nah, don''t think you do." Drenar narrows his eyes, and he suddenly feels this is now a judicial application of force that he can be quite comfortable dishing out. "You''re dead, Jonaleth. You threaten me to help you burn down this school to cover your own stupid mistake, and then you say that?!" There''s a clang of a metal tank and the slosh of fluid inside. These guys picked the worst time to start arguing, Drenar thinks angrily. Julia''s unbridled fury indicates she''s got even less restraint. "Sort it out later, you two. We have files to recover and evidence to demolish," someone says with an echo to their voice. Maybe one of the helmeted soldiers? "I owe Nigel fifty bucks, if he''s here, I have to pay off the guy tonight. The guy is a genius at poker." "The only thing he''s collecting is a bolt through the skull," Jonaleth snarls. "That wasn''t the orders¨C" "Valosterla is in command. Not King," Jonaleth hisses, and Drenar feels like this bully deserves to be knocked down more than just a peg or two. ¡°Forget whatever Nigel owes you. Anyone in the lab is considered an acceptable loss. Double standard payment. Val wants this done tonight, before SAF gets here.¡± ¡°That is the coldest damn thing I¡¯ve ever heard. We are not shooting our own guys, Jonaleth. I don¡¯t care if Daddy dearest got you to this position, I¡¯ll go risk talking to the murder-happy dragoness myself. She can be reasoned with. Now let¡¯s get this job finished.¡± ¡°Nigel¡¯s not at the lab. He was licking some wounds, back at base,¡± one of the others said, likely the other soldier. ¡°Boy, those guys at the mine sure got lucky to avoid this torch and burn. Crosomer doesn¡¯t like losing his men for any reason. That includes suicide by stupidity at the hands of the murder lizard.¡± Remind me, we need to offer a job to Nigel for the Delvers, Drenar thinks to Alex. Couldn''t hurt to steal one of Crosomer''s top researchers, and he does seem pretty affable, compared to his peers. That poor sap needs a break and a career change. Seriously. Jonaleth breaks up the moment with a snarl. ¡°Focus! Let¡¯s grab the data, and as soon as this place is on fire and a distant memory, we portal out,¡± Jonaleth snarls. The footsteps continue along with the others. It¡¯s now or never. Drenar holds the plasma energy within his armor scales, hoping they don¡¯t notice the faint glow coming from his hiding spot. He counts off with Julia. Three...two...one... He hears the sound of a lightning bolt, a scream, and shouts. That¡¯s the distraction Joey had promised. ¡°What the hell hit him, what is that thing?!¡± The guard pokes into view just when his ally gets zapped, and Drenar grabs him, shocks him, and lands repeated hammer blows¨Cand smashes his forehead into the wall. He''s out like a light. Julia surges from cover and flings the first hooded person into two others, and they all bowl over. Her plasma spark washes over them and they spasm, and are out of the fight. Drenar has just finished putting his target out of commission when he turns to the remaining individual still on his feet. He recognizes those ice-cold blue eyes. ¡°Orphan kid. Asian bitch. When the hell did you two Awaken?!¡± he snarls, but takes a cautious step backward. He doesn¡¯t like his odds, now that all his allies are down for the count. "Still in progress on that one, mister arsonist. See? I can name call, too!" Julia grins with a maw of pointy teeth. ¡°Yeah, don''t piss her off more than you already have buddy, because I see you''ve updated your resume to include arson, and conspiracy to commit murder," Drenar chimes in. He''s wary that Jonaleth is still holding that gas tank, and what he presumes is a fire orb in his other hand. "Put that stuff down. Really nice like." "Yeah. Before we have to do this the way that will end badly for you," Julia quips with a coiled stance. Elemental plasma still sparks from her arms, and she''s started transforming into her full draconic form. She''s still managing to power through the pain. Jonaleth sneers at them. "You guys really screwed with the wrong people this time. I suppose your little snitch of a brother told you stuff you weren''t supposed to hear, huh?" "You threatened to burn my house down, and kill me and my foster parents. A threat that I''m reasonably sure you could carry through." Jonaleth smiles bitterly, even though this situation is as tense as a piano wire pulled to its snapping point. "I had to get him on board. Spur him along. You know the art about making threats? You use the things people hold close against them, and we did try the nice way, but persuasion failed right off the bat." It sounds truthful, if woefully belated to say now. "The thing is, actually going through with that one would have caused problems, in its own way. Violence rarely keeps people in line. But he had to make it difficult for us by being a goody two-shoes, like you." "It''s a Rashalda family tradition," Drenar remarks with smugness. It might be possible to talk Jonaleth down. Two on one odds with dragons, and him and Julia''s martial training? He''d be hard pressed to win. Jonaleth leers at him menacingly. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Yeah? How''s that tradition treating your dead mom? Now that you''ve completely humiliated me in front of the most murderous dragon on the planet, burning down houses is back on the menu, along with torching evidence." He won''t rise to Jonaleth''s taunt. "Don¡¯t do this. I get the rage you feel. You and I could have easily swapped roles, Jonaleth. The only difference between you and me is one single thing.¡± He holds the gas tank firm, but hesitates. ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°I had parents that cared. They weren¡¯t perfect together, but they cared. You say you saw your mom die? I can relate.¡± ¡°Bullshit. You were spying on us the whole time, Rashalda? That wasn¡¯t your story to hear!¡± he rages. ¡°How can you possibly sympathize with me?¡± ¡°Because by the time I got to the hospital after my parents'' car accident, they were rushing my mom to surgery. She said a few words to me and my brother. She looked right at me, and told me that she¡¯d see me on the other side of the surgery room...in her own way.¡± Drenar¡¯s posture is tense. This memory has been a weight on his soul for too long, a memory he hadn¡¯t even told Julia. ¡°The doctors told me she should have died at the scene. She was broken to pieces internally. They told me she shouldn¡¯t have even survived the trip to the hospital. But she did. She held on through sheer willpower alone to tell her kids that she was going to make it. That she¡¯d be there for us. "But sheer willpower can''t win every battle. Not like that. That day has haunted me almost every day for six years.¡± He lowers the gas tank a little. ¡°Someone did care for you. Someone took you away from a horrible place, and from people who had no business raising a son, with the way you described it. I know when I see pain, Jonaleth. Someone tried to help, which is far more than most people will do.¡± ¡°She killed my mom. Then tried to make up for it, out of guilt?!¡± he snarls. ¡°I got dealt a shit hand from birth, Rashalda! You don''t know what that''s like! You never had a clue about the Veil until the last couple weeks, if I had to guess. Imagine you can''t tell everyone that the Conclave is a bunch of racist bigots working their way to an oppression state, and the Valkyries are automated murder machines!¡± ¡°And you think this is the solution to that?¡± Drenar points to the unconscious Talons soldiers. ¡°Are you ready to murder people for a false promise? Val''s in this for power. She always has been. I''ve heard enough about her to know that she''ll replace the Conclave with something far worse. That''s without me knowing the full history." ¡°They cared about me!¡± ¡°No. They saw you as an implement. A weapon, a shiny tool, Jonaleth.¡± He''s resigned himself to the fact that this is going to come to blows. But does he make the first move? Or let Jonaleth push himself to the point of no return? ¡°Victor One. She cared about you. Even as messed up as that situation was, she cared. She could have just walked away, and she didn''t.¡± ¡°Screw you, Rashalda.¡± Jonaleth¡¯s free hand is shaking in rage. ¡°You really do look like her, which is just icing on the goddamn cake. It''s like the whole universe is lining up pretty faces and sad stories for me, like it''s some sick cosmic joke. She even visited me a few times, to see how I was doing, and I was just¡­numb on the inside. I still can''t hate her with all my heart. I want to, but I can''t!¡± ¡°Then don''t.¡± Drenar motions to Julia, whose stance is still coiled and tense, her face now covered in shining gold scales and a few silver flecks in a mottled pattern. ¡°You''re hurt, Jonaleth. But hurting others isn''t going to fix that. You know, I spent two years where every single day, I was just¡­not okay. I was empty. Lost. One of the hardest things I had to learn is that people will help you. Family. Friends. Old souls unaffected by age, and filled with wisdom and caring." That last one was for Laresten. Someone else he missed dearly. "Jonaleth, the hardest step of all is wanting to get better, and taking that first step. It''s the smallest step, and the most difficult one of all. Just put the gas tank down. Please. You don''t want this.¡± ¡°He''s¡­right. Even as despicable as some of your actions have been¡­we didn''t have the full story till tonight.¡± Julia''s eyes soften at the edges, all shining blue and filled with sadness. ¡°You still can fix this. You don''t want to become a monster like these people.¡± ¡°And what''s my alternative? Take my medicine from the Conclave?¡± He lets out a mocking laugh, even while he''s on the verge of tears. ¡°Fates, you two are so broken, it''s almost sad. Nah, because of your stunt, and Violet being a dumb bitch, Val''s on a warpath now. This is my last shot, before I end up as a carcass in a ditch, or the bottom of a dragon''s gullet." ¡°You think I''m scared of her?¡± Drenar says stoically. ¡°I already did a dance with her business partner Crosomer, and walked away from it alive. Consider that while you think about your next choice, Jonaleth. I''m not asking you to support the Conclave. But maybe, you can stand behind the preservation of good. I don''t want to undo the goodwill that Valkyrie showed you. "Just walk away. That¡¯s all you have to do.¡± For a few precious seconds, Jonaleth goes silent, likely thinking of all the bad choices that led up to the moment. He peers down at the arsonist''s weapon of choice in his hand, knuckles bone white from clenching so tightly around the handle. The quivering lips tells Drenar all he needs to know: he''s afraid for his life. And there is a tiny voice of reason left in him. But it doesn''t win out. He can see it when his eyes narrow. Lad. You know how this is going to end. I know you''ll try, but he''s not going to listen to reason now if he wasn''t listening to reason before. He knows Alex is right even before Jonaleth¡¯s fist starts shaking, and those burnt orange scales itch and crack their way into reality over his hands and face. ¡°No, Drenar. We¡¯re past that point. I have to clean up this mess, burn this school to the ground, and kill you two, and the rest of your misfit friends. And there¡¯s nothing you¡¯re going to say that¡¯s going to change my mind.¡± ¡°Can we beat some sense into him now?¡± Julia growls. Jonaleth flings the gas tank at him, but he anticipates the move. He deftly swerves to avoid getting hit in the head, and the gas tank bounces into a row of lockers while Jonaleth charges with a quick grab of a dagger off his belt, and continues to transform into his draconic body. Drenar can feel the heat radiating off his body when he grapples with him, keeping the knife pointed in the wrong direction. He slams him into the wall, but it does nothing to phase him, and Julia''s quick shock across his scales barely does anything to slow him down. He manages to shove Drenar away to slam Julia in the torso, and swings mightily with the dagger. She barely blocks it, and there''s a narrow scratch across her scales¨Csuperficial damage at best. Drenar rushes in and lands a telekinetic blast on him point-blank. Jonaleth goes flying backward, and skids past his unconscious comrades before hitting the doorway, cracking the wood. He''s back up in no time, and pulls a fire orb off a bandolier and flings it at Julia. She catches it out of reflex and throws it out the window before it detonates in a small fireball, and the worst of the damage is the scorched grass outside, with a few lingering embers. "Julia, this place is soaked in gas!" Drenar warns her. He''s already dashing after Jonaleth, aiming to keep him from igniting the whole south wing, and everyone inside it. "We gotta move this fight out of here right now!" Jonaleth flings another orb that''s primed before Drenar can get to him, and he watches in horror as it lands by the gas tank. There''s no way to grab it in time. "Shields!" he shouts out at Julia before covering the prone lackeys with as wide a barrier as he can. All their plans for keeping the damage to a minimum are about to go up in smoke again. At least this one isn¡¯t your error this time, Drenar. Alex¡¯s comment is little consolation before he braces against the blast. Vol. 2, Ch. 58: Enemies Scale With Level, Part Two He hates the fact that all their plans are being defeated by fire like it¡¯s a running gag. The orb and the tank detonate in a fiery roar of hot gasses, and Drenar staggers backward, digging his half-emerged talons into the floor to keep himself steady in a screech of tearing tiles. The blast shatters glass and leaves his ears ringing again. The gas puddle ignites as well, and one of the soldiers screams as the fire laps at his legs. He doesn''t think and pats out the flames as quickly as he can, the heat a muted feeling on his scaly arms. The man is groaning in pain, but out of immediate danger. Jonaleth in the meantime is transforming in the confines of the corridor into a Valencian red, all burnt orange scales and sharpened claws. Drenar sends a stern rebuke by using a telekinetic slam and sends him flying backward, smashing through the already broken doors and down the hallway, where he struggles to rise. It''s an impressive feat, even considering his low burning fury at Jonaleth trying to torch his own guys, and the fire is inching closer. Julia dashes through the fire and comes down in a crouch, keeping low so that she can breathe, and fighting through her transformation. Sheer adrenaline is giving the process a much-needed boost. "Drenar, lift me up! We gotta get the fire suppressant system going, or these guys will roast! He doesn''t waste any time and assists her up, where she kicks at one of the sprinklers with a clawed foot. One hit isn''t enough, but two sets the whole system off, dousing the flames. She lands on her feet and points to Jonaleth, who is up again, and sparks of flame are coming from his jaw. "This is ridiculous, our enemies are now scaling with level! We gotta do something about him!" "Plasma was useless! We''re going to have to beat the fight out of him the hard way!" he shouts back. Drenar sees the observer golem skidding away from the fire to stay out of the fight. Jonaleth scurries forward through the narrow hall, deadly and incensed at the lack of burning corpses. Drenar feels his danger sense go into overdrive, and uses the residual charge in his scales, and¨C new happens. His scales prickle and feel rigid, like they¡¯re sticking together, and they darken in texture in an instant when he directs the energy across his body. Jonaleth extends a claw and a brilliant beam of white-hot energy launches out lances into Drenar¡¯s barrier, bursting it in a blast of gold sparks, and he feels the intense heat. He braces and keeps that charge going. Jonaleth¡¯s attack takes a lot out of him and his arm shakes, the beam of energy dissipating into motes of red sparks. His scales feel like they''re on fire on his arm and chest, and he feels something release in the back of his throat, and something chilly emerges. He exhales softly and a blast of frost emanates out like he¡¯s coughing up mucus, cooling the inflamed scales. It feels soothing and pleasant. The scales are still dark, but not nearly in as much pain as they should be after getting hit by a thermal lance. ¡°Yeah! Get hard, Drenar!¡± Julia roars out in triumph. ¡°Also, you magically vomited on yourself, kinda gross!¡± ¡°We gotta talk about your word choices later!¡± He¡¯s already closing the distance against the winded Jonaleth, who was still new to this and had overexerted himself in what he thought would be a devastating attack. Julia grabs his arm and sends another charge of plasma across Drenar''s scales, since he''s mostly taken dragon form by now. He surges forward to cut off Jonaleth in his plainly telegraphed attack when he rears back his head, and fiery sparks emerge. He lands a brutal blow across Jonaleth¡¯s snout just before he can exhale, and Jonaleth is left staggering, choking on black fumes. Julia, already mostly transformed, follows up and helps Drenar bulldoze him into the opening of the gym, shattering the doorway and sending Jonaleth sprawling across the laminated wood floor. His talons cut gouges into the surface, and he looks infuriated. ¡°What is your major malfunction, Jonaleth?!" Julia screams at him, and is already tensing on her legs, talons digging into the wood with small crackling sounds. ¡°You aren¡¯t going to win this fight!¡± "Says you!" Drenar feels the danger again when he sees him outstretch his claw, and he ducks just as Jonaleth sends out a beam of intense, white-hot flame from his outstretched hand. He can smell singed feathers from how close he cut it. He doesn''t wait for Jonaleth to get out a third shot and closes for a series of quick blows, keeping Jonaleth on the defense. He lunges and tries to chomp down on his neck, but Drenar pile drives him to the floor. Jonaleth is not skilled in hand-to-hand fighting. He¡¯s used to pummeling people unopposed, and when Drenar lands raking hit after raking hit with closed fists and channeled kinetic blows, Jonaleth feels pain he¡¯s never felt before. He tries to grab Drenar and bite down on his neck again. He bashes him on the snout with his forehead and sends him reeling backward. Ow. Could you not not bash the brain space we''re sharing!? Busy trying to not die, Alex! He is not about to get another bite wound anytime soon. Julia takes the opportunity and grapples Jonaleth with plasma tethers binding him and landing repeated blows on his snout. Drenar hears a couple of teeth crack. She''s livid at this monstrous human, who tried to barbeque everyone. ¡°How¡¯s it feel to be the one losing teeth, asshole?!¡± Julia seethes. At this point, he is completely at her mercy, until his scales turn molten and bright red-hot, and she has to let go of his grapple, kicking him away and nursing singed scales. Part of the gym floor catches on fire from the intense contact heat. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a lovely trick. Let me show you mine!¡± Drenar has the same idea, and launches his kinetic grapple that he¡¯d mimicked from Angela, along with Julia¡¯s plasma grapple, and they reel him in with unrelenting force, dragging him across the floor. He¡¯s mighty surprised, and tries to resist the massive tug, but both of them land a respective high kick that cracks a rib, and an uppercut that almost certainly dislocates his jaw. He careens to the floor, groaning, but is quickly back up and powered by monstrous rage, aiming a beam of fire haphazardly at Julia. She nimbly dodges and grimaces even as her transformation nearly finishes, a surge of blue-white energy visible across the seams of her scales. She grapples him, and lands a few blows on his ribs while Drenar grabs his wings and holds him in restraint. One good flail of his tail dislodges him and he stumbles backward, groaning from the impact. His scales are singed again from this effort, those thermally charged scales are burning hot! It looks like he rolled around in a pile of soot, with dark marks across his body. Julia in the meantime locks Jonaleth in position with a standing grapple, and he leers at her, broken teeth and blood dripping from numerous small injuries. Julia¡¯s scales on her face appear dulled and bruised, but she gives Jonaleth a toothy grin when the surge of light from her scales intensifies. ¡°You know what, Jonaleth? Time to ride the lightning!¡± You might want to duck for this one! Alex¡¯s prompt warning spurs Drenar to snap a barrier to his forward side in an intense dazzle of energy, just when Julia¡¯s transformation peaks. A surge of energy blasts in every direction, along with a scream of both triumph and pain. Jonaleth is sent flying from the burst of energy, and smashes through the bleachers on the far of the gym side in perhaps the least graceful landing of dragon-kind. He splinters the wooden bleachers to kindling and twisted metal, and puts a massive gaping dent into the brick wall of the gym. A few cinder blocks drop down on him afterward, and he topples forward, groaning. He doesn¡¯t even attempt to rise, and one wing is bent at an unnatural angle. Julia stands unsteadily on her clawed feet for a few seconds before wobbling, and Drenar swerves to catch her before she can fall. Pinpricks of energy sting him and arc across his scales, and Julia is breathing heavily, her scales almost a rose-gold color. ¡°Hey, easy there, I gotcha.¡± ¡°Did you seriously just catch me before I fell? That is adorably clich¨¦¨Caaaand feeling a little woozy still,¡± she mumbles with a faint smile. He helps guide her down to one digitigrade ¡®knee¡¯ before daring a glance at Jonaleth. He¡¯s immobilized and moaning. ¡°You also dared for a zippy-one liner in a finishing attack. That was clich¨¦,¡± Drenar replies with a faint smile. A dozen different aches course across his body and wings, and the adrenaline fails to mask it. But seeing Julia in this form for the first time, with burnished gold scales, and that saturated coloration of black, seafoam, and gold feathers in her feather crest, and those ocean blue eyes¡­it¡¯s a surreal experience he will never forget. She laughs and ruffles his crest feathers, much to his annoyance. ¡°Oh, we¡¯re making this a thing now?¡± ¡°You still need a comb for these, geez. You just come across as a wildling. I¡¯ll always know who you are, Drenar, no matter what form you take.¡± ¡°You two are so cute, but the broken ribs and broken wing are gonna cut short my enthusiasm,¡± Jonaleth groans before he attempts to rise. ¡°Val''s going to have fun killing you two. Enjoy your short-lived happiness.¡± ¡°You good?¡± Drenar asks firmly, and she nods before taking a cautious step forward and testing her balance. She narrows her eyes, and beelines towards Jonaleth, and puts one knee on his back between his wings before grabbing his arms and forcing them backward She ties off a semisolid energy tether. This one doesn¡¯t dissipate, and he struggles. ¡°I¡¯m more than good,¡± she says before kneeling down and looking Jonaleth in the eye with all her draconic fury. ¡°You won¡¯t be, though. You didn¡¯t have to do this, we tried to give you an out. But if people like you are going to threaten to hurt or kill others, Guess what? You can be rest assured, as ¡®broken¡¯ as we are, we¡¯ll still strive to do what¡¯s right.¡± He lunges forward and tries to bite her, but a closed fist cracks across his face, leaving him reeling. She grabs his awkwardly bent wing and pulls in the wrong way, and he screams, small tears forming at the corner of his ice-cold eyes. ¡°You want to keep doubling down and land yourself in the grave like your parents, Jonaleth? You seem to be so eager to join them, and I don¡¯t know why.¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Just kill me, and be done with it.¡± She takes a step away, and folds her arms across her chest before shaking her head. He looks at her, eyes awash in pain and sadness. ¡°Please. Do you think Val will let me live if her agents keep failing her? No. She¡¯s left a trail of bodies behind her everywhere she goes, and you have no chance against her, either of you.¡± ¡°No. We¡¯re not like that. We¡¯ll never be like that. That¡¯s the difference between you and Drenar. He didn¡¯t let his pain define him. And neither will I,¡± she says with her jaw trembling lightly. Drenar puts a reassuring claw on her shoulder, and stamps on a few lingering embers. For the bigger patches, he exhales that frosty blast, trying to control the flow this time. There is some control to it, but by the time he''s finished with the fire, hes sputtering and his mouth tastes gross. Like peppermint, but utterly bitter. "Ew. Again with the magical vomit! Even though it makes a great fire suppressor!" Julia chimes in, and he growls. "Its an alchemical discharge from a pressurized gland," he says frostily. "Okay, I know you''re quoting Amaranth, but still, wee bit gross," she replies with a toothy smirk. She''s still giving her body a once-over, craning her neck to see her tail and wings. "Damn, I''m tall! And my head feathers are...black and seafoam?" Drenar sighs, and just lets her have this one. "The mighty tsunderedragon joined the team, and the worlds baddies all collectively went ''oh shit''." She cackles madly at this, and Jonaleth stays as quiet as a mouse. Which is quite difficult for a dragon, in retrospect. The rest of the crew eventually filter in, and Nick looks in dismay at the gymnasium. The skylight now has a perfectly unobstructed view of the night sky, thanks to the missing glass shattered on the floor, and the floorboards are quite scorched. After a little effort to extract the hog-tied dragon out of the destroyed bleachers, their new prize of a thoroughly beaten Jonaleth leers at all of them. Julia puts another energy tether around his jaw and he growls. He can just barely open his mouth to do little more than speak. ¡°Jeez. Maybe you two will be competent warriors in the future after all.¡± He points his autobow right at Jonaleth¡¯s leering eyeball, and he kneels down. ¡°Now, you¡¯re going to tell me what¡¯s so important about this lab that you were willing to torch the entire school, and your whole crew, to provide a cover for it.¡± Silence is his answer. ¡°Fine. SAF will be here soon to escort you to a jail cell where we¡¯ll give you the same choice, except your options will be between seeing daylight sometime when you¡¯re still young, to a lifelong internment that even your guardian can¡¯t get you out of.¡± ¡°You¡¯re dead, DeShandrea. Just like the rest of these misfits.¡± It was mildly impressive that he could talk through a dislocated jaw and a few broken teeth, and his eyes oozed hatred at all of them. ¡°My father will¨C¡± ¡°Be joining you in a jail cell once I find enough proof.¡± Nick is unflinching in his rebuke, and Joneleth tries to rise, but Drenar stomps down on his chest, and gives him a warning glare. ¡°How¡¯d he end up going from an orphanage back to someplace even worse?¡± Drenar asks. It¡¯s telling when Nick is reluctant to answer. ¡°Jonaleth here got a fast pass through the foster care system to someone even worse, Levine let me know a couple of minutes ago. His foster father has dodged jail for decades as a high-level operative in the Talons. Funny how the witnesses always got cold feet, or evidence just seemed to disappear, or the lawyers found technical loopholes to let him keep running his operations. I just didn¡¯t think the son was so involved.¡± ¡°No. The other part you¡¯re not telling me.¡± ¡°...His parents murdered dozens of kin in their operation of black-market organ harvesting, and arms smuggling. They were so dangerous, that the Valkyries were called in to minimize casualties.¡± Drenar¡¯s breath catches for a second. Hearing Nick confirm it¡­didn¡¯t make things better. It made this so much worse. ¡°You think that justifies what they did?!¡± Jonaleth screams. ¡°Their little shop of horrors was rigged with incendiary devices to torch evidence. If SAF had gone in per standard policy, your parents would have leveled the place. You would have died. Everyone would have died.¡± Nicks¡¯ voice broke slightly, and there¡¯s something in Jonaleth¡¯s face¡­like the lights went out. ¡°King left that part out, didn¡¯t he?¡± Nick lowers his autobow. ¡°Do you really want to keep doubling down, Jonaleth? You stabbed a fifteen-year-old female wargen and she almost died, with this, you¡¯re doing decades of prison time if you don¡¯t cooperate. I can make a case that you were coerced unwillingly, but you have to want to change.¡± ¡°What about when they were beating me to death?¡± Jonaleth snarls and tries to writhe away, but he¡¯s pinned but good. ¡°You know that case was thrown out. More than one way to look at it, DeShandrea.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware of the circumstances now. Be glad that Drenar and Julia are merciful, because if it had been me fighting you, you¡¯d be dead right now.¡± Jonaleth weighs his options, and looks at each of them in turn. Drenar sees it. He knows that Jonaleth realizes this path he¡¯s on ends the way all monsters end: hunted. ¡°Go get your stupid prize. Mechanic bay access panel. It¡¯s a simple mana trigger.¡± His jaw is making a crackling sound every time he speaks, and he just radiates sheer contempt. ¡°But it¡¯s not going to save you, Rashalda. You, your friends, and your whole family are dead. She¡¯s going to find out who you are, but it won¡¯t be from me.¡± ¡°You just don¡¯t know how to take an olive branch, do you?¡± Drenar asks rhetorically. Jonaleth laughs, and Drenar can see cracked teeth and blood trickling from his snout. I hope that regen hurts like a bitch for every second of your recovery. You chose this, not me. ¡°Aw, poor orphan boy still clueless? I guess you would be,¡± he sneers. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t shut up, I¡¯m gonna make him shut up,¡± Julia growls. ¡°No, start talking, Jonaleth. It isn¡¯t news that I¡¯m related to Alexander Rashalda, and he and the Luminaires threw the Talons a beating so thorough that they took seven hundred years to recover from.¡± Jonaleth responds by simply grinning. He¡¯s now tempted to add to the broken tooth count. ¡°Aw, but why spoil it? After all, it¡¯s a matter that cuts close to the heart.¡± Drenar resists the temptation. There is no point in rising to Jonaleth¡¯s taunt. ¡°Bold of you to assume that I¡¯m just gonna hang around and wait for your guys to murder me. I think it¡¯ll be more fun to go on the offensive.¡± Drenar smashes his fist into the side of Jonaleth¡¯s head with a kinetic blast, and this time, he goes out for the count. He rubbed at his now bruised scales. Nick simply sighs. ¡°What? You wanna leave him conscious after what he just said? We need to get into that lab, and I don¡¯t want him waking up while we do that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more surprised you didn''t start beating him to death.¡± Drenar frowns and glances at Jonaleth''s prone body. ¡°It¡¯s not my style. It¡¯s never going to be.¡± Julia simply rolls her eyes. ¡°If we just start killing everyone who threatens us with bodily harm, we are going to end up with a massive corpse pile. That isn¡¯t a solution I¡¯m ever going to entertain.¡± ¡°So, we¡¯re not going to become stereotypical murder hobos?¡± James asks hesitantly over the radio. Everyone shouts in protest. ¡°It¡¯s how you guys play Pathfinder. Drenar made a skull cap out of an actual skull for his barbarian, Sheliana!¡± ¡°Can we focus?! We¡¯ve got shit to do, and villains to send a message!¡± Angela gracefully redirects the conversation. ¡°Good call. Joey, is the golem still intact?¡± Drenar asks, and the golem pops up from a set of damaged bleachers and brushes off a bit of debris. ¡°Not gonna lie, that was kinda badass. Now get us in there, we need to see what Crosomer has been cooking up, because my theory is that whatever¡¯s in this lab, relates to how they¡¯ve been making the awakenings happen, and there could be massive troves of data. Just, be careful guys?¡± ¡°SAF will be here in fifteen minutes. Let¡¯s get in there and grab whatever we can, before the pending screaming match starts with my command chain,¡± Nick affirms. "Joey, how secure is that golem''s remote feed?" "Nick, I make magitech systems in my sleep. It''s secure enough," Kyle says in the background. The trip to the mechanic shop is only interspersed with tying up all the hoodlums and the Talons soldiers, none of whom looked happy at being under detention and laying them all out in a utility closet. ¡°You chumps better be here when we get back,¡± Julia threatens before cracking the knuckles of her claws menacingly. "You really think we''ll be off the street for long?" one sneers. "Ah shut up, don''t dig the hole deeper. You know the drill, call the lawyer," the other soldier states. "They have rules." It''s telling when they treat being beat up and being detained. "I don''t," Drenar states firmly. "You know what you''ve done? Recruited child soldiers. And I thought the Talons couldn''t hit rock bottom, but we keep getting closer." "That bottom is an abyss," the first one sneers. "We''ll get you." "Yeah, your guys were already trying to ''get me''. And look how that panned out. You sure you want to keep bullying the duo who just floored your whole team inside a minute?" The man falls silent after that. "C''mon, we''re done here. Let''s get to the lab." Nick is quick to finish securing them together, and they make their way to the machinist shop. He throws open a panel on the vehicle pit and taps a glowing light. There''s a slight surge of light, probably mana from his fingertip, that glows a sky blue before fading. The floor starts to recede and the concrete warps and distorts like liquid stone before revealing a staircase into the depths of the utility pit in the floor. At the bottom is a steel-lined door, with a simple access panel. "Damn. Guess this wasn''t cheap," Julia comments after whistling softly. ¡°Nick, sidearm?" ¡°Do dragons need sidearms?¡± Julia shifts back to her human form over several seconds and continues to glare at him. Fortunately, her clothes aren¡¯t a shredded mess, due to the mimetic wear she¡¯s got on. ¡°It¡¯s going to be close quarters in there. Sidearm.¡± He pulls out his dimensional armory and rummages for a second. "Bolt pistol, Baur BP-6. The safety is off." He doesn''t even hesitate to hand it to her while keeping his own primary weapon aimed at the door. "The magazine only has eight rounds." He hands her two extra magazines, and she stuffs them in a pouch. "Then that''s all I need." Drenar grabs the sword that Nick kept stashed in his dimensional bag, it would be too close quarters for dragons in here. A couple of resin grenades also provide tactical options. "Drenar, take point. Between you and Angela, you''ve got the toughest barriers." "What am I supposed to do, use harsh language¨Cooh," she beams when Drenar hands her his sword and holster. It''s weird when he hears that crystalline ringing sound again when he taps his own dagger at the ready. Is that tinnitus from me being near deafening explosives, or is my dagger practically singing crystalline tones now? It''s spookier when it emits a single sharp chime, before falling dead silent again. Weird shit happens around you all the time, Drenar. Thought you might want to know. Even Alex is disturbed by it. Vol. 2, Ch. 59: Chess Match, Part One Joey sits in awe at the monitors, and Kyle looks around in the VR projection, the golem eye slowly tracking in tandem. "Mother of Gaia, Josephine. They built this under a school?" The entryway opens up to a bunker-style setup of concrete slab and blue-white, sterile lighting on the inside, and the corridor slopes downward. Bracings of steel girders line the wall, and even the occasional potted plant adorns the large hallway¨Cit¡¯s almost big enough for a dragon. A throw rug adorns the entryway to a small barracks-style room. There are bunk beds furnished with simple but comfortable linens, and pictures of people''s families adorn a small vanity set to one side. A common area next to it has game consoles, a TV, and a few personal effects and devices. All untended, and left as if they were in a hurry. ¡°These creeps treated this place as a home away from home,¡± Drenar growls just ahead of the golem. ¡°Just another day job for them. This is so beyond the pale, given what they¡¯ve been doing.¡± ¡°There are many in the Talons who believe the mage government is corrupt, Drenar. Some who believe that action like this is the only recourse,¡± Nick offers softly. He sweeps the room and grabs laptops and memory sticks. Drenar and the others do the same, while Joey observes and Kyle sits next to her in uncomfortable silence. ¡°There¡¯s always a choice, Nick. People get the government that they work to create. I haven¡¯t exactly been filled with confidence that the Conclave is doing their job.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been aware of them for a week and change. Give it time.¡± ¡°Yeah? Well, these people gave it time. Months of time to make a conscious decision that this was the future,¡± Drenar says darkly before gesturing to the furnished bunker. ¡°What can justify this kind of action?¡± ¡°That the Conclave discriminates against everyone but humans. Some say we were better off when the dragons were running things.¡± ¡°And is it true?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure my opinion matters, considering I work for SAF and am a dragon, myself. Well, half.¡± ¡°You¡¯re also more than the sum of your parts, and a person I trust, Nick. I want your opinion.¡± Joey notes Nick¡¯s hesitance. In the past, he talked to Amaranth in the evenings during one of their many field forays she¡¯d been on as a research apprentice. It¡¯s telling that his words are¡­even more filled with doubt than before. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­noticed a few things that make me uneasy.¡± ¡°Even you?¡± ¡°Even me, Drenar. And I didn¡¯t used to feel that way. Things are changing, and not for the better.¡± ¡°So people jump ship and offer their talents to the Talons, without getting their hands bloody,¡± Angela concludes just out of frame. Nick nods quietly. ¡°Talons get researchers and people committed to the cause. They in turn keep it clandestine, to avoid blowback.¡± ¡°Maybe for them, this is their job. Researchers who were fascinated with the idea of bringing back two million dragons, and undoing a terrible mistake and a tragedy for almost an entire race,¡± Joey offers softly. ¡°The end goal is noble, but the means and methods¡­that, I could never get behind. It violates every ethical norm I¡¯d hold.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll use them, Joey. They¡¯ll be cannon fodder. Scared kids, with no clue why this is happening to them. Valosterla will say ¡®trust me¡¯ and they¡¯ll believe her. Her, or Crosomer.¡± Drenar¡¯s iron-clad words ring with determination. ¡°Kyle, does that golem have any alternate vision functions? Pan around, look for anything unusual or hidden. That safe upstairs was my clue there¡¯s more to hide.¡± ¡°Mana sight and thermal. I packed a lot of stuff into these prototypes,¡± he answers before switching between the visual spectrums. The mana sight is always something to get used to, and it paints the world as a dark gray mass, except where mana crystals or crystal filaments are present in bright whirls of blue, red and purple lights. The energy signature of magical organisms is also present, along with magitech systems and circuitry. Joey motions for control, and Kyle obliges her. She pans around while he drives forward, and she looks at each of them in turn. Nick has that developed crystal lattice through his body, glowing bright¨Ctypical, for his age as a half-dragon. Drenar¡¯s outline is bright¨Cintensely bright, even though the lattice isn¡¯t as developed, and Julia¡¯s almost overwhelms the vision. ¡°Joey, are these kids¡­normal?¡± Kyle whispers. ¡°Based on this visual¡­Drenar and Julia have extremely developed mana circulatory cores within them. Julia just Awakened, which is incredible.¡± She pans right and the visual overloads, and she winces from the bright screen. ¡°Kyle, turn the sensitivity down, something overloaded it.¡± ¡°Hang on. Troubleshooting guys, one second,¡± he announces over the radio before fiddling with the controls and turning down the collector sensitivity. Joey stares at what had overwhelmed them before. ¡°Joey? What is that?¡± ¡°A crystalline shard. It¡¯s¡­right in her heart.¡± She keeps the radio off deliberately when she looks at Angela¡¯s outline¨Cradiating brightly. That false image shows a mana crystal lodged somewhere in Angela¡¯s heart muscle, visible to them because it¡¯s so big. ¡°This is¡­unusual. This doesn¡¯t happen for decades¨Ceven centuries in dragons. Do we¨C¡± ¡°No. Let¡¯s not ask questions yet. Just note it.¡± Kyle looks disturbed by this. ¡°All three of them are giving me weird vibes. Could this be part of the devices¡¯ effect?¡± ¡°We need data on them when we aren¡¯t in crisis mode. None of this is normal or in alignment with a normal Awakening.¡± She jots it down while they continue grabbing everything of intelligence value, and Drenar gives one last look around the room before they leave, and Angela puts a hand on his shoulder. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°You alright?¡± ¡°No. I can¡¯t fathom how someone could do this. Work in a clandestine lab, go home, say hi to the kids after work, tuck them into bed at night, then rinse and repeat. Every single day, while they commit unethical experimentation on other kids as a regular nine-to-five job, Angie. Let¡¯s keep going.¡± For some reason that she doesn¡¯t fully understand, she feels that gnawing anger in her own heart, too. He¡¯s absolutely right. This is unbounded arcanist research at its worst. The team continues down the hall, and Kyle switches between the visual setups and sticks to normal vision mode. They come up to another bunker door with a heavy hatch. Julia holds a bolt pistol at the ready while Nick eases the door open with a well-oiled hinge, and they peer inside. Kyle runs the golem past their feet, and Julia nods. Joey examines the room while Kyle drives, and she''s filled with wonder and a trickle of dread. The research room is massive. An arched ceiling that a dragon could stand in comfortably looms above. The space below is concrete slab walls with small decor to make it more lived-in, and there are rows of computers, processors, sample trays, laboratory cabinets, and more. Microscopes and arcanist gear adorn one desk, and there are hand-written notes when Kyle launches the golem up onto the table with an unsteady use of a kinetic thruster. Everyone disperses and gets to work. Joey is still taking in the sights, while Kyle lets out a low whistle, ¡°This is an arcanist dream lab.¡± She has a much different opinion than her lab partner. "It''s a place they used for experiments on kids, Kyle. A place where Valosterla or King gave orders to kill people getting too close to the truth about what they were up to. There is nothing dreamlike about this place," she rebukes quietly. ¡°No matter what world-changing information they gleaned from it.¡± "Point the finger at the people. But the tools can''t be held responsible for what the hands that wield them do." She doesn''t acknowledge his candid point and continues to take in the sight, and focuses on Drenar. He looks grim. But not terrified like he should be by this point. She notes the equipment is all extremely high-end. Expensive, and very hard to acquire. "Drenar, this lab has top-of-the-line stuff that even I don''t have here in Asqualia. This took years to acquire, and lots of planning. Lots of money. You shouldn''t be here, any of you guys," she said in a low tone. Drenar lets out a low grunt. "SAF already dropped the ball¨CNick and Levine notwithstanding. Jonaleth¨Cthat giant dragon we just threw a beating¨Cthreatened to kill me and my foster parents when my brother wouldn''t play ball with them. I''m exactly where I want to be Joey, throwing a wrench in their plans." He circles around checking for presumably traps or sensors, and motions Nick and Julia to the sides of the room to check around. He points occasionally to the others, noting the whiteboards of experimental data and equations. There are also some mundane notes on lunch and dinner requests. ¡°Nick, Julia, Angela, bag and tag every hard drive. Put them in those shielded bags. That son of a bitch isn¡¯t going to wipe the data on us twice. We need to hurry, reinforcements could be here at any minute once they figure Jonaleth isn¡¯t responding.¡± "Drenar, don''t take it the wrong way, but you''re not a damn superhero," Joey fumes. She¡¯s annoyed by that slight smirk of his, even as dire as this situation might be. "I¡¯m not. But¡­some family members were. Alexander Rashalda led the Luminaires a long time ago, something that got under Crosomer¡¯s scales, big time." "Are you talking about¡­Wait, Alexander Rashalda?" Kyle asks. Drenar nods slowly. "Wow, that''s crazy. I thought he died right before the end of the war! He and the Valkyries wiped the floor with them, it just took a while!" "Yeah. Crosomer hasn¡¯t let that go. They used to be friends for a long time. Then they ended up on opposite ends of the war when he went rogue and decided the Conclave had to burn," Drenar speaks up suddenly, voice etched in tension. The board he¡¯s looking at shows him, and his friends. With detailed notes. Along with a note to incinerate everything if Valosterla swings by. That seems to be an oddly specific instruction. "If you don''t mind me asking, why are you so popular Drenar?" Joey asks warily. This is a massive obsession for one kid, even as impressive as his talents and abilities were when compared to the average mage, even the average dragon! "You get the answer to that, there''s a prize pool waiting for you. My theory is that our resident snake face feels clinging remorse over Alex''s death, so he has to make it up to me somehow. While I get the why, it doesn''t make me any less upset about his methods. And I''m not the only one he''s obsessed with." Drenar''s composure slips for just a minute. Gone is that determined expression, but of someone still so young, and just¡­hollowed by something. "Joey, none of us had any warning on this. People kept our heritage from us. Our own parents. Bad enough knowing mom and dad just¡­left us, and gave us no heads up. No contingency. Nothing." "Left?" She asks softly. Drenar nods after a second. ¡°I heard you saying something to Jonaleth before, but¨C¡± "Maybe this isn''t the kind of conversation we should have over the phone," he replies quietly after a second. Change of subjects Joey, don''t lose him! She thinks for a second. "Right, I get it. Maybe later. So, about that fight earlier¡­you''ve done this before?" He glances at the golem and nods. "Unfortunately. Before this, I had a decidedly thorough training in combat. Spoilers, Julia is dangerous," he adds with a soft laugh. ¡°Then again, I guess I am too. Angela, Julia, and myself did some hefty damage to their soldiers collectively, and Crosomer.¡± "So¡­you guys are¡­" "Close friends," he answers. He doesn¡¯t elaborate. "Drenar, quit chatting up the mad scientists!" Julia scolds in the background. "Unless it''s about me. Hey, I don''t suppose this golem does FaceTime, does it?" The dark-haired girl comes into focus¨Cshe actually is quite pretty, with some expressions of oceanic or possibly Japanese facial features, but her skin is pale white. And her eyes are bright azure. Scandinavian, too? Maybe Nordic? Joey has a decent recognition for faces¨Chas she seen her before somewhere, before the yearbook discovery? ¡°Um¡­it does have a function to set up a video feed¨C¡± Kyle starts to say. ¡°You know what Kyle, hell with it. I think they need faces to match with a voice.¡± She makes her decision without hesitation. ¡°Let¡¯s make our debut to the teenage dragons with attitude.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 60: Chess Match, Part Two "Are we sure we don¡¯t want to keep anonymity¨Cah hell, if the Talons are gunning for us, might as well.¡± Kyle taps in a few commands to the golem. On their end, the teens and Nick see a small projection of Joey pop up from an emitter on the golem''s back, and Julia flashes them with a toothy grin. "Holy hell! You are a knockout dear, what are you doing working in a nerdy lab?" Julia asks excitedly. "Uh¡­thank you? It might surprise you, but the nerdy lab pays decently. I like your hair, but, what''s with the dark makeup, though?" Joey still can¡¯t get over her eclectic personality¨Cand that she''s apparently a fierce warrior if the battle in the school is any indication of the rest of her skills. "Radiant souls need a little dimming, hence the black and purple," she replies with a grin. "Don''t worry, I don''t bite. Hey, Drenar, quit having a stroke!" "Eh? O-oh right, we need to keep grabbing equipment. S-sorry Joey, I''m sure once the pending crisis is over, we can talk more," he stammers after a second. He had been staring for a few seconds. Perfectly normal for an average male teen. Hmm. Should I lighten the mood? Mess with him a little? Her lips crease upward slightly. ¡°Something on your mind?¡± she says playfully. ¡°Uh, well, yes¨Cno¨Cum¡­¡± he''s flustered and he keeps gazing upwards. What''s with that, anyway? ¡°Is it a little weird when I say you have purple, or lavender eyes? Wait, are you a dragon? I read that¡­which was it¡­I think the Baltic swiftwing has purple eyes?¡± ¡°Nope, just a mage,¡± she answers. Aha, he''s so new to this. This is mildly surprising, not everyone can actually see my eye color. Even some mages can''t. Of course, it''s far more common in Kitsune, but I doubt he knows that. ¡°You know, honestly, the first thing people comment on is my hair.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve met people with red hair. I never met someone with lavender eyes.¡± ¡°Dear Fates, call Disney. Tell them that one of their princesses escaped,¡± Angela coos. ¡°Well, uh¡­thanks?¡± No one''s ever called her a Disney princess before, even as a joke. ¡°I don''t sing, though.¡± ¡°I can fill in the role!¡± Angela says proudly. She does have that kind of voice that could carry a tune well ¡°Seriously it''s so red, tell me that''s not a natural color! Also¡­wow, you do have purple eyes!¡± ¡°They''re blue, you starstruck teens!¡± someone on the radio says in protest. ¡°Get back to stealing world-altering evidence and earn more of a death wish with the Talons army, why don''t you! Sorry Joey, they lose focus. I¡¯m Angela¡¯s brother, James. They¡¯re all feeding me mission data. "Nick, get your shit in gear, the school is clear, but we¡¯re starting to get interference up here on the feed. Wanna guess that the Talons are trying to kill radio communications?¡± ¡°Done. Guys, we need to speed up,¡± Nick instructs. Everyone starts working faster, and Joey pans the golem around, looking for something hidden. She keeps it parked next to Julia for now, while she¡¯s tearing apart server racks and grabbing everything not nailed down, and it disappears into a dimensional bag. ¡°Careful, Julia.¡± ¡°I can work and talk. Joey seriously, I swear I¡¯ve seen you before. I can¡¯t put a finger on where, and it¡¯s driving me nuts! Though, I think I¡¯d remember someone with lavender-colored eyes.¡± ¡°Unusual eye colors are common in mages, it has to do with the mana in our bodies,¡± she explains. Now that she mentions it, Julia does seem a little familiar. Have they crossed paths in town before? What she leaves out is that she has never seen anyone else with eye color like hers. Not even Kitsune do¨Cthe next closest was the Baltic Swiftwings but it''s much closer to a blue hue, and her mother had never mentioned dragons anywhere in the family line. "Let''s focus on our task, and figure out what these creeps have been up to, later. Nick, how''s it going with that server rack?" Angela seems to be the one to get them back on track. Routinely, if Joey has any prediction. "This thing is bolted tight in here, just need a minute. Julia, where are we at with the hard drives?" "There are so many of them. Fates. This could be petabyte-level data storage. Levine is going to have a field day. Is Kyle recording everything? We''re grabbing every hard drive we can carry. This place is just¡­unsettling. So sterile." Joey sees something that catches her eye. "Kyle, go right, that board with strings. I''m zooming in." She looks on as he brings the golems gaze to the board. There are runes or glyphs written down. With attempts at translations, she surmises. Drenar is still photographing the boards as fast as he can. "Drenar, what are those runes?" "I¡¯m not sure. The device we saw briefly in the Mount Syren mine had glyphs that looked mighty similar to this." Drenar is now peering at the glyphs and traces one with his hand. "This writing is strange. They arrange writing in rows, or columns. Or in arcs. Perhaps there''s a context for the orientation of the symbols?" "There has to be. This is a dialect of draconic, maybe. I recognize a few of the symbols, but this isn''t my area of expertise," she admits. "So, you think this device forced your awakening?" "That''s the theory. It''s very unsettling." "You don''t happen to remember what it looked like, do you?" "We took photos, before an incident involving being shot at and nearly being crushed in a cave-in. And there was a mine cart ride from hell, too." ¡°Holy Gaia, you were there at Mount Syren? Tell me you guys weren¡¯t responsible for the Talons blowing up the mountain!¡± She makes the connection in an instant. ¡°Crosomer and his lackeys triggered a remote detonation after we broke in and stole evidence. We kinda had a hand in that demolition, accidentally. Oh, and Julia shot him with a .50 caliber dragonslayer rifle. It didn¡¯t do nearly enough slaying,¡± he adds dryly. She stares bewildered at the display. ¡°Fates, Drenar. Don¡¯t act so casually. I think you¡¯re an adrenaline junkie.¡± "Nah Joey, I''m really nothing of the sort. That said¡­there''s been some pretty wild stuff going on." He traces the text as if trying to remember something. "I''ve seen this symbol before. It looks like a six-winged dragon, but in a stick-like form. What is this?" "Oh, that? A very primitive depiction of Gaia, the silver justice." He peers at the golem with interest. "So, who is she?" "Only the guardian of our world against the abyssal evils of our universe," she replies from memory. "She''s a goddess. Just like all the other ones from vanilla world history." "Okay, so like church for mages," he replies. "For a second there, I thought you were going to tell me gods are real entities." "Well, people believe," she answers halfway. "Not a lot, but they do. You saw this symbol on the artifact?" "Yeah." He tracks his fingers across the images. "These rune controls could have near-infinite combinations. Cracking open the aether to let loose drakensouls sounds as scary as it does impressive right now." "How do you not know about Gaia, anyway?¡± "Sheltered life. Two weeks ago, we didn''t have a clue magic was real. Or what we were." This answer genuinely surprises her. "I told you we got thrown into the deep end. That wasn¡¯t an exaggeration.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "You''re handling it pretty well for someone who jumped in the deep end," she comments. "We found one of Amaranth''s volumes at Julia¡¯s house. We didn''t have a clue how relevant it was until we figured out we were Awakening. We found another book by Ergath and started piecing things together, and then when we heard about the Talons, we did what we really shouldn''t have. We got involved." "You just found those books lying around?" His answer makes her nervous. "People don''t just leave them lying around Drenar, they should have been protected and secured! Normally anyone without mana wouldn''t ever be able to even see them, they''d appear as some other mundane book." ¡°We saw them from the beginning, by that logic. Or Julia did. But that was well over a month ago¡­that¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°Okay, what about the Awakenings, did you guys find anything out about that?¡± ¡°The experiment they were running was fast forwarding certain segments of the Awakening process and triggering our draconic genes to active state early, up to even three months ago. Nick found the blood work that tipped him off. So we likely had a trickle of mana generation in our bodies.¡± Even as horrifying as the result is, it¡¯s still incredible that such a thing is possible, she reasons cautiously. "So, what is their goal, anyway?" He finishes taking photos, and ponders for a second. "Awaken about two million dragons. All at once. Chaos in the mage world works in their favor." This rattles her immensely. Such a worldwide breach would crack the Veil protocols into thousands of pieces. There would be no way to stop magic from spilling into the mainstream. "Of course, I doubt the altruism of some of our adversaries. One of them reeks of being a Kefka clone, and Robespierre Crosomer already got burnt by the Conclave once, and is likely seeking revenge as a bonus. Then there''s the third guy at the top named King. I don''t know what his deal is yet. But if there''s anything I''m good at, it''s finding myself in some really weird situations." "Drenar, help me with these server racks, we¡¯re saying to hell with the drives and dumping the whole rack in," Joey hears Julia, and she pans the golem over while Kyle drives. "Hey uh, Joey right?" "Yep, that''s me. What''s up?" "Question for you. Where are you from? I totally hear an accent, but I can''t place it." Joey smiles softly, it¡¯s rare for people to ask her about that. "Missouri." "But I hear just a twinge of a British accent. Did you spend a long time there, maybe for academics?" "Three years at the academy In London, plus post-grad studies." Aren''t you observant, she thinks contentedly. "Aha! We have our Hermione, Drenar!" "I thought that was you, actually," he retorts while taking tools to the bolting interface and pulls hard drives out of the server rack. "Who''s Ron?" "Totally James." He grunts at this. "What, don''t you agree?" "James is useful at keeping our bad ideas in check. I''ll tally him up as our Kim Kitsuragi." ¡°I am your voice of reason, you insane teenagers! Keep stealing unethical research!¡± James barks over the radio. ¡°You are five minutes older than me, brother,¡± Angela gnashes. "You guys are so weird.¡± Joey can''t help but smirk¨Chere they are in a dangerous situation and still able to keep relatively calm and collected. She pans the golem around, and examines the rest of the room, watching Nick prowling around and extracting every electronic he can find from the remaining equipment. "Nick, when did you get back into town?" "I''ve been in town for a few years. Man. How did we not cross paths by now? I even hang out at the Mercadian Promenade a few days a week." "I''ve been mostly in Asqualia, it''s pretty self-sufficient, and I''ve been busy with work. How did you get involved in this mess, anyway?" For a dragon, he may look young, but he carries the burden of having seen and experienced an awful lot. As a soldier and professional monster hunter, she did expect that to an extent. "The Talons. They''ve been working their tendrils into town and the surrounding areas for a while. I worked undercover at the school, since it allowed me to keep an eye on the youth. People the Talons target early with guiding them down a bad path." "Sounds like you just like them young," she comments with a grin. He sighs and shakes his head. "Nah. I''m not the type. Speaking of¡­you seemed fixated on Drenar," he counters with a coy smile. She stops for a second because it catches her off-guard. "He just happens to hog the spotlight." Was I really that fixated on him? Nah, it can''t be, he''s not my type! Not that I really have *a* type, but still. "Uh huh, is that all?" "He''s a half-dragon like you, affected by a magical experiment! How often do you get to meet one of those wandering around? I need him not dead so I can get a few samples. For my job. And my academic curiosity. And totally not in a creepy way," she adds forcefully. "See, I would have believed that, until you added that last sentence.¡± She grinds her teeth when he smiles, why had she said that to justify herself? "Is there something you''re trying to say?" She taps a finger impatiently on the armrest. "Me? Nah. I''m just observing." "Yes, keep doing that. Observing," she says with an air of annoyance. "Nick, how many other confirmed drakensouls have you made contact with in the past month?" "Probably a dozen, counting last night too. Hey Joey, I have a question now that I think of it. How fast is Awakening supposed to be?" "A few weeks, a month. Why?¡± ¡°Julia went from zero to a hundred inside an hour. You saw it.¡± ¡°She was using elemental plasma before, I think you mentioned?¡± ¡°Joey, I¡¯ve never seen kids this young with this level of ability. Drenar¡¯s martial abilities,¡± he says in a low tone, ¡°Are unprecedented. Julia¡¯s plasmakinesis is extremely well-tuned¨CI might say her martial training helped with that, and Angela¡¯s telekinetics are exceptional. There is something not normal about any of this, the longer this goes on.¡± If even Nick is concerned, it has to be important. "Nick, do me a massive, lifelong favor. Do not get them killed. As soon as we find a safe place to meet, I need to get samples from him, and uh¡­Angela and Julia too, for baseline comparison. This isn''t supposed to happen! These Awakenings aren''t supposed to happen, either!" "Easier said than done. We might have gotten on the Talons'' radar a bit too much. We uh, crashed a Talons get-together in the woods, and they''re trying to brainwash kids into joining their efforts. Except that went badly. We put them in a panic, and I suspect more Talons soldiers are on their way.¡± ¡°How are we going to sort through this anyway?¡± Angela asks while bagging the last drive. "We? No. There''s no ''we'' on this one. This is going to SAF. And by that, I mean my friend Levine, and anyone he vouches for." "You trust him that much?" Angela asks. Nick takes a moment to set his tools down. "I''d trust him with my life. Levine and I have been through some tight scrapes in the past. He is a man of immense integrity." Joey hears a ping alert from the golem, and she looks at Kyle. "What was that?" He''s looking at the other golem feed, his nose practically on the display. "I don''t know. Motion sensor went off, but I didn''t¡­" his eyes widen. "Joey, get them out. It has to be soldiers in refractory uniforms." "Nick, hostiles at the doorway, they''ve got optical camo!" she warns him, and he immediately opens his pack and pulls out an autobow before aiming it at the door and motioning to the others who all immediately focus their efforts, and flips out the crossarms to prime it. ¡°Levine, imminent contact with Talons soldiers, optic camo. Get SAF here faster,¡± Nick relays into the radio, but it¡¯s static now. ¡°Levine, James, respond.¡± There¡¯s still nothing but static and Nick aims the autobow at the entryway. ¡°Guys, forget the rest. We¡¯re extracting now.¡± ¡°Crosomer¡¯s gonna be pissed we jacked his research. I can¡¯t wait to tell him to get stuffed,¡± Drenar says confidently while grabbing his dagger and sheathing his hand in a silvery glow. Kyle switches the golem to thermal optics, and sends it scrabbling towards the doorway. The golem rounds the corner and they both see a blur of white hot light drive right past it, into the room. "Nick, he''s by the entryway, three steps past¨C" The figure notices the golem, and she sees a blunt object of some kind drive down and right through the golem. The image goes blank. She looks at Kyle, horrified that the interloper had picked off the observer effortlessly. "Kyle, get the other golem in there!" Vol. 2, Ch. 61: Chess Match, Part Three Julia grabs her bolt pistol and scans the room, a few meters from Nick. Angela and the others are quick to snap focus, and Drenar calmly takes a readied stance and Angela tosses him the dagger¨Che¡¯s better with it, anyway. "Nick, where is he?" "Optical camouflage. Look for a lensing effect, the cloaks aren''t perfect," he relays to them. Angela grabs Drenar''s broadsword off his back, and has it poised in front of her, waiting for a strike from any direction. She has her back to Drenar as they circle around. "Okay, we can''t see him. But we can hear him. Right?" Angela asks cautiously. Nick shakes his head. "No. Sound muffling, too. I can hear footsteps, but it sounds like it''s coming from multiple angles. It screws with echolocation." Angela has a different idea, and takes a sniff. She hasn¡¯t really tested it, but¨Cshe can smell something that doesn¡¯t match her friends nearby. She sees a flicker of movement. Something that triggers her danger sense, but it''s gone. "Nick. Do you add any scented dryer sheets to your laundry?" "Uh¡­no. It''s an attractor for dangerous monsters out in magical biozones." She has an idea, and she tries to map out the scent. She can tell the general heading¡­just off to her right, but it''s faint enough to be several meters away. Like a slight burning mark she can sense, just like she can sense the pull of gravity. She swivels lightly. She can pinpoint it now. ¡°Do you trust me?¡± ¡°Call it.¡± There¡¯s zero hesitation in Nick''s voice and he grips the weapon firmly. She feels the tension in Drenar¡¯s back when he nods too. She¡¯s got a fix on their elusive guest now. "Ten meters, one o¡¯clock!" Nick and Julia don''t hesitate, and unload several bolts in a tight cone. She sees a blur of movement and one bolt hits home¨Can arcane barrier flares with pale blue light. She closes the distance in about a second, swings the blade, and connects with a defensive block, and a resigned grunt. She feels a sudden kick at her torso and she staggers backward, wincing at the blow. Drenar flings his dagger with his silvery-sheathed hand and the barrier flares again and shatters in a burst of gold sparks, but the dagger keeps sailing. He jerks his hand backward, and the dagger swerves in mid-air to come back to his outstretched hand where he closes to engage, swinging and clanging against a barely visible rod or staff. He manages to grab the hostile and flings them onto a table, a burst of papers fluttering upwards and away, sliding off the hidden figure as they land. Drenar dodges just as a fiery ray pierces past where his head would have been, igniting papers floating through the air in eerie little trailing embers. He¡¯s tensed and sends out a broad kinetic blast with a shout of fury. There¡¯s a grunt of pain and the table slides from the force, along with the person that slammed into it. Angela moves in, blade singing through the air, and sees the outline of a blade, a rapier. She forces the weapon wide and slams into the outline with her shoulder, sending them tumbling¨Cthe cloak is flickering now. The person is slow to rise, and there''s a sound of feet skidding back. She grabs the weapon that fell to the floor and slides it to Julia, who grabs it for safekeeping. Nick in the meantime has advanced with the autobow cocked in a close brace and canted for close-quarters. "Don''t move. I''ve got you sighted now, camo cloak or not," Nick warns the interloper. ¡°Disengage the cloak. Now.¡± "I take it that means you wish for me to surrender?" Angela hears a man''s voice call out, a calm voice that''s as smooth as satin cloth. Middle-aged, maybe? His voice is still distorted, a reverberation that is coming from all around her. It''s mildly disorienting. "We''re more of the ''take them in alive'' crowd," Drenar quips while advancing with his weapon drawn. "Julia, keep bagging stuff. This guy is likely not alone. I think we now know why the radio cut out. Didn¡¯t want anyone listening in, did you, King?¡± "Indeed. I thought I''d stop in for a chat first, and get to know you. You are all, of course, the reason I''m here." Angela sees a slow motion as someone taps something at around chest height, and the illusion dispels instantly, two meters from her. She''s not surprised when she sees the tight-pressed charcoal color vest over a button-down shirt and dark slacks out of something from a steampunk fantasy novel. A pocket watch is tucked into a waist pocket, gleaming silver and pristine glass. She''s even less surprised by the medium length brown-haired, caramel eyes of a man with the calm demeanor of someone utterly in control of their emotions. He even adjusts his collar and brushes off an invisible hair from his sleeve, unbothered by the heavily armed team surrounding him. "We¡¯re the reason you¡¯re here," Drenar growls beside her. "You have some nerves. Your little shop of horrors is sitting smack dab under our school. Why are you here alone?" "Checking in on my investment?" he poses while lightly gesturing to the laboratory. "Well, minus your theft. What do you think you''ll accomplish with all those drives? The encryption will take you longer than the heat death of the universe to crack. They''re at best, the equivalent of paperweights to you." "Every encryption has a weak point. Who knows? I might find a sticky note with a password," Drenar proposes boldly. "Or, you and I come to an understanding." "I don''t think so. You''re not the sort to threaten violence. You''ll inflict it, but only when pressed against a wall and having exhausted every path to peace." Angela can''t help but feel King has a very good read on Drenar, which indicates he''s been observing all of them for a while. A very unsettling implication. "Perhaps I could just tell you what''s on there." "About a few petabytes of data from your tests with that device on the mountain. A device you''ve used to forcibly awaken dozens of half-dragons and drakensouls," Drenar responds calmly. "That, and more." Nick never takes his eye off of King, and neither does Angela. He''s got his arms half raised, but she''s aware enough mages have plenty of surprises. Vocal invocations, while simple, could be used to deadly effect under the right circumstances. "Hmm. DeShandrea. Leading the charge on this one? And I see you''ve recruited teenagers with attitude. How original," he adds with a dramatic flourish. "I usually work alone," Nick responds calmly. "But since these kids all got the short end of the stick from your machinations and they have some uncanny competence, I owed it to them. Angela, cuffs in my coat, right pocket." She grabs them immediately and King puts his hands behind his back while she restrains him. He doesn''t offer up resistance, and she checks his pockets for equipment. Not even an identification or a wallet. She sits him down roughly on one of the spartan lab chairs, takes two steps back, and crosses her arms. "Start talking, King. And maybe start with why you think it''s such a great idea to bring back two million dragons through the bodies of the unwilling or unaware," she states with a vein of anger. He glances at her questioningly. Angela, danger. Hidden. Beware words. Samarina has picked the worst time to speak up, but there¡¯s something very strange about her speech lately. It¡¯s like she keeps giving sharply cognizant advice, too good for Angela¡¯s own observations to account for alone. Is this another power? A supernatural intuition? "You''re working from incomplete information. I am quite aware of most of your knowledge base. Perhaps you¡¯d like to be educated?¡± Even when he¡¯s in cuffs, King has that absolute level of calm that is uncanny. She imagines he only needs one distraction or opportunity to break out of an unfortunate situation. ¡°Oh we absolutely would, King. I¡¯d advise you to tell the truth if you know what¡¯s best for you. We have our own information that we¡¯ve compiled.¡± Angela stands in front of him, arms folded and stance tensed. Drenar and Nick flank her. ¡°Tell us why.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a broad question. Care to narrow it down?¡± he asks politely¨Cagain, quite out of place for someone who¡¯s now restrained and not going anywhere. ¡°Let''s start with how you seemingly knew we were watching you earlier, at the ranger retreat.¡± Drenar flings the suggestion out there, trying to bait out a response. ¡°Ah, you think you¡¯re skulking around all stealthily?¡± King looks amused at this game, because it¡¯s one he likes to play. ¡°I¡¯ll give you credit, you stayed low pretty well. I think you had an inkling or an instinct early on to keep ¡®off the radar,¡¯ as they say. That intuition may have saved you from a premature death more than once. If Val is any indicator.¡± ¡°You mean that great big bitch of a dragon?¡± Drenar growls. ¡°You shielded us from her at the cabin. Why?¡± ¡°Because you still have a role to play.¡± King doesn¡¯t even try to hide it, which makes Angela immediately worried by instinct. ¡°Your role in this is not finished. It¡¯s just getting started, were you not paying any attention to Crosomer on the mountaintop?¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°We were having words. And then a big duke-out fight where he put a big bloody bite into my arm, thanks. Sure felt like my ¡®role¡¯ was coming to an end if I didn¡¯t step up my game and give him a big bleeding rebuke.¡± Drenar twirls a few oversized teeth on a string necklace he¡¯d garishly put together, and Angela sighs inwardly. Say what you will about Drenar, but he keeps to his word. Honorbound. Samarina chooses yet another strange descriptor, but she ignores it for the time being. King peers at Angela, with a raised eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m still interested in your role in this. You weren¡¯t on the candidates list. Neither is your brother, yet here you are, and you¡¯re a Maridian silver with some¡­interesting deviations.¡± ¡°Yeah, it feels really nice to be used as a test subject in your little science experiment, King,¡± Angela says menacingly. Drenar might have an issue with beating this man bloody, but she doesn¡¯t have the same level of restraint. ¡°You''re going to force massive psychological trauma on two million people who are going to have a dragon talking inside their head, if you pull this off. You are ethically and morally bankrupt, and the word ¡®evil¡¯ wouldn¡¯t be much of a stretch, either. What do you mean by ¡®deviations¡¯ exactly?¡± ¡°Oh, I think you know already.¡± His eyes flicker to Nick for a second when he says that, then back to her. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t spoil all the fun. Much as this is a bit of a palette cleanser from working with¡­my other partners in this enterprise, I¡¯ve got tasks to complete. For instance, the collection of certain documents you have in your possession, and are still bagging up haphazardly,¡± he adds with annoyance when Julia stuffs another hard drive in a bag. "Yeah buddy, we got dibs! This is our data now! Seeing as it''s about us, we''re taking it back!" Julia retorts with a grin. ¡°You know what¡¯s haphazard, much to Angela¡¯s point?¡± Drenar leans in, eyes boring into King. ¡°The fact that you think you¡¯re somehow in the right on this one. You¡¯re not rebels, and you¡¯re not fighting the good fight. What are two million people supposed to do when they get infused with a dragon soul that they¡¯ll be stuck with unwillingly for thousands of years? What kind of trauma is that going to inflict? What about the impact on the magical community?¡± ¡°Life is filled with surprises. And then, life continues," King responds. ¡°You think that won¡¯t have dire consequences beyond building an army? The rest of the world will take notice, there¡¯s no way they won¡¯t. And the damage you''ll inflict by doing this can''t possibly be justified by whatever it might fix." ¡°Oh? Do you claim to know what it¡¯s like, being a drakensoul?¡± King asks slyly. Does he know? Angela thinks for a second. If he does, then how does he know? ¡°Their displacement put a massive hole in the mage world. Bringing them back will be sufficient to restore the balance. It may discomfort you to know this, but good change is often difficult¨Ceven impossible, to attain at times. It requires sacrifices and great pain in the process. Put another way¡­if you plan on stopping us, what are you prepared to sacrifice?¡± King never breaks composure in his words. Drenar stands there, looking stoic, his words steel-clad. ¡°My hard-earned ire, and a lot of blood and sweat to put people like Val in prison, or in the grave,¡± Drenar growls. ¡°Same with Crosomer. And you, if you think you can convince me that you are not the bad guys here.¡± ¡°Admirable. But are you willing to put your friends¡¯ lives on the line? I know you¡¯ll put your own on the line without hesitation. Could you make the call that costs you someone you love and care about?¡± King¡¯s gaze flickers over to Julia, who is still glaring at King with deadly intent. Angela shakes her head when her hand drifts to the bolt pistol sitting on the lab table. Julia looks like molten fury, but goes back to securing evidence. Drenar doesn¡¯t break eye contact when he offers his rebuke. ¡°I¡¯ll put myself where I need to be. Between Val, and those she tries to hurt on a routine basis." Angela knows he truly means that, given what they''ve pulled off so far. "How many has she killed so far, King? Dozens? Hundreds, even? Or is it so high, that you don¡¯t want to keep tally anymore?¡± King looks back unflinchingly, his expression a flat slate of stone. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought.¡± ¡°And you presume the Conclave is any better? Did Crosomer not warn you of who leads them? Corrupt bureaucrats? Or, perhaps¡­a few select individuals who gave the green light for the dragons to build the pyre of their own destruction,¡± King suggests. ¡°It¡¯s very telling when everyone blames Volkir. They handwave away the dragons leaving as a misguided attempt to shirk responsibility over the mage world. But¡­dig deeper¡­and you¡¯ll realize that this effort was beyond even him.¡± There¡¯s something very wrong with the confidence he has in his words. He¡¯s speaking like he knows a vast secret. ¡°Who stood to benefit with the dragons gone? There are true monsters still lurking in plain sight, and offering honeyed words. The biggest monsters are sometimes¨Cironically¨Cthose you think you should trust the most.¡± ¡°Okay there, big speech guy. I think we¡¯re done. Nick, let¡¯s cart this jackass off to prison,¡± Julia interjects. King smiles when he gazes at her. ¡°Oh, before we do that, I need to test some plasmakinesis. You''re gonna volunteer to make my day a little sunnier, King! I promise to be mostly gentle.¡± King simply sits back and offers a smirk, oozing confidence. ¡°Let me go, and I''ll tell you a secret. A secret no one else knows. A secret that will cut to the core of your very being.¡± Angela is very apprehensive about this¨Che definitely has a plan. ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s just cart his ass to prison. He¡¯s someone else¡¯s problem once we get him to SAF, end of story, Julia,¡± Angela interjects. King looks back to Drenar and smiles faintly. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not the only secret I know. But I do have a few very big ones. Things even Valosterla and Crosomer don¡¯t know.¡± Drenar leans in, eyes narrowed. ¡°What do you think you know that is so damn important that we¡¯d just ¡®let you go¡¯ to cause more chaos and strife? Nah, get stuffed, King. Nick, let¡¯s carpet roll this creep and mosey on out of here.¡± Drenar turns to Nick, who has extra cuffs ready to bind his hands and feet. As he does, King utters the words that brings the world to a catastrophic halt. ¡°I can tell you who ordered your mother¡¯s death.¡± Everyone gasps in surprise, and Drenar''s instantly terror-struck the second he turns to face King. It¡¯s the same look of utter devastation he wore that entire day at the funeral. As if someone came and gutted his entire life, just for fun. King exudes that tranquil calm while chaos swirls around him. Angela doesn''t see the brave young man who has put his life on the line for others repeatedly. She sees a lost, eleven year old boy, who saw his world split in half in an instant. ¡°I can tell you exactly what happened. November 11th, six years ago, at three-thirty in the afternoon. A fateful rainy day that destroyed your life as you knew it.¡± That unerring, eerie calm in King''s voice only adds weight to the devastation he is unleashing. ¡°Bullshit! It was a car wreck, plain and simple!¡± Julia roars, a plasma spark arcing in her hand. ¡°Do not listen to him Drenar, he¡¯s lying, he¡¯s trying to get under your skin! This is what he does! He steals secrets, and tells convenient lies!¡± ¡°Kind of curious, isn¡¯t it?¡± King asks innocently, and Angela feels her claws emerging on her hands out of instinctive rage. ¡°How does a Maridian and Azure dragon die in something as mundane and suburban as a car veering off the road, and impacting into a gully?" He knows too much for this to not be preplanned. "I wonder, you¡¯ve seen your own healing abilities. And likely, some choice periodicals telling of the strength of your lineage. Did you ponder its potential, even at death¡¯s door? There¡¯s a doubt deep inside your mind that something was withheld. A convenient lie was told to keep you complacent, keep you in the dark.¡± Drenar still can''t talk, he''s still reeling from this. King keeps that contented expression of absolute calm, even as Nick and Julia shout in outrage. He dares to lean forward, a light smile on his face that she wants to smash into the concrete floor. ¡°Would you like to know who the monsters are? Champion?¡± ¡°Drenar, don¡¯t. Don¡¯t you do it,¡± Julia warns him, but Angela can see that apprehension in his face. Drenar is scared that King is right. There is a secret here that he desperately wants to know, even if the price might be more than they can bear. Child of Champion?! When?! Samarina screams out something that sounds like a revelation she shouldn¡¯t know. It falls to the wayside as the situation instantly boils over. Drenar draws his dagger, and his expression has gone as cold as ice. ¡°Oh King, you have truly screwed up this time.¡± There are only two things that can drive Drenar to kill, Angela realizes in a moment of instant horror when he pulls his arm back. The first, a threat to his friends or loved ones, if there was no other way. The second, desecrating the memory of one of the few good things he has left in his life. King is a dead man. She has to act. Now. Vol. 2, Ch. 62: Chess Match, Part Four The killing stroke doesn''t come, even though Angela is already in motion to grab Drenar¡¯s wrist, and she holds him firmly. He doesn''t offer up any resistance. ¡°I didn''t take you for a stone-cold killer, Drenar.¡± She looks right at him and can see he''s still in control. The grip is all wrong, she realizes with a palpable moment of relief. ¡°I''m not. No need to overreact.¡± He''s trying to keep his own anger from boiling over, and he brings the blade level for King to see. ¡°That''s not something I''d ever do, and certainly not something my mom would ever have stood for. Take a look, King.¡± He addresses their prisoner. ¡°I think you know what this is. Don''t you?¡± ¡°A dagger. A well-made one. And perhaps, a sentimental item for a young child,¡± King says, as if disinterested. Angela hears a sharp chime and winces¨Clike a crystalline chime just went off right in her ear. King seems to note it when his gaze shifts to her, a flicker of amusement in his face. What does this creep know? About us? About Drenar? What¡¯s his angle? She doesn''t take more than an instant to ponder it. ¡°Yeah, that''s what I thought. You''ve been eyeballing it the entire time we''ve been in the room. Like you know something we don''t. So educate me. I''d like to know how this dagger and my mother''s fate are tied together.¡± Drenar doesn¡¯t point at the sharp end, but does present it in a way for King to observe it. ¡°Oh? Trying to get me to slip up? You know, if someone hadn''t jumped the rails, you and I would have had an introduction under far better circumstances. I''d have brought you into the fold a lot sooner. Like our currently detained Jonaleth. That was¡­a challenge, to subdue his rage¨C¡± ¡°Don''t test my patience, King. Jonaleth and I have one thing in common, we both watched our mothers die. That''s it.¡± He still might come to blows, but Drenar has a remarkable patience limit that she doesn¡¯t, and even less than Samarina¡¯s snarled words in draconic. ¡°You assume I¡¯d ever work with the likes of you. If you¡¯ve done your homework, you¡¯d know that your crew stands against everything I hold dear in this world. You know far more than you let on. I think that my mother gave it to me to protect myself. Against threats that normal weapons wouldn¡¯t work on.¡± ¡°Good assertion. Now ask, who made it?¡± King taps his fingers impatiently in his restraints. But, Angela notices something. He keeps tapping that ring on his finger. She shies over to his side, just out of his field of view, and Drenar leans in. ¡°Gonna guess a wizard made it. It has runes. That means, someone put a lot of effort into it, and my mother likely knew what it was. Your statement already confirmed my initial suspicions on what she was, and if you know the car crash was a sham¨Ca dreaded notion that I¡¯ve been slowly coming to realize over the past week¨Cthen you know who she was.¡± King smiles. And keeps tapping. But not so randomly. Is he¡­doing morse code with it? Some other means of silent communication? ¡°Closer. I think your associate DeShandrea is more familiar with such an item. Aren¡¯t you, Nick?¡± ¡°The hell you say?¡± Nick snarls, and his fingers flex into the grip of his autobow. ¡°No King, I don¡¯t know what it is. Though I have a few theories, now that you seem to be trying to give out a hint. Drenar, we need to cart him out of here, I don¡¯t want to be down here in case backup shows up.¡± ¡°Oh? Got your reflexes in motion?¡± King says with a smile. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure you can figure the rest out. After all, I¡¯ve got places to be rather soon. I¡¯m overdue for my next appointment.¡± Tap-tap tap. Tap. Tap-tap. ¡°Is he serious?¡± Julia growls. ¡°Nah King, you¡¯re going to prison. For¡­well I dunno, what¡¯s conspiracy to commit terraformation and regicide add up to? Or the vanilla cases of murder by proximity to Valosterla?¡± ¡°Oh he¡¯s going to prison for the rest of his conceivable life,¡± Nick announces with a smile. ¡°Shame, really. I thought me and Dillenger would have to chase you for our entire careers, with us being Sherlock to your Moriarty. Does seem a little anticlimactic.¡± ¡°You know we¡¯ve still got the psychotic dragon warlord and the former head of the conclave to deal with,¡± Drenar reminds him. ¡°They won¡¯t be pushovers. I think the next round is going to be a hard-fought battle, knowing our luck.¡± King chuckles, and Drenar tilts his head to the side, his expression perplexed. ¡°Then again, I¡¯m not underestimating you, either. You can tell me the sordid history inside a jail cell. We''ll have plenty of time to talk about my mom¡¯s mystery past.¡± ¡°Oh? Going to cut me loose? I didn''t think you''d take that offer." "No, your continued health status is now contingent on me hearing this mystery solved, Now. Start with the car accident, what appointment were they going to? That was something that always bothered me, they went in the wrong direction and away from town. What was so important about my mother that warranted her death?" "Why, is a very important question, indeed.¡± Drenar furrows his brow. ¡°You think you''re going to drop that bomb in my life, and play games? Was she working for you, King? Is that how you know?¡± "No. She and I would have been on opposite ends of the spectrum. But we have the same goal." "Wait. Did you just say--" Angela''s thought is interrupted by her continued observation--and her body instantly floods with adrenaline. Her danger sense went into overdrive. Tap-tap-tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap. Angela''s eyes widen before she darts over and seizes King¡¯s wrists, and tries to pry the ring off. ¡°He¡¯s signaling backup!¡± There¡¯s a thunderous sound as a detonation at the door to the lab upstairs blows open the entryway. Metal debris bounces off the corner, down the stairs, and into the room. Angela kinetically shoves Drenar out of the way just before a deadly piece of twisted metal spirals between them, barely missing them and the others. The projectile smashes into a server rack in a screech of metal and sparks. King¡¯s restraining cuffs instantly snap when his ring glows bright green, and a radial wave of silver energy blows them off their feet. Julia braces against the desk, then hurdles over to close for a plasma grapple. King anticipates the deadly female, dodges the shimmering energy lasso, and blocks her follow-up strike, landing a well-timed kick that doubles her over. He grabs the bag of hardware storage in one swift motion. Angela groans and tries to get her feet even as Nick springs to his to engage, firing his bolt pistol point blank, but missing. King is no slouch, he keeps the firearm wide with a series of deft maneuvers, even stripping the magazine out of the weapon and flinging it to the wayside, and smacking Nick in the side of the head with the weapon. He staggers dazed by the hit. Drenar swings wide with dagger in hand¨Cbut King is faster and grabs the autobow off the floor with a flick of his wrist and blocks deftly. Drenar¡¯s dagger flares with blue light searing across the cutting edge. The blade shears through the weapon. King staggers back, dancing and dodging against Drenar¡¯s strikes. King blocks with an effective guard and more deft motions, and even manages to grab a resin grenade of Drenar''s belt after a sweeping blow leaves him reeling for a second. He chucks the grenade at Julia before she can get up. The substance locks her in place, and she charges plasma across her body to try to melt the nasty substance, roaring in fury. King manages to hold even ground against Drenar, the two of them locked together in a contest for control of the dagger. But King is absolutely calm, even confident. Angela is trying to get on her feet, that blast had left her weakened, but otherwise not injured beyond a pain response. ¡°Well well, looks like the second rune unlocked already! You¡¯re more attuned to these relics than you have any right to be at this point, looks like they found a couple of favorites among you!¡± Drenar flings the dagger to the side after he manages a well-placed kick that disrupts King for a split second. He recovers, grabs Drenar and flings him across the table, banging into a console. Angela thrusts out her arm while closing to engage, shocked that the dagger almost magnetically comes to her hand. There''s a tingle radiating up her arm. That crystalline chime is back, and it¡¯s louder than ever. She lunges faster than she has any right to and King barely dodges it, and his hand-to-hand is purely defensive, but certainly effective. He manages to keep it away from his body, and grins. ¡°Oh, looks like they¡¯ve found themselves a new recruit, with the way this delightful little gem reacts to you¨C¡± ¡°Enough!¡± Angela snarls and kinetic blasts King against the wall with a full-force effort. His arcane barrier reacts and barely protects him. Shards of concrete chip and flake off the wall when he bounces back from the strike. He makes an effort to keep giving ground, back to the door. ¡°What¡¯s your game, King?! What are we to you, pawns? Or knights?!¡± ¡°I love that you can make a joke in the middle of a fight. It speaks of ultimate control,¡± he says with a smirk. ¡°Gentlemen, your timely assistance please, but try not to kill them. Just slow them down.¡± His boots clink and he blasts backward in an impossibly fast dodge from her strike, and four talon soldiers in black body armor aim autobows from the entryway. King gives them a wayward salute while his men open fire, a stray bolt pinging off her spell barrier and forcing her to dive behind a server rack, with the others doing the same. ¡°Well, it¡¯s been fun, truly entertaining!¡± ¡°Oh, this bravado bullshit is getting old! Shock and awe time!¡± Julia tightens her hands into fists and plasma courses across her body, shattering the resin in an instant. The scintillating energy stays wrapped around her. Angela flings a barrier over her as Julia lunges into the autobow fire, and there¡¯s a thunderous boom and a surge of white-blue light. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Julia becomes a living bolt of lightning that bowls into three of them. They go careening like bowling pins, and the single man who managed to dodge gets slammed into the wall hard enough to crack the tiling, and Julia surges after King. He looks nonplussed at his men¡¯s extreme ineffectiveness against dragons, like he¡¯s forgotten how absurdly overpowered they are against vanilla shock troops. ¡°You¡¯re next you James Bond Villain wannabe, you¡¯re gonna ride the lightning, and it¡¯s not gonna be a fun time! Get back here and take your beatings!¡± Angela grabs Drenar and darts up the stairs where King is already making a hasty exit. He throws a glass container to the ground, and a barrier bursts into reality, shimmering blue and white sparks. It surrounds him at a distance of two meters which shifts into a solid state of shimmering sparks that look like glass. Angela bounces off of it, as does Drenar, who smashes at the barrier furiously with all his might. Julia reaches out and grabs both of them and Angela feels a surge of energy across her skin--painful, but manageable. "Hit it with telekinetics, I''ll keep the lackeys off your backs!" Julia bounds back to deal with mopping up the stunned Talons operatives while Angela smashes the barrier with a kinetic enhanced kick. It cracks, but the blow should have shattered a regular barrier. ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere King, not till I get answers!¡± Drenar screams, and in a moment of brilliance, tries slicing at the barrier with his broadsword. It pierces, but it¡¯s like sawing through a piece of wood, and the blade gleams even brighter. King wastes no time in placing down a series of tri-folded plates that he pulls from his satchel, and Drenar tries cutting through with all his might. ¡°Damn you King, you¡¯re not getting away!¡± ¡°Really? Seems like I am, actually,¡± he says with all the smugness of a man who has considered every action before the fight began. ¡°Food for thought¡­ask yourself, who made that dagger? Then you should ask yourself, what do you know of your mother, Trisha Rashalda?¡± ¡°Bastard! You don¡¯t get to say her name!¡± Drenar bashes the barrier with a telekinetic burst at full power that cracks the barrier, while Angela uses her own focused kinetic strikes with her fists to crack the barrier in small spiderwebs of damage. King looks unamused. ¡°Note to self, martial prowess is at an extreme peak, and I¡¯m barely able to keep even. Crosomer wasn¡¯t embellishing on that one it appears, or any of the rest of the assessment. Looks like you might be up to the task, after all.¡± ¡°Drenar, time your strike!¡± Angela barks out, and Drenar syncs up and they both strike the glass-like barrier at the same time with the dagger and his fists, but the barrier seemingly shoves the blade backward, nearly wrenching it from her grasp. The cracks multiply, and they both reel back. ¡°Again!¡± Crack. Crunch. Creak. ¡°Again!¡± Crack! The spider web of cracks in the magical barrier is multiplying exponentially with each hit, but King has already powered the one-time-use teleportal pad. ¡°You can¡¯t run from us, King, we¡¯ll find you! Don¡¯t you dare underestimate us!¡± she snarls in fury. He smiles politely, and even bows his head briefly before adjusting his tie. ¡°I won¡¯t. By the way, don¡¯t take too long looking for Asqualia. Last I heard, Val was likely backstabbing me and launching an assault force to go find some precious research journals¨Cand knowing her, she¡¯s going to make it a bloody spectacle. Just something to mull over for a spell. Farewell, hatchlings, we will meet again.¡± There¡¯s a blast of shattering magical glass that dissipates into the air when Angela bursts the barrier apart. She tries to knock King away from the device, but he¡¯s already gone. The teleportal is smoking and sputtering, having run out of juice. She kicks the device to the wayside, and screams in fury. They almost had him! And then they¡¯d let their guard down for a split second! ¡°God damn it!¡± Her breath is ragged as her chest rises up and down, and she can feel the tingle of energy across her¨Cmana burn, or her telekinetics getting slowly more developed? Julia is in a similar state, and looks like she¡¯s ready to kill someone. The men on the floor are all groaning in pain, and two of them are nursing broken limbs or are scorched and bleeding from her brutal strikes. But Drenar is beyond that¨Cshe turns and sees him leering at the now ineffective Talons soldiers. He grabs one off the floor and slams him against the wall in a choke hold, eyes alight with unbridled anger. ¡°Where¡¯d he go?¡± Liquid nitrogen couldn¡¯t come close to how coldly he stated it, which is a dangerous tone from him. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­know,¡± the soldier gasps, and tries to pry Drenar¡¯s iron grasp away from his throat. ¡°Slippery¡­eel¡­¡± ¡°If I have to ask again, it won¡¯t end well for you. Where did he go?¡± Drenar gets up and close his face, and¡­for the first time, she¡¯s slightly intimidated. She¡¯s seen Drenar devastated before, when his parent¡¯s life was tragically cut short. He¡¯d been a shadow of his former self, and hollowed out. Even almost six years later, he still isn¡¯t back to who he was. She¡¯s never seen him furious. Never like this. Not once. ¡°Drenar, you¡¯re going to seriously hurt him, if you hold him like that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the point.¡± His words are as icy as the grave when he utters those three words. ¡°Where is the Talons¡¯ base of operations?¡± ¡°Secure access¨Cteleportal scrambler¨Cfry you on entry,¡± the man chokes out, and he¡¯s struggling to breathe. ¡°Drenar, stop.¡± Angela puts a hand on his shoulder and gives him the gentlest pull. He clenches his jaw tight, and stares right through the man before letting him go, and he slumps to the floor, wheezing and grabbing his throat. ¡°You said you weren¡¯t ready to kill.¡± He takes a minute, breathing heavily from the earlier exertion and the hardened lines on his face soften before he turns to her. ¡°You think I would? For these guys?¡± ¡°I think you can. But this isn¡¯t what you want.¡± He barely even glances over his shoulder at the injured soldiers. ¡°Maybe not for them. Against someone like Valosterla¡­¡± he doesn¡¯t finish the thought and clenches and rubs his wristwatch uneasily. ¡°Until there¡¯s no other choice.¡± Drenar sheaths his sword while Nick keeps his weapon trained on the soldiers. ¡°Julia, tie them up. Nick, where the hell is SAF? They should have been here by now.¡± ¡°Yes, I wonder why they¡¯re delayed,¡± Nick says on a bitter note. ¡°Angela, you alright?¡± She¡¯s been clenching her fingers into her fists so hard that her nails had cut into her skin, and are bleeding lightly. ¡°Did you know?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± There''s only one single thought going through her head, a thought that¡¯s beyond the pale when it sounds like more than theory, and she speaks in a truly menacing tone that even her mother dares not to use with her. ¡°I''m gonna ask again, Nick. Did you know?¡± ¡°Did I know Drenar''s parents were murdered?¡± He asks with his mouth agape for a second, as if he can''t believe he''s been asked. ¡°No. Absolutely not! If I had, it would have been the first thing I would have told all of you in an instant! That is not something you hold back from your friends. I''m insulted that you think I would be capable of that kind of deception!¡± ¡°You sure as hell lied about being a fluffy verdant dragon Nick, which means you¡¯re capable of lying about other things.¡± Angela is about to use some very unkind words, and she¡¯s not going to stop. Julia intervenes before she can get underway. ¡°Whoa! Cool it you two! I get that everyone in the room is pissed, myself included, but this is what King does, he¡¯s the spy! It¡¯s his job, to steal secrets and cause chaos! He''s probably blowing smoke about what could be!¡± Julia conveniently puts herself between Angela and Nick, and she''s still shaking from either adrenaline or barely-contained fury. Drenar''s been wasting no time taking zip ties off of Nick''s bag and hog-tying the deplorables, who are now as silent as the grave. ¡°Drenar, you good?¡± Julia asks. He ties the last one up, and turns to her, looking fatigued and utterly defeated. It''s like the luster in his eyes dims a bit. ¡°Nah, Julia. I just confirmed my worst fears that my mother didn¡¯t die in an accident with my dad. Evan was right, and I didn¡¯t want to believe it. "Something bad did happen. Which means everyone is lying to us about it, and that is why I am so immeasurably far from good right now.¡± There¡¯s a clink of metal and another golem pops into the room from the now buckled double doors, and Angela can see Joey¡¯s face, looking perplexed. ¡°What happened?¡± She''s likely seeing four teens looking extremely pissed off in the middle of a debris field trailing from the bunker, and not having any idea what went wrong. ¡°King got away.¡± It¡¯s about all Drenar can manage to say, and he rubs at his wristwatch¨Che does that a lot lately, Angela observes silently. And a thought of why has crept into her mind. ¡°Joey, Val¡¯s coming for Asqualia. You need to get out of there and warn the rest of your staff.¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s a lot to unpack, and King must be a genius-level wizard if managed to give the slip on Nick¨Coh, sorry,¡± she apologizes as Nick lets out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Did you just say that Asqualia could be under attack soon?¡± ¡°Friday at the earliest. They¡¯re staging weapons and personnel,¡± Drenar answers distantly and is looking at Angela¡¯s hand. ¡°Angie, can I trade back?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, yeah,¡± she says after handing him back the dagger, and he hands back the broadsword and sheath. It isn¡¯t her imagination, there¡¯s a soft tingle of a crystalline chime when she lets it go, back into his hands. ¡°Joey, we need to debrief, and get everyone out of Asqualia. These creeps are a next-level danger, Drenar is right. I think this is the smartest thing we can do right now¨C¡± ¡°Like hell I¡¯m abandoning my home to a bunch of jacked-up magical stormtroopers! If they even try to set foot here, I¡¯ll make sure they die in writhing agony, and Nick knows exactly how competent I am at deterring or killing monsters! It wouldn¡¯t be a large leap in skill applications for me.¡± Her determined attitude brings a small amount of relief to Angela¡¯s dour expression¨Cshe¡¯s fierce, even with her intellectual personality. Brave heart, Samarina chimes in concurrence. ¡°Joey, these people are dangerous¨C¡± ¡°So am I!¡± she retorts before Angela can get a word out. ¡°Look, the first thing I need, is for you guys to not go against another insanely dangerous criminal mastermind and get here to Asqualia! There¡¯s stuff going on with you guys that ties into the research I started doing in the past few days And I could, I dunno, use the protection of four extra dragons! Also samples! But, maybe when the threat of imminent danger isn¡¯t there,¡± she adds and looks a little embarrassed. ¡°Nick, what about SAF, can you call them?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t. SAF is compromised, and I am all but certain of it. There¡¯s no way King could have gotten a way in without inside help, and I¡¯ve got a few theories. Joey, I¡¯m packing up the golem. We¡¯re going back to my house as soon as men and women I trust secure the bunker lab. Everyone here, Levine and James included, do not know you guys were here. Are we clear?¡± Nick says sternly. Joey looks at him, mouth in a silent gasp for a second before her expression hardens, and she nods after a second. ¡°This is going to be as dangerous as one of your hunts, isn¡¯t it Nick?¡± ¡°Worse.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 63: Red Team, Blue Team, Part One Drenar had been in a bit of a mood while waiting for SAF to show up. It had been tense. What was more amazing, was when the heavily armored soldiers didn¡¯t even question Nick, when he showed his identification and gave them the quick sum-up of events. Them forcing Jonaleth at gunpoint and autobow-point to transform back was somewhat amusing, though he wouldn¡¯t even look him or Julia in the eye when he was carted off to a van. No less than three soldiers in blue and black fatigues kept weapons on him at all times, even with cuffs on. Drenar was also stewing internally for many reasons and only half-paid attention, and he¡¯d tuned out Alex for a bit while they got checked for injuries briefly, then Nick was permitted to get them back to his house. Levine made an unexpected call and told the responding officers that he was in charge of the operation, and that he was exerting his discretion. He just felt numb the entire ride back, despite Julia¡¯s best efforts to get him to talk. He really didn¡¯t feel like saying anything other than the bare minimum. How could he have not considered this possibility? Why had he instantly dismissed Evan¡¯s assertion that there had been a cover-up? Was it because he didn¡¯t want to believe it? Or because he knew that their mother had kept secrets, and pulled the rug out from everything he thought she was? A wayward glance at his wristwatch left him shaking in fury for a second. I never would have--damn it! Is there a particular reason you keep looking at your watch? Or what''s beneath? Alex speaks up at the worst time, and he curls his hand into a clenched fist. Lets just say I had an accident. An accident? You''ve been burying some kind of memory-- Alex. Let this one go for now. I will talk about it, but not now, he thinks back. ...This one is bad, isn''t it? A little bit, yeah. I''m better now. ¡°Drenar. We¡¯re here.¡± Angela¡¯s looking at him and she¡¯s not much better off¨Ctension, anger, maybe even a little depression etched in those hardened lines around the corners of her eyes? ¡°Yeah, I¡­um¡­¡± he doesn¡¯t say anything more as he bails out of the vehicle and follows everyone in. But Angela always knows when he¡¯s in a bad state and she gives him that look. That tilt of her head and softened gaze. She might know his tells better than Julia at times. ¡°Okay, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Drenar, I need you to focus. This crisis isn¡¯t over.¡± The gravity in her voice has found footing, and she''s gazing at him with renewed vigor. ¡°King got away, but he flat-out told us their next move. Why do you think he did that?¡± ¡°Probably to screw with us again.¡± He kicks a few loose leaves errantly by his foot, and his posture feels¡­haggard, if he could describe it in a single word. ¡°I think King is playing at another level. I think he has a hidden agenda. What that is, I don¡¯t know yet. But I think he knows things that could change our perception drastically. He is doing this with intent.¡± The others are waiting on the porch, looking at the two of them expectantly. ¡°No matter what they say, I want you to keep this in mind: I don¡¯t know if King is the threat. I think he was toying with us the same way that Crosomer did. He¡¯s trying to get us to see something for ourselves.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why the hell is he putting on the show?¡± He rubs an inflamed scratch by his cheek¨Ca close shave from debris that could have taken a chunk of his face off if he hadn¡¯t dodged. ¡°Because he knows he¡¯s being watched or monitored by someone. Look, call it a wild guess for now. Let¡¯s debrief and¡­¡± She puts a hand firmly on his shoulder. ¡°No matter where this goes Drenar¡­your mother loved you and Evan. Do not ever lose sight of that. Keep that in mind?¡± ¡°Angie, you¡¯re acting super weird¨C¡± ¡°Promise me you won¡¯t lose sight of that?¡± Her lips are tight pressed, like she¡¯s holding back something unsavory if he doesn¡¯t acknowledge her right now. ¡°Alright.¡± They join the others, and head inside after Nick hits the lock. When they get back inside, Drenar is surprised by two things, and Nick puts down every counter-ward he can to obscure their location. Drenar mostly ignores that when he sees the first spectacle, the two-meter-long python with faceted eyes and primordial wings currently wrapped around James in a shimmer of iridescent blue scales. It looks at all of them, yawns with a slight hissing exhale, and nuzzles against James¡¯ neck, who looks like an utter nervous wreck, and is tapping a finger on a keyboard anxiously. ¡°James, what is¨C¡± ¡°Shh. It might ignore me, and go chase a mouse at some point.¡± Drenar glares at him. ¡°I¡¯m in a shit-kicking mood James, and be nice to the Disney-sidekick pet that can bite you. Just some food for thought. Also¨Coh, hey Levine.¡± The second sight that had him on edge led him to start to reach for his dagger. Standing at the computer console is a tall, broad-shouldered man with dark brown hair and light brown skin, peering at a display with a set of antique glasses. He¡¯s dressed in a dark overcoat and had been reaching for a pistol on his shoulder holster before he looks up and thinks better of it. Drenar recognizes the firearm¨Can old Colt 1911. A rather classic weapon, and decidedly out-of-date compared to the more popular 9 millimeters that law enforcement typically carries. Then again, magical firearms are going to continue to subvert his expectations, he figures. ¡°You could have knocked, Levine,¡± Nick says after a brief spell. Levine¡¯s lips crinkle upwards at the edge a little, and he walks over to Nick and gives him a bear hug before letting out a sound of excitement. ¡°And you¡¯ve been soloing the Talons army this week, I got tired of sitting behind a desk and denied resources. Glad you brought these kids back in one piece.¡± Drenar however, ignores the banter back and forth between them, and sees Evan looking at him anxiously. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Drenar, on the radio¨Cwe heard¨C¡± He doesn¡¯t think. He simply walks over to Evan and gives him a brotherly hug, and every bad turn of this night feels like it¡¯s tugging down his soul. ¡°You were right, Evan. I was too stubborn to believe it when you said it. Something did happen to Mom. I was trying so hard to ignore what was right in front of me. I¡¯m sorry man, I let the bastard get away. He¡¯s the only one who knows what happened to her.¡± Evan lets out a soft sigh and returns the gesture before gently letting go. ¡°Drenar, you got the tar beat out of you again on account of stopping these guys. You were up against someone who is above our level by leaps and bounds. He had an exit strategy the whole time, and he¡¯s doing it to mess with us. "Don¡¯t blame yourself. You got everyone out alive, and in one piece. Plus some very helpful bags of loot, by the look of it,¡± he adds before pointing to Julia unpacking the hard drives with a squeal of delight. King had gotten *one* bag, but the rest was still in their possession. ¡°Tell me this is worth something! Data for days! We can finally figure out how they¡¯re using the device!¡± ¡°Whoa. We do not want a repeat of what happened last time!¡± Levine says sternly. ¡°Lass, I need to isolate those drives properly, they look like they¡¯re arcane shielded based on the materials. We cannot afford another screw-up to put Val and the rest of Magitech Industries out of commission. I already have a crew observing her every movement, as close as we can get. We still need proper evidence to nail her.¡± ¡°Witness testimony unreliable? Or do you think she¡¯s going to just kill everyone in sight, and put the crematorium on overtime?¡± Julia asks with surprising restraint. Levine nods firmly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that this time, we might have to. And with SAF now tied up investigating Talons activities, we have a big problem.¡± ¡°No, we had big problems. Now we have massive problems,¡± Drenar states firmly. He pulls the golem out of his bag, which quickly unfurls and catches Levine off-guard, and his arm drifts to the shoulder holster. But only slightly. ¡°Evan, meet our new best friends!¡± ¡°Yes, viewing the inside of a bag while listening to the tense conversation was just not fun at all,¡± Joey replies dryly before flipping the display on. A shorter man with red hair and a short beard is sitting next to her at the desk, wearing what looks like a VR set¨Cpresumably to control the golem? He¡¯s got the visor portion tilted up on his forehead, and he looks anxious. Levine peers at the image, and then back at Nick. ¡°Is that¡­Josephine?¡± ¡°Bingo! You must be¡­hang on Nick, don¡¯t prompt me. Levi¡­Lavos¡­Levine, right?¡± she asks cheerily. Levine nods softly. ¡°Look, Kyle¡¯s been talking to me in the background, after this conversation, we need to cut communication. With a guy like King in play, there¡¯s a good chance they might figure a way to listen in.¡± ¡°I agree. King showed incredible aptitude to remotely wipe our evidence at our last foray with them this evening, and I doubt that¡¯s the full suite of his capabilities.¡± Levine grabs a seat and everyone eventually gathers around the golem. ¡°So, where do we stand? I might have missed part of the conversation while in transit.¡± ¡°SAF is compromised. Our people are helping King at some level. A very high level. I don¡¯t know who we can trust now. King could only have gotten access to Asqualia with a high-level administrator, or someone who could hack the system at a level we can¡¯t detect. ARC is one of the most secure research facilities that SAF curates.¡± That news sets the pace, and Drenar can see the grim mood set into Joey and Kyle¡¯s faces a little. ¡°So, what do we do? We can¡¯t just do nothing. Valosterla is going to bulldoze the place, if she thinks she can get the keys to godhood. I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll stop throwing bodies at the problem until she gets what she wants. I¡¯m not going to let her do that.¡± ¡°Drenar, this is the point where we stop making it our problem,¡± Evan states with his arms crossed and looking irritated. ¡°We did our part. Now we need to step aside. SAF is here now.¡± ¡°No, we have two guys. Out of an agency of thousands who work to fight guys like the Talons.¡± Evan¡¯s scowl deepens. ¡°You¡¯re just pissed that King got the jump on you. I get it. And I get that you¡¯re pissed that Mom¡¯s demise isn¡¯t what we thought it was. But how she died doesn''t matter, assuming he was telling the truth.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you want to know?!¡± There¡¯s a spark of fury inside him that lights up that hasn¡¯t burned on the inside in a long time. ¡°Someone ordered our mother¡¯s death! We don¡¯t even know who, or even why Mom would end up on anyone¡¯s radar, certainly not the man who is co-leading the Talons. It¡¯s all related!¡± ¡°So we were kept blind because mom was involved in something? You know, maybe she was working with the Talons, Drenar, and that¡¯s what got her killed! She kept a nice, cheery cover daytime job in the nursing profession, and probably worked as a killer by night, until she failed a task. That¡¯s what got her a death sentence! Then everyone wanted to spare us the shame, and lied to us¨Cstarting with Julia¡¯s mother!¡± ¡°Oh you did not go there, Evan,¡± Julia growls as she curls her hands into fists. ¡°Your mother was a saint!¡± ¡°I can''t believe you went there, either. If that were the case, then the person we knew was an utter monster, and we never had the first clue,¡± Drenar shoots back with piercing eyes and a tight scowl. ¡°You know that isn''t the case.¡± ¡°Or, there¡¯s the possibility that King was just messing with your head, Drenar. And you fell for it.¡± He finds himself digging his nails into his palms when Evan looks at him accusingly. ¡°Did you ever consider that?¡± ¡°Excuse me, teens? Cool it for a second.¡± Joey¡¯s curt statement cuts the tension while she considers something. ¡°You guys are focusing on the wrong problem. What do they need inside Asqualia? You mentioned something about Volkir¡¯s journals¡­so what¡¯s up with that?¡± Drenar for one is relieved at the misdirect. He gives one last glare to Evan before turning back to the screen and gathering back his composure. ¡°The device in their possession triggered our Awakenings. It was likely always going to happen, but the device also triggers drakensouls to merge with humans, too. There¡¯s a level of weirdness that we don¡¯t fully understand yet. Our meeting with Crosomer didn¡¯t yield nearly enough information for us to put a stop to him yet. "But they have a problem with energy, and translating the device. They were able to safely test our area. But, they drained an entire Resilient Sphere¡¯s energy supply to do so.¡± ¡°Wow. Big energy,¡± Kyle breathes. ¡°Those things were supposed to have the highest energy densities of all known mana variants. And they just¡­drained the gas tank?¡± ¡°Completely. We also don¡¯t know where they moved the device. It was in the mine, and now it¡¯s probably in some super secure facility of the Talons," he answers. Drenar pulls out the photos on his PC display, with Joey and Kyle looking on, curiosity etched in their expressions. ¡°What I do know is, Crosomer only had a partial translation set. Volkir had progressed further in the translations after Crosomer was imprisoned. If I had to guess, Crosomer was Volkir¡¯s apprentice, long before he went down the path of destruction. If we can figure out the runes, maybe there¡¯s a chance we can set the device to a permanent shut-down state. I hope.¡± ¡°Still seems risky, whatever this device did. Premature Awakenings being the least notable offense is scary,¡± Kyle admits. ¡°You¡¯re telling me. I¡¯m a little wary of a god-like device in the hands of Val. She kind of comes across as a¡­well, calling her a megalomaniac wouldn¡¯t be much of a stretch.¡± The thought of Valosterla having that much power made him extremely uneasy. Her becoming an apex-level draconic goddess, though, still pales in comparison to one thing: What Julia¡¯s mother is going to do to him once she gets wind of the two of them leading around town in a mad quest to stop a mage rebel army, and leaving a path of unintentional destruction in their wake. That might only be slightly more lethal. Vol. 2, Ch. 64: Red Team, Blue Team, Part Two ¡°We have a bigger problem brewing than just a wannabe dragon overlord. One that is already having an impact, and may be tied to the root cause for why you guys Awakened,¡± Joey chimes in after a brief lull. ¡°Wait, does this tie into the biozones I heard you mention earlier?¡± Drenar asks after a minute. ¡°You said they grew?¡± ¡°Hang on¨Cbiozone?¡± James asks. ¡°Magical zone, magical plants, critters, and funky crystals,¡± Julia gives a half-handwave. ¡°Nick mentioned it a couple of times. What do you mean they grew, and how much?¡± ¡°They grew exponentially. Whatever this device did, I have a nagging feeling that the spillover effects allowed a dead biozone to reinvigorate over by Savosel road¨C¡± ¡°Holy hell. That¡¯s where we live!¡± Evan exclaims. ¡°When did you guys come out here?¡± ¡°This afternoon, and¨C¡± Joey suddenly grins. ¡°That was you in the truck, Nick! I knew something was bugging me about you guys driving by in the afternoon!¡± ¡°We just crossed paths with you? That¡¯s a funky cosmic coincidence,¡± Drenar states, dumbfounded. He¡¯d been in the front seat and he vaguely remembers seeing someone in a sedan with bright red hair. ¡°There¡¯s a biozone near us?¡± ¡°There is. It was supposed to be dead based on old town records, meaning no mana crystals nearby, or existing biomass for decades. We stumbled on it when we were researching drakensouls, and effects that could feasibly trigger a premature Awakening. "The presence of nearby magical plants and crystals indicated rapid growth in a three or four-year window. It isn''t just that, there was a mana storm that might have generated from it. Charged raw mana energy in the atmosphere. There''s a working theory I''ve got that Awakenings can be triggered by them." "Didn''t it rain that night before you started showing signs of Awakening?" Julia asks. "Wait. I did too, my plasmakinesis kicked in that day at school!" "It did. But how..." He thrusts the craziness to the wayside. It had also been raining in his dream. That is a very strange coincidence, what does it means? "Okay, focus on the biozones. It''s a bad thing, right?" Joey nods with reluctance, and leans into the camera frame. ¡°Guys, if this growth is tied to the device, and based on timing alone¡­this could be bad. Not just two million dragons bad, cracking the Veil apart bad, but really bad.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fuzzy on the whole good and bad thing. What do you mean ¡®bad¡¯, Joey?¡± James asks. She withdraws from the screen a little, arms folded tight. There¡¯s deep concern on her face. ¡°In theory, barring more evidence? Magical biozones could override and replace normal plant and animal matter. While they¡¯ve been shrinking on average due to human pollution and climate change, controlled management of the zones is sometimes needed. It''s to keep them from wary eyes. That was my last job. Cataloging flora and fauna with the Magical Biological Preservation Society. I got to see some of that on occasion. ¡°This growth, if scaled, would override large sections of the world''s biosphere. It could be a slow-burn apocalypse, guys. Mana is slightly hazardous for non-magical humans. That includes plant matter with mana-infused materials, and animals. We¡¯re talking about a collapse of the world¡¯s biosphere within years to decades, if I had to project growth out.¡± There¡¯s a grim tone to her words that tells Drenar she¡¯s convinced by the evidence thus far. ¡°Well, shit.¡± James sums up everyone¡¯s reactions in two words, and Drenar has even more colorful words in mind. ¡°Crosomer is going to burn the world down in his quest to burn the Conclave down.¡± ¡°He also stated that most everyone would be mages by the end,¡± Julia points out. ¡°I doubt the guy wants to be responsible for an entire armageddon. But we really can¡¯t take that chance.¡± ¡°You think that¡¯s going to be the case? Joey, I know this is a little outside your expertise, but¨Cif you feel that¡¯s a solid theory, we have to put a stop to this,¡± Nick says after mulling over it for a few seconds. ¡°Does Crosomer know this?¡± Drenar gasps. ¡°Does he know what the unforeseen consequences could be?¡± ¡°This is my speculation, but¡­no. I¡¯d say this is something he¡¯s not aware of. Yet.¡± Angela motions to Joey. ¡°If someone who¡¯s an expert in arcanist zoology is ringing the alarm bell without tons of evidence yet, we need to be worried. Levine, I think we need to clear this discussion for a smaller audience.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± Levine and Nick quickly give ¡®the talk¡¯ to Violet, Tristan and Kelly, and none of them are happy that they will be under lock and key with their families for every single second of the foreseeable future and will have escorts. ¡°This is rich. SAF cares now?¡± Kelly fumes. ¡°Where was the care and consideration before?¡± ¡°That started the second I got brought on board, and now that I¡¯m in charge, your safety¨Calong with the rest of your friends and classmates¨Cis of my utmost concern. This is for your own good,¡± Levine states sternly. ¡°I¡¯ve already made calls. It¡¯s happening. You¡¯ll be escorted back home and remain there. We will try to make this a smooth transition while we figure out long-term risks. The Talons are a violent insurrectionist element that has a successful track record against the Conclave in years past. Their training and equipment is very sophisticated, especially for an organization that was supposedly on its last legs about fifteen to twenty years ago.¡± ¡°So, we¡¯re being babysat. What about them?¡± she demands when she points right at him, and Julia. ¡°Case by case basis. Their parents are currently far and away at the moment and being monitored. We will be making arrangements for them as well at the right time.¡± ¡°Sounds like a cop-out for, hey, we¡¯re gonna let Julia and Drenar do even more crazy things. Because, they¡¯re chosen ones or something!¡± She rolls her eyes and an errant spark of plasma arcs and zaps James, who jumps in fright. ¡°Shalinde, that didn¡¯t even hurt.¡± ¡°I am the only super-vanilla person in the room, yes it did!¡± he snarls. ¡°Then suck less,¡± she replies in a biting tone. He doesn''t bother rising to the provocation. ¡°What about my dad?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to¡­dig into his history. Kelly, right?¡± She nods quietly before he continues with a somber face. ¡°I know this is going to make for a rather uncomfortable situation. If he is active in Talons¡¯ operations, he may be key to ascertaining knowledge of their activities and future plans. Do not think I will take that step without evidence to support such a drastic move.¡± ¡°Um, Wait. Isn¡¯t Lavernius a tech here?¡± Joey snaps her fingers and Kyle nods on the projection from the golem chassis. ¡°Tell me that¡¯s not a coincidence!¡± ¡°We presume nothing. I will not detain him unless I have compelling evidence to suggest his direct involvement,¡± Levine counters. ¡°You¡¯d detain my dad?!¡± Kelly shouts. ¡°You have no proof!¡± ¡°Not currently. But King saying he worked with him is problematic, Kelly. It¡¯s a lead to follow, given the circumstances,¡± he rebuffs. She looks like she¡¯s ready for a fight¨CDrenar has to diffuse this again. Kelly might be good-natured, but she can be hard-headed at times. ¡°Even if he isn¡¯t involved, we have a bigger problem. Val.¡± His voice finds firm ground again when he finds someone to throw all his hard-earned ire at. ¡°They''re already ready to launch an attack. But we don''t know how, or when. They could come in by teleportation, right?¡± ¡°Unlikely. You try to connect to Asqualia without a secure access token, or a biometric ID custom-tailored to each user, it''ll reject a visitor and throw them back out,¡± Joey explains. ¡°What about land routes?¡± If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Also unlikely. We''re under a lake!¡± she says animatedly. ¡°There are some access routes I think, but they''re hidden or poorly documented. Even though we don''t know the locations, there must be a couple of emergency avenues. We can scout those out with golems that we have that are similar to the one you have there.¡± ¡°What about just diving down?¡± ¡°They''re gonna have hundreds of mercs swim down? That''s a laugh,¡± James says with a roll of his eyes. ¡°Nah. There''s a barrier between the lake and the facility, that would be a fools'' errand. There¡¯s a giant air pocket¨Cit¡¯s likely an Azure held a lair here ages ago. We just made it bigger,¡± Joey says proudly. ¡°It¡¯s under Flotsam Lake, that¡¯s all I know¨Call access is typically by the teleportal network. SAF does try to keep arcanist facilities secure.¡± ¡°Flotsam Lake is massive! And there are enough urban areas nearby that you could house a secret entrance to any number of places,¡± Julia groans. ¡°Joey, tell me about these biometric IDs, can they be hacked? Reprogrammed to use someone else''s bio data?¡± Drenar asks. ¡°I can speak to this one,¡± Kyle responds while stroking his beard. ¡°Not easily. It''s on a per-user basis. The tech of these portals will keep unauthorized users from entry. And trying to force your way in will end¡­badly.¡± ¡°How bad is bad?¡± ¡°Disincorporation is bad. So like, don''t try to come here in a ham-headed attempt.¡± Even Julia looks averse to this idea, much to his relief. "And we are absolutely sure that we can''t just alert SAF and send a security team?¡± Julia asks. ¡°Knowing King? That might be his plan. It''s why he told us,¡± Drenar proposes. ¡°That guy is either a mad genius, or a complete moron if he thinks teenagers with attitude are going to get him into one of the most secure facilities curated by the Conclave,¡± Kyle snorts. ¡°Why does he think you¡¯re special?¡± ¡°I could think of a couple of reasons,¡± Nick mutters. ¡°Kyle, we need to keep this brief. Find us a land access we can get into. The teleportal is a no-go for us unless we can get access, and I get this feeling that no one is going to just give us access, even within SAF. Plus there¡¯s a bigger risk. If we ring alarm bells, They might launch early. If King already has a way in, he has people on the inside. This is going to require stealth.¡± ¡°So we are on dark-watch duty,¡± Levine chimes in grimly. ¡°Much as I¡¯m loathe to agree¡­with King in play, there is a deadly dynamic. There is a reason he fed us information. Either to misdirect us or to get us to react in the way he wants. It is a pattern of high-level manipulation we¡¯ve observed before.¡± ¡°So¡­what¡¯s our plan?¡± Kyle asks. ¡°Be unpredictable,¡± Drenar answers. ¡°But we need to get to Asqualia somehow in a way that they can¡¯t know, and without being tracked. We need to understand the why. We need to know what this machine can do. If we can match translations to the runes, We can infer what Crosomer could do with the machine¨Cor the unforeseen consequences. Maybe even shut it down for good, to ensure this doesn''t happen again." ¡°I¡¯m with Drenar on this one. Get Volkir¡¯s journals out of the archives. Get them somewhere safe. Anywhere but here. And when they come for us¨Cwe¡¯ll throw them a beating so bad that they¡¯ll never, ever forget it,¡± Joey says with a sharp tone to her words. ¡°That¡¯s our plan. And we do it while trying to find the saboteur and buy time. If we put them out of commission, maybe their plan falls on its face. Or it buys us time to find the research they need, and either torch it, or use it against them.¡± ¡°I like this plan. We work on finding a land route, you guys, try to do the same and find the saboteur. Levine, You¡¯re SAF, would you be able to find a way?¡± Drenar asks straight to the point. ¡°Might be possible. Secure facilities always have a few backup exits¨C¡± ¡°Guys, shut down the feed, ping spike! I think someone¡¯s trying to piggyback the signal!¡± Kyle shouts. ¡°Power down the golem, there¡¯s a mana crystal on the back panel! NOW! Get to Asqualia as soon as you can! If you find a land route, turn the golem back on, it¡¯ll ping on my remote when you¡¯re close!¡± Drenar doesn¡¯t waste a second and grabs the golem and grimaces. ¡°Sorry for the abrupt exit,¡± he utters before he pops open the panel and eyes the small shard of mana crystal capped at either end by brass windings. Joey nods quietly. ¡°Don¡¯t get killed on the way here, guys. I¡¯d really like to meet you all.¡± ¡°Likewise.¡± He pulls the crystal out the same way he¡¯d pop out an AA battery, and the golem¡¯s lights flicker and die, just as the display winks out of existence. He sets the defunct construct down after a minute and taps a finger on his arm. ¡°Thoughts?¡± ¡°Drenar, you¡¯re still trying to play the hero.¡± James is as quiet as he is to the point. ¡°You are going to get us killed with the way you¡¯re leading us around, you know that? Law enforcement is here. This is Levine and Nick¡¯s job. Don¡¯t you get it? After that shit-show down at the lab, you want another round of punishment?¡± ¡°You¡¯re acting like we don¡¯t want to go, James,¡± Angela scoffs. ¡°Well guess what, I¡¯d go anyway!¡± ¡°Sis, you are being led around by Boy Wonder here, who is emotionally compromised, and let King get the better of him!¡± James snaps back. Drenar clenches his fist, James has been pissing him off this entire week, and he is really, really fighting to keep patience with him this time. ¡°King is a master class con artist, and he¡¯s not the most dangerous person we¡¯ll face. "That giant dragon that can burn the world? You know, the one that is murdering her way up the food chain of Magitech Industries, in a scheme more cynical than American corporate culture? She can kill every single one of us, and it would be an afterthought. And, she¡¯s got an army backing her up." He''s off the handle now, Drenar can feel the blow-out moment coming from James, and it''s not even subtle. ¡°You are all signing up for a suicide mission, and I¡¯m not going to let you!¡± he snarls before he grabs his phone. ¡°Maybe Mom can talk some sense into you. For once.¡± Angela grabs the phone out of his hand with a kinetic grapple, and she¡¯s focusing on him with murderous intent. ¡°Don¡¯t. You. Dare.¡± ¡°Why? Because Mom¡¯s right? That Drenar¡¯s a bad influence on you? Or that you¡¯re doing this, because you¡¯re chasing Nick around?¡± ¡°Oy,¡± Nick protests and gives James a contemptuous look. I know he¡¯s your friend Drenar, but he should not be bullying every dragon in the room, Alex whispers worriedly. Drenar gets in the way before Angela can reel back and punch a hole clear through James¡¯ chest, and puts an arm out. ¡°No. We are not going this route. We aren¡¯t coming to blows. Are we clear?¡± he says quietly. ¡°You told me the same thing earlier.¡± ¡°James needs to mind his manners,¡± she growls. ¡°Level heads have to prevail, is what you sort-of told me earlier. It was good advice and still is.¡± She relents after a second and steps back, arms crossed and glaring at her twin. ¡°James, I get the feeling that you¡¯re harboring. I get it. But set aside the personal feelings. This is where we¡¯re at.¡± ¡°You have no regard for your own safety Drenar, I agree with Evan. You are going to get everyone killed.¡± ¡°Ah shut up, you wet blanket,¡± Kelly interjects. ¡°You should be one to talk! You almost let Jonaleth goad you into a fight, and Violet screwed up our plan!¡± James counters forcefully. ¡°Just ignore him, James is being an ass, and he¡¯s venting, Angela. Let it go this time, much as I¡¯d love for your brother to get walloped,¡± Julia says, as if this situation isn¡¯t immediately dangerous for his health. ¡°Look, we¡¯re camping out here tonight. Kelly, you really should be with family, and keep an eye on your dad. This is all bad news with the way King has feelers on just about everyone. Tristan, Violet, you guys need to seriously chill and not attract attention, or the giant murder lizard might decide to just torch the entire town.¡± Drenar breathes a sigh of relief when Julia, of all people, diffuses the situation. Usually, she¡¯s adding fuel to the fire, if unintentionally. Levine also takes note and gives a nod to Nick before speaking. ¡°Given the situation, I concur with the young lass, and her assessment. Nick, I just got a ping, SAF personnel are just up the road. We¡¯re going to have to do some talking with them. We keep the plans between us¨Care we clear? Lives are at stake.¡± After getting Kelly and the others to reluctantly agree, Drenar watches them head out to the unmarked cars with blue-uniformed SAF officers. Julia puts a hand on his shoulder reassuringly while watching them slowly back up out of the driveway, with Kelly giving them one solemn look from the rear seat before departing. He wishes they had the same assurance of safety as Kelly did. Though, with her father now being a possible inside man for the attack on Asqualia, maybe not. Kelly¡¯s father would never do that. He couldn¡¯t. He¡¯s always been warm and caring of his daughter. Good people can do terrible things if properly motivated, Drenar. I don¡¯t want to be a downer on this, but¡­not everyone stays in the light. Not everyone can escape the darkness inside them. Alex chimes in unexpectedly, and Julia rubs his shoulder gently, almost as if she knows the turmoil going on inside his head. That twinge of his wrist picks the worst time to act up, and he rubs it uncomfortably. He knows it¡¯s only going to get tougher from here, and his personal stake in this is getting more apparent. He hopes King is lying. Because if he isn¡¯t¡­what terrible secret did his mother take to her grave? Vol. 2, Ch. 65: Red Team, Blue Team, Part Three ¡°We are lucky. We are so damn lucky.¡± Angela is still having words with James, and Nick and Levine are busy talking with each other and going through the data drives with extreme care. Levine uses a small tool to put a shimmering blue hex shield around the metal, presumably to ward against further remote deletion, when he glances back at them. Evan is with James, and giving Drenar that look like this is completely out of control. ¡°Lucky in what way?¡± Julia¡¯s cheery tone is dulled several notches, now that it¡¯s just the two of them. It¡¯s the closest to a serious mode that she gets to most of the time. ¡°That King and Crosomer aren¡¯t utter psychopaths like Valosterla. I want to hate them, but¡­they¡¯ve got their own angle they¡¯re playing. I just wish I could figure out what they¡¯re trying to say.¡± ¡°You know King was lying about your mom. Right?¡± He''s not sure that he was. King was feeding them information deliberately. But what to what end? ¡°What if he wasn¡¯t?¡± He turns to face her. Her face has a few bruises and a cut over one eyebrow, but that¡¯s still less impactful than the weariness in her eyes. ¡°What if he¡¯s right? Whatever secret he¡¯s hiding, it has something to do with this.¡± He taps his mother¡¯s dagger, still resting on his thigh. Even now, he could feel a pulse of power the second his fingers touched the leather grip. ¡°It¡¯s plausible. With your mother all but confirmed as a dragon¨Cwho¡¯s gonna murder me when she finds out what we¡¯ve been up to¨Cthen I think something big was going down.¡± ¡°Drenar. Stop trying to dig up the¨C¡± She sighs and grips his shoulder tightly, and her lips shudder. ¡°I know you miss her, Drenar. But this narrative they¡¯re spinning¡­it¡¯s too much to be believable. Whether he¡¯s lying or not, she¡¯s gone. And no amount of magic can bring her back. Even though I would tear the world apart if there was even a prayer of a chance of doing so for you.¡± ¡°There''s still one thing left though.¡± He glances down at the dagger, tapping the hilt with a finger. ¡°Where did she get this thing? I flung the dagger and it came right back to my hand. It pierced King''s arcane barriers, and would have shattered his reinforced one. King knows what it is. He might know who she is. Which means, I need to find him and get answers. Even though she''s gone¡­it''ll give me some closure.¡± ¡°You¡¯d risk life and limb for that?¡± ¡°Even if it was just about finding out the truth, yeah.¡± Julia sighs before rubbing at a bruise on her cheek. ¡°You know something Drenar? Don¡¯t let it get to your head too much, but¡­maybe this is the path we are looking for in life. Fighting giant monsters and solving world-shaking mysteries. But saving lives comes first.¡± ¡°Always.¡± She smiles faintly at that, and he wipes away a smudge of soot on her cheek. ¡°You know, the battle-hardened badass look is catching on, think of how much appeal that could be. Just saying.¡± ¡°Boy, I know you¡¯re having a bad night when you¡¯re making a pass at me without even a prompt. You¡¯re mighty close to miscalculating there.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been that kind of day. Maybe I¡¯m crazy, and King is just a giant dickbag who plays mind games with kids. Which means I¡¯m obliged to go find him and beat him up.¡± ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is, you¡¯re a glutton for punishment.¡± She can¡¯t help but laugh a few seconds later. ¡°Alright, we¡¯re both cracked in the head, aren¡¯t we? It¡¯s not like I wasn¡¯t coming along anyway. I just hope you¡¯re wrong Drenar. Because I can¡¯t imagine that world, if King has been telling the truth.¡± She taps the side of her nose, then his once for good measure and he furrows his brow. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°He said a couple of funky things, now that I think about it. King said that Angela would be a good recruit. For who? And why did he call you ¡®champion¡¯ of all things?¡± ¡°Either messing with our head, or our enigma is playing a much bigger chess game than he leads on.¡± A disconcerting thought crops up. ¡°Could he be working against Val?¡± ¡°Why, though?¡± ¡°They don''t get along. She brute forces her way through everything. He prefers a deft hand. Hell, he wanted to get in and out of Asqualia like ghosts. We gotta find a way in there and meet up with Joey, first and foremost.¡± ¡°And Kyle,¡± she adds. Then she tilts her head at him and grins slyly. ¡°Did you just fall for a girl you just met?¡± He looks at her blankly. ¡°Julia, I''m gonna be real with you. There¡¯s a giant murder lizard who''s gunning for my gruesome death roaming around. She also has an army of depraved killers who I¡¯m not quite crushing effortlessly yet. Dating and pursuing love is the least of my worries right now.¡± ¡°There is always time for love, Doctor Rashalda.¡± ¡°Barf. Your badly paraphrased quotes need work,¡± he groans. ¡°Let¡¯s go see what the damages are with James and Angela. So far they haven¡¯t flung each other through walls yet, so there¡¯s a positive sign.¡± ¡°Speaking of, Drenar,¡± Levine said just as he directed his attention to the two of them, ¡°I have one profane question.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t do profane,¡± Drenar says with a sigh. ¡°But go ahead.¡± ¡°How on earth did you all get into this mess?¡± Levine glances at Nick out of the corner of his eye, who shrugs. ¡°A magical fox girl told me I was a dragon, and it came true.¡± He sees Julia try to keep her composure for about a second before she bursts out laughing, and Levine is looking at them with a crinkle of amusement in his face. ¡°I still wanted to be a Raijin, you dunce. But being an electrically charged dragon is close enough!¡± She most certainly zaps him on purpose again when she slaps his back to steady herself. There¡¯s another shirt with burn marks on it, he thinks with a wry smirk. It¡¯s still worth it, though. ¡°Ah, youth. How I miss it,¡± Levine sighs contentedly. ¡°Oh great, don¡¯t let them win you over, too,¡± Nick grumbles. ¡°Drenar, it¡¯s time. We have to call it in now.¡± ¡°You mean the part where we have to explain to parents that we¡¯re dragons, and that we¡¯ve been leaving a burning trail of destruction¨Cincidentally caused by other people?¡± he asks with dread. ¡°Yes. That, and the fact that if King were to decide to have a mood change, Valosterla would likely kill every single one of you, your families, and your friends. Oh, and probably small, furry, innocent animals too, just for the hell of it. Call them.¡± Julia grimaces when she looks his way. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to be pleasant, is it?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± He¡¯s got his phone out and everyone¡¯s mostly gone silent while he dials Diane¡¯s number. I hate this part. I tried to keep them out of this mess by doing things ourselves, and what a disaster it¡¯s been. Learn from it. Now don¡¯t mope, Julia and the others are going to have to do the same thing. Alex¡¯s sharp rebuke is as grating as the electronic ringing. Fine. Let¡¯s get this over with. He hears Diane pick up on the other end, grumbling softly. ¡°Hi Diane, sorry it¡¯s late.¡± ¡°Drenar, it¡¯s¡­quite late, actually. Why are you calling¨C¡± ¡°Diane, something came up. I uh¡­look, I know you¡¯re dealing with your dad, and this is a bad time¨C¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Drenar. There is never a bad time to bring things up. I¡¯m guessing that at this late hour, you and Angela got into a fight?¡± Even with her still half-asleep, she thinks to ask about his well-being. ¡°Not¡­exactly,¡± he replies uneasily. They¡¯d been fighting, but not with each other, ironically¨Calthough that could happen too. The reveal in the car to the school¨Cand her feelings for Nick¨Chad been a long time coming, and he was going to have to address that one at some point, too. He takes a deep breath and dives straight into this giant disaster. ¡°Diane, when are you coming home?¡± ¡°We were supposed to be arriving Friday. My father¡¯s health improved. We were very lucky. But¡­why did you need to call so late?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t come home. There¡¯s danger.¡± He hears the resigned sigh in her voice. ¡°What kind of danger?¡± ¡°The kind that I can¡¯t tell you details over the phone. Me, Julia, Evan, and the others are with friends. That is all I can say.¡± Nick nods approvingly after a second of hesitation. ¡°You need to tell us. I can¡¯t take your word on just that¨C¡± ¡°Diane¡­if there is anything that my mom left for you in some final contingency¡­ anything at all¡­ a secret behind a veil of necessity that changed the way you viewed life¡­then you know why I can¡¯t answer that right now.¡± He grips the phone tightly, the raw memory of the hospital still no less painful today than almost six years ago. Dying on a rolling bed, her body broken, her left arm up to her elbow gone. She still had the courage to stay alive and make a promise to him that she¡¯d see him again. Was that a lie now, too? Had she taken the secret of her heritage to her grave, to protect them? ¡°Tell me that you understand.¡± There¡¯s nothing but silence for a few seconds. Then, he can hear a soft sob. ¡°When did you change, Drenar?¡± She knew. She knew from the beginning. He forces his eyes shut and turns so Julia can¡¯t see his eyes start to water. ¡°Friday.¡± She pauses again, her whole tone has changed. ¡°Evan, too?¡± ¡°Yeah. Before me.¡± ¡°I should have known. Are you two safe?¡± ¡°For the time being,¡± he answers grimly. Nick¡¯s house is a fortress dressed up as a residential home, and he feels a lot more secure here than he did anywhere else at the moment. Even his home. ¡°Did you know about Julia, too?¡± ¡°We were sworn to silence, Drenar. We had a contingency planned, but¡­as you said¡­we can¡¯t have this conversation right now. I need to be there to tell you this in person¨C¡± ¡°No, you can¡¯t come home. That is not something I¡¯m negotiating on. You need to stay safe. One of our friends has been keeping someone friendly on you so that you don¡¯t get jumped by the people we¡¯re up against¨C¡± ¡°Drenar, stop. Stay out of this fight. Your mother wouldn¡¯t have wanted this for you.¡± He¡¯s been trying to be patient and wait for her to catch up to his viewpoint, but it¡¯s not fast enough for him this time. ¡°You know, everyone¡¯s been talking about what she wanted for me, or what Julia¡¯s dad would have wanted for her, or that Angela¡¯s and James¡¯ parents really do give a damn about their kids. But so far we¡¯ve been served nothing but disappointment. None of that will change the fact that Mom¡¯s dead and buried, and I didn¡¯t have the first clue about who she really was, Diane. ¡°You all should have told us from the get-go. I made bad decisions because I didn¡¯t have all the facts in front of me. I almost got my friends killed, and that¡¯s something that¡¯s going to stick with me for a long time.¡± Julia looks at him warily and Nick is pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. ¡°So when I say you guys need to stay safe, I mean that. Please. Do this for me, and when there¡¯s a safe moment, we all have some things to sort out. I do not want you guys hurt as collateral in this mess. That''s all I can say on this matter.¡± ¡°Drenar¡­there are reasons you weren¡¯t told. There¡¯s a lockbox we always carry with us, with her final instructions. We were not told all the details specifically so we would not put ourselves at risk.¡± Even though he can¡¯t see her, he can hear the frustration in her tone. ¡°I have cried, I have wept, I wanted to take that damn box and smash it open to find out what was so important¡­But I made a promise.¡± She takes a second and forces back a choked-up voice, likely wiping away an errant tear before she continues. ¡°I can guess what it says. Your mother was someone¡­ extraordinary. Do not mistake secrecy for uncaring, Drenar. She loved you and Evan, so very much.¡± ¡°Diane¡­was my mom involved in the secret?¡± Julia asks quietly when Drenar motions the phone to her. ¡°Yes.¡± Julia winces and tightens the grip on the phone to the point he thinks she might turn it into a crumpled pile of scrap, and she takes a sharp breath. ¡°Julia, you¡¯re like a daughter to me, too, and these decisions were not made lightly. I did not know all the details, I knew just enough to know when it was time to seek answers. When it¡¯s safe to do so¡­we will open the lockbox together. I promise.¡± ¡°Drenar, wrap it up. I¡¯m not entirely unconvinced that our adversaries didn¡¯t bug your phones or compromise them,¡± Levine warns when he draws close. He nods quietly, and the rest have finally gathered. ¡°Stay safe guys. We¡¯ll be in touch. When you hear from us, I want you to ask me what the last thing my mother said to me was. If you hear the right answer¡­then you¡¯ll know it¡¯s safe,¡± Drenar says, even with his voice trembling slightly. ¡°Can you do that?¡± ¡°We will. I know you well enough Drenar, so I won¡¯t say goodbye.¡± ¡°Alright. Till later.¡± He ends the call, and now feels like he wants to crush the phone into a crumpled heap of scrap. ¡°So, that sucked. Drenar, I was harsh earlier,¡± James says after a few seconds. ¡°They lied to us. For years. I can¡¯t get over that fact! How much they know¡­this just pisses me off!¡± ¡°Yep, mom¡¯s a dragon. Called it,¡± Julia sighs and leans on Drenar just lightly enough that he notices it. ¡°We should have gone to her from the beginning. We really screwed up.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if we did, Julia. Crosomer and Jonaleth both were aware of us from the records. So was King. Not getting involved was never an option, they would have forced our hand or we might have found ourselves in an even worse position.¡± Too many painful notions of betrayal and being left out are at the forefront of his thoughts. ¡°She didn¡¯t mention anything about our parents, though. Think she left that out?¡± Angela asks quietly after a few seconds. ¡°Veil protocol. She might not have known or was never told,¡± Drenar reasons. ¡°We simply don¡¯t know yet. Now we¡¯re going to ask. Call them. Get them on the line.¡± ¡°Well, my mom¡¯s playing phone tag¨Cit went to voicemail,¡± Julia says sourly. ¡°Are we really¨C¡± Angela gives Drenar an exasperated look when he folds his arms. ¡°Great. So you¡¯re going to make me do this?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have a choice. If Val is any indication, being burnt to ashes and being zapped with lethal levels of dark energy is likely the top layer of the infinite evils they can inflict on us Angela. Call them,¡± Nick also states. ¡°And then what? We sit here with our thumb up our ass while the Talons roll up on Asqualia, with people from your organization helping them?¡± she narrows her eyes. ¡°You are so quick to be protective when you underestimate us at every turn, Nick. Have we been disappointing thus far?¡± ¡°Aside from some questionable decisions earlier, no. Given what I just heard from Drenar¡¯s guardian, there is another angle to this. Levine, dig into the Rashalda family. I want to know what they were hiding from their own sons.¡± ¡°Nick¡­stop. You don¡¯t have to.¡± Nick looks at Levine, confused by his somber statement. Drenar sees it, too. ¡°I already know who she is¡­and what she was.¡± ¡°You want to run that by me again, Levine? What the hell, how do you already know¨C¡± Nick stops when he follows Levines¡¯ gaze. Drenar can hear that soft ringing crystalline chime sound, emanating from the holster on his thigh. Levine¡¯s slow nod to the dagger is enough to get his attention, and he pulls it out slowly, with the crystal chime sound growing louder. ¡°Levine, you can hear it too, can¡¯t you?¡± he says softly. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that crystalline sound ever since you walked into the house, lad. Who else hears it?¡± ¡°Me,¡± Julia says quietly. ¡°Same. Levine, it¡¯s not an ordinary dagger, so what is it?¡± Angela asks. He remains silent and looks like a sense of wonder crosses his face. ¡°Levine, what importance could a single magical item possibly hold?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a blade fashioned by true legends. I have seen one of these before, many years ago. What I remember above all else, is the sound it would make, a sound of resonance that reminded me of the old metal chimes my mum used to hang outside the house, when I was a small lad.¡± Levine points to the blade and to Drenar¡¯s growing wonder when he speaks something he never expected. ¡°I know exactly why none of you were told now, based on this alone. I know what great pains your mother went through to keep that secret¨Cto protect herself, and her family. ¡°That blade was crafted and wielded by a Valkyrie.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 66: Red Team, Blue Team, Part Four Joey takes a long, slow breath¨Cshe¡¯s felt on edge ever since the evening started, and now, she¡¯s even more tense. Kyle¡¯s still staring ahead at the now empty screen, likely still processing where they¡¯re at. He breaks the silence in his usual way--being overwhelmed with the looming dread they''re now facing. ¡°Fates on a stick, Joey. What did we get into? We were supposed to be researching something curious. Now we¡¯re in a race for the fate of the world. How did this get so messed up?¡± Kyle forces himself to take a deep breath, and he¡¯s stroking his beard like he always does when he¡¯s stressed out. ¡°Just because it¡¯s a giant mess, doesn¡¯t mean we stand to the side.¡± She rises off the couch after having given the entire evening a long thought. ¡°Kyle, they¡¯re coming after our home. We¡¯re not going to let them, plain and simple. But we need to work this like we¡¯re counterintelligence. We need to play this smart, or we could get a lot of people killed.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t we just meet with them¨C¡± ¡°We can¡¯t meet with them. King had an intricate knowledge of all of them. This means they were recently surveilled, followed, or otherwise observed by outsiders¨Csomething that Nick and Levine both noted. Phones and emails are super risky, and meeting them in person, too. We are an outside factor. Something King can¡¯t count on,¡± she states with bold determination, and ties her hair back up. ¡°We¡¯ve got work to do, Kyle.¡± ¡°Um, ¡®we?¡¯ There¡¯s a ¡®we¡¯ in this equation?¡± he asks anxiously, even as she throws on her old explorer jacket¨Cwhy does it always seem perennially chilly here in Asqualia? The layer of fur on her true form would be a quick solution, but that presents far more problems, considering all her efforts to remain incognito. ¡°Joey, what¡¯s our plan here?¡± ¡°We have three tasks, Kyle. The first is to identify the saboteur. Our leading candidate could be Lavernius, but there might be others working with him and helping him cover his tracks, or he may be completely out of the loop! The only thing I vaguely remember about him is that I met his daughter at some picnic last summer. Kelly, I think?¡± She squints and presses a finger to her lips, and then it comes to her. ¡°Goldilocks! But not in a bad way. She was just right.¡± ¡°Ahem. Time¡¯s burning, and you¡¯re making jokes,¡± Kyle grumbles. ¡°Right, focus time. We should at least check out Lavernius, and follow other leads. I think he¡¯s a tech here intermittently. However, others have more immediate access and knowledge of the facility. For the second task, we need to find Volkir¡¯s journals, wherever they¡¯re located, and grab a copy. Then burn them.¡± ¡°Burn them?!¡± ¡°As a contingency. If we fail, the Talons don¡¯t get their keys to godhood, not without a lot of time and effort,¡± she explains with a tap of her foot. ¡°Do you want a murder-happy dragoness becoming a goddess, or having the power to destroy the planet?¡± ¡°I like my planet as it is, thanks. Even with global climate change, a terraformation on the scale you were talking about sounds even more ominous. What¡¯s our third quest?¡± ¡°Find Drenar and Nick a way in. If we can¡¯t find one, we make one.¡± Kyle looks at her with abject terror. ¡°Joey, if this is the point where you say you know how to make explosives, please don¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°Hey, making explosives is a piece of cake! Well, for me at any rate. I had to make an alchemical bomb on one of the forays into a magical biozone with Nick and Professor Amaranth one time.¡± ¡°At what point is ¡®giant bomb¡¯ a solution to anything?!¡± he exclaims. ¡°And why have you never told me this?¡± ¡°It''s from the time when we weren¡¯t together. Remember?¡± she says icily. He starts spinning his phone in his hand--he needs a fidget spinner, but hers is currently sitting in the lab! ¡°Short version, we uh, we ran into a monster that gave even our verdant dragon of a hunter a run for his money. The bomb didn¡¯t kill it. It just scared it off.¡± Kyle pinches the bridge of his nose, and groans in utter frustration. ¡°No bombs, Joey.¡± ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll save that step for if and when the Talons roll through the front door. In which case, they will regret their life choices.¡± ¡°I find it troubling that you¡¯re ready to incinerate or detonate our perennial terrorists, the Onyx Talons so quickly. I mean a lot of people would blanche at the idea of¨C¡± he stops when she glares at him with piercing lavender eyes. ¡°If we do nothing, they will break into our home, and kill everyone we know, Kyle. Including us. Do you want that to happen? I did a little research earlier yesterday. The Talons are bad news on so many levels. They¡¯re very fond of taking no prisoners. I won¡¯t even dare to mention the worst things they¡¯re capable of.¡± ¡°That bad?¡± ¡°Yeah. So we¡¯re doing this. You and me.¡± Kyle looks like he has something to say, and then he does that thing where he shrinks inwardly and throws up a hand in resignation. ¡°Alright, Joey. Where do we start?" ¡°Tomorrow, we prep the lab. Get every prototype you¡¯ve got for weapons, armor, and equipment ready to go." Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Boy, that could be dangerous, with the ordinance I have filed away," he mutters. "We also need to rope in Curtis¨Cif there are two people I trust with absolute certainty, it is Zameren and Curtis. Zameren will try to do the right thing and call SAF. But we need to be discreet until we find the saboteur. We also need to sub-task how they''re going to get in. If you know any kind of exploits on teleportals, we need to examine it." From a high-level perspective, it''s a sound strategy. Kyle nods quietly while she lays out the game plan, and he makes some suggestions of his own. It¡¯s the start of a plan, at any rate. First, they make a list of every staff member of Asqualia¨Csomething she¡¯s dreading, because that list has too many people she thinks would never willingly betray the others. Most of the people that work here are dedicated to their career in the advancement of magitech, and making discoveries for various arcanist knowledge. Kyle protests when she starts breaking down people into tiers of ¡®who would sell us out or get us killed for money,¡¯ and protests even louder when a couple of his friends show up on the list too. ¡°Reeves is a penny pincher, not a psychopath.¡± ¡°Bitters gambles. He¡¯s lost some money on the stock market.¡± ¡°So didn¡¯t everyone else!¡± ¡°Seriously, I didn¡¯t know Belichek was cheating on his girlfriend.¡± "That schmuck is toast when she finds out, too." This continues for a while. Kyle also brings up the idea of those with the greatest access to tech that could disable security, and those with the highest layers of access through the archives and knowledge of the overall facility. More names came off the list, or are put in the ¡®low¡¯ priority risk pool. All she knows is that the number of people with motivation and access is surprisingly low, given the number of personnel here at Asqualia. They spend more time working through the list and eventually, they both agree that trying to solve this while they''re exhausted isn''t going to be productive. Kyle breaks the immersion with a drawn-out yawn. ¡°Joey, we should get some rest. We still have work tomorrow, and we need to keep up appearances. We have no idea how long we''re going to be searching. Let''s get a few hours of rest, alright?¡± ¡°Yeah, it''s¡­oh.¡± It''s three in the morning, when she looks at her watch. Pulling an all-nighter would be a bad idea. ¡°Alright, a few hours of rest, then back to it. You should¡­um¡­¡± she trails off. ¡°You should grab the couch.¡± ¡°I do have a dorm room here, you know,¡± he replies with a stoic tint to his words. ¡°Yeah, I don''t care. I''m keeping the people I trust close.¡± She pushes away from the table and closes her laptop. Something is still bothering her--words unspoken after they had drifted for a spell, after the academy. ¡°Kyle, we¡­we left some stuff unresolved before, that you and I¨C¡± ¡°Don''t talk like there''s a chance that we don''t come out of this alive.¡± He looks up at her, her hand resting gently on his shoulder. ¡°I know you, Joey. You have never failed before, and you''re not going to start now. No matter what challenge you''re up against, you''ve always found a solution. Let''s work on the problem. Find our saboteur, and get that bunch of misfits here in one piece. Meantime, I had an idea or two. I''m gonna go and short out the teleportal platform.¡± ¡°Uh, I''m sorry¡­what?¡± She almost physically recoils at this idea. ¡°Fail-safes. If there are fail-safes that are tied into the facility''s magical construction, doing that will trigger them. Do you know how I know that? It''s a standard system design for teleportal access facilities like this.¡± ¡°You think this is how we get Drenar and Nick a way in?¡± ¡°Maybe. I need to test a few theories. Also, I remember who one of the tech guys for the teleportal is. Take a guess.¡± ¡°It can''t be Lavernius, is it?¡± she gasps. ¡°Bingo, one of two guys, the other guy is Derek, he runs plant maintenance and the mana crystal power core. While in theory, someone could build another teleportal and splice into the leylines, that would take a ton of resources. I want to short it out and check his reaction.¡± ¡°This sounds like a bad idea,¡± she says worriedly. ¡°It''s also the only major way to transport dozens of personnel at once. Barring that, we might find the secondary access routes. We just need to follow the surge of mana circuitry when I trip it.¡± She finally lets out a faint smile. ¡°Now there''s the mad scientist I know.¡± ¡°Yeah, I''d have to be utterly mad to attempt this. Let''s get some rest, and get cracking tomorrow.¡± Eventually, she heads to the bedroom, and Kyle true to his word grabs a pillow, and the blanket still draped on the couch. He could have grabbed the clean and pressed one she¡¯d left neatly folded¡­ Or, maybe it''s because it smells like her? You''re a weird, wild kitsune, Joey, she thinks with a sigh before closing the door. She tosses back onto the bed and sits there, staring at the ceiling. There¡¯s an errant thought that keeps bothering her, and it shouldn''t. She''s got a good match for faces, and it really shouldn''t be possible. But, why does it feel like this is not the first time she''s seen Drenar and Julia? It''s been bugging her all night. There''s some strange twinge in the back of her head that tells her that getting them here is of utmost importance. Or, she''s exhausted and is betting the survival of all her work friends and associates on a group of misfit teens, now being led by a messy-haired, green-eyed intrigue, and an old friend of her professor who is technically going rogue on SAF. The people that should be protecting them. Wait. What''s with that? She swears she''s seen Drenar before. Or, he looks similar to someone she knows. I''m being irrational. Before that yearbook, I¡¯d never met him before in my life. I would know it. I mean he is kinda cute, in that awkward teen sort of way¨C She puts a hand to her mouth and groans. No. Absolutely not! Don''t get attached to someone you just met! The same goes for all of them! We''ve got a crisis to solve! Vol. 2, Ch. 67: Clever As A--Hey, Thats Speciesism! (Part One) "Joey, quick, wake up, we''re late for work! We were supposed to be in the lab five minutes ago!" Kyle''s shaking her shoulder and he looks a bit messy after the intense night of the events at the school¨Cit feels like she only just fell asleep. ¡°Also I''m gonna break rules today and seriously break stuff.¡± "Whoa, Kyle, slow down. This Kitsune requires coffee and a moment to get dressed," she groans and puts an errant book on the side table. Kyle hands her a cup of coffee in her favorite mug, and he''s already gotten his lab coat and ID on. She takes a sip while trying to push her wavy hair out of her face. "Did you¡­sleep?" "Not really. Judging by your face, you didn''t get much either." He looks anxious. "I mean, how can we? Mercs who kill people for fun are looming at our doorstep, and a spy is working here! It''s terrifying! Oh, and we''re re-writing arcanist biology like all the textbooks and experts have been laughably wrong. And those kids are totally out of their depth, minus Nick. And maybe that kid with the funky name, like his parents drew fantasy names out of a hat¨C" "Drenar," she says forcefully. He looks at her, taken aback. "Seriously, you''re fixated on him. You never fixate on anyone." "Hey, he''s interesting. From an academic standpoint. Also, he clearly can handle himself, which I find mighty impressive, considering he''s only seventeen." Kyle sighs and is stroking his short goatee. He is super annoyed when he gets to that point of visible stimming. "Joey, you know how I told you last night to go meet people outside our work circle, and your two or three friends in town? I didn''t mean the first person you saw outside of work! He''s like, younger than you by four years!" "First off, age is merely a number, and second, I have no idea what you''re talking about." She''s giving him a death glare and he''s not even withering under it like he usually would by now. "Look, all I care about right now is making sure those four don''t do anything crazy, and that a whole bunch of bloodthirsty killers don''t barnstorm our home. Simple enough?" "When have you ever done something simple? Name one time," he counters forcefully. "Now, I''m not as much of a hardcore academic as you, but it sounded like some nerd humor came out between you two. That has never happened!" "Humor helps relieve tension in serious situations," she counters. Kyle doesn''t let it go. "Look, as alluring as it might be for the green-eyed teen with a weird history to be a potential romantic interest, keep looking. Because it sounds like he''s got a baggage list a mile long, and he''s crazier than Nick. You don''t do crazy.¡± "Maybe I do, Kyle. Maybe, I secretly like crazy," she dares to say while leaning in. He stares at her, utterly aghast. "Would it not be the craziest thing I''ve ever done?" "If you threatened to poison me, and then dissolved my body in magical acid, so that no one would ever know what happened to me? That would still be less terrifying than what you just said," he utters. "Look, don''t get hung up on this¨C" "Totally not hung up on this, Kyle. Now, can we focus on not being any later for work than we already are? We need to keep the guise of normal, as best we can. Well, at least until I figure out whose lungs I''m going to implode for selling us out." She cuts off the discussion before he can continue, and she feels immensely irritated. Sure, Drenar is interesting. And he has the body of a dream, is a really unique specimen as a Maridian and Azure mixed dragon, and acts a lot older than his physical age. And Julia is an organic electrode! She couldn''t believe how fast she''d figured out her draconic abilities at such a young age! Joey smoothes her hair after getting dressed quickly in the small bedroom, then directs Kyle out the door before locking up. There is no time for stewing on mysterious teens today. Or any day, if she has any say in the matter. He''s not my type. Totally. I''ll take Kyle up on that offer for the roaming club, maybe I do need a fox in my life, she thinks with an internal sigh. Oh my Fates, I hate this hyper-focus ability I have, why can¡¯t I focus on anything else? Like figuring out Radovir¡¯s last mystery of the arcane? Or why Kyle is content to chill in Aqualia and build golems and never go on a date ever, or how Claire manages to get anything done when she gets three hours of sleep a night? She lets out a frustrated growl that Kyle pays no mind to, and assumes it¡¯s got something to do with her notes. Okay, seriously brain, what¡¯s wrong with you today? Of all the really dire stuff on my plate, why am I focusing on Drenar? I barely know the guy! The self-reflection thing is not working at all. She is still drawing a blank. Alright, the novelty¡¯s going to wear off in a couple of days, and then, I¡¯ll be able to focus on the things that matter. Like the giant pending mini-apocalypse of that strange machine they ran into that could zap millions of dragons back into existence and terraform the world. That seems to be something way more important to focus on! The day passes far slower than she can stand, and every second she¡¯s not working in the lab, trying to focus on not disrupting the daily routine, the more she circles to the previous night and goes over every detail. Kyle is also trying his best to not break routine, especially with the parade of people that came and went, and the staff meeting around lunchtime to go over Halloween party planning. The drop tile ceiling and glass windows that can glimpse the lake out above them stand in contrast to the brick and stone exterior of this facility, not to mention the verdant growth on the outside perimeter and various sample gardens. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. This just feels like an unbearably vanilla office you can find anywhere in the world. Not to mention, these festivities now seem utterly mundane and unimportant. Her impatience goes unnoticed, because she¡¯s been trying to figure out the weak link. Who would dare try to expose Asqualia to the whims of a known insurrectionist group? She''s still got her shortlist on her laptop, figuring out probability and motive. There isn¡¯t anyone in this room involved in such a dastardly deed. Every staff member is well compensated, and even ignoring that, they¡¯ve dedicated their lives to research and development in the passion of improving all lives of the mage world. Using her thought reading at scale could be risky--she''d gotten a nosebleed before if she''d used it for too long, and she suspects that a few people might have even been aware of her presence. Mind reading everyone''s surface thoughts is out of the question, because she doesn''t dare try to use it that much, for that long. Documentation is rare, and she only has a few cautionary tales that pushing abilities like that, just like any magical ability, can be dangerous, or even lethal. And she''s no help to anyone if she gets a brain bleed. Reeves is going on about inventory for some of the labs, and she makes a passing attempt to encourage them to switch to a Kanban card system for proper restock timing. This bought her about five minutes of poring over details. There¡¯s a hundred and change staff at Asqualia, plus roaming researchers. Everyone has a biometrically encoded ID to get in and out of the main teleportal. Those ID matches are impossible to fake¨Ceven if I gave mine to Drenar and company, the teleportal would shut down before they hit the threshold. Or worse, they¡¯d be disintegrated. Every warning under the sun was posted on those transport pads, and accidents are statistically non-existent. But deliberate stupidity can still be lethal. Think, Joey. Could they hack a biometric ID, or encode new ones? Who has access to that tech? They¡¯re provided by SAF, and the Valkyries also have override access, from what Curtis was telling me at our safety stand-down a few months ago. The Valkyries are a big deal and fight for the good of mage-kind, even if they have limited political power with the Conclave, so them betraying us I pin at zero. Crosomer¡¯s men may have people inside SAF, but that would immediately expose those agents once word got out. No, they¡¯d want something more subtle. A means of ingress that wouldn¡¯t be easily traced. She realizes there is another way to attack the teleportal that Kyle had mentioned. A dangerous method, for sure, but they could hack the teleportal itself, and force it open. But messing with the system always left traces if they tried to rewrite the arcane circuits. Right now they needed to narrow down the field. What is the easiest ingress, with the least amount of attention drawn to it? Or was there another way in? ¡°Joey, your input?¡± Reeves asks, and she realizes she completely tuned out the question. ¡°Reeves, can you repeat that?¡± she offers politely. ¡°I was asking about the missing inventory of mana primer gel. We had about six cases of it go missing this week, did you happen to take it to your lab?¡± ¡°Six cases? How the hell do six cases go missing?¡± She¡¯s instantly at attention. ¡°I logged all the use in my lab for the potions on demand, it¡¯s definitely not on my end.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can confirm, definitely not our lab. I did record the amount of mana primer to get my furnace tuned up, but it wasn¡¯t that much. It was like a third of a case, tops,¡± Kyle input quickly. "Why did you need a third of a case?" Reeves asks cautiously. "Back off man, I''m an Arcanist," Kyle quips firmly. Joey tries not to laugh. "I needed the higher temps on my furnace and a longer tempering time, and it''s eating power like crazy to get a new alloy made." "What material?" "It doesn''t have a name yet, but it includes adamantine, aluminum, and mage steel. With mana-infused chrome for corrosion resistance." "That slag pile is such a waste," Saul grumbles next to Reeves. "It''s a waste until it isn''t. If my math is right¨Cand it usually is¨CI can forge a material almost on par with Valkyrian steel, without needing a furnace the temperature of a star," Kyle shot back. Meanwhile, Joey¡¯s quickly going through her notes. Six cases of mana primer is enough for a couple of months of supply for a research facility of this size. If converted to fire element energy, it¡¯s enough mana to build an incendiary component hot enough to cut through even the toughest mage steel, or build a bomb big enough to level a chunk of the facility. She knows exactly what it would take, which is worrisome. That much mana overload could be used to cause a serious discharge of the mana reactor in the utility area, rendering it inoperable. There could be several uses for that kind of thing. All of them are bad. ¡°Reeves, is anything else missing?¡± she asks. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m missing about two spools of arcanist wire. I¡¯m sure the techs who are doing maintenance and rewiring of the east lab renovations just forgot to log it. Mission creep of putting in more power requirements,¡± he sighs. ¡°And a few fuse cores.¡± She looks at Kyle, and he¡¯s raising an eyebrow. And tilting his head at her once Reeves is wrapping up the meeting. She gets frustrated and turns on her psionics before nodding at him. Joey, someone¡¯s going to sabotage the facility. That''s all precursors to doing some serious demolition work. We need to work faster. Any roaming techs or maintenance crew who knows where to hide explosives or get access to arcane consoles. Hell, there are also the secondary access points too! "Remind me again, where are the fuse cores used?" she asks. Reeves shrugs his shoulders. "Usually just for arcane circuitry junctions. It''s just annoying because they aren''t cheap, and you can use them to program simple routines for arcane equipment." "Nothing comes in and out of this facility other than the teleport platform, how does all that go missing?" He shrugs softly. Again. He could be so lackadaisical! "Dunno. It was logged on arrival. The records don''t show anyone logging into storage afterward. Well, either way, if any of you guys find it, let me know?" This day refuses to be dull at all. ¡°Got it, Reeves. Not like I¡¯m not going to be searching high and low for fifty thousand euros of missing inventory, which should have had better access controls,¡± she states with unrestrained contempt. Reeves goes instantly silent, and there¡¯s an awkward cough in the room. That might have been a little harsh, in hindsight. More harsh would be being invaded by a bloodthirsty mercenary army. Vol. 2, Ch. 68: Clever As A--Hey, Thats Speciesism! (Part Two) "A giant bomb! A thermal torch! It could be something to fry every circuit in Asqualia with that equipment!" Kyle locks the door to the lab while he and Joey discuss it, all while still going through a routine that she feels is utterly pointless by now. "Six cases of mana primer is massive! Reeves should be fired for that much material going missing!" "Kyle, focus on the pertinent details," Joey redirects while she finishes her concoction. "I''m Sherlock, you''re Watson right now." He looks at her and is busily running his fingers through his hair. "If I have to dose you with something that''ll take that anxiety down a notch, I''d be happy to oblige." "Self-medicating sounds like a bad idea," he counters lightly. "I know you well enough to know you have the same issues as me sometimes." "I manage it by refocusing my efforts, and using physical routines. You''re forgetting Kyle, a lot of medications don''t work for me," she says while gesturing to herself. "Kitsune. Remember?" "Ugh. That has to be such a drag, not being able to take a lot of meds for managing a wide variety of stuff, including ADHD," he says with a resigned sigh. "It does nothing for you?" "Only caffeine. Methylphenidate does absolutely nothing for me, the same with a lot of the other ones. Anyways, the hyperfocus does help. Managing it is the tricky part," she admits. She''s just finished stirring the mixture, and notes the pure blue fluid sloshing lazily inside the container. "Now, I''ve got a few ideas. This equipment was stolen recently, and there are only so many places to hide it. We can narrow down our suspect list by figuring out how it was stolen. I''ve got a little trick here that''ll help me." "What is that? Smells like¡­bad tofu," he gags. If it¡¯s bad for him, it''s even worse for her, given her developed sense of smell. Some things do bleed over to her human form, including her above-average eyesight, acute hearing, and unparalleled sense of smell. And incredible athletics, though she attributes that to dedicated training. She still wonders why she has a slight preference for eggs and fish. She swears that despite not being directly related to vulpines, the Kimisua¨Cthe small, empathic creatures that were merged with humans to form the first Kitsune¨C have a similar diet to a fox, and are comparable in appearance. Kimisua do have some differences, their ears are longer, they can have up to three tails, and they are leaner than a fox. They also have a thumb and fingers, rather than traditional front paws. The faceted eyes are also a dead giveaway. That feature, fortunately, didn''t carry over to Kitsune. She shoves the errant thoughts away for now. No Kitsune has three tails. And none of them have nine like in Japanese mythology. She focuses back on the task. "This is something we can use to figure out when those items were stolen. If the mana was unpacked from the original casings, there''s a decay rate in its energy density. You can plot this against a scaling curve of time to magical potency, given an average primer''s initial effectiveness, fully sealed. It won''t be perfect, but I can pinpoint the theft within a fifteen-minute window." Kyle beams at this idea. "Awesome! But, how''s this help?" "It''s a stepping stone. If we can reconstruct when, then we can figure out how it was stolen. The storage area requires an ID badge. We can look to see who walked in. I doubt, however, that it would be that simple. You could even one-time teleportal it out, but large chunks of Asqualia are shielded to prevent one-time-pad usage. And if that is the case," she adds, "I can pick up the residual mana. It''ll only tell me if that is what was used, but it''s either that, someone walked out with it, or they smuggled it through other means." "I thought ahead. Schematics." He rolls out a map of Asqualia ¨Cthe portion of it that could be mapped, because there is a complete lack of data below the first two ground floors on the multi-tier structure. No one is sure how far down it goes. "There''s a hatchway into the room, just above storage. But there''s no other way to get to the other access point without using an ID card. One way or another, we''ll narrow it down." Kyle hesitates before reaching for his bag. "Hang on. I want to scan these." He pulls out what looks to be a metallic and fabric bracer colored a dull gray, with black fabric wrap securing the device to his forearm and wrist, with a few holes for his fingers to slide through effortlessly, and without inhibiting his movement. He pulls open a display on the bracer, and lowers his arm to the unfurled schematics. "Document scan. Blueprints. ARC facility, various tiers." There is a sweep of intense ray lights, like a laser scanner, that project onto the paper a number of times from a small emitter on the bracer. Joey winces a little at the briefly intense light, and Kyle nods satisfactorily. "Okay, digitized now. I found these old prints in the archives a while back, never thought they''d be useful until today. I dunno how the hell you move a whole facility like this brick-by-brick. Construct facilities are weird." "Oh, am I having a positive influence on you?" she teases. "Thinking ahead, and planning?" "Hey, I was fourth in class. I must know something. Those ID badges are lower-tier security, less encoded. Those you might be able to spoof. But let''s check storage first, after work. Let''s just tell them you''re on a mission, and you''re pissed off that someone misplaced about 50K worth of mana primer." "Eh, close enough to the truth without being a lie," she admits. She pulls out her phone, and is tempted to dial Nick. "We''re absolutely sure that Nick''s phone is compromised, right?" "I wouldn''t even try it, King''s a sneaky creep who wiped some of their evidence already, from what we heard. We told them they have to find a way in on their own, and while I might have a couple of ideas of which way they can get in, it''s risky. There''s one way I know of, some locked security door down by the waterfall that looks like a slab of the surrounding rock. It''s buttoned up tight, my golems found it while exploring, and it''s not on the facility map.¡± ¡°So is it the only way in?¡± ¡°Not sure. I don''t know where the entryway by the waterfall goes, and the caverns aren''t mapped out. They could pop up anywhere, and we can''t risk someone seeing us poking around. So we have to rely on the golems, they¡¯re using miniature active camo systems to scout around. They can also get into nooks and crannies we can¡¯t." Kyle has a decent assessment, even if it leaves many unknowns. "We need to assume whoever is the inside man, isn''t working alone." "Do you even know who King is?" she asks. "He''s like the baba-yaga of the mage criminal underworld. Honestly, I thought it was some kind of urban legend, the guy is a ghost. He doesn''t do the trigger-pulling on anything himself, but he facilitates a lot of other criminal wrongdoing. He doesn''t have a name. Just ''King'' for some reason. It sounds kinda vain, actually," he grouses. ¡°It''s mighty scary, knowing a guy that high level only wants just a couple of academic journals. Why don''t we just go down archives, just take them, and hide them?" "That is a super bad idea," she replies sternly. "We¡¯re not sure which ones they¡¯re after, exactly. They know they''re in the lower archives, and that''s even more dangerous. No one goes down there. The bottom levels are so dangerous that no one''s been down there, ever. It''s like the whole facility rebuilt itself from the old location, like it''s one massive, magical construct. Don''t you pay any attention to history? Or you know, the on-boarding orientation when we hired in?¡± He can see her annoyance level building. "Joey, not all of us have a near-eidetic memory. I¡¯d also like to point out that King is playing at another level. I figure Nick will have a plan for when they get here, but they''ve got to make sure they aren''t followed." He leans back in his chair before fiddling with a remote, and an idea crops up. "What if we didn''t have to go in there? What if we scouted it out remotely?" Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "You know that with the stone and mage constructed stone and metal, a signal won''t carry in there," she counters. "My golems are semiautonomous. We could try," he proposes. It''s not a bad idea, in theory. "Tempting, but let''s try the cerebral route first." She packs up the alchemical equipment and puts them in her satchel. "Let''s go find a thief." Five minutes later, Reeves badges them into the storage area, and he eyeballs Joey''s kit. "What''s with the chemicals?" "Just a few cursory things to help us check a few common causes of error. For all we know, someone might have just¡­dropped the casings and ruined about fifty grand of primer on the floor. And then didn''t want to report the loss.¡± "Oof. Man, that would suck. Just clean up when you''re done, I''m headed back to my lab," he says before she and Kyle get to work. She attaches the canister to a small spray nozzle and looks around. "See the storage rack? Look for a green or bluish powder. If it''s sat out for more than a few days, it''ll be a dull gray color by now. Assuming someone was careless.¡± She didn''t have to look far, though. She sees a distinct bluish powder. She snaps her fingers to get Kyle''s attention. She turns off the overhead lights, and sees the telltale faint glow of the mana primer. It¡¯s still fresh, maybe within the past two days of being cracked open from the casing. Normally, mana primer just releases its energy into the air, unless it is encased in protective vessels. Kyle comes over with his tools and shines a black light on the powder. It fluoresces brilliantly. "Okay, someone took it out of the original casing and spilled some. Now what?" "Now we find out how much it''s decayed." She sprays a small portion of the powder, and it quickly turns magenta, then indigo. She takes her small multimeter kit and uses the voltage setting, and takes a quick reading. She pulls out her notebook and looks at her calculations. "It worked?" "Yep. According to the reading here, the material was stolen last night, based on the voltage, around¡­ eleven-fifteen in the evening. Definitely past working hours." She surveys the inventory levels, noting nothing else of worth is missing. "That mana primer will decay at a slower rate, but they''re going to lose a lot of effectiveness. Half the cost is the containment vessel. Once you make alchemical potions, it''s a lot more stable, and the shelf life goes up exponentially.¡± ¡°So why would they bother taking it out of the casing?¡± Kyle whispers. She shakes her head. ¡°Maybe for traceability. If they got caught with it, it would raise red flags. Better to store it in something discreet, something more portable that looks like someone¡¯s coffee container or a thermos mug. Those casings are heavy, remember?¡± She examines around the room, looking for other clues. ¡°Go talk to Reeves, see if anyone logged in from about nine and onwards. Emptying the casings into a separate vessel would have taken a little while.¡± While Kyle goes to bother the tech, Joey looks at the vent by the wall, noting the paneling looks a little bent. Almost as if someone had torn it out, and then bent it back into shape, in an attempt to hide the damage. A single bolt looks like it isn¡¯t tightened in all the way. She spots a small cart for moving items around the facility, brings it just under the vent, and hits the friction brake to lock it into place. She¡¯s glad she never gave up her gymnastics from the age of four and onwards, because it helps her keep her balance on the wobbly cart. She looks back, and hears Kyle talking to Reeves in the other room, asking about security footage. She looks over at the vent, and unscrews the bolt before pulling it back and peering inside. It¡¯s dark, dusty, and smells like cigarettes¨Cit¡¯s like the smell never comes out, even though smoke-free facilities have been the norm for decades now. Waving the stale air away from her nose does nothing, and she peers down both directions and measures the size. It¡¯s barely enough to fit her, but she could crawl or crouch and walk down the vent if needed. What¡¯s more telling is that there are disturbances in the dust. Like someone has been on their hands and knees, scuffing along. There hasn¡¯t been time for dust to re-accumulate, either. It¡¯s distinct enough that someone might have done the same thing more than once. She looks at the vent cover, and smiles. There¡¯s a jagged edge that caught a piece of fabric. It¡¯s part of a uniform! She quickly places it in a spare alchemical canister on her belt. She¡¯d been tempted to belt on her new hopper and distribution system, but it¡¯s still sitting on her bench at the lab¨Cher prototype, and the labor of about four solid months of intermittent work. She closes the vent, and deliberately leaves the bolt in the same position she found it, and hops off the cart with a graceful landing. If there¡¯s one thing I miss about being a kitsune all the time, it¡¯s the incredible acrobatics. All I have to do to make that happen is change the hearts and minds of half the Conclave, and I can do that in public without being heckled away or accused of being a mind thief, she thinks sardonically. Kyle and Reeves walk back into the room, and she decides to keep the information tight-lipped for now. ¡°So, what do you two have?¡± ¡°No one badged in. Not forwards, not backward, for four hours either way, and I don¡¯t see anyone on surveillance,¡± Reeves admits, and Kyle rolls his eyes. ¡°Yeah, with you on security, I can see why. Someone walked off with almost fifty thousand Euros of mana primer, and we¡¯d better figure out who, or Zameren will never let anyone get a requisition request ever again without going through it with a fine-toothed comb. Joey, what are your findings?¡± ¡°Well, nothing much. But I noticed that along with the fuse cores, we¡¯re missing some silvering equipment, very minor stuff.¡± Reeves scratches his head. ¡°C¡¯mon, Reeves, silvering equipment. You can use it for tracing runes and writing arcane programming. The stuff that most magitech uses to function?¡± ¡°Oh. Uh, I knew that,¡± he replies. Judging by his delayed response, he doesn''t, but she doesn''t feel like pushing it. ¡°I¡¯ll have to check to see what the other logs are printing. It¡¯s so weird that this stuff vanished.¡± ¡°Yes, go do that for us. Can you give me and Kyle a minute?¡± Joey asks. Reeves sucks in his breath through his teeth, then walks back to his station without another word. ¡°So, Kyle. Know what I think?¡± she asks in a low tone. ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Someone is using the vents for egress. Very recently. And they¡¯re missing a piece of uniform." She quietly shows him the sample in her canister, and he looks at it intensely for a minute. ¡°Looks like the color matches a maintenance uniform. It¡¯s possibly from the roving crews we get from time to time. It¡¯s someone who¡¯s worked here before, but not necessarily someone we see regularly. But who?¡± ¡°Well, it looks like a torn sleeve or legging, based on the fabric and seams. So, if we find a chunked uniform, we¡¯ll have our suspect. Lavernius?¡± ¡°Don''t focus on it. Remember, Drenar thinks King was deliberately feeding information. It could be a misdirect, which means we keep an open field of suspects. We can still possibly trace the uniform.¡± ¡°Assuming they didn¡¯t toss it or burn it the second they did their nefarious deeds,¡± he counters forcefully. ¡°We¡¯ll have to check the schematics. These ducts connect to almost everywhere in the facility. You could almost crawl from one end of Asqualia to the other without being seen, in theory. Kinda scary, when you think about it.¡± ¡°No one¡¯s invading our home, Kyle. Not Crosomer, not the crazy dragon bitch that Drenar and Nick mentioned, and not that sneaky espionage master, King,¡± she counters firmly. They¡¯d need to think this through, they have a narrower list of suspects, and a rough timing of the theft. But was that all they needed? "Kyle, that trail of disturbed dust could lead us to their ingress point. I''m¡­going to need you to run interference for a bit. You need to turn off the surveillance for about ten minutes." "Um, please tell me you''re not crawling through the ducts. That sounds like a bad idea.¡± She shrugs lightly. "It''s a fantastic idea. Plus, when I find their egress point, I might be able to chemically test for a few other things. Like for instance, what species they are, and other general characteristics." "Or, instead of crawling through ducts, let''s send something a little more capable and discreet." He pulls out an observer golem, which is hopping excitedly in his palm. "Sure Kyle, ruin my moment of sleuthing," she sighs before motioning at the duct. "Then again, I wasn''t looking forward to that, either. I''d have to go to my uh¡­other form for that. It''s a little tight for me as-is." "Huh. Didn''t honestly think about that." He leaves an awkward pause. "Are you claustrophobic?" "Uh, strangely, only when I''m in my human form. But only a little," she adds. "I''m weird, I know. I could be a living case study of the quirks of meta-magical beings with shapeshifting capabilities." "It''s not weird at all in the grand scheme of things. That said, let''s see where it goes." He glances at the door, pops open the vent, and deposits the golem which hops up and down before he seals it shut again. "Alright. Let''s head back to my room, and figure out where the tracks go. Wait here, little buddy." The golem gives a primitive ''thumbs up'' in response. Vol. 2, Ch. 69: Clever As A--Hey, Thats Speciesism! (Part Three) A short while later, Kyle is driving the golem while Joey navigates with the schematics he had come across earlier. The golem quickly clambers along, and follows the disturbed dust trail. She marks exits and relative positions, and the time it takes the golem to travel. The trail is lengthy, and the ducts divert several times, but there is only one distinct trail. "I can''t believe someone crawled a few hundred meters through this, and didn''t have a panic attack," Joey mutters while watching the live feed. "We''re right by the botany lab. The last vent was by the doorway marker." "We have discovered a potentially fatal flaw in Asqualia''s accessway and maintenance system. You can get almost anywhere in the facility. Even past ID check gates. It''s mid-level access to get into the botany wing, because special training is required for some of the specimens." Kyle pans around and follows the disturbed dust. "Are we sure this isn''t rats or something?" "Hey, rats are smart, they know how to navigate quite well," she counters. "Besides, I don''t see any urine or stool accumulated anywhere. Just dust. Plus, the tracks are two distinct scuff lines. I doubt even gilded rats have mapped out a lane system for their travels." "Hmm. Good point." He follows the duct to the right. "Hey, why do they say, ''don''t ever mess with gilded rats'' anyway?" "Well, for one, they''re super docile, and have intelligence equal to a five-year-old human, and some people even keep them as pets. And if you threaten one or try to hurt one, they, and all their close friends, will devour you alive," she adds as if it''s academia. He glances her way, looking anxious. "You''re kidding, right?" "Nope. They''ll release a pheromone to rally all nearby rats, because they do tend to live together in communal burrows. They''ll gang up on a much larger, more dangerous predator. They can chew through flesh, bone, and even mage steel." Kyle gets squeamish at that description. "So that phrase, ''Even the mightiest and oh so bold, should never harm a rat of gold'' isn''t just some silly nursery rhyme?" "Yeah. Even dragons are mindful of them, and avoid hurting them by accident," she adds for emphasis. Kyle sighs softly. "Man, that''s pretty dark for a children''s rhyme, but a good allegory for being nice to the small folk of the world." "You wouldn''t believe half the crap my mom used to say when I was growing up as a young kit. Now, let''s focus on finding our thief." Kyle pans the golem¡¯s singular lens forward and at the just-ajar grate. Someone has left it open, and they can see plants behind a barred and glass barrier. "Let''s take a look. Can you get the grate open?" "Alright Lexi, do your thing," he whispers. He uses the motion controls to get the golem to open the gate, just enough to squeeze by, and it vaults down the short distance. He pans the golem around, and examines a stash of garden equipment. There are distinct sharp-drawn marks on the floor. "What''s with those¨C" A motion to the left catches her eye, and she sees something wrap a vine around the golem¡¯s torso. She looks on, annoyed when the carnivorous plant bites down with sharp teeth, and the feed goes blank. Kyle glares at her before taking out his notepad, and adds a tally mark. "Golem death count, three," he adds with a growl, and taps his console impatiently. "I liked Lexi." Joey sighs and stares at the now blank screen. "Well, the Mandroga plant presents a problem of ingress. Why on earth would they come in from there?" "Dunno. Maybe so that no one in their right mind would go into an access-restricted area filled with murderous plants?" he suggests. "I certainly wouldn''t. We need to get in there, look for more evidence." "What else can you access from that area?" She glances at the schematics, and the entry door presents the sole means of getting inside. Someone would have had to badge in, deal with a murderous plant, crawl a few hundred meters, steal the supplies, then go back the same way, deal with the murder plant again, and then walk out. It seems highly impractical. "Kyle, are there any more subfloors in that area?" "Uh¡­not sure." He looks at another layer and overlays it with the floor plan. "We are kinda close to the teleportal hub by that area, if it¡¯s worth noting." "This makes no sense. You have to badge in to get into that area. That''s a big mistake, if they planned on being subtle, because they¡¯ll leave an access entry. Let''s check the logs, see who''s been in there in the past few days." Joey closes her notebook, and winces. It feels like they are chasing a rabbit on this one. Why all this effort for just mana primer and a couple of fairly trivial items? Was this part of the plan to get people inside Asqualia? Maybe blast a path through bedrock? It would be rather bold¨Cand exceedingly dangerous. "You want to bother Curtis? Man, that guy can''t chill to save his life," Kyle protests. "We should still check the room, and look for anything of interest." "Maybe later. Let''s pursue the low-hanging fruit first. This would be so much easier if we could just contact Nick!" She lightly bangs the table with her fist. "Can''t we just meet them in Mercadia Promenade?" Kyle suggests. "No. King''s taken an interest in Drenar and the others, and had eyes on them passively for a while. They have to find a way in, maybe if we gave them a hint through the remaining observer golem. Have you found out where the other entrances come out?" "You know what? Hang on.¡± He pulls up the old feed from the golems earlier from his scouting, and lets out a sound of surprise. ¡°I think it''s closeby, that old Sherman Zylandra library near the lake is right about where that entryway is, accounting for some subterranean tunnels. But the accessway is sealed, you have to open it from the other side. Kinda weird, having a one-way door like that," he answers. ¡°Other routes?¡± "Those other caverns could go for kilometers, and it''s pretty rough terrain. It looks like there''s been some erosion and the tunnels are barely navigable, some are even flooded. Not exactly a great place to launch a forward assault on a heavily fortified facility. Even the golems are having trouble in there. If they find a connecting path, we¡¯ll find out eventually.¡± he swipes through the feeds. "If anyone managed to find a way through, that would be impressive by itself." Joey mulls over the details. From a tactical perspective, overriding the teleportal, or somehow gaining access would be the most tactically advantageous maneuver. Being able to teleport behind back lines is extremely useful, based on her mage combat history classes. Entire library collections are dedicated to it. "We still can help tell them that the library is the surest access point. But, they''ll need to figure out how to get in. Even if King follows them, the security detail can funnel them from only one avenue of attack. Maybe it''s better if we do leak this." "That''s super risky, Joey. Are you willing to put the lives of everyone at this facility on the line, yours and mine included?" he asks softly. "King could even be planning for this, and have some kind of second attack wave from another location. They could get a small team through the cave system." "Possible. Once we''re sure who the saboteurs are, we''ll contact Nick¡¯s team, and tell them to beeline it here." Kyle looks at her, and his expression softens. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. "Joey. A plan like this could get people killed. You think you could live with that, if you''re wrong? I know I couldn''t." It''s a sobering thought that even with the best plan possible, it could still fail. It doesn''t break her resolve. But it changes her assessment. They need to commit to finding the saboteurs, find out how they were planning the invasion, and from where. "Alright. Let''s follow every lead we''ve got, first. If all else fails, we put the whole place on alert and have Nick and company hurry here. Or you know, a whole company of SAF soldiers,¡± she proposes. ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re drop-dead useless, Nick told us they think he¡¯s crazy. Which would normally be right, except they¡¯d also called Levine crazy. And his track record is incredible. I get this bad feeling that they¡¯re going to be less than helpful.¡± Truthfully, she didn¡¯t put much stock in the Conclave, given their history. Even she had skirted some of the more frustrating setbacks by keeping her heritage a secret from all but a few people. I know for a fact Zameren fudged on my application for security concerns. He knew I was a psionic, and never batted an eye, and he''s never told a soul. If Curtis knows, he¡¯s definitely kept it quiet. A psionic is a massive security risk, regardless of how potent their abilities are. I guess this is his way of thumbing his nose at the Conclave and their ridiculous policies. Not sure how well he¡¯d react if he knew I was a Kitsune, though. She looks up at Kyle after a moment of thinking it through. ¡°Let¡¯s go check the security feed. I get this feeling like we¡¯re racing against a clock.¡±
¡°Say that again?¡± Curtis taps a well-manicured finger on his desk and fiddles with his glasses frame when they approach him in his office a short time later. He¡¯s a powerfully built man, barrel-chested, girthy arms, but with such a strangely quiet voice, and he keeps his brown hair short, like he is still on a stint in the military. A few wrinkles and old scars mark his face and hands. ¡°You want security footage of the botany wing? Why?¡± ¡°We think there¡¯s been some misplaced, or undisclosed transport of materials in the facility, and we¡¯re just trying to help Reeves find his mana primer,¡± Joey assures him with a warm smile. There is absolutely no way they are telling their security officer and the head of the volunteer defense force that they are tracking saboteurs just yet. Especially if one saboteur could be the man with access to every branch of the facility, minus the vault. Only Zameren has higher clearance, and even he would be averse to travel down there without a fully armed adventurer team. ¡°Um, the Mandroga plants¡­have a nasty habit of chewing through anything laced with mana that gets within their range.¡± ¡°So, cut them open,¡± Curtis suggests. ¡°Start there.¡± ¡°And get chomped in half? No, thanks,¡± Kyle snorts. ¡°Not that I couldn¡¯t burn them to a crisp at range, but the security log for the area would be much more helpful, and far less dangerous.¡± ¡°What idiot thought a carnivorous plant that can eat people was even in the ballpark of a sane idea?¡± Curtis asks with a frustrated sigh. ¡°Seriously. Mages collectively don¡¯t have common sense.¡± ¡°So, is that a yes?¡± Joey leads carefully. Curtis taps a few commands into his laptop. He turns the laptop for them to see. They wait a minute to see the footage roll back at high speed to the night before, from about dinner time, to the waning hours of the night. There¡¯s a motion by the lab around 10:35 at night. The door opens and closes, but no one is there. ¡°Joey, what the hell was that?¡± Curtis asks, looking flabbergasted. ¡°Was that optic camo?¡± ¡°There was a slight lensing effect. It had to be,¡± Kyle points out, and then Curtis rewinds the footage and slows it down. ¡°Optic camo is mana intensive, it¡¯s only practical for short durations when powering it from the mana from your own body. Now, that is the most effective way to use it, because back-up mana cells tend to generate a lot of heat, and thermals can pick it up.¡± ¡°Okay. Alright. I¡¯m sold. I¡¯ll pull up the log here of who badged in, and¡­¡± Curtis taps in a couple of commands, and then he frowns. ¡°Why is the log missing from last night? It¡¯s not just that door, it¡¯s the whole east wing.¡± ¡°You sure that isn¡¯t some kind of glitch?¡± Kyle presses. Curtis is firing on all four cylinders now, and is plowing through commands, his fingers are a blur as he tries to troubleshoot the problem. ¡°I know that security can be a little wonky with the doors now and then¨C¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s the problem. An individual door can be a little finicky with the biometric IDs on extremely rare circumstances, where they¡¯ll open a door, but won¡¯t register on the log. This shows that the whole area was out¡­let¡¯s find the last log before the blackout.¡± He taps in more commands, and comes up with a few entries, just before nine. ¡°Lavernius, Zameren, Swistak, Gladys¡­they all used the badge by the main entryway to the hall, over by the lab adjacent to the botany wing. "Zameren I get, he visits all the labs, Swistak and Gladys, they practically sleep in that lab, and¡­Lavernius is on the maintenance crew.¡± he pauses for a moment. ¡°Well, that tracks. I have a request jotted down for a fuse core replacement in the lab, one went out about two days ago.¡± ¡°So, nothing out of the ordinary?¡± Kyle insists. Curtis shook his head. ¡°Nah, it¡¯s weird. Being out of commission for hours and nobody knowing about it? I¡¯m going to write some code to raise red flags for people badging into areas they don¡¯t normally work. It¡¯ll take a while to go through it, and I¡¯ll have to enter it manually. I just don¡¯t know how they spoofed the system. Or who¡¯s roaming around with optic camo,¡± he adds heatedly. ¡°That¡¯s already a violation of work policy. For obvious reasons.¡± ¡°Hang on. Do we have a security feed inside the botany wing?¡± Joey asks. ¡°Well, there¡¯s one monitoring the entryway on the opposite side¨C¡± ¡°Does it have audio?¡± He squints, as if trying to remember, then he smiles. ¡°Yes, it does. Most of them do, but the quality isn¡¯t particularly great. You¡¯re lucky that we keep it on three days of data retention. Or, it would have been purged and written over.¡± He taps in more commands, and then the video syncs up to the inside of the room, and once again, the door opens, with no one visible, and closes a few seconds later. There are audible footsteps, and then a soft sigh. ¡°You look like hell. What happened?¡± ¡°Slight difficulties in getting the intended effect for one of my gambits,¡± the individual says calmly. ¡°I¡¯ll spare you the details. Where do we stand? We have objectives and a timer ticking.¡± ¡°This is getting difficult. They¡¯re going to notice the missing supplies,¡± the individual says. Joey can¡¯t quite make out the speaker, but it¡¯s a male, possibly middle-aged, based on his voice and speech pattern. ¡°I know you said you can do this without anyone knowing that we''re here but¡­if Val gets word¡­¡± ¡°No need to worry. I¡¯ve already made arrangements towards that specific outcome,¡± another male speaks, but Joey can¡¯t get a pin on his voice. Only a slight British or Welsh accent, and he speaks with deep authority and confidence. He¡¯s not in the frame, but he¡¯s close to the camera. Perhaps they had forgotten about the audio¨Cmost security setups went with the most basic of systems and only had poor visual quality, but Curtis had splurged a little extra on the budget for these ones. She narrows her eyes, trying to focus on the new voice. ¡°This exercise will be harmless. A few research logs will go missing. And then, life will continue uninterrupted.¡± ¡°Yeah? You call tonight harmless?¡± The first male snarls. ¡°SAF was crawling up my backside. I almost got my security revoked out of an abundance of caution, then your plan would have been useless. If she died, you can rest assured that you, and everyone who works for you, would follow suit swiftly. You told me she¡¯d be safe, King!¡± Everything else drops a level of magnitude of importance. She doesn¡¯t have to connect the dots to know who the second man is. ¡°Fates. King is crawling through the walls of Asqualia,¡± Joey breathes out, and Kyle¡¯s several choice curse words only add to the grim mood that¡¯s gripping the room now. Even Curtis knows without context how bad this is. Vol. 2, Ch. 70: Clever As A--Hey, Thats Speciesism! (Part Four) ¡°Joey, what is¨C¡± Curtis starts to say, but she puts a hand out. ¡°Curtis, bad things are happening. I¡¯ll explain later.¡± They continue to watch, all of them keenly focused on this conversation picked up by a chance encounter. ¡°The outcome you desired was achieved. She survived the encounter. Along with¡­an unexpectedly adept crew of individuals,¡± King replies. ¡°I told you to have some faith. Everything works out when the right plan is chosen.¡± ¡°This has become exceedingly dangerous.'''' The lensing of the camo is slowly moving back and forth, in and out of the camera¡¯s range, as if the individual is pacing. ¡°I paid my dues ten times over for the mistakes I made. My family should not have to pay the price for that.¡± ¡°Then help us redress these grievances we have against the Conclave. Those journals contain key information that will lead to their downfall, in the long run. And that is all you need to know,¡± the second male answered back. King possessed immense composure. He¡¯s calm. Collected. He is very experienced in this clandestine endeavor. ¡°I could get those damn journals of Crosomer, they aren¡¯t that hard to get at in the archives¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s not those logs I¡¯m interested in, though they are quite useful for other reasons. Crosomer did have some choice research that no one else ever compiled, and it has likely been moldering for some time, waiting for someone to rediscover it. Our priority is the one in the Vault that contains key information for us, Volkir''s notes. He had the most comprehensive notes." There''s another grunt of frustration from their presumptive Lavernius, and Curtis is jotting down everything in a notebook as fast as he can. ¡°You understand who built this construct, yes?¡± ¡°I know the history. Volkir Menrayas, that looney dragon sage who also had a hand in annihilating almost all of dragonkind, during the Ascension events,¡± the first man scoffs, as if this knowledge were trivial to him. ¡°You know, even if you get a team in here, without tripping security, that place will eat you alive, I¡¯ve already told you this. No one goes down there. No one¡¯s been to the bottom in seven hundred years. That looney sage locked it up tight, let loose a bunch of monsters, traps, and who knows what else. Now it¡¯s condemned, and a death wish for all but the most prepared mages. I asked around, it''s tougher than we discussed earlier. If Volkir is indeed alive, he¡¯s not just going to ¡®hand it over¡¯, by my guess.¡± ¡°You let me worry about that possibility. Just be ready when we send the signal.¡± There¡¯s a low curse and the first man bangs a wall with a muffled fist, the shimmer of the cloak blurring the motion. ¡°Even if this doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ve already made arrangements for your family.¡± Kyle is mouthing obscenities silently, and Joey doesn¡¯t even try to stop him. ¡°I want out the second I¡¯ve done my part. King, I did this for you as a friend, because I know the work you do is for the betterment of all¨Ceven given the people you work with,¡± the man snarls. ¡°If my kids ever got hurt because of your people, I would never stop hunting you. You know my history, you know I¡¯m really good at what I do, even discounting my current expertise.¡± ¡°Jeez. Drenar wasn¡¯t kidding, they did have a past.¡± Joey feels a trickle of instant fear with these two talking like old friends. This was beyond terror. The co-leader of the Talons had been in their facility last night. And he¡¯d gotten in without a trace, and left almost no evidence of his passing. In fact, this camera might have been a slight miss on their part. "Collateral is something I avoid when possible. You know that." The second man sounded unimpressed. "I will uphold my end of the deal, because if there''s one thing I cannot stand, it is unnecessary violence. Sometimes, it only takes a kind word and a gesture of faith to accomplish the impossible." "You might believe that, but your¡­partner¡­is a walking nightmare of a woman who has a history of bloodshed. Either you have one hefty contingency planned, or you''re a bigger fool than me." There''s a brief pause, and a scuffing of a boot on the floor, and a cell phone pinging. ¡°King, what is it?¡± ¡°Val¡¯s furious. I had to¡­direct her back to her corporate office to avoid suspicion,¡± he utters with a hint of annoyance. ¡°There¡¯s fallout from that meeting, let¡¯s just say. Now she¡¯s seeking heads on platters.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Rashalda, DeVerdra, and the Shalinde siblings. Plus a few of SAF¡¯s finest agents. Not that she knows names and faces, yet.¡± ¡°Do not hurt them, King. They¡¯re kids. Not soldiers.¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking ten steps ahead, just like old times. This was an¡­eventuality that was going to happen. The kids scuttled the mine, by my guess, they pieced together what was happening, or DeShandrea tipped them off somehow. It was actually kind of fortuitous, because Nigel, Greg, McKinsley, and Karl are all alive and breathing. Val¡¯s men would have shot them all in the head, and cost us incalculable research. I should be thanking Drenar on that account, actually.¡± ¡°I know that look, King. They¡¯re kids, not pawns.¡± Joey does the math, this happened just after the events at the school. He broke out of custody, and then just casually waltzed into the Conclave¡¯s most secure facilities on the same day?! King has indeed been busy, and he has been aware of them. This guy is playing at another level. He is super dangerous, she thinks worriedly. ¡°Did you just make a pun? That actually is quite funny. You¡¯ll forgive my lack of laughter¨Cit¡¯s a medical condition.¡± Joey rolls her eyes. Criminal mastermind or not, this is strange. ¡°Don''t worry, though. Walk me through the layout." The door opens, and the slightly distorted image shows the person in the camo cloak still lingering by the door. "Oh, and just a thought for the future¡­if Rashalda and DeVerdra do show up here at the archives¡­avoid them." ¡°How in the hell could they get here?! They don¡¯t have biometric IDs¨Cyou know what, screw it. You¡¯re you, which means you¡¯ve already got your scheme in motion, just like always.¡± ¡°Oh, that hurts. They¡¯re more adept than you give them credit for. And you know why they are the way they are.¡± the saboteur lets out a soft grunt. ¡°You think I¡¯m playing too dangerously?¡± ¡°I know you¡¯re playing dangerously. I know you profess to achieve some greater good¡­but how many good people are you going to hurt in the process?¡± King doesn¡¯t answer, and the cloaked individual sighs in frustration. "King. You and I have known each other for a long time. What you''re attempting¡­should never come at the expense of the innocent." The second person finally heads out the door. "If only it were so easy. There¡¯s another problem.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Val might also have a man inside Asqualia. How she got them in, I don¡¯t know, but if she enacts her plan¨Cit will be a bloodbath. Which is why I need every detail. I need to get these journals before she burns the place down in her usual ¡®kill everything that moves¡¯ mentality.¡± ¡°You¡¯re gonna drop that on me now? No pressure or anything!¡± ¡°I can only make moves based on predictable actors. Val can be¡­a chaos machine. Now let¡¯s get this done.¡± The door closes, and there''s nothing but the scuffing of a vent being moved, and the first unnamed individual clambered into the vent system, presumably to further the plan. What the hell?! Is King counting on them getting into the facility? Joey is busy playing out scenarios, and Kyle is as well because he glances at her, and nods. This changes the calculus, on a variety of fronts. And none of them are good. "Who is this ''King'' that guy mentioned? We have to go to lockdown, this is a major security breach," Curtis said before pulling out his phone. Joey puts her hand out, her expression etched in determination. "Curtis. That man is the co-leader of the Onyx Talons. He walked into our home, and we have no idea how he''s getting in and out. If we set the place on lockdown, we have no idea what''ll happen. Lavernius is the likely threat, but we have a second saboteur problem." She''s furious now, more than she''s ever been. ¡°No one gets in or out of Asqualia like they¡¯re a ghost. He either found an exploit, or a physical route that we don¡¯t know about through the cavern system. These caverns are unmapped, and go for miles. We¡¯re using golems to try to map them out. Our dreaded ¡®worst case¡¯ is that King has men deep inside SAF, and we absolutely cannot trust them. It¡¯s the only way he could have gotten this far into the facility, he had a biometric ID.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°But we¡¯d know if the portal was activated¨C¡± ¡°There is a secondary portal system used for the transport of heavy cargo. My furnace was brought in using one I built, and they tap into the main line. It *can* be spliced, I proved it, but I was also bringing in from the main pad to a temporary pad in our lab,¡± Kyle explains. ¡°But I also had access. King might have used a one-time-use admin card, but they''re tightly controlled. Which means, our saboteur had inside help, period.¡± ¡°Joey, Kyle, we have to call this in. The safety of this facility, and everyone in it, is my priority,¡± Curtis insists. ¡°We don¡¯t know their ingress point yet, or the timetable. If SAF is compromised with their men, and they intercept¨Cthen we open the front door right to them,¡± Joey warns. ¡°We need to find the saboteurs, pin them down, and fast. I know we¡¯re right to find Lavernius as likely suspect A, but we need to observe him if he pops up. If we try to set off the panic alarm now, they''ll go to ground. We''ll never find out how they''re getting in, and we will still be at risk." A plan is forming, and her vow never to use this ability like this may indeed get people hurt if she does nothing. "Short version, we''ve been in contact with another team, working against the Talons. Two of them are SAF agents of an immense reputation, Dillenger and DeShandrea. Do you know about them?" "Joey, I''m still playing catch-up, jeez." He glances at the notes, then at her and Kyle. "I know Dillenger''s name. The guy is a legend at SAF, good tactical leader. He''s on this, too?" "Him, DeShandrea, and a few other teens from town who were impacted by the Talons activities. They intercepted the Talons at the Grady Biggs high school last night, and kept a lot of people from getting hurt. They told us they were there to intercept the Talons from recruiting some kids into their enforcer group. They pulled a hell of a lot of records of what the Talons have been up to. We need them here, and we need them to find a quiet way in, because they know exactly what the stakes are." "What¨CJoey, this is crazy! What could be so important here at Asqualia they''d throw this much effort into?" Curtis looks like he''s still struggling. "Curtis, the Awakenings in town were triggered by a device under the Talon''s control. They''re recruiting dragons and drakensouls for an assault on the Conclave. The Conclave might have its faults, but a terrorist group with thousands of dragons under their belt is a massive problem. The device could be used to Awaken all the missing dragons from the Ascension events, up to two million of them, and the key to that is somewhere in some old notes that were buried and forgotten in the archives. That¡¯s not even the scariest part. These notes could allow them to control the machine and split the Veil in half. ¡°Forget our secret mage society. Forget a quiet life. The world will be in nonstop chaos if they pull this off. Got your attention?" Kyle said firmly. "How did you even¨Cyou know what, I don''t even want to know how you got involved in this," Curtis groans. "This is insanity." "That''s what we said! Everything going on in town is connected, it''s not a whole bunch of one-off coincidences!¡± Kyle states with fervor. ¡°There is one tactical advantage we have. One I think you know about.¡± he nods to Joey. It¡¯s now or never, if she¡¯s going to do this, it has to be for the right reasons. Defending her home, and the people in it, is an ironclad reason to pull out all the stops. "Curtis. You signed off on my security clearance. You¡­know of my particular background?" He looks at her, and lets out a resigned sigh. "I do. Only me and Zameren. And I presume mister Bertance here. I know you have some kind of psionic ability. That is all I know, and it¡¯s none of my business to pry further, unless you want to tell me more about it on your own volition. Honestly, why¡¯d you even fill that on the form? You could have lied, and no one would have ever questioned it.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t feel like committing a felony on my dream job application,¡± she said quietly. He nods respectfully. ¡°I think those forms are a load of crap, is what they are. We live in a weird world, and there are many individuals with unique origins or magical abilities. Some who would rather live a private life.¡± He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair, rubbing at a faint scar line¨Ca reminder of a close call to his life, most likely . ¡°Alright. I see where this is going. You need time to find the saboteurs. And you think you can extract what they¡¯re planning.¡± ¡°We think it''s someone in the maintenance crew, possibly Lavernius, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s 100% sure yet. We found a shred of their uniform in one of the vents. We need to investigate that botany area, and scour it with chemical tracers, and we need to do it soon. Time is a factor, the mana primer they stole is massive, and he could be using it for any number of things, or making one big hole in the facility somewhere,¡± she adds with emphasis. ¡°Curtis, how many personnel do we have on file for the maintenance crew?¡± ¡°About a dozen, plus a few roaming contractors." He''s already punching up a search of personnel on his laptop. ¡°I think we got a big clue, the first individual mentioned his daughter got attacked. What was that about?¡± ¡°The forest! That was Drenar and Nick, they mentioned they crashed a Talons get-together, and they had to flee the scene with a few extra kids. They were chased by one massive Siberian Hellkite, who could have turned them all to ash. That¡¯s who Val is. But, we don¡¯t have a way to contact them reliably, not without the risk of our communications getting intercepted. King is¡­genius-level insanity, and I think Nick¡¯s team is being watched when possible,¡± Kyle adds. ¡°So, what is the plan? If we can''t contact SAF, then we¡¯re relying on those two, plus a bunch of untrained teenagers? This is a recipe to get everyone killed¨C¡± ¡°No. Some of them are incredibly adept, even being so young. I saw them take out several Talons soldiers, and they sparred with King inside a bunker lab by the high school, and came out alive,¡± Joey counters. ¡°They have an idea how to get in without drawing attention, and we need them here, because they know the stakes. I think they want to help.¡± ¡°Oh ignore her, she¡¯s got a crush on that dweeby teen that¡¯s running their motley crew. She just wants alchemical samples of all the dragons on their team, for her ¡®academic¡¯ purposes,¡± Kyle adds with air quotes. ¡°Kyle, seriously? Bigger stakes than my academic curiosity!¡± she snaps back. ¡°Look, I think we can narrow down our suspects. But when we grab them, we need to inject them with a Magica suppressor solution, so they can¡¯t use any verbal invocations or activate any magical devices in their possession. I¡¯ll prepare a batch in my lab tonight, then we¡¯ll get them to talk.¡± ¡°Wait, hang on. King was at the facility, plus this traitor. What about the third person? It sounds like they don¡¯t know who it is. Which is even more worrisome.¡± That is a big issue, without further clues. ¡°Which is why we have to play this covertly. If we identify a suspect, I¡¯ll use my psionics and see if I can get them to give up the goods, without having to take a hammer to their kneecaps,¡± she adds while glancing at Kyle. He pouts at this subtle suggestion. ¡°Curtis, once we do this, the Talons might get desperate, if they know their inside men failed. When we have both suspects, we need to get every staff member who knows mage combat up and ready as quickly as possible. Just say it''s impromptu training drills or something, for now." ¡°This is so risky,¡± he sighs. ¡°The prudent thing would be to contact SAF.¡± ¡°Or, we could try the Valkyries,¡± Kyle suggests with a raised eyebrow. ¡°You know, the larger-than-life legends of the mage world who chew up Talons soldiers and other criminals, eldritch abominations, and run-of-the-mill monsters for breakfast?¡± ¡°Do they have a phone number? A one-eight hundred number?¡± Curtis asks sarcastically. He glances at the two young arcanists, while tapping a finger gently on a key on his laptop. ¡°Alright. One caveat. If I see anything that sets off my danger sense, we¡¯re going on lockdown. No questions asked.¡± ¡°Deal. Now, we need to get to work.¡± Joey takes a deep breath, and hopes that Drenar and Nick are putting their everything into getting into Asqualia without raising suspicion. Meanwhile, they¡¯ve got work to do, and little time to do it, especially with the workday waning. Curtis pops open a drawer, and pulls out a small metallic and gunmetal black bolt pistol, already loaded, and hands it to Joey. It has a refex sight mounted on the top rail, for close-quarters target acquisition. ¡°I know your training file, both of you. Joey, you used tranq rifles when in MBPS, yes?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve used an autobow too, at MBPS, along with non-lethal tranquilizer rifles. I never had to use it on¡­on a person before,¡± she adds with discomfort. She checks the tension in the bow portion. ¡°You think we¡¯ll need this?¡± She eyes the weapon warily, but stuffs it into a pouch on her alchemical belt, after checking the safety. He hands her a spare magazine. ¡°It''s been a little while, but I still have good aim. I¡¯m hoping we won¡¯t need it.¡± ¡°For self-defense only, and I will feel far safer, given the risk we are taking. If this is counter-intelligence, we are playing a deadly game against people who know what they are doing. Kyle, I know you have a miniature armory, but your stuff is all research and development, and bulky. I¡¯ll be making sure we¡¯re ready on my end, and you need to do the same.¡± ¡°Ready for what?¡± ¡°Ready for the scenario where our plan fails. We need to be ready for a war with the Talons. I didn¡¯t retire from SAF, just to watch the world go to pieces as soon as I left.¡± There¡¯s something to be said about a calm stoicism, and just the faintest hint of his thoughts radiating out, that lets her know that Curtis is one of the few people they can trust in this endeavor. Hang on. She hadn¡¯t been focusing her psionics, she realizes when they walk through the door to track down more leads. What did that mean, exactly? Is he--no, he couldn''t be. She hasn''t seen any signs. Vol. 2, Ch. 71: The Call Of The Valkyries, Part One Tap. Tap. Tap. The coffee is still too hot for her liking, and sleep the previous night had been nonexistent. Julia is staring out the kitchen window in Nick¡¯s house, watching a few errant orange leaves fall from one of the trees when a light breeze blows by. The sky is dimly lit and gray¨Covercast today. She gazes down at the coffee, unfocused. For the first time in a long while, she just doesn¡¯t know what to do at all. Levine¡¯s words to Drenar had devastated him. Finding out his mother¡¯s dagger belonged to a Valkyrie¨Can order of ancient knights who fought for the well-being of the world, and all Kin, was a revelation no one in the room had seen coming. And watching that spark fade from Drenar¡¯s eyes, bit by bit as the truth sunk in, hurt. It felt like the whole universe was punching down at him right now¨Cand by proximity, her as well. And there is nothing she can do about it¨Cthere is no monster to punch in the face, or fry with elemental plasma. At least, not yet. Or unload Matilda into. She rubs her shoulder, still bruised from firing the weapon from her half-braced position on Nick during that chaotic flight. The bruising has faded, but it¡¯s an ugly mark on her pale skin. One of many, now. Drenar was pretty scuffed up too, but the emotional damage is far deeper. He¡¯d just walked away in silence after they¡¯d wrapped up and he¡¯d said very little to anyone. Even her. Which is why she¡¯s sitting alone while everyone is catching up on much-needed rest. The school is closed for the next couple of days, thanks to Jonaleth incinerating the main hall, the damage to the gym, and the bunker of infinite evil. SAF had been right pissed with Nick when he explained that attempts to do damage control had ultimately failed, and the fault was purely on the Talons. Now, people had to go clean up that massive mess. Tap. Tap. Tap. And her mother is stonewalling. She wouldn¡¯t pick up her phone, other than a brief twenty-second video call. ''Trust Dillenger, and do not do anything reckless. I love you my dear, but there are some problems you shouldn¡¯t have to solve on your own. I will be home once I am done solving a crisis on my end.¡± At least she¡¯s alive. Doing who the hell knows what. Valkyrie things, likely, even though she wouldn¡¯t explain more than that bare-bones instruction. She wouldn¡¯t even address that she is a freaking dragon, when she got pissed at her in the first fifteen seconds. She¡¯d almost smashed her phone down on the floor when she ended the call. Tap. Tap. Tap. ¡°You alright?¡± She sighs softly and glances over her shoulder. Angela is at the doorframe of the kitchen, looking bruised, miserable and dressed in a dark shirt and jeans. She looks like she needs a cup of coffee, too. ¡°Of course you¡¯re not. Dumb question to ask.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡­Drenar¡¯s not okay. Not even close right now. Which means I¡¯m not okay, either, by proximity. Last I checked, he went to the training floor downstairs super early , and was busy with that broadsword. Doing water dancing with blades, I suppose.¡± ¡°Poetic,¡± Angela demurs, and she pokes at faint score marks and stenciled words by the door frame. ¡°He¡¯s going through the same rote I do every morning, the same way we did our martial lessons, back before Laresten passed away. She smiles faintly when she examines the score marks. ¡°Huh. Nick did keep the score marks from when he was growing up. Elaine, Scarla and Maribeth¡­and little Nicky here, too,¡± she adds as a tease. Julia isn¡¯t smiling, though. ¡°Okay, you¡¯re in a bad way, Julia. When even you can¡¯t laugh, I know it¡¯s bad.¡± ¡°Coffee, then?¡± Angela hesitates before dipping her head in acknowledgment, and Julia pushes away from the breakfast bar and starts another cup. ¡°Did you and Drenar talk about your guys thing yet?¡± ¡°We...did talk about it. He actually brought it up. He insisted, maybe just to take his mind off of that giant bomb in his life." Julia shakes her head in disbelief. "I think he''s sorting a lot of stuff out between him and Alex, too." "You guys are good for each other, though." She was sure that Angela, of all people, could get through to him. "Julia. He still isn''t ready for that kind of thing. For anyone. Not in any serious kind of commit, because he''s terrified of losing someone close again. Well, with us, maybe." She rubs as a bruised shoulder, and sighs. "I like Drenar. I really do. He''s funny, he can be steadfast, calm under duress...and he can also be a little emotionally compromised and a tad too heroic. Much as I don''t want to give James credit for that one." "So, where''d you leave off?" "We stay friends, and...we just tally it up as something of a...messy, teenage year thing." But, her mood isn''t somber. It''s even a slight bit of relief. "He''s still someone I''d want as a confidant, and always want in my life as a friend. I''ll still have a dueling partner, from all the way back when we were training under Laresten. But...beyond that...I think he needs more time. Maybe I was trying to push him to be more..." She sighs. "Maybe I was trying to push myself, too. Like it was this thing we''re supposed to do, and explore." "Maybe we''ve all pushed the lines a little too far?" This quiet moment gives Julia time to reflect on her own thoughts. Has she been pushing him too hard? And for how long? Would she even want something like that with Drenar? More than friends? She''s drawing a blank when she gives the question a good long thought. "Spinning the wheel?" Angela asks with a raised eyebrow. "Little bit. So, what about Nick?" Angela lets out a loud exhale and throws up her hands. "I don''t know. I think right now, we need to focus on important matters. I need to mull that one over. I like Nick, but sorting out feelings...sucks." "Welcome to the teenage years, Angie." Her friend lets out a heartfelt laugh that this room needs right now. "You are the same age as me, Tsundere. Ugh. Me, without having firm answers is rare, isn''t it?" "It is. Let''s focus on actual problems we can solve. Like King." She still can''t believe that man had managed to slip out of their hands, while handling the mug. She wants to break the coffee mug in her bare hands, or throw it at the wall. ¡°That son of a bitch. We had him. Then he takes off like he was toying with us, and leaves us with a dangling hint. And before he does that, he goddamn blue screens Drenar¡¯s entire life again. He is dead the next time I find him.¡± Angela takes the finished cup of coffee out of her hand, and steadies Julia''s own quivering arm. ¡°Julia, I know. No one saw this coming.¡± ¡°We should have. I was stupid for never talking to my mother about any of this, and we put ourselves in harm''s way because of it. I did so, because I was pissed at my mom for hiding her whole damn life from me. We did the exact same thing right back at her, and look what that did.¡± She scoffs bitterly at this notion. ¡°How high up is she in their organization? She won¡¯t speak more than two words to me right now. She¡¯s still trying to have her cake and eat it, too.¡± ¡°Alright. Take a step back. I understand how this feels. We haven''t had a solid ''win'' this entire week, and my mom''s indifference is about as cold as the space between stars. But we''ve done damage to the Talons.¡± Angela gives her that firm look with her solemn eyes, her voice barely over a whisper. ¡°I hate seeing you guys like this. I really do. And Samarina has been saying some truly strange things of late inside my head that¡­that make me think something bigger is at work. C¡¯mon, I think we need to find you something to destroy, first.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have any Talons mook soldiers to destroy, so what¡¯s left?¡± she grunts. It gets her out of her funk a little. She growls playfully at Angela. ¡°How do you always know what I need?¡± ¡°Julia, you aren¡¯t that hard to figure out. At least when it comes to things like this, where you need to vent some anger. We¡¯ll figure this out as we go, Nick¡¯s got a couple of punching bags in that little workout area down the hall.¡± ¡°Fine. Hope he¡¯s got extras, because I have things to destroy.¡± Five minutes later, she¡¯s taking her anger out on a punching bag after taping up her wrists. Not using her elemental plasma is a measure of restraint, because she doesn¡¯t want to destroy the thing prematurely¨Cor set it on fire, which would probably not be the best way to wake the rest of the house. She¡¯s swinging at the hanging target, aiming for a small painted-on dot as a focal point. ¡°Okay Julia, now that you¡¯re all sweaty and pent up at this poor dummy, let¡¯s go over a few things.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Girl,¡± she grunts as she lands alternating blows on the target with quick strikes, ¡°Name it.¡± ¡°Well...Sam''s being weird." "How weird is weird?" "The weirdest parts?" Angela has finished her coffee and grabbed a small staff, and is going through motions. Almost like rote memory. She talks as she continues with blows, thrusts, and blocks against an invisible enemy. "She called Drenar a child of a champion." Julia stops, and peers at her curiously. She has no idea what those chatterbox drakensouls are saying, and she needs to fix that blind spot somehow! She needs a psionic or a magical fox girl! Or something. Nick had mentioned that humans and Kitsune could read thoughts in some capacity, but he hasn''t elaborated. "Think that means something? That''s been bugging me, too, I think King is crazy." She gets back to pummeling this helpless target. Angela shakes her head while she focuses. "Sam knows things. She has a super weird intuition. Maybe it''s another draconic ability? Like it''s tied to danger sense?" "Aren''t those different? Unseen threat detection isn''t the same as omniscience." "No, but...Amaranth''s guide doesn''t trace every dragon species. Nick showed me there are three others I have not even opened yet. But this one..." She trails off. "I''m going to figure this one out between her and me. Yes, dear, we don''t know everything." She assumes that last sentence is aimed at Samarina. "Question. when you grab the dagger, does it hum in your hands?" Julia takes a moment to think about it. "Its weird, its a vibration that feels like it goes through the fiber of my body, without shaking itself out of my hand. I have no idea what it is." She manages to gouge the dummy, much to her frustration when a little sand spills out. ¡°Whoops.¡± Angela grabs a small patch of tape from a roll in the drawer¨Cbased on the state of it, this was a thing Nick had happened fairly often. Julia relents for a second. In her head¡­she realized she didn¡¯t know what Drenar really wanted. He¡¯d been cagey about it, every time she teased him about it. But, Angela might be the easier one to solve at the moment. ¡°Alright, you know what, I might have been teasing earlier, but you and Nick? I think you two might make a cute couple. But Angie¡­he¡¯s going to need a lot of support. I just don''t get your interest in him." "I think I have a bad habit--or a good habit--of trying to piece people back together." The subtle nudge isn''t lost on her. "You''ll always have my thanks, Angie. I was a wreck after my dad died." "Nah, no thanks are needed, Julia. You guys are my closest friends. I think we''d all do that for each other," she adds. It helps alleviate her mood, at least a little. "Anyway, going back to your question, Nick''s got a good heart. And, we do have some common interests. There''s something about that absolute calm he has under fire. I want to be able to do that, too." "Or, maybe you just have a thing for dragons?" Julia suggests in a slight tease. Angela pouts. "Ouch. That would not be a very solid foundation for a relationship in any circumstance." A few more blows at the dummy, and she decides to cut the poor stuffed victim a break for a minute, and she grabs a bottle of water off the counter. ¡°Just be prepared for some hurt along the way, Angie. I¡¯m looking out for you, but Nick¡­I¡¯m all but sure he¡¯s got some ghosts. Just be tactical about it, okay?¡± ¡°Noted. Your turn, stuff you want to unload? I could think of a couple.¡± ¡°Nah, I want to hear from you, Angela.¡± She sets her coffee mug down, and grabs a training staff and casually gives it a whirl. Almost like her swordplay. ¡°Well, I could pick one that''s bothering both of us. Drenar¡¯s mom is Valkyrie. Or was. I don¡¯t know how we don¡¯t make that conclusion now, based on what we¡¯ve seen out of the dagger alone.¡± ¡°Okay, that one¡¯s rougher, you¡¯re right,¡± Julia acknowledges. ¡°She was kicking ass on the Talons and eldritch horrors, long before we were born. I''m slightly envious. If mom had come clean when she should have, I''d have signed up, day one. There''s nothing more noble than kicking ass for the safety of others.¡± ¡°Noted. But it''s not a job for just anyone, Julia. They pick the best and the brightest. We''re barely Awakened, and we''ve nearly died quite a few times by now.¡± Angela stands up straighter. ¡°So if we want that, we''ve gotta work for it. I think they''re already aware of us.¡± ¡°How?¡± Another series of sweeping strikes. It''s all about speed now. Grappling has its advantages, but sometimes that might not be an option. ¡°The dagger responds to all of us. Even Drenar. Supposedly, that dagger can only be used by a Valkyrie.¡± ¡°Or, someone badass enough and determined enough to want to make the world a better place.¡± She alternates a few kicks and is quickly breaking out in a sweat again, a cool breeze on her skin. She¡¯s felt stronger ever since her Awakening last night. Like her strength in her human form is grossly amplified now. Punching a sandbag feels like child¡¯s play, there¡¯s a springiness to her kicks that belays increased power. Which means greater control is going to be important. ¡°First time I used that dagger, it shattered Crosomer¡¯s trap rune. It gouged the concrete.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t even dull the blade. Drenar says when he goes to sharpen it, the blade edge is never dented, dulled, or fretted.¡± Angela leans in a bit, smiling. ¡°Bet you¡¯re wondering about some stuff.¡± A few more blows leave the sandbag flailing back, and Angela steadies it. Julia takes a readied pose, before dodging and diving while alternating blows. She needs to have her close game ready, having an anti-material rifle as a primary weapon is probably not the most helpful all-around weapon, even as much as she loves that beastly contraption. ¡°Really, Angie, what am I thinking about?¡± She commits to a series of body blows on the training dummy and can hear it creaking¨Cmaybe she should tone it down a bit, but she¡¯s never felt this strong before. Training her body should be earned, it should be progress carefully measured and earned, just like every bulls-eye hit at the target range. Angie leans in, grinning. ¡°Bet you¡¯re thinking what Drenar would be like in the sack.¡± She whiffs and jars her hand on her last impact, and she winces before she lets out a frustrated groan. ¡°Girl, he¡¯s like a brother! That would be like¡­weird!¡± On the other hand¡­he probably would be quite a contender. Strong, but gentle-mannered. Guess I¡¯d have to fix that second part¨C She puts her hand to her mouth and groans. ¡°Angie, I¡¯m gonna kill you later, stop putting infectious thoughts in my head, thank you. I¡¯ve got enough on my plate at the moment.¡± ¡°Well, just saying! You might have competition!¡± Angela is grinning like she has some profound secret over Julia, and she grabs a towel hanging up and drying herself off. Her breath is coming in steady, her chest rising and falling in controlled measure. Always in control. Lack of it leads to mistakes. Mistakes that could be deadly or get other people hurt. Even as cheery as she can be, she knows the seriousness of where this whole endeavor is going. She runs the towel briefly over her face¨Cher hair is damp, and she¡¯ll have to shower later. ¡°What competition, exactly?¡± ¡°Joey.¡± Julia tilts her head to the side and is out of words for that bizarre statement. Julia frowns and stretches her arms lightly. ¡°That boy can¡¯t tie his shoes sometimes, and I¡¯m not convinced he¡¯s not gay or something.¡± ¡°Oh no. Drenar is very much not gay. I confirmed as much.¡± Julia stares at Angela. ¡°Look, past his anxiety with intimacy...pretty sure he prefers the fairer gender." "Oh, you did hold back! Spill it, Water Dancer!" Julia cackles. "You went past kissing, I knew it!" "Maybe a little," Angela admits. "Look, here''s something I did notice, and I''ll preface this as just my observations. Drenar was being so adorably awkward with Joey over the golem call." ¡°They just met. Hell, we all just met her. Call me not convinced.¡± she crosses her arms and sighs contently at her friend. ¡°Look, I know you got the emotional sleuthing down to an art, but seriously, Drenar is currently occupied at the moment with our continued survival, and you guys just broke up. I think you''re seeing patterns where there are none. Actually, I¡¯m glad he¡¯s shaken up enough to go back to the training floor. I remember his deadliness on the training floor at Laresten¡¯s place." That thought brings back memories¨Cgood ones, too. ¡°Damn. We really could use that guy, now. Put it on my bingo card, Laresten¡¯s not dead,¡± she scowls. ¡°That would be so typical for the situation we¡¯re in right now. I can''t wait to unload on every damn adult that held this Rubik''s cube of secrets over us." ¡°If Laresten¡¯s not dead, he will be. Fates Julia, he was more of a dad to me than my own dad these days,¡± Angela says, and her composure breaks just the smallest amount with a trembling lip. ¡°I don¡¯t think I would take that kind of news well at all. But don¡¯t be distracted, why have you and Drenar really never get together?¡± She doesn¡¯t answer. Angela steps closer. ¡°Julia. I need to know something that''s been bothering me. Drenar keeps rubbing at his wristwatch all the time lately. Like it¡¯s a nervous tic. And I have a theory.¡± ¡°Angie, it¡¯s his dad¡¯s wristwatch. It¡¯s his¡­reminder.¡± She doesn¡¯t buy it, and steps away from the training set. ¡°When Drenar Awakened, he took his wristwatch off. It¡¯s the only time I¡¯ve ever seen him with it off. And he had a scar¨C¡± ¡°Angie I don¡¯t want to talk about this one, he¡¯s got tics from what happened. Just like I try to bury deep down what happened to my dad. Why do I obsessively train with firearms, and weapons, to try to make my body into a living implement? We all have them.¡± Angela is trying to push for something she doesn''t want to bring up. Ever. ¡°Julia¡­did Drenar hurt himself?¡± She tries not to react. But it¡¯s impossible not to. And in that quarter second of a gasp, Angela has everything she needs to know the truth. Vol. 2, Ch. 72: The Call Of The Valkyries, Part Two Julia tries to recover by clearing her throat, but it¡¯s too late, Angela picks up on it¨Cshe doesn¡¯t react in shock though, but bites her lip gently. ¡°I should have known. That¡¯s why he always keeps that wristwatch on, isn¡¯t it? He doesn¡¯t want to be reminded of it, so tries to block it out, in his own way.¡± She¡¯s tried to bury that thought as deep down inside herself as far as anyone can, but it¡¯s always there. That one, awful, awful day she thought she could never tell another soul about, because no one would ever look at him the same way again. He claimed it was an accident, but she never believed him when he said that. It wasn¡¯t hard to connect the lines¨Cthe funeral had been a month prior. He should have been having a twelfth birthday party with everyone else, his mom and dad smiling, cheering, doing stupid things like blowing out candles and singing haphazardly. Instead, his mom and dad had been laid to rest, his world was broken, and he ran that same dagger that had saved all their lives across his wrist, right after she walked into the room, after her parents had been arguing. She screamed when it happened. He¡¯d been carted to the emergency room. Her mother had told her to never tell anyone. It was the one time she¡¯d told her to keep a secret, forever. Now, he just wears that old wristwatch of his father¡¯s over the scar, to pretend it isn¡¯t there, to hide the lingering regret he carries to this very day about it. Finding out his mother was murdered, after all that¡­it felt like an insult to injury, and made the memory even more painful. Which as bad it was for her, likely made it so much worse for him. ¡°Julia?¡± ¡°What, you want me to confirm it?¡± She¡¯s never talked that coldly to Angela before. It only falters her for a fraction of a second. ¡°I know you don¡¯t want to talk about it, at a minimum, and I get why.¡± Angela¡¯s expression softens at the edges a little. ¡°Can you tell me what happened?¡± ¡°No, I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because you will never look at him the same way again if I do.¡± Angela still isn''t deterred, and she can see that solemn look in her eyes that is sincere about wanting to know. She always puts her heart and soul into her words in a way that few else can. ¡°Julia¡­did your mom tell you not to?¡± She can¡¯t believe that now, of all times, she doesn¡¯t have the courage to push back. The tiniest bit of slip in her composure forces her hand. She lets out an exhale so soft, not even a dragon could have heard it. Angela takes the moment, and walks to her side, before she sets down the training staff on a table. ¡°There is no shame in talking about this. If you don¡¯t think I can understand how badly he was hurt when his mom died, then I¨C¡± she stops, and waits for a second. Steady on her feet, not getting anxious, not trying to change the subject like anyone else would. ¡°Samarina said something about him¡­something that I¡¯m still trying to put together. She knows things. Strange things that make sense even in the absence of other facts. That he has a hurt soul. I¡¯ve known that since the funeral, and healing something like that¡­it takes time.¡± Julia finds herself talking¨Cagainst the insistence of her mother, even against the insistence that Drenar would eventually talk about it on his own. But now her mother has been wrong twice. One, when she hid her true form, and the second, when they hid the truth about how Drenar¡¯s mom died. A story they still don''t know all the pieces to yet. No. She has to talk about this, because she wants to. ¡°A month after his parents passed. I never said a word to anyone. We rushed him to the hospital¨Cme, Mom, and Dad. Fates, Angela, if I hadn¡¯t walked in, I¨C¡± she stops and is just out of words. She punches a hole through the now thoroughly battered training target in one focused, furious swipe. There¡¯s a heated rise to her words now. ¡°If King¡¯s telling the truth, what he did now likely seems so much worse for him.¡± Angela takes a step forward, because she¡¯s never seen Julia on the verge of tears, and she¡¯s fighting with every fiber of her willpower not to. ¡°I could have lost him. I would have lost my mind, and I¨C¡± Angela has a grace that always surprises her, even as long as she''s known her when she directs Julia to a bench, still fighting back tears. Of all the things to happen, the fact that this bitter reminder cropped back up today, of all days, leaves burning acid in the corners of her eyes. ¡°She was the best of the best, and she¡¯s dead. And that whole bullshit story, whatever they were trying to cover, led to Drenar slicing himself open. Right when I was in the room.¡± Angela doesn''t flinch, and instead wraps her arms around her shoulders. Gently. Graceful like everything she does, no matter what. Julia can¡¯t punch or fight her way out of these feelings, and she takes a shuddering breath inwards, and holds it before she exhales in the same way. ¡°You think that King is telling the truth,¡± Angela says after a brief silent spell. ¡°I know he is. I just couldn¡¯t find the courage to say it last night, not in front of Drenar. I knew King wasn¡¯t lying, because there¡¯s too many pieces that add up an uncomfortable truth. Drenar¡¯s mom had enemies. And they finally got her. They covered up her death, to protect Evan and Drenar.¡± She¡¯s not in control. Not in the slightest. ¡°Angie, you know you can¡¯t tell¨C¡± ¡°I would take it to my grave, unless Drenar said it first. Fates Julia, Drenar means as much to me as James, you, and Evan¡­and I could never judge him, after what he¡¯s been through. I know it''s not quite the same, but...I know how scars can have a lasting impact.¡± she taps gently at her chest, fingers lingering on a memory of a life almost cut tragically short. Julia squeezes Angelas fingers gently, her hand still perched on her shoulder, and she¡¯s still fighting back stinging tears. ¡°Tell me what happened. Please.¡± She hesitates for only a second, if only to force back all those horrid thoughts and give her mind a reprieve. Taking a single shaky breath shouldn''t be this hard. ¡°It was about a day after his birthday. I¡­I¡¯m trying to remember anything else about that day, and I just¡­it¡¯s a blur.¡± Even as much as she wants to fight this feeling of tightness in her chest or the choking sensation in her throat, she can¡¯t out-stubborn feelings. She sounds ragged now. Like she¡¯s twelve now, all over again. ¡°He was over at the house, with us. We were still making the arrangements with Diane, for him and Evan moving in with them. You remember that, right?¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Yeah. Not a lot of sleepful nights, back then,¡± Angela murmurs. ¡°I remember both of you were depressed, big time.¡± ¡°Yeah, sleep was a foreign concept. Drenar had been upstairs, just¡­moping. He hadn¡¯t said much to me that day. Mom and Dad were arguing downstairs. Dad got a note that he might be deployed soon¨Cagain¨Cand my mom was furious, especially given that it was a pretty tragic time for the family. So, they got into some words, and I decided I didn¡¯t want to listen to it. So, I headed upstairs.¡± Angela laces her fingers through hers, and sits down next to her on the bench, all calm and filled with warmth. She continues, trying to remember everything. It¡¯s a jumble of bad memories and flashy images, like she can¡¯t remember everything leading up the moment. ¡°I knew something was wrong when I heard him sobbing. I don¡¯t know why I slowed down, when I got to the second floor landing. I could hear it. Those choked up gasps of someone who lost their entire world, and has no idea what they¡¯re supposed to do. I remember walking up to the door, edging it open. Dad hated squeaky hinges, he oiled the hell out of those doors, and I edged it open. Normally I just walk in, but¡­that day, I didn¡¯t. ¡°Drenar¡¯s sitting there, on a seat, his back to me. He¡¯s crying. He¡¯d been doing that a lot, but he was utterly hoarse, creaky, all the life out of his voice. Like this time had been really bad. Evan was¡­I don¡¯t remember where he was at the time. I see that he¡¯s got that sheath for his Mom¡¯s dagger on the floor. ¡°He¡¯s got the dagger held in his left hand. He¡¯s pressing the blade against his right wrist. He¡¯s shaking and sobbing, that blade pressed against fragile skin, and I thought he might split himself open, right then and there. I stood there, paralyzed. Like I couldn¡¯t comprehend what I was seeing.¡± Angela¡¯s gone stone cold calm, and dips her head lightly and holds her hand tightly. ¡°I finally took a step. He¡¯s still sitting there, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. But he¡¯s got the dagger still pressed down. I don¡¯t know what I was thinking. I thought, maybe if I could just¡­get the knife away, I might stop him.¡± She hates how hard this is to talk about¨Cchoked up words that are fighting her will. To tell her best friend something she¡¯s been unable to tell anyone for six years. ¡°So, that''s my plan. Get the knife away. I didn¡¯t want to even try words. I didn¡¯t know if he¡¯d actually go through with it or not, he¡¯d been numb on the inside for the entire month. ¡°Then, he stops sobbing as hard. It¡¯s not right away, it¡¯s like¡­that fading sound of a car as it drives down a road away from you, and you hear it far longer than when it''s driving towards you. His body is still shuddering, but his hands have gone calm. He lets up on the knife, a little bit. I see a single drop of blood. Not much, but enough to know he had been dangerously close to doing something he¡¯d regret. ¡°It¡¯s so unnaturally quiet in that room. The only two things I hear are his sobs, and the sound of my own heartbeat in my chest, with the intensity of a jackhammer. I¡¯m tense, hell I¡¯m trying to fight saying anything. All I need to do is get the knife away. ¡°I¡¯m about two or three meters away, and he lets up on the knife. He¡¯s gone quiet. Then he whispers something. I still don¡¯t know if I rightly remember what I heard, but he said something like, ¡®I can¡¯t let you down.¡¯ I press my foot down trying to get close enough to tell him it¡¯s going to be okay, and to hand me the dagger. A floorboard creaks, and it sounds louder than a gunshot in that room. It¡¯s like that sharp crack of ice across a glacier, when that sheet of ice all lets go at once. It¡¯s the most unnerving sound you¡¯ll ever hear.¡± Angela holds her hand tighter, because Julia¡¯s hand is trembling like it hasn¡¯t for almost six years. ¡°He turns, and¨Cand this is the part that I don¡¯t remember¨Che turns, and I can¡¯t remember if he pressed the blade down, or if he just forgot where his blade was so precariously close to, and he whirls around to face me. He¡¯s got this wild-eyed shocked look. He¡¯s got tears in his eyes, ruddy cheeks, all those freckles darkened by moisture. I don¡¯t think it registered for a good two seconds what happened, in that one fluid motion.¡± She digs her free hand into her leg, using that biting pain to try and will her voice to stay level for just a few more seconds. ¡°That dagger is magically sharp, as we all know now. It cut his wrist badly. He looks down, when he sees the horrified look on my face, his mouth open. ¡°The last words I remember him uttering before everything blurs is ¡®Dear Gaia, help me¡¯.¡± Julia forces her eyes shut and tries to will those persistent weeps of bad memories away. ¡°We got him to the hospital in record time, luckily I screamed to high hell after that moment, and Mom and Dad come darting in¡­applied a tourniquet, bandages. There was blood everywhere¡­and there I am, staring, screaming, helping tighten a belt, keep that blood in¡­Mom told me later it wasn¡¯t as bad as it looked. Yeah. Tell that to the girl who watched her best friend almost filet his own arm,¡± she says bitterly. ¡°So, everything was put under wraps, after. He spent a couple of days in a recovery room. They watched him every second of the day, for those first two days. Mom and Dad let me visit him after that second day, because I wanted to. I remember him looking at me, weary, a face filled with horror, and he couldn¡¯t look me in the eyes. He couldn¡¯t say more than two words. He said ¡®I¡¯m sorry.¡¯ As if almost killing yourself, even if by accident, can be fixed with an apology,¡± she says bitterly. ¡°I don¡¯t think he meant to, Julia.¡± It¡¯s the first time Angela¡¯s said anything in the past few minutes. The luster in her gray-blue eyes is dimmed a bit, for the first time that Julia¡¯s ever noticed. ¡°I think he was close, though. He lost everything except Evan that day. He was there when they wheeled her in. He got to say the last few words to her. That¡­that kind of farewell¡­It sticks with people. An acidic burn on his memory that¡¯s never going to go away.¡± ¡°Angie¡­I wish I shared your optimism. I really do. But he¡¯s got damages that time alone isn¡¯t going to fix.¡± that clawing, clenching feeling in her windpipe still hasn¡¯t gone away, and her mouth is dry. Talking about this, is physically as it is mentally taxing, and her cheeks are swollen and aching. Angela wraps her arms around her gently, and gives her a tight hug, while trying to keep her own composure. She¡¯s barely keeping it in, too, which makes it slightly more bearable. ¡°He¡¯ll heal eventually, Julia. Because he¡¯s got something to live for now. Not just us, not anymore. I think he¡¯s doing this because of a calling. It might even be outlandish or insane, but, maybe he¡¯s heard the calling of the Valkyries for a reason. Like we all have. Except James, strangely enough¨C¡± ¡°Angie, shut up and hold me for a few minutes. Because I really could use a good hug for a bit.¡± She finally gives up trying to hold in tears that she''s held in too long. ¡°This entire time, I''ve just held it in my head that he hurt himself because¨Cbecause he didn''t want to be alone. And maybe I''ve just had it wrong. Maybe I pulled him back from the edge.¡± Losing Dad had been hard. The tears then, though¡­it wasn¡¯t as bad as this. She doesn¡¯t know why this one hurts so much worse, while she¡¯s choking and sobbing on Angela¡¯s shoulder. She¡¯s been holding this one in for too long. Angela runs her fingers through her hair gently¨Cshe doesn¡¯t remember undoing the tie on her hair, but she doesn¡¯t mind it, either. Neither of them says a word for a few minutes. She realizes that maybe, just maybe, she needed this moment for a long time. Ever since this chaotic, crazy mess started two weeks ago, she¡¯s been worried about losing him, worried he might be taking on a task too big, even for him. But that¡¯s not entirely true¨Cshe¡¯d always be right beside him, and they¡¯d take on the impossible together. Eventually, life comes back into the room, and she lets out a shuddering breath before wiping her face with her sleeve. ¡°Promise me you won¡¯t tell anyone you saw me cry, alright?¡± ¡°Julia, you can let your feelings out when you need to. Everyone should,¡± Angela says with a faint smile. ¡°I think there''s one more really important thing to remember. Even as bad as that time was, as far as Drenar is from who he used to be¡­he''s made progress, Julia. You both have. And after everything that''s happened in the past couple of weeks, I don''t think there''s a shred of doubt in my mind that Drenar would never go back down that path. Because he''s got something to live for, and someone to fight for.¡± That¡¯s when she hears a scuff of a shoe. Right outside the door. Oh no. Don¡¯t tell me that he heard all that. Angela picks up on it, too, when she turns to the doorway to the rec room. ¡°You can come in when you''re ready, Drenar." Vol. 2, Ch. 73: The Call Of The Valkyries, Part Three ¡°I figured you guys needed a minute. I¡­thought this might come up some day or another. I just didn¡¯t think it would be now.¡± Drenar slowly works around the corner, looking unusually calm, if a little fatigued and sweaty. ¡°I heard you guys talking,¡± he says quietly. ¡°I was¡­trying to figure some stuff out,¡± Julia answers abstractly. Her makeup is likely an utter disaster by this point, but she doesn¡¯t care, not in front of him. ¡°Are you¡­okay?" He considers her words for a second, and wipes his hand through his messy, damp hair. He had been pushing himself hard downstairs, it looked like. ¡°I¡¯m¡­a little bit better, from last night. Still holding onto some regrets, and moments of really bad ideas from the past.¡± He sounds uneasy, but eventually taps his wristwatch for emphasis. He lets out a soft breath. ¡°Do we want to talk about it? Because, I can save you a lot of head-scratching. I think we¡¯ve both been circling this one for too long.¡± Julia looks at him and rises up from the bench. ¡°King got to us. That was his plan. Even if he was using the truth like a cudgel¨C¡± ¡°No, the other thing.¡± His gaze darkens a little, as if he¡¯s still trying to find the words when he has a few false starts of words. ¡°You uh¡­mind if I sit?¡± ¡°Fates, Drenar, we don¡¯t bite. Plus, given what we¡¯ve been through, maybe it¡¯s time we put some cards on the table.¡± Angela gets frustrated and has him sit down at the bench, next to Julia. ¡°Alright, go ahead.¡± He takes a minute to get his composure. This close, she could smell the dampness of his hair, and for some strange reason, the lavender dryer sheets Diane always overloaded into the clothing pile. He closes his eyes briefly, lips parched for words for a second. ¡°So¡­this is something that I still find it hard to talk about. That day I¡­I was thinking about it. I wanted to feel something. Anything, other than that emptiness I felt, all day, for a month.¡± He glances down at the dagger he now perennially has strapped to his thigh, and he taps the hilt gently. Julia can hear that soft crystalline note in the room again, before it fades into the quiet morning lull. ¡°I was sitting there, looking at one of the last things she gave me. Her dagger. Something she trusted me to hold close, and use only when needed. I just pulled it out, and stared at it for a while.¡± Drenar has a quiet tone, when he needs to. He always knew how to get the important parts out, even if a discussion hurt him. ¡°I was out of it. I kept thinking about what would happen if I tried to feel alive in that way. I never would have gone through with it, in retrospect. Right at the end, before I got startled, I realized¡­causing myself pain wasn¡¯t going to bring her back. It wasn¡¯t going to magically reunite me with her. And I...thought about what going through with that...would do to you guys." He shakes his head and sighs softly before looking at her solemnly. ¡°I put you through hell Julia, because I put myself in a position to be hurt. This wasn¡¯t on you, this was me. I¡¯m sorry I put you guys¨C¡± ¡°No. You don¡¯t have to say that,¡± she says, barely over a whisper, past the clenching feeling in her throat and chest. She turns and gives him a tight hug, one that she doesn¡¯t want to let go of for a long time, fingers pressed into the creases of his body--over toned muscles, and a soul scarred by terrible things. ¡°We didn¡¯t realize how bad you were hurting, Drenar.¡± ¡°I should have said something more. Maybe if I did, I wouldn¡¯t have earned myself two years of people fawning over me and being overbearing. Therapy lessons were¡­helpful. Especially given the fact that I had no interest in testing my¡­pain thresholds again.¡± He does eventually let go, and looks down at his wrist, rubbing at the edges of the face of the watch she¡¯d never seen him take off. He pops open the clasp on his wristwatch, slowly, looking down with a solemn expression. ¡°You know the part that pisses me off, now? They killed Dad as collateral. He didn¡¯t have a chance, if Mom was up against someone who could take out a Valkyrie. Levine indicated it is exceedingly rare when a Valkyrie dies.¡± ¡°So¡­we don¡¯t need to be overbearing?¡± Julia asks softly, before stroking her fingers on his shoulder. He glances her way briefly, before taking off his dad¡¯s old wristwatch. It¡¯s not a particularly fancy model, but it¡¯s well-kept and scratch-free. It does have a single engraving of his mom¡¯s initials¨Ca gift from her to his father, on some long ago birthday. ¡°I just want you guys close, so that whatever the Talons are going to throw at us, they have to fight all of us at once. And we¡¯re going to make them regret it.¡± There isn¡¯t a trace of anger in his words when he rubs at the well-healed scar on his wrist¨Cdeeply cut by a weapon capable of slicing through steel as easily as flesh. ¡°I know two things. One, Valosterla is a megalomaniac who is using Crosomer like a pawn, a very dangerous pawn nonetheless, and is looking to make herself the new goddess of the world. Or, something else equally bad. If SAF is so laughably useless that they didn¡¯t nail her before, then it might fall to us to either get the evidence we need, or do something about her ourselves.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the second thing?¡± Julia already has a pretty good idea where his train of thought is going, when she squeezes his hand gently. ¡°The Talons almost certainly had a hand in my mother¡¯s death, there¡¯s very few organizations with people skilled enough and numerous enough to take out a Valkyrie. Especially because I¡¯m sure that, whatever happened¡­she must have sent a lot of them to their grave first, before she fell,¡± he says with a quiet fury. ¡°Who that was, is anyone''s guess right now. But I am going to find King, and start breaking his bones one at a time, until he tells me who her killer is. I need to give her that kind of closure, guys. I need to be able to see this through, not just for me, but for everyone else they stand to hurt with their designs.¡± ¡°For revenge? Because I can tell you Drenar, that if we find her killer, you can be rest assured they will not leave the encounter alive. For what they''ve done to you alone." She feels that tension in her whole body, a coiled spring ready unleash on whoever would have dared to strike at his family. ¡°No. It would be for justice. Because if the Talons get their shot at breaking down the fundamentals of the mage world¡­they¡¯ll set their eye on our world of consequence, too. There won¡¯t be anywhere to hide, for anyone. And I''m not about to let them have their way without a fight.¡± The way his voice firms up, brings a bright ray of relief back to her face. "You know what one of the last things my mom said?" he asks quietly. He runs his fingers over that scar, and for the first time, Julia doesn''t see him shudder at it like he normally does. "She told me, ''Be a light to guide the way. Carry a beacon to a better tomorrow.'' Maybe she was trying to hint something to me, all the way back then, in some of her last words she spoke to me. But, that was only part of it, I think. Maybe she meant it...for all of us. To carry the torch, in a sense." Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Radiant Delvers, versus the world?¡± It¡¯s the first time in the whole day that Julia can even manage the faintest glimmer of a smile. He nods quietly. ¡°Us against the world. But we hit harder than we¡¯ve got any right to. We just need to keep playing smart. And not collapse any more mineheads.¡± Angela tries not to laugh, but a chuckle still emerges. ¡°Okay, this has been, um¡­a heavy topic day. We should probably go get cleaned up. One thing I can say as a positive about having Alex in my head, he¡¯s¡­been helping me go through some of it. I¡¯m starting to see the novelty of having a second voice inside my head, you know? No matter what I¡¯m facing, I always have a second opinion and someone close by. And, someone besides Julia to call me an idiot for some really bad ideas, isn¡¯t the worst thing to happen to me." ¡°Aw, are you two bonding?¡± Julia teases. She still wants to know what they discuss inside his head, and she will move heaven and earth to find the magic to make that happen. All she needs is a psychic! She needs to find a magical fox girl, damn it! Drenar chuckles softly. ¡°He told me to get my head out of my arse, is what he told me, and go find bad guys and beat them up. Even if Mom was murdered, moping around isn¡¯t going to bring her killer to justice. I mean, it¡¯s sound advice. King¡¯s getting beat down when I find him next time, and I¡¯m gonna break his legs so he can¡¯t run away. That doesn¡¯t count as killing.¡± ¡°No, that just makes you savage,¡± Julia grins. ¡°Alex, we love you for taking care of our boy, even though we can¡¯t hear you! Man, that is so weird, so he hears everything you hear?¡± ¡°Yep, and everything I see and¡­sense,¡± he adds hesitantly. Julia glances at Angela, who¡¯s blushing slightly, and she has a pretty good idea why. ¡°No free time for¡­personal needs?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a way to put it,¡± he says while rubbing the back of his neck and averting his gaze. ¡°Angela, same deal with Samarina?¡± ¡°Yep. Personal needs have been¡­um¡­¡± she clears her throat, and shifts her stance uneasily. ¡°Let¡¯s just say there¡¯s been some adjustments.¡± ¡°I can totally relate.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s our plan for today? Apart from trying to not get killed by the Talons murder army?¡± Angela asks. ¡°Start looking for secret underwater facilities. Go pack a snorkel set, I doubt it¡¯ll be that easy, though. Where would you hide an arcane repository? Someplace subtle, someplace people would just take it for granted in broad daylight¡­¡± Drenar starts thinking, but Angela¡¯s face brightens. ¡°Oh my Fates! I think I got it!¡± Angela¡¯s exclamation gets both of their attention. ¡°Wait. How?¡± ¡°I think you guys might have actually found Asqualia already.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The book. Ergath¡¯s Draconomicon. Why was it stashed at the library?¡± Suddenly, all plans of banter and calm planning are off the table. Angela might have hit the nail on the head this time, and Julia starts grinning and gives her a hug, even though she feels all sweaty and gross. ¡°You are my bestest friend ever. Drenar, let¡¯s get the team!¡± ¡°Can it wait until I¡¯m less¡­savory?¡± he sighs as glances at his sweat-soaked clothes. He wrinkles his nose when he predictably takes a sniff. ¡°Personal question. Does body scent change a little when we Awaken, or is that just me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­um¡­¡± She trails off when she takes a whiff of air, and can smell that vanilla scent that Angela always prefers. And¡­something slightly spicy? Clove? ¡°Why do you smell different?¡± ¡°As opposed to¡­when, exactly?¡± Angela gently lets go and blushes lightly. ¡°Uh¡­this is going places.¡± Drenar looks even more awkward than before. ¡°Do we¡­want to explore this, or just tally this mystery up for later?¡± ¡°Pretty sure this one can wait a while,¡± Julia sighs. It smells like something from a hookah parlor, something slightly alluring. Hey brain, where are you going with this? Weird feelings seem to be in vogue today, what does this even mean? ¡°Julia, you¡¯re grinning creepily,¡± Angela says with an assuring pat on her shoulder. She turns her head to peer at Drenar with the same grin on her face. ¡°Hey Drenar, your twinsoul is broken! Or, there¡¯s something on her mind that I probably don¡¯t need to know?¡± ¡°Oh I just had an entertaining thought,¡± she says while letting the idea go for the moment. Maybe I should try a little of column A and column B? If Drenar¡¯s not committed, that opens a door, if I want to walk through it! Wait, no, too soon. Let''s give this one room to breathe, first. But, do I even know who I want in life? You know what, I should focus on obliterating the giant dragon empress first, surviving the wrath of my mom, then personal feelings on life. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s clean up and get moving. Thanks to our pyromaniac Jonaleth, we have a laughably easy day, due to the school being closed. Not exactly a silver lining I was aiming for, but we can bounce to the library.¡± Drenar gets to the point quickly, and she¡¯s glad he¡¯s somewhat out of his funk. She really needs to find a way to personally thank Alex for that one¡­somehow. ¡°Drenar¡­you¡¯re not going to try to fight this alone,¡± Julia states firmly, and Angela peers at him calmly. He waits a second before shaking his head lightly. ¡°No. Not a chance. I¡¯ve got something to live for. I¡¯ve always had it, I just never realized it. You guys. So let¡¯s go do what we do best, because I¡¯m not leaving Joey and Kyle out to dry. Not while I have a say in the matter.¡± ¡°There he is, the Drenar we know and love!¡± Angela poses. He smiles faintly. ¡°Well, I still have some stuff to sort out internally, but¡­we¡¯ve got this real thing to sort out first. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s get moving. I think we¡¯ve got a lot of ground to cover.¡± When Julia rises with the rest of them, she smiles faintly. This has already been a hard day but¡­knowing that Drenar is one step further away from where he was, is still enough to brighten her mood. Every day is going to be like that for him. One step forward, millimeter by millimeter, he¡¯s fighting to get back to something more¡­whole. Maybe he wouldn¡¯t get back to who he was, before that tragic day¡­ ¡­But maybe, he¡¯ll keep taking steps to becoming the person he wants to be. And she¡¯ll be leading him forward, no matter how long it takes. Vol. 2, Ch. 74: I Need A Map, And A Spanish Doubloon! Maps. Schematics. Arcanist blueprints. Julia had expected the library in town to have a bit of an unusual history, allegedly relocated brick by brick from Wales at one point. But to learn that there was a good chance it was a cover story to rebuild the Asqualia Research Center underneath the lake and serve as a secondary repository, blew her mind. And they should have seen it coming, when they found Ergath¡¯s book collecting dust in a storage room. Odds were good, it wasn¡¯t the only oddity in that building. ¡°Who else knows this library¡¯s history?¡± Levine asks quietly while looking at every blueprint they¡¯d managed to get from the town archives earlier in the morning. ¡°Town historian, maybe a few old-timers,¡± Nick suggests. ¡°Including the magical Kin population, maybe a few more. The point is, the library is just window dressing. The facility is under Flotsam Lake, and that¡¯s a geographically massive area to search, especially for underground passages.¡± He gazes at the inert golem sitting on the table, and taps a finger gently on a schematic. ¡°If we activate that golem, King and company might get a bead on what we¡¯re up to. They might also be able to ping its location, and get a general fix on where it is. I think Kyle made a tactically sound choice.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand. How would King know about the other golems?¡± Angela asks. ¡°King seems to be practically omniscient,¡± Julia grunts. ¡°He doubled me over and kept me from beating him into the floor, because he likely knew I was the biggest danger to him. He walked away from a four-on-one fight. Plus, he brain-domed the other golem instantly, even with the optic camo on the golem. I say, he¡¯s got magic that allows him to know when he¡¯s being watched, eliminate digital trails, and follow others. Those would all be in alignment with his current status as a master spy.¡± ¡°Possible. We know how he wiped the data, a digital mana converter worm virus to wipe the phones, and the memory cards.¡± Nick sighs and glances at the now defunct memory cards sitting in a stack. ¡°I still say there might be some recoverable data on those.¡± ¡°Dumb question. Would it wipe a VHS tape?¡± James asks, and Levine opens his mouth to speak, then puts a finger to his lips. ¡°That is an interesting idea. The information is stored in a different format on a magnetic tape. It¡¯s possible that it wouldn¡¯t be affected. VHS recorders were never a reliable or top ten risk back in the day, when people incidentally witnessed magic. A thought for another time. What I do know, is that King is likely tracking us. He can¡¯t track us here at this house¨Cit¡¯s warded, plus a massive radius around it. The question is how he¡¯s tracking us.¡± ¡°Nah, that''s a coincidence. He was bee-lining it to the school to stop Val in her scorched earth policy of getting rid of evidence and bodies,¡± Drenar counters. ¡°I also think he deliberately let us hear the details at the cabin. Maybe to see what we¡¯d do.¡± ¡°But again, why?¡± Angela pressed further. ¡°He¡¯s closer in alignment to the goals with Crosomer,¡± Drenar suggests. ¡°Those two work together a lot closer than Val. Plus they still have some plans for us. These guys are just wired differently.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s our play here? We go in, get the records, get out?¡± James asks. ¡°Burn ¡®em, maybe. I like that idea, to be thorough,¡± Drenar says grimly. ¡°Let¡¯s assume the library is the way in. How do we find the entryway?¡± ¡°Use Julia¡¯s mana sight. If there¡¯s arcane circuitry, that might be the path. Mana scopes might be¡­problematic for us,¡± Nick says uneasily. ¡°They¡¯re not as sensitive.¡± ¡°Hang on. Julia, have you explained this one?¡± Angela asks her. She winces when she allows her vision to unfocus just a little¨Cand then the world is awash in blue and white. ¡°I got hints of it in the past week, before I knew what it was--color would wash out a bit, but I can see what I think is mana energy. I can sort of see outlines of magic around you guys. Like little circulatory systems in your bodies that align with the regular ones. It¡¯s...a little trippy,¡± she says with a beaming smile. ¡°Forgive me if I stare. It¡¯s fascinating, and¨Coof¡­a bit much. I can only do it for a minute before I get a tension headache.¡± She surveils the room to give it a test. It overlaps with her normal vision, and the rest of the color of the world seems washed out, like someone bled out everything but blue, black, and white. Drenar is standing there, looking stoic, and she can see an outline of blue through his body. Small filaments are connected to slightly larger nodes. There are more within the core of his body, aligning with the circulatory and nervous system. ¡°So, what''s it look like?¡± he asks after a few seconds. ¡°And, should I be concerned with you staring at me with the intensity of an apex predator?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not predatory.¡± ¡°Your nickname is Tsundere. It¡¯s like the default setting! When you grin, the world shudders, and that was before you went full dragon mode,¡± he scowls. ¡°Way to be a rain cloud on my sunny existence!¡± she counters with a tap on his nose for emphasis, and he scowls deeper. ¡°Nah, everything is in order there. I think. It''s just like Levine was saying.¡± She peers around the room, and frowns when she sees James'' outline. ¡°Uh, there''s blue in you, James.¡± ¡°I know. I''m a sad man, surrounded by super-powerful dragons and wizards,¡± he sighs. ¡°No I mean, there''s blue in you. Mana filaments. Now, when I look at you, then I look at Angela¨C¡± She has to shield her eyes for a second when she looks at Angela, and everyone looks at her with intrigue. ¡°Yes, we get it. She''s the cooler Shalinde twin,¡± James grouses. She squints and gently tries to dial back that feeling, and feels a slight tension headache. She steps closer to Angela, who is raising an eyebrow. ¡°Julia, you''ve been acting pretty weird here beyond the baseline Tsundere experience¨C¡± She steps and pokes Angela''s chest, right where her heart would be, right where there''s a shining--something there. ¡°Girl, we''re friends, but the personal space thing, save it for a private room! Not in front of everyone,¡± Angela sighs. ¡°Um¡­how should I feel about this?¡± Drenar asks while tapping his dagger--he keeps doing that like it''s his new stimming technique, and she can hear that dagger ringing every time he does! ¡°You shouldn¡¯t feel about this,¡± James utters with all the frigidness of a polar vortex. ¡°Oh, right.¡± Julia hastily withdraws her hand. ¡°Guys? There''s this silvery blue mass in her heart. I don''t suppose that''s, I dunno, mana cancer?¡± ¡°Mana cancer isn''t a thing!¡± Nick rebukes. Levine however, does look intrigued. ¡°Nick, go get a scope from the armory. I think I need to see this, too.¡± ¡°They''re not as effective as you might think¨C¡± ¡°Lad, just go get it.¡± Nick darts off to the barn and Julia winces¨Cshe¡¯s been trying to hold this vision focus too long, and color floods back into the world that feels like stabbing brightness, and she takes a step back. Angela is looking down, frowning. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°You saw something? I feel fine.¡± She taps her shirt for emphasis, then looks at James. ¡°Is there uh¡­something really troubling about this double reveal?¡± ¡°Weird stuff happening to us on a routine basis? Nah, I''ve just resigned myself to a fate of normal and mundane being burned out of my vocabulary. Wait, does this mean I can use magic?!¡± James exclaims. ¡°I''m a little fuzzy on what a mage can actually do, considering all the dragons in the room who seem to have a suite of abilities baked in.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll get into that in a minute. I¡¯m curious about this. Short version, anything that requires mana activation, you should be able to use. Actual magic¡¯s a bit more of a tricky thing to describe when not tied to heritage abilities like dragons have. Mages have more generic abilities, the arcane barrier generation being one of them.¡± ¡°So, what about me?¡± Angela says after trying to remain calm. It''s incredible how chill she can be, even in the face of the unknown. ¡°I''ve a theory, lass. Your brother is a nascent mage, and probably hasn''t tapped into his potential yet. Your Awakening would have profoundly jump-started your mana generation, and based on the fact that all your draconic powers kicked in well before you Awakened, it''s impressive.¡± Nick darts back in with an accessory scope that looks blocky and colored in black polymer material, and the lens glows lightly with silver light. He hands the device to Levine. ¡°Most of the time, these scopes are not sensitive enough to see the inner core of a person¡¯s mana. It''s typically too faint, compared to arcane circuitry. This, however¨C¡± he trails off when he peers through the scope. First at her, then at Drenar, then at Angela, and he lowers the scope slowly. ¡°That is¡­Nick, take a look.¡± ¡°What am I looking¡­for¡­¡± he peers through at Angela, who is standing there looking more and more uncomfortable. Nick takes a look at the switch and dials of the scope, and tries again. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°Can we rule out magical cancer, please?!¡± Angela demands anxiously. ¡°Okay, again, magical cancer isn¡¯t a thing,¡± Nick retorts. He''s got a stick up his backside again, she likes cooler Nick, who lets her fire giant, dangerous guns and autobows. ¡°Second off, it¡¯s not a mass. It¡¯s a crystalline shard of mana. Normally, mana is in-solution in the body, with very small filaments and nodes present. This is¡­larger than those. This is what you can see in dragons and kitsune after a few hundred years. Sometimes even wargens, at the tail end of their life, or elven. Seeing it at your age, after you just Awakened¡­is a little unusual. But not unprecedented.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s totally fine?¡± Angela''s apprehension melts away as quickly as it does for Julia. Losing a bestie to cancer of any kind would suck. ¡°Yes, this has been observed before¨Cit¡¯s even expected in older dragons. Tally it up as a little unusual. Both Drenar and Julia also have a more developed mana circulatory core than I would have expected, too. Either due to heritage, or the device. Joey¡¯s going to have a field day with you three once the pending crisis is over," Nick says with his usual reserved tone. ¡°Uh, dragon science? Yay!¡± Julia would normally be a little worried about being the one experimented upon and studied, but then again, she wouldn¡¯t be alone. ¡°Spill the beans, she¡¯s cute! You two must have hooked up!¡± He keeps up his calm composure and even smiles. He does have an expression other than stoic or annoyed! ¡°Purely professional, I assure you. She¡¯s also got a razor-sharp wit. Just¡­make sure she¡¯s topped off on coffee,¡± he cautions. ¡°She needs it for her level of zen focus. Also, I don''t quite understand why so many people assert that I¡¯m somehow¡­desirable.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the cool factor. I also want a bomber jacket, like yours,¡± she declares. ¡°Okay, we¡¯re wasting time. We need to find a way down to Asqualia, and fast. How do we know if we¡¯re being tailed, first question?¡± ¡°That¡¯s where I come in. My presence will be missing at my office sooner or later, so we have a limited window of opportunity. Nick, we need to flush out the pursuers.¡± Levine is tactical and to the point--exactly what she needs! ¡°I can think of one. Jackie.¡± All eyes turned to Evan. ¡°She¡¯s the one that relayed to Jonaleth about what I am, most likely.¡± ¡°Um, when you say ¡®flush out¡¯, I sincerely hope you don¡¯t mean doing something that involves injury, or worse,¡± Angela says worriedly. ¡°Hang on. Are we sure about that? Who else has been aware of us? Hell, I¡¯d vote Kelly if we wanted to apply that metric,¡± Drenar states. Julia turns to glare at him. ¡°You are so dense, Drenar. Why would she do that? She¡¯s our friend!¡± ¡°Look, I¡¯m saying that whole situation at the ranger station felt a little too convenient, now that I¡¯ve had time to process it. King using her as bait would fall in his playbook.¡± Julia feels a spark of plasma coil down her arm¨Cis he being dumb, or paranoid? Probably the latter, she figures. ¡°I¡¯m gonna punch you if you suggest that again,¡± she growls. ¡°Okay, who else then? I wasn¡¯t sold on the theory, but we can¡¯t rule it out,¡± he states with surprising restraint. ¡°For a long-term tracking of us? That could be any number of people. Jackie is a known associate of Jonaleth, who is now in custody. I¡¯m not sold on that one either, she¡¯s too recognizable,¡± Nick counters softly. ¡°Drones could track you, but that would require constant monitoring, fuel upkeep, and logistics. Levine, what¡¯s your take on this one?¡± ¡°First, we need to ditch the phones,¡± he states firmly. ¡°Everyone, personal phones. I need to rule this one out, for an abundance of caution.¡± Everyone hands over their phones, then Nick packs them in a heavy case. ¡°Good. I¡¯ve got burner arcanlinks. Take these and use them, they¡¯ll all be synched up.¡± They grab the small earpieces which look extremely subtle. Julia notes that it is surprisingly comfortable around her ear, she barely even feels it against her skin. ¡°What about magical tracking?¡± Angela asks. ¡°If we¡¯re giving off massive magical auras that Julia pointed out, we stick out like sore thumbs.¡± ¡°Only other Aurans have that ability, and I only know of one other, personally speaking,¡± Levine muses. ¡°Mana scopes are a closer range scope only, the aura drops off exponentially the further the distance you are. So, you can¡¯t really use them effectively at longer distances, the outline becomes too faint. I think we need to bait out someone.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do it. They¡¯ll expect me,¡± Drenar states boldly. ¡°No. If you¡¯re alone, they¡¯ll know something is up, King knows you travel with Nick and the others, and has likely relayed that to his subordinates. This is a man who knows this game very well, Drenar.¡± Levine ponders the idea for a minute, then smiles. ¡°I¡¯ve got it. We¡¯ll lure them out at the promenade. Nick, we¡¯re running a two team effort. We¡¯ll flush out the trackers, you need to be ready to find Asqualia. We¡¯ll be the distraction team.¡± ¡°A split team? What if the Talons get trigger-happy?¡± Evan asks worriedly. ¡°Drenar¡¯s spell shielding is good, so is Angela¡¯s, but um¡­being in a flurry of gunfire is still unhealthy.¡± ¡°No, that runs counter to their goals, and Crosomer would utterly murder King if that happened,¡± Drenar pushes back. ¡°Let¡¯s assume for a second that King is pushing us to find Asqualia, because he either wants another ingress point, or wants us there for a specific reason. We need to outplay this creep. We split our efforts¨Cmy guess is, the library has a secret entrance. Nick will take the golem, and the second you find a way in, and we take out the observers, we go for it. Angela, you¡¯re with Evan and Nick and James. Myself, Julia and Levine will be on the distraction team.¡± ¡°Actually, you¡¯ll have another task,¡± Levine says, and shows great hesitation. ¡°Um¡­what exactly?¡± ¡°When we make our move, I need you to short out the Promenades¡¯ teleportal system.¡± Everyone turns to stare at Levine. ¡°Say that again?¡± Julia asks warily. ¡°I¡¯ve got a plan. One that flushes out the Talons handlers, and gets us into Asqualia,¡± Levine responds with a wolfish grin. ¡°Today is scouting. Tomorrow is breaking stuff.¡± ¡°Ah Fates, I thought you were the level-headed one,¡± James groans while pinching the bridge of his nose. ¡°If I die on this mad quest, make sure my Magic cards go to Angela as the sole inheritor.¡± ¡°Great inheritance, brother. Learn to fry some mages quickly, will you?¡± ¡°Levine, that¡¯s cutting it pretty close. Are you sure we can take that risk?¡± Drenar asks. ¡°We need to be unpredictable, like you put it before. We need to time this move as closely as we can to disrupt their activities, get inside Asqualia, warn the staff, and hope that Joey and Kyle have found the saboteurs on their end. I hope that Lavernius isn¡¯t in on this¡­that girl from last night, Kelly? She¡¯s going to be devastated if this one pans out true. It¡¯s also possible that King was manipulating us then, too.¡± Levine makes his tacit assessment. Julia doesn¡¯t know why everyone¡¯s looking to Drenar and her. ¡°So, whose call is it?¡± she asks boldly. ¡°I vote for this plan. Guys, there are risks with this plan that include, you know, death. Show of hands, are you all in on this?¡± Drenar is the one to put the question out. Maybe he will make a decent leader, someday. It just takes a true crisis to make him less passive. Much to Julia¡¯s satisfaction, everyone raises their hand at once. Even James. Drenar dips his head after seeing this, and turns to Levine. ¡°Well, there we have it. We leave in twenty minutes. Let¡¯s get ready.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 75: Casing The Joint, Part One ¡°You realize, of course, you¡¯re sanctioning us to commit some pretty serious vandalism, Levine. This is like, criminal levels of bad,¡± Julia says worriedly next to him. ¡°And we have enough ¡®done for the best intentions¡¯ crimes under our belt, that we should probably be in jail by now.¡± ¡°Bah. The Talons struck first. And what you¡¯ve done is trivial, compared to some of the property damage that me and Nick caused,¡± Levine rebuffs while tapping a small console in the parking garage near the center of town. The brick and glass facades of downtown and busy people during lunchtime hour do little to placate the unease Julia has. ¡°Not filling me with a whole lot of confidence, Levine. But okay, I was destined for greatness or a premature grave,¡± she grouses. ¡°The hell¡­I¡¯m still wrapping my head around that. Dad goes and gets killed in a war-torn land half a world away, and my mom is gallivanting across the world, too, as a Valkyrie? She¡¯s so toast when she gets home.¡± The console lights up blue and a faint glow emanates from Levines¡¯ hand, while Drenar waits next to her. For obvious reasons he hid his dagger into his jacket for the time being and kept looking around like an anxious bird. ¡°And your mom, too. Wonder if this what they did on ¡®vacations¡¯ or ¡®business travel.¡¯¡± ¡°The less I think about that one, Julia, the more focused I am,¡± he sighs and rubs his wrist gently. He''s kept the watch off? It''s a small step forward. ¡°Here I am, doing the one thing she probably never wanted for me, putting myself in harms¡¯ way for the sake of others. Which means, I¡¯ve got to make her proud.¡± She takes a deep breath, and looks upwards, and tries to will these nagging thoughts away. They have a job to do. Drenar gets her attention with a quizzical look. ¡°You okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be better when we¡¯re not courting death with the deck stacked against us,¡± she quips. ¡°Spoilers, if we turn this mad-cap adventure into a thing of a recurring basis, the deck is always going to be stacked against us. Or, that¡¯s what every single one of my fantasy novels would say,¡± he says with a laugh. There¡¯s a beep and Levine smiles faintly. The lock turns on the rather ordinary-looking maintenance door, and Levine beckons them inside with a turn of the knob and a quick swing outwards. It looks like a maintenance area that ducks down a short flight of stairs, then opens up to an access hallway, dimly lit with small green and blue lights. They flicker with a life of their own, and Julia realizes they¡¯re not LEDs. They look like tiny flickers of flames, suspended over something like a candle holder mounted to the walls at regular intervals. It¡¯s almost surreal to look at, and when she sticks her hand close to one, she feels a wash of light static. Mana based flame, perhaps? ¡°Wisp lights. They can be attuned to be brighter, and they last practically forever,¡± Levine advises before they¡¯re drawn down the hallway, which ends at another security door, and there¡¯s a glow of bright light at the seams. Daylight, perhaps? They¡¯d only been walking for a minute or so. They were somewhere under the plaza where the regular shops were downtown, but¡­was this place under that? ¡°Now, something to prepare yourself for. You¡¯ll note we¡¯re underground, yes?¡± ¡°Guessing we¡¯re not?¡± Drenar answers back. Levine smiles warmly. ¡°Welcome to your first foray into a folded space. It occupies the same space as the downtown area, if you were to overlay them on a map, and it¡¯s near-seamless.¡± He swings the door open to a world that Julia could only have ever dreamed of. ¡°Welcome to Mercadian Promenade.¡± Sunlight assaults her eyes, and she winces at the burning brightness. It¡¯s close to noon, and the door opens up from some kind of retaining wall. In front of her is a brick-paved street meant for pedestrians and small utility vehicles, and beyond that is a plaza filled with trees in bright autumn bloom. Shop fronts are lined up along a few streets with various sundries, ranging from the mundane, to strange curiosities she can only guess are arcane in nature. It¡¯s vibrant, bustling, and a stark contrast to the town she calls home. Tapestries flutter and various fliers¨Csome of them animated paper, clutter a small bench and light post next to her. But the biggest draw are the people around her who barely notice them come out of the maintenance door and treat them as ordinary as the rest of the passers-by. There are humans everywhere, but there are also wolf-like people with fur across their limbs, head and legs walking by in a digitigrade stance¨Calmost bouncing along, even. They¡¯re chatting with each other, a few laughing at some joke between them, and there are also a few people with bird-like wings emerging from their back. But the presence of the dragons walking the street is something truly mystifying. She sees maridian silvers dressed in what would pass for street clothes conforming around their elongated limbs and wings, chatting idly. Two of them are sitting at a cafe, sipping from a more than oversized coffee cup and talking quietly, leaning in towards each other¨Ca man and woman? She¡¯s still trying to map the analog between male and female dragons a little bit. A Nevarran red and a Hellkite? She¡¯s immediately reminded of Valosterla for a brief lapse of horror, but there¡¯s no malice in her eyes, unlike Val¨Cand they¡¯re blue, talking with the red dragon, one of her claws on top of his in an endearing gesture. Julia has to force herself to blink to take in the scene. ¡°Are you serious? Our town is a huge hub for magical Kin and magic? Man, my mom held out on me! Only in my dreams could I see Wargen and dragons walking around in public. And¡­is that a sign for dragons to¡­mind their tail?¡± She points out a warning sign by an automated door to a small market just ahead. ¡°Nick has told me that closing a door on your tail is quite painful, and a hazard most people wouldn''t think about,¡± Levine chuckles. ¡°Julia, if you asked me a couple of weeks ago, could you have imagined this, seeing this for the first time together?¡± She glances at Drenar, looking temporarily immune to the funk he''s been in since last night. It''s a face of pure excitement, like a little kid who got their birthday wish. She swishes her head playfully, her ponytail bobbing behind her. ¡°Nope. Never. Well, c¡¯mon guys, let''s stick to objectives.¡± They head to a small cafe where a few people are grabbing coffee, and Levine picks up an order for the three of them. Even with the amused expression he wears, she knows this is all business this time. They need to get rid of whatever tail King has assigned to them, and Levine is gazing about slowly. Scanning the crowd. She¡¯s doing the same, looking for people who shift their gaze when she peers out. Amateur spies would likely do that¨Cmaybe not professionals. She doesn¡¯t expect it to be that easy. Not against King. ¡°Remember. Sudden movements get tails twitchy. We don''t want them thinking we''re aware of them,¡± Levine says in a low voice. He''s deliberately trying to keep his voice masked in the small crowd, and she and Drenar''s lip-reading skills are useful here. She never thought communicating with her deaf gram would be useful in this way. ¡°Today we''re finding candidates. Tomorrow, we will flush them out. Now, don''t talk, just listen.¡± Levine keeps going even while sipping his coffee and casually glancing around. ¡°The teleportal hub is the prime ingress point of entry for Asqualia, yes? But only certain gates lead there. They¡¯re preprogrammed hubs. Making more hubs takes time and expenses, plus materials. This being the closest official gate, it''s coded into Asqualia. It makes it the prime path in and out. Disrupting it would likely trigger fail-safes for such a facility. You can see it over my left shoulder.¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Julia peers over his shoulder and sees what appears to be a glass and aluminum sliding doorway and a security checkpoint down the row to a large building, two stories tall. Blue light flashes on a platform of crystal, steel, and winking lights, and people pop into existence from a small sphere of somewhere else. Safety barriers disengage, and people slowly shuffle off the platform from the incoming portal. It almost makes her head hurt staring at the lensing effect of the portal. A similar building is on the far end, with people coming through, until a few lights wink yellow and a faint synthetic voice speaks out. ¡°All travelers, please disembark and gather all luggage. Safety barriers are now disabled, please use the rails and enjoy your stay at the promenade.¡± Some people look dressed in business clothes, even a hinterland green wearing a three-piece suit that molded around the wings. He takes care to give space to the smaller individuals around him and controls his gait while heading down the row to a multiple-story office building. Others are dressed casually, and there are murmurs of excitement. ¡°Platforms run just like a subway or an airport,¡± Julia murmurs. Levine dips his head in affirmation. ¡°Yep. It''s down to an art these days. It''s reliable and safe. Tons of safety built in.¡± ¡°Hang on. If they only route certain teleportals to other locations, wouldn¡¯t that mean that Crosomer and company would need to access one of those sites, and mass men? That seems¡­like it would be exceedingly difficult to do, if they¡¯re all under Conclave control.¡± Drenar raises a good point, she realizes. ¡°There¡¯s some tricks you can pull where you can relay a teleportal through another, without going to the midpoint. But it¡¯s risky if the calculations and the leylines aren¡¯t well established. Leylines are essentially just veins of mana in the earth, either natural growth, or engineered to grow in certain directions,¡± Levine explains. ¡°You just need a big enough teleportal, enough power, and a daring tech who knows his stuff. The biometric ID¡¯s however, present a unique challenge for them.¡± ¡°You really think they can spoof a teleportal to bring in dozens of hostile men?¡± Julia says in a low tone. Levine barely dips his chin in response. ¡°There¡¯s a few magitech engineers who could pull it off. Lavernius is indeed one of them, much to my concern about Kelly''s father. His record is spotless aside from a scrape with the law as a teen. I think King had a hand in keeping his records clean.¡± ¡°That tracks,¡± Drenar mutters. He looks just a little wary, which Julia finds telling when his rubs at his sleeve uneasily. ¡°Disabling this platform is super risky, Levine. There''s eyes everywhere, a lot of people. We don''t want people to get hurt by accident if we do this.¡± Julia also nods to a squat building that has men in uniform outside¨Cblue and black fatigues, bolt pistols slung to their hips. ¡°The garrison is right there. Levine, this could be borderline treasonous doing this that close to the po-po station. Are you willing to take that risk?¡± ¡°It wouldn''t be the first time I broke the rules to do the right thing.¡± He leans back slowly, a faraway gaze fixed on the station, and he taps his coffee cup in a rhythmic beat. ¡°Plus, if SAF is compromised, I won¡¯t leave a stone unturned to find who the traitors are,¡± he adds with a roll of his accent, eyes narrowed. ¡°Nick vouches for you. That''s good enough for me,¡± Drenar states calmly while taking a sip as well. ¡°If the tails fail, what happens next? King seems to think we have a role to play. I think they split the factions of the Talons by a report structure. King¡¯s men follow his instructions to a fault. His men do not report to Val, and I think that goes both ways. So if they go silent, what then?¡± ¡°They ring the panic bell. I don''t have a fix on why you''re needed yet. Apart from misguided decisions on Crosomer''s part to keep you alive,¡± Levine muses for a second. He is gazing at the crowd, a slow sweep of his eyes, and examining the shops and the second tier of the promenade. There¡¯s a bustle of activity above and below. Julia has never seen this many people in her town, or for that matter, this many Kin in one place. All she¡¯s seen so far are dragons, which would be impressive enough. ¡°So we need to move fast once we get rid of the tails,¡± Drenar affirms. ¡°Makes sense. The million-dollar question is, will Val recognize us?¡± ¡°Possible. But, without context, and the dossiers now in our possession, she is unlikely to make an immediate guess on who we are just yet. If King were to divulge who we are, we¡¯d be dead, plain and simple. For now, their contested control of the factions of the Talons works in our favor.¡± ¡°So you know they¡¯re broken into factions already?¡± Drenar picks up in an instant. Levine nods. ¡°Decentralized structure. After Crosomer was captured and almost every one of the Black Legionnaires was killed, they imploded. King, and now Valosterla, have created a decentralized power structure to keep things in control. You would think they would focus power behind one of them, but by keeping them on separate command structures, and an overall military cohesion, it makes it more resilient against decapitation attacks on leaders.¡± ¡°Bet anything Val was one of the Legionnaires,¡± Drenar muttered. ¡°Amaranths¡¯ book suggests she¡¯s old. Old enough to have been before the war, based on size and her powers.¡± ¡°Nick had that one bulls-eyed. She¡¯s ancient. Empress class dragon, at the peak of her powers for a dragon,¡± Levine says quietly. ¡°But not omniscient. I¡¯ve got two individuals who might be keeping an eye on us, they came in after we walked through the side door, probably lost sight of us and didn¡¯t want to raise suspicion. They¡¯ve been talking regularly, and looking at us, staying in the same position.¡± Julia tenses lightly. ¡°Describe them.¡± ¡°One girl, wisp of a figure, red hair¨C¡± ¡°Jackie,¡± she hisses. ¡°I owe that little vixen a beat-down after what she did to Evan.¡± Drenar casually sweeps his gaze, and after a few seconds, gives a silent nod. ¡°Who¡¯s the second?¡± ¡°Young gentleman. Blond, late teens, early twenties. Jeans and a black jacket, dark glasses, short cropped military hairstyle. They keep looking our way now and then.¡± ¡°She knows Jonaleth is in jail by now,¡± Drenar says calmly and looks forward at Levine. ¡°I can sort of tune out the sound around me¡­she¡¯s freaking out. Saying that we must have something to do with Jonaleth dropping off the radar. Blondie is fleecing her for information. She¡¯s telling them that Evan Awakened, but¡­she doesn¡¯t know much else.¡± Julia follows his lead, and tries to tune out the sound around her. She hasn¡¯t been using her enhanced abilities that he¡¯d told her about, same as Angela. It just requires a little focus, and¨Cit¡¯s like she plugs in a directional microphone to her head. ¡°The hell you mean these brats are behind Jonaleth getting carted off to jail, Jackie?! Our ass is good as dead if we don¡¯t find out who¡¯s been screwing with our operations! We got other pieces in play, and one domino out of position ruins everything. You find out what they know, and if they know anything, you call me. Or she will come after you next.¡± ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t sign up for this! Jonaleth screwing up isn¡¯t on me!¡± ¡°Yeah it is. I¡¯m making it your problem. The bitch up top is half tempted to melt this town off the face of the earth, and our guy is the only one keeping her from doing that. Find out.¡± Julia sees the blonde walk off, and Jackie is in the corner of her eye, leaning on the railing and distraught. You stupid fools. You really thought it¡¯d be cool to be part of a gang, and never thought beyond what happens past the dotted line. When she unfocuses and lets the rest of the sound back in the world, it leaves her head spinning a little, and she clenches and unclenches her hands. ¡°So, she¡¯s on overwatch. Well, that makes this easier.¡± ¡°Jackie is a fool. She¡¯s not trained in spycraft. They¡¯re setting her up to be killed,¡± Drenar says in a low tone. ¡°Ideas?¡± ¡°For now, assume she¡¯s not the only one watching us,¡± Levine states calmly. ¡°Let¡¯s take a stroll. We¡¯ve got more work to do.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 76: Casing The Joint, Part Two A few minutes later, they¡¯re walking up the street, across from the garrison. No one seems to recognize Levine, and he¡¯s not wearing any identification. That¡¯s probably for the best, Julia figures, because they¡¯re casing the area as a means of doing some really bad stuff to stop worse things from happening. ¡°Keep walking, eyes forward, staggered formation,¡± Levine says quietly to Drenar ahead of him, and Julia is in the rear. To everyone else, they¡¯re just walking around town like dozens of others. ¡°Like I said, I have a plan. I accessed the plot locations of the garrison and the schematics of the teleportal platform. They¡¯re available to the public, and are part of the Conclave''s municipal records. There''s a maintenance area for the teleportal platform down the walkway, to the left. Bulkhead door.¡± Drenar glances left, looks at the narrow area where there¡¯s trash canisters, a few people lingering, and what looks like a steel-reinforced door. It''s also past a security checkpoint. "This has ''bad idea'' written all over it." ¡°Lockpick isn''t gonna cut it for that. Too exposed, and past security. Even if we got the guy distracted, the garrison is right there. We¡¯ll get busted in an instant. Eyes on the door, too, small camera on the brick wall.¡± Drenar''s assessment is tactically correct. ¡°Disruption gel can fix that. It¡¯ll short out electronics. Or Julia could.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want me in destroyer mode, Levine,¡± she sighs, even though the thought is quite an exciting notion. ¡°We save that for when it comes to saving lives. I *have* shot several people this week.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t bother you at all?¡± Drenar asks anxiously. ¡°Nope. They all started shooting at us or others, first. Plus, as far as I know, they all survived. Mage shields make it harder to land a lethal blow before they can hide in cover.¡± When she thinks about it, she has been consciously aiming to disable, not kill. The day that changes, means things are truly dire. ¡°So, security is a camera, plus people nearby as witnesses. The door could be picked. What about other accessways?¡± Drenar asks while they keep walking. ¡°Sewers?¡± Julia asks dryly. ¡°Gross. I¡¯d die first.¡± ¡°Do you prefer indignity, or the Talons getting the keys to godhood?¡± he retorts. ¡°Indignity. But only if you jumped in first.¡± ¡°Nah. I¡¯d toss in James first,¡± Drenar says with a grin. ¡°Don¡¯t pick on the fledgling mage. He might become the chosen one or the destroyer, if Angela¡¯s any indicator. Are we sure he isn¡¯t a dragon?¡± Julia asks. ¡°I looked through some of that data. King was bluffing, some of it was regular readable files. Others, I¡¯m still running a cracking program,¡± Levine responds calmly. ¡°Five percent draconic DNA. same as Angela¨Cwell, was for Angela, Awakening modifies the base genetic code in strange ways. Definitely a mage family, and their parents were exceedingly uncooperative. They left their damn kids high and dry. They wouldn¡¯t commit to coming home! I¡¯m going to slap their parents in their faces when they get back.¡± ¡°Speaking like a father, there,¡± Julia says shrewdly. He grunts audibly while they follow Drenar down the street, and Levine directs them to a small park bench, with a fountain bubbling up blue and green fluid. Even the water is magical around here, she thinks silently, because it arcs, whirls, and does everything but follow gravity when it flows out of the fountainhead. Levine relaxes for a second and glances at the walkway, and up above at the second level of the promenade. The sky is bright and crisp today, and just a hint of chill in the air. ¡°I¡¯ve got a teenage daughter, a few years younger than you. Mystra¡¯s fourteen. I think that¡­you and her¡­you¡¯d get along well, if you met her,¡± he says with a slight hesitation. ¡°I might be divorced, but it wasn¡¯t because I was a bad husband or a bad father. It was the price I paid to focus on the job. Focusing on the goodwill of Kin, and making the world safer for them." His head slowly torsions back and forth, as if disapproving his own rationale. ¡°No parent should just abandon their kids like that. I always saw to it between me and her mum, Mystra was cared for, and she knew she was loved by both of us. Her rebellion moments are best described as garish music that I can¡¯t stand,¡± he adds with a soft laugh. ¡°I can live with that.¡± ¡°Are we stalling for something?¡± Julia picks up on the intent. ¡°Yes. But those parts were true.¡± He subtly gestures to the second floor. ¡°Our blondie boy and Jackie are still lurking. They have been following us.¡± Levine nods just off to the right with a slight tilt of his head. ¡°We are going to have to play this carefully. Young lass sounds like she¡¯s in over her head, blondie is jittery. Dangerous mix, panicked agents. Prone to irrational, messy outcomes, people get hurt or worse.¡± ¡°So, we do nothing?¡± Drenar says warily while keeping the guise of normal. He¡¯s picked up on this quickly, Julia notices. ¡°For now, they know we are here. But Nick is likely making progress. I left behind the arcanlink on purpose, King''s surveillance tech and countering methods are too good to tip him off just yet. No, we¡¯ve got other cards to play. I know a way into that maintenance area.¡± ¡°Oh? How¡¯s that?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just walk in the front door.¡± ¡°You work for SAF. Someone could recognize you,¡± Drenar counters. ¡°How are we just gonna ¡®walk¡¯ in, exactly?¡± ¡°Scheduled maintenance.¡± Julia pops a scintillating spark into her hand and smiles. ¡°Ooh. I do like this plan. We¡¯re gonna fry something else, to get them to open up the door?¡± ¡°Precisely.¡±
¡°Remind me. Why are we here, when we need the Tsundere dragon to do her wizard magic to find stuff?¡± James grouses on the second floor of the library. He¡¯s busy taking the sights of the fine-hewn stone and warm color notes of wood paneling throughout the floor, along with neatly stacked rows of bookshelves. Bookshelves are supposed to be haphazard, messy, and unorganized. This town must have the best librarians in the country, for them to be this well-kept. He can¡¯t find a single book out of order. And they arrange them by popularity?! At least it made it easy to tell where most people spent their time, the carpeted floor has decreasing wear tracks the further down the row they go. Nick is busy pretending to examine a book and keeps stealing glances with his equipment¨Ca set of goggles tuned for spotting mana, and he handed one to him, Angela, and Evan earlier. ¡°Biding time. Plus, we need to assume the secondary entrances won¡¯t just open up automatically. We need to trigger a failsafe. We just need to find the arcane circuitry.¡± Nick shows utter disinterest in small talk with him. James decides to press the issue while Evan and Angela are downstairs on the first floor, doing the same task as them. ¡°So, seriously, you¡¯re seventy years old.¡± ¡°Yep. We¡¯ve been over this.¡± ¡°You¡¯re old enough to be her grandfather.¡± ¡°Are we really having this discussion here?¡± Nick sighs. James can see he¡¯s finally caught Double-o-dragon off guard for a bit, so it¡¯s time to press the advantage. ¡°Yeah, we are. Look, I get it, dragons don¡¯t age the same. But she¡¯s off limits.¡± James of course knew otherwise, because she¡¯d talked to him the night prior, mostly worrying about Drenar. He knew Drenar would eventually get his head back into the game. He always did, even if it took a little while for him. ¡°Have you asked her about her feelings on that? Or is that your assertion?¡± Nick asks with a soft laugh. James whirls around, narrowing his eyes. This dragon is too bold all of a sudden. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°It''s weird, alright?¡± ¡°My father was three hundred and five when he met my mother. She was early twenties. Believe me, it sounds awkward now. But they were a very loving couple. Look, I get it, we''ve been hiding feelings from each other because both of us are likely scared of that barrier of entry. If I had to hazard a good guess.¡± He peels the goggles off after a second. ¡°Unlimited magical technology in this world, and ze goggles, they do nothing.¡± James laughs uncontrollably at this, though he has at best, lukewarm feelings about Nick. ¡°Doctor Strangelove?!¡± ¡°Oh, you''re acquainted,¡± Nick muses. ¡°There''s hope for this generation.¡± ¡°You still look like you''re at best, twenty. That has to be so awkward to have boyish charm, when you''ve been killing monsters and likely people for a long time.¡± Nick shrugs and doesn''t look offended. ¡°I keep a few friends close. It helps take the edge off the tougher moments of the job. Also, that awkward feeling when I get carded at the bar. I have to get a new one made every few years so that people don''t question why a seventy-year-old man looks so young. The Conclave does have a headache with Kin that spend most of their time outside the Veil, let me tell you.¡± ¡°But how?¡± ¡°Spoofing electronic records. Memories fade if you keep moving, which most people do if they age out of an area. Some¡­awkward reunions occur every now and then,¡± he mutters. ¡°I got a couple of those in town, a few old-timers. I had to gently persuade them I was the son of the person they knew. I do look quite a bit like my father. I got Mom''s hair, though.¡± ¡°She¡¯s¡­how did it happen?¡± James stops for a second, intrigued by this history. ¡°I know you mentioned it over the weekend, but¡­you didn¡¯t talk about it much.¡± Nick tucks away the goggles for a minute, and has a solemn look that he usually wears when he talks about his past. ¡°Old age. Eventually, the body just quits, it''s merely a part of the cycle of life. Though¡­when you''ve got my perspective¡­it''s not so easy.¡± Nick''s eyes soften a bit, and he looks down at the table, playing errantly with a tool out of his bag. ¡°Perfect conditions? I could be here when humans travel the stars, and beyond. Most dragons¡­these days¡­ there are very few of us that are old. Most of the elders took off during the Ascension events. What a generational gap that caused. Angie was telling me about that, when Crosomer just looked worn down, beaten¡­like he''s stuck in the past. That''s after seven hundred years, alone. Whether he deserved that or not, I feel, is a matter of historical perspective.¡± ¡°So what you''re saying is, Angie needs someone close to grow old with. Or at least, be there as a constant.¡± James does hesitate for just a beat. Has he been unduly harsh on Nick? Probably not. ¡°And you think you''re the one?¡± ¡°I think at a minimum¡­she''s fun to be around. She''s got that quiet charm. Hell, I remember when I first started taking up the position she wouldn''t stop trying to get me to open up.¡± ¡°Wait. She approached you?¡± James keeps the conversation going and peers through the goggles at a row of books, scanning through the walls. Nick''s instruction had paid off, and he could feel that faint tingle of mana energy. It¡¯s almost instinctive, but very weak. The device would have never worked if he wasn''t a mage. The visual overlay is also giving him a slight tension headache, so he has to stop every few minutes. So far, they haven¡¯t found anything of even remote noteworthyness. ¡°She did. Like every other girl that wanted to be attached to me, for bizarre reasons. I was the new kid, mysterious¨Ceveryone wanted to know who I was. So, I put out a simple image. It wasn¡¯t hard, really. I suppose when you¡¯ve got as long a life as me, and you have to keep reinventing yourself, it gets easier every time. But¡­I always felt like I could sneak in a kernel of truth to her, when she was asking me.¡± ¡°You know something? I thought she¡¯d have stuck with Drenar. I really did.¡± James doesn¡¯t hold the words back anymore. ¡°Say what you will about him, but he''s a good-hearted kid. I knew that from the get-go, while I was getting beaten into the playground years ago. He jumps in to protect me, gets punched in the face so hard his nose is still slightly crooked, and then proceeds to savage that brat, and Julia was an utter demon against the other two. He keeps to his word. He always does. Even after last night, he¡¯s still up and running. I think he¡¯s tougher than any of us give him credit for.¡± ¡°He¡¯s tougher than most. King was extremely tactical in his fight. Everyone held up well last night, Angela, too. That ring¨CI should have taken it off of him,¡± Nick sighs. ¡°Stupid oversight.¡± ¡°Just learn from it. If King wanted you guys dead, he would have succeeded,¡± James offers quietly. ¡°Look, just¡­I know you have issues, Nick. Whether you¡¯ve seen too many dead friends or had to do awful things to survive, Angela is going to have to know about those things eventually.¡± ¡°But¡­her and Drenar are¨C¡± ¡°I think that moment¡¯s coming. Maybe it¡¯s better that they didn¡¯t get more¡­involved¡­ before we got thrown into this chaos blender.¡± James winces when he says it like that, and he¡¯s picturing them being¡­more than friends. ¡°Question is, what do I do about you?¡± ¡°You could just let us figure it out,¡± Nick suggests. ¡°You¡¯ve seen me in action. You know I¡¯d keep her safe, put my life on the line for her without a second thought, no matter what the price to me might be. If that scenario played out¡­¡± James lets out a soft exhale and shakes his head. ¡°You know, despite you having a stick up your arse at times Nick, you¡¯re still alright, you know that? I think you¡¯ve earned that distinction.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that? Was that a compliment?¡± It¡¯s so unusual to see Nick hint at a smile. ¡°Me? Nah, I¡¯m just a fledgling wizard. Seriously when do I get my first fireball spell?¡± James asks with a twist of his lip. ¡°C¡¯mon, I got the best news this morning, I gotta roll with it!¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t quite work like that. Most mages have basic abilities like the spell shield and maybe slightly better natural healing, and the ability to use and manipulate mana. Drenar and the others attune theirs naturally¨Cand quite intuitively, I gotta comment. Mages use draconic invocations, magical devices, or equipment. Mana itself is the lynchpin of most of it, and the goggles are a slight drain on the body¡¯s mana. Because yours just developed, it¡¯ll be taxing.¡± They continue past the stairwell, where there¡¯s a fireplace sitting in a recess of brick and mortar at the landing. James pulls the goggles down and takes a quick glance. He hates that dizziness as the image projects onto his eyes, and¨C ¡°Nick, put on your goggles. The fireplace. Something¡¯s there.¡± He sees the wash of false black, white, and light blue auras, and he sees it¨Ca faint current, a line of white light going to something beyond the fireplace, behind it. ¡°Nick, assessment?¡± ¡°Trigger rune, on the far side. I can just make it out.¡± It¡¯s disorienting to see Nick staring inches from the fireplace, and that aura of blue lines that form his nervous system and other connective systems. He clicks on the arcanlink, then frowns. ¡°Right, Levine ditched his. Didn¡¯t want us to communicate till we got back to the house. Let¡¯s get the rest, and be discreet.¡± Evan and Angela join them a minute later, and they¡¯re all peering at the fireplace. ¡°The chimney goes down into the underground, maybe?¡± Angela proposes. ¡°I can¡­feel an air current. It¡¯s chilly. Plus my¡­telekinetics are acting weird. Like there¡¯s a hollow. I can feel forces and vibrations.¡± ¡°Echolocation?¡± James proposes. She shrugs while rubbing her arms uneasily. ¡°Maybe. It¡¯s hard to describe. Drenar seems to have an overlap with Julia¡¯s abilities and mine, but doesn¡¯t have both our sets in full. That¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°We need the Tsundere dragon to kick down another wall,¡± James mutters while staring at this obstacle. Angela reaches for the back side of the fireplace, and a shimmer of light just barely outlines her hand. ¡°James, you suck with the nicknames,¡± Evan sighs. ¡°Fine, punching bag.¡± ¡°I will claw and shred you worse than our cat.¡± ¡°Why is Diane''s cat so savage against me, anyway?¡± ¡°You¡¯re just not a cat person. Or a dragon person,¡± Evan retorts. Angela shakes her head and taps at the wall with a silvery puff from her hand. It reacts with a blue shimmer. ¡°Arcane shielding. It¡¯s reinforced. That circuit is powering it.¡± ¡°So, we should cut it.¡± ¡°Sure James, let¡¯s open a massive gaping hole in a structural wall, and see what happens,¡± Evan sighs. ¡°You¡¯re the smart one. How do we get in?¡± ¡°Trip the circuit,¡± Nick says quietly. ¡°If the primary teleportal system goes down, fail safes open for secondary access points. That¡¯s what Levine was telling me.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just hope the Talon''s murder army doesn¡¯t take that as their cue to start with the slaughter. What¡¯s their ingress point, the teleportal inside Asqualia?¡± James asks. ¡°The biometric ID access is a big problem for them. Unless they have someone inside SAF to override it for them. Or the Valkyries. And the Valkyries would never do that. Their organization is nigh-incorruptible,¡± Nick says proudly. ¡°But SAF is,¡± James concludes. ¡°Bruh, you might want to quit and form a merc army with Levine. The writings¡¯ on the wall, the Conclave is going to shit, from what I¡¯m piecing together.¡± ¡°Sure James, encourage a power vacuum,¡± Evan retorts. ¡°Or that¡¯s something Drenar would say. Let¡¯s hope those three are staying out of trouble right now.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to make an easy bet with you, then,¡± James says with resignation. ¡°Things went to hell the second they got into town, and Tsundere is busy setting a record for insurance payments for property damage.¡± Evan laughs at this, and has a childish grin on his face. "Don''t let her hear you say that, she''ll either murder you, or marry you." An involuntary wisp of a laugh escapes his lips. "Evan, either outcome would be hazardous for my health." Vol. 2, Ch. 77: One, Two, Do The Dragon-Fu! Part One Drenar is mildly annoyed at how Evan had been making sort-of-joking bets on their continued well-being when they reconvened at Nick¡¯s house later. They''re now bunkered down in the den, going over the details of the day. If the crisis wasn¡¯t so time sensitive, he wouldn¡¯t mind browsing the selection of books in the room¨Call nicely tucked away and organized, too. The room also smells of crisp paper and wood varnish for some reason¨Cthat''s an odd one to note, with his developing sense of smell. But the trim work in the house is well done and accented. But critical matters first: they''d scouted out the means and methods to get in and out, and laid out the plan. He''s also thinking about the entire past day. It feels like a lifetime. Stop stewing you teenage dragon, let''s keep our heads in the game. Alex¡¯s prickly remark causes him to reflexively roll his eyes, and Julia nudges him. We can give King a pre-scheduled appointment with rehabilitation of his legs later. I know this morning was¡­well, I understand completely why you buried those memories deep down. He lets out a gentle nod of his head out of reflex. Living down that memory isn''t easy, Alex. It''s always going to be there. But it''s where I was, not where I am now. He glances down at his wrist, and feels a twinge. It happens every now and then, but he''s had full functionality ever since. Never again. Ive got people to fight for. People who''ve had my back at every turn. I can''t let them down. Julia nudges him again and gives him a gruff sound. ¡°You good?¡± ¡°Yeah. Alex is encouraging me. In his own way,¡± he adds wryly. I¡¯m always here for you, Drenar. You don¡¯t have to face the void alone. Believe me, that means a lot more to me than it ever did before. I¡¯m not alone in this fight. I never will be. Drenar clears his throat after examining the situation. ¡°Here''s the play. Three teams. Team one¨Cthat¡¯s me, Julia, and Levine¨Cget inside the teleportal maintenance area. Team two, you¡¯re the diversionary team, that''s Angela and Nick. Team three, James and Evan, running surveillance at the library." ¡°Great, so we get the easy job while being cut off from the badasses of the team?¡± James asks with a wary face. He¡¯s trying to arch his back slightly, and an arcane barrier flutters around him for an instant. ¡°Drenar, I am not very bullet-resistant yet. Can you not see I am a level one weak-ass mage right now?¡± ¡°Do mages have levels?¡± Drenar asks dryly. ¡°He qualifies as level one,¡± Nick comments shrewdly. ¡°They even have formulas for it.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a lie¨C¡± Nick lightly tosses a handbook to James, who catches it reflexively. James frowns and peers through the bookmark that Nick had conveniently placed, and then makes a strangled groan. ¡°No. It¡¯s worse. I qualify as level zero?! Who wrote this crap?!¡± ¡°An esteemed author,¡± Levine adds with a wolfish grin. ¡°Now, back on task. The distraction team is going to make noise to draw the garrison and divert eyes. At the same time, we¡¯re drawing heat off Drenar from the team shadowing us¨CJackie, and the other gentleman who is a mid-level Talons officer. I¡¯ve got good reason to believe he¡¯s keeping a team in reserve.¡± ¡°Hang on. If the Talons start shooting, we¡¯re gonna be responsible for that,¡± Julia counters with a growl. ¡°We don¡¯t risk people¡¯s lives, Levine!¡± ¡°Oh, you haven¡¯t heard the rest of the plan yet. We¡¯re going to take them out. Nonlethally if possible. We can¡¯t have them tailing us once we make the break for the facility¨C¡± ¡°Non-lethal, period. We aren¡¯t getting Jackie killed,¡± Julia growls. ¡°And I say that after she messed up Evan but good. Getting roughed up isn''t nowhere close to warranting death.¡± ¡°Fine. Non-lethal. As soon as we conk them out, we need to beeline it out of there. I¡¯ve mapped out our departure route, the same way we came in, by the side entrance that leads to the parking garage. Back-up locations include the mall entrance, here. And the one by the marina. Should be well covered.¡± ¡°So we¡¯re supposed to short out surveillance and make noise, get Jackie to follow like an idiot, along with blondie, conk them out, and leave them for SAF to take care of. Super risky,¡± James assesses. ¡°There are unknown factors. If Val¡¯s men are also in town and we make a lot of noise, they won¡¯t hesitate to make it a murder gallery.¡± ¡°We lure them to an old warehouse adjacent to our distraction point. We take them out, tie them up, and make our way to the library. Evan will be with James to spot when the failsafe triggers, and make sure the coast is clear. You see anyone eyeballing you, abort,¡± Levine states firmly. ¡°Julia, Drenar, and myself, should be able to short out the console without causing permanent damage. My theory is that doing so will abort the assault if they somehow have a master override key for the portal. I checked. The portal in town is the only known relay point into Asqualia." ¡°How armed are we going for this one?¡± James asks warily. ¡°Heavily. I¡¯ll have the dimensional armory on me,¡± Nick states. ¡°Just know that if things go bad, we may be in the fight of our lives. Protect yourself and your team, first. ¡°Once we¡¯re in, we activate Kyle¡¯s golem. We send a signal, and we lock up the entrance behind us. After that, we go into the research center, and see where the situation is at. We get the research journals, make a copy for ourselves, and get them far, far away from there.¡± ¡°Got an idea for that?¡± Levine asks. ¡°No, you do.¡± Levine winces at the response from Nick. ¡°We''re gonna play that card? She¡¯s gonna be pissed at me, for reasons I don¡¯t want to get into right here.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have a choice. I¡¯m betting it all on them now,¡± Nick states firmly with arms crossed. ¡°This is the time to call it. We don¡¯t know how badly SAF is corroded by the Talons. This didn¡¯t happen overnight, Levine. Our group has been remarkably stable and you pick people you trust, but outside our small circle?¡± He leaves the question hanging uncomfortably. ¡°Okay. This is going to earn me a death wish,¡± Levine growls. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we¡¯re already courting death,¡± Drenar states abruptly. ¡°How do we earn more of a death wish?¡± ¡°Put Julia in the front-of-the-line formation,¡± James chimes in. ¡°No really Levine, who are we calling on this one?¡± Drenar ignores the acerbic wit of his rival for a moment. Levine mulls it for a second. ¡°A Valkyrie I¡¯ve been in contact with over the years. She uh¡­gave me her number, let¡¯s say.¡± Julia lets out a whistle and grins at this. ¡°Oh, we would love to hear how this one plays out, Levine. Do indulge us.¡± ¡°On my grave,¡± he utters dreadfully. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that I don¡¯t want to give out more than the bare minimum on this one. We can trust her to get these academic journals a safe haven that even Valosterla can¡¯t get to. Valhalla.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s a real place?¡± Angela brightens at this mention. ¡°It¡¯s a fortified base of operation for the Valkyries. One of several, but it¡¯s their main headquarters. The view is quite lovely, I hear. I¡¯ve never been, and neither has Nick. You either need to be a Valkyrie, or one hell of an exemplary human being to be granted access,¡± Levine states. ¡°We will not be using the teleportal at Asqualia. I plan to disable it once we get there. It¡¯s the only means that Valosterla¡¯s men could ever launch a big enough assault. I am not sure the biometric ID deterrant doesn''t have a workaround, and that worries me.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the long-term plan? Assuming this goes well, how are we indicating to Val that the place isn¡¯t worth chasing?¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy. We just send out a big old announcement that their princess is in another castle,¡± Drenar quips. "We leave it in a forum they''ll get the hint. We make sure everyone in SAF knows about this, afterwards." "There goes my day job. We still have a task later to root out traitors," Levine mulls while tapping the display. It shifts position on the map, and he swipes it back after a second. "Sorry." ¡°So what about the contingency if we get there, and the place is on fire already?¡± James asks dreadfully. ¡°That¡¯s where it pays to be a dragon with reinforced arcane barriers, armor scales, and keeping the weapons fire away from everyone who isn¡¯t. Evan, you need to stay here, and keep an eye out for anyone creeping around.¡± His brother leers at him, mouth slightly open. ¡°You are relegating me to the bench again Drenar. Why?¡± His contempt for Drenar¡¯s instruction stings like acid. ¡°Because you aren¡¯t combat ready¨C¡± Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Ah bullshit, I can fry some mercs. I¡¯m good with killing people who mean grievous harm or death to others.¡± ¡°Saying that, and then experiencing it are two different things, lad,¡± Levine cautions. ¡°Even the best-trained soldier can break down on neutralizing their first foes. Do not treat it lightly. I¡¯ll have a job for you, surveillance and signals intelligence. You¡¯ll be our ears here at base. If things go to hell, if you hear a confirmation from me or Drenar that things are bad, I¡¯m going to send a command code, that¡¯ll get you in touch with my Valkyrie associate. Are we clear?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t James be doing this?¡± "Okay, that''s enough, now. James is competent under fire, he did alright at the ranger station,¡± Nick comments. ¡°Plus, he¡¯s a decent shot with an autobow. Surprisingly.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t wait to add fireballs to my spellbook,¡± he says with a grin. ¡°Seriously, how does it work?¡± ¡°Draconic incantations. It helps shape the mana in the body, but you¡¯ll have a tough time this early out of the gate.¡± Levine hands him a book he¡¯d kept stacked precariously over a few volumes of arcanist theory and a well-earmarked book about magitech weaponry maintenance. ¡°Study. Learn. But do not attempt to try something you¡¯re not ready for, or it could kill you. I¡¯m not kidding. I¡¯ve met too many young kids who got hurt doing something foolish. Even for the right reasons.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± he affirms. ¡°Back to the plan. Let¡¯s say the Talons are in full assault. We need a plan to reconvene with people inside Asqualia. Know anything of the layout, Levine?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never been there. Heard about it, it¡¯s like an old medieval fortress updated for modern aesthetics. Lots of routes, secrets, things that the Talons won¡¯t know, but we will, if Joey and Kyle can meet up with us. Getting into contact with them and locking down the facility is the priority.¡± They continue talking for a little while, then everyone is dismissed when Levine wraps up, along with Nick giving everyone the advice to rest well, and do something to destress. Drenar knows it¡¯s a perfect time to stretch his limbs. He heads back down to the training center downstairs. He¡¯s going to need to practice more in his dragon form. Because based on how this has been escalating, he¡¯s going to need to pull out all the stops. A glance at his now naked wrist, just below his sleeve, is all he needs as a reminder. A few minutes later he¡¯s taken his dragon form, and goes through his moves. The room he is in is hexagonal, with vaulted ceilings in various cool color tones painted on the concrete walls, along with little shadow boxes for training equipment. Most items are in matte and black grilled lockers and cases, a lot of it protected by mage-reinforced safety glass. The arena is concrete with padding in the center, and small textured grip pads that his clawed feet find steady footing on. Bright lighting is provided on the walls and the ceiling¨Che could almost fly in this room! Better to not, though. He doesn¡¯t need to break something, or himself, right before a day that could decide the lives of a lot of people. Including his friends. He sways gracefully, going through motions¨Ca sharp jab with an elbow, a lash of a tail, all on two legs. Being on four limbs feels¨Cstrange. He¡¯s also learning to use his wings for quick adjustments of balance. But he keeps them tucked in¨Che does not want to give his opponents something to grab. But his powerful, muscular tail is a deadly weapon when he crushes a target effortlessly. He winces. Nick¡¯s not going to be happy about that one. He sets up another one with delicate placement, and nods satisfactorily. Everything that Julia had taught him for close quarters. Moving gracefully as a dragon is a little tougher than he thought. Especially when his tail lashes one of the various training dummies, and knocks it waywardly towards the steel and concrete wall of the large training area. He winces again. Two dummies down. He doubts Diane is going to be happy about him using her charge card to replace that one, too. Drenar used steel tail. It was super effective. Alex chortles in the background, and he laughs in tandem. This dragon is now becoming rehearsed in his nerd knowledge in all the best ways. He sets up a few more, these ones are made of simple stuffing. He extends his claws, and retracts them slowly on his hands. It feels strange how they flex in and out. He doesn¡¯t seem to need to focus other than tensing them. Maybe he could find a dragon-sized keyboard for this, if he got used to it. Do dragons need keyboards? Does his phone work with the scales on his hands? He grabs it off the bench he placed his stuff on earlier¨Che¡¯s wearing just the mimetic shirt and leggings that Nick had handed him, everything else is sitting there. The phone is going to get crushed if he¡¯s not careful, but he slides his ¡®thumb¡¯ across the interface. He can still feel the glass texture over his scales, but it¡¯s more muted than his human form. And it does work! Well that¡¯s something, at least. You have an odd way of relaxing, you know that? ¡°Hey Alex,¡± he says in a low voice. Since no one is around¨Cstrangely¨Che can at least talk aloud. ¡°Get lonely in there?¡± Sort of. You need to practice your telekinetics, too. Just because you can tank hits, doesn¡¯t mean your friends can, to the same degree. And you can blast opponents off their feet. Hit them hard enough, and you¡¯ll smash them into the landscape¨C He reflexively closes his hand, and shakes his head. ¡°No. Alex, we¡¯ve been over this. Only if we have to. Leaving a trail of dead bodies behind me isn¡¯t an option.¡± What if it was Valosterla, and Julia¡¯s life was on the line? ¡°That¡¯s different.¡± You know tomorrow could end badly, Drenar. Are you prepared for what that entails, to defend yourself? Angela, Julia, James, and the rest? ¡°Of course I¡¯m prepared. I can make peace with that,¡± he says softly. He glances down at his wrist again¨Ca faint line, across his scales. The scar transcends the physical, in a sense. Angela also has light scarring from her heart surgery too, now that he thinks about it. She hasn¡¯t really talked about that one, either, and he lets out a resigned sigh. He¡¯s not the only one bearing figurative and literal scars now. What about Joey? ¡°Oh, this again? Come on Alex, I just met a young woman over a Zoom call with a magical robot! Man, that sounded less weird in my head,¡± he says as an afterthought. Much as I try to shy away from women who have red hair, for reasons that still seem to be baked-in fear¡­she¡¯s cute. ¡°Just met her, man. Not going over this again,¡± Drenar growls. ¡°Not going over, what, exactly?¡± He¡¯d heard Julia padding down the stairs before, but he wanted to at least get that last thought out to Alex. ¡°Alex is giving the coach''s speech. In a way,¡± he says with generous liberty, and she¡¯s eyeing him, taking in his newly acquired form. I cannot wait to be liberated from your body so I can get my side of the story out, you teenage delinquent. Hey, I¡¯m far more classy than that! He turns to address Julia, who has started to shift to her dragon form and is eyeing an oversized staff that seems to be just sized for her larger form. He still can¡¯t get over that lovely burnished gold color of her scales, or the seafoam and black feathers that adorn where her hair would be now, or how her eyes shine like sapphires even in the absence of light. ¡°Gonna give a girl her privacy to transform?¡± she teases. ¡°You walked in here, you know. I¡¯ve been here a bit. Just¡­trying to prepare myself.¡± ¡°You know instead of murdering training dummies, you should fight someone at or above your skill level.¡± She tilts her head and wears that toothy smirk he¡¯s come to associate with her. ¡°Well, c¡¯mon! This place is awesome, so let¡¯s use it for what it¡¯s intended for!¡± ¡°Are you going to be gentle with me, or are you going to go full tilt?¡± ¡°Full tilt,¡± she breezes while stretching her wings. ¡°You¡¯ve earned it. Still giving some thought to this morning?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± he trails off, and he feels her gaze wandering. ¡°There¡¯s been a lot of stuff going through my head about this. About King. About Mom.¡± ¡°Then fight through it. Come on. Let¡¯s fight and talk.¡± He retracted his claws a little¨Cno need to get injured, and it means his handshakes won''t be quite so deadly. He takes a readied stance after motioning to her, tail coiled behind him and his wings pressed against his back. This stance, with the new leg structure, still feels a little different. But he¡¯s learning the feel of it. This must be what it feels like to be an apex predator. She launches after him, testing his range with a series of sweeping strikes. She¡¯s probing, one jab after another. A high kick with a clawed foot that he catches, but then¨C Nope, he forgot the tail, which lashes around his legs and pulls his footing out from under him, and he smacks into the floor, wings folded awkwardly beneath him. She¡¯s grinning at him and practically bounces off him. ¡°I win.¡± ¡°One round? Nah, you¡¯ve got more than that. Are we doing magical stuff or is this just skill of arms and kicks and¡­tail whip attacks.¡± he tilts his head. ¡°I have this overwhelming urge to call out Pok¨¦mon attack names right now. Dragonite used dragon rage, it was super effective!¡± Julia charges at him again, putting him on the defensive. He won¡¯t be fooled this time and slides back, dodging the sweeping kick of a leg, the flurry of blows aimed at him. She¡¯s aggressive but she¡¯s also highly precise. He blocks her strikes and grabs her wrist, and manages to impact her into the wall. She¡¯s not phased by this and tries again with the tail sweep. He uses his own to wrap and hold her in position, and he smirks. ¡°Hey, You know the term, ¡®sweep the leg¡¯ also applies to tails now¨C¡± he stops and glances down. That motion had driven an odd sensation and she lets out a slight gasp. The scales on her face are rosy gold again. And then it occurs to him what it feels like with a slight sensation reminiscent of¨C Oh. Did I forget the base of the tail can be a slight erogenous zone¨C Julia flings Drenar and Alex to the wayside, and he feels his chest scales scraping across the floor. Ow. Should have mentioned that one sooner. ¡°Wow, Drenar, getting bold there!¡± Julia laughs. ¡°Trying to woo me with suave moves, you!¡± ¡°Alex gave me the heads-up on that one. Sorry,¡± he gasps when he picks himself up on the floor. ¡°That one was not in Amaranth¡¯s book,¡± he mutters, and she titters in laughter. ¡°Now you have to buy me dinner, Drenar!¡± she says with a bright-eyed look and a tense stance. ¡°But first, you gotta knock me to the floor!¡± ¡°Done!¡± He surges forward and¨C There¡¯s a flash of bright light and he¡¯s right next to Julia, already in motion and toppling her with a sweep and pinning her down. She shouts in protest, but also she¡¯s stunned. As is he when he looks around, bewildered. ¡°I¨Cwasn¡¯t I just¨C¡± he looks to where he last remembered¨C-did he lose track? She looks at him, blue eyes bewildered. Then, she smiles widely. ¡°Drenar. You teleported,¡± she breathes. ¡°Uh, excuse me. Say what?¡± ¡°What. Baka.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 78: One, Two, Do The Dragon-Fu! Part Two ¡°Mages can''t just teleport.¡± His retort is about as unconvincing as it is laughably funny, and he looks over to the spot he thought he''d been standing in. ¡°I think I just moved real fast. Dragonite used haste!¡± He gets a playful clap on the cheek. ¡°Could you not be so adorkable? It almost makes me feel bad when I have to beat you up.¡± Julia reverses positions with a slide of her body, twisting him backwards, and pins him down. She looks downward, feathers draping her face. It is quite a pretty arrangement of colors, he thinks. Wait. Why would I think that? Gotta start that dragon harem sometime, Drenar. It''s like a social contract in dragon culture. Alex¡¯s boisterous laughter causes him to wince. Julia raises an eye crest when she sees his confused face. ¡°Okay, what''s Alex saying now, and do I gotta beat him up?¡± she teases. ¡°Yes, you should, If I wasn''t also attached to him,¡± he states dryly. ¡°Also Alex, what else did you see with that?¡± I think either your perception blurred, or you did move two meters in an instant. ¡°He''s not sure either,¡± he relays, and Julia lets him up. ¡°Okay. We need to replicate that. Nothing I¡¯ve seen or heard indicates people can teleport like it''s a Dragon Ball Z fight.¡± She snerks at this. ¡°We should establish some ground rules. No permanently damaging each other. Deal?" ¡°Deal.¡± They take a few paces back, and Drenar tenses his claws, putting the weight on the tips of his taloned feet. Okay. Think. Alex, pay attention this time. Let''s reconstruct the exact circumstances. ¡°Drenar, were you using any abilities with your telekinetics?¡± she calls out, and glances at her hand as if she''s been yelling at him from afar. ¡°Okay, I shouldn''t keep saying this, but this is awesome! Gold and seafoam are growing on me!¡± ¡°Baka. Focus on your opponent. Study and learn!¡± Drenar barks out. ¡°Also no, I wasn''t focusing on anything. All I saw was a blast of light for a split second. I think.¡± He digs his claw into the floor a little, tensing before he takes a deep breath. Alex. Did you have any special abilities? No. But¡­someone else I knew did. Lyssa was one of a kind. She¡­did things that would be impossible in any Kin species. Oh hells. I¡­feel dizzy. Drenar did too, it was like a flood of sparks filled his head, and he swayed on his clawed feet unsteadily for a second. ¡°Uh, you alright?¡± Julia asks uneasily. He shakes his head vigorously and almost gives himself whiplash¨Cthis longer neck and body structure isn¡¯t quite analogous to being a just human with wings and a tail, it moves differently. Or, he moves differently? He pockets the thought for the moment. ¡°I¡¯m good. Trying again.¡± He springs forward and feels that tingle across his body, but it''s not enough. Julia sees his charge and immediately deflects him and he smashes into the wall. He grimaces when he cracks it, and Julia pins him against it. He''s not about to take this lying down and kicks down, buckling her stance and catching her off guard. She follows up with a thrust of a closed fist that leaves him almost winded, and he wills himself to stay standing. He grabs her to keep her from doing that again, and she''s grinning at him while trying to break his grapple. ¡°What happened to the magical teleport? Thought you had smooth moves there, Drenar.¡± ¡°I felt¡­something.¡± ¡°Yeah. The floor!¡± Yet another trip to the floor and padded tile, and she straddles on top of him and gives his feather mane a tousle. ¡°Hey, my hair¨Cer, feathers¨Care fine,¡± he growls. ¡°You¡¯re still a wildling, Drenar. Just saying, give it some thought! Now back to the dragon-fu! We need to unlock this skill or something, maybe you need a level-up!¡± ¡°Julia, there¡¯s no such thing as level-ups in real life. Even in this insanity we call our life at the moment.¡± He brings the tone down, and steps close. ¡°We could get killed tomorrow. A lot of people could get killed tomorrow. We all need to be at the top of our game, if we''re going to keep that from happening.¡± ¡°I know. I''m just¡­trying to keep upbeat. This hasn''t exactly been a normal week by any stretch of the imagination, you know.¡± Her composure does break, even for a second. ¡°Besides, I think we have a sound plan.¡± ¡°It''s one step. Putting these creeps out of commission is the longer goal. Now, let''s try this again.¡± He takes his readied stance after a quick nod from her. But before he goes, she jolts his tail with a burst of plasma that stings and leaves a tingling sensation down his spine. ¡°Maybe I just need to top off the tank,¡± she teases. ¡°How much can you use that plasma?¡± She shrugs. ¡°Dunno. I got mana burned on the mountain, definitely do not ignore any burning pain you feel internally. I still can''t believe we need to eat three thousand calories a day¨Cor more, if we spend a lot of time as a dragon.¡± She pinches a scale on her torso for emphasis. ¡°Nick was saying we can eat raw meat? Like I get grossed out by that, as if I''m just gonna go gnaw on a deer or something!¡± ¡°Maybe it''s an acquired taste? Let''s focus.¡± He edges his foot along the flooring, and feels that distinct charge across his body. He springs into action and against her readied stance several meters away and¨C Reality seems to pop out of existence for a fraction of a fraction of a second, a glaring white light envelopes him. He''s right next to her, while she''s still peering forward. It''s almost like everything is in slow motion. He sees her turning in response, aware that something incredible happened. She doesn''t get a chance because time speed back up in interval, and he grabs her from the flank and brings her toppling down with a reserved blow, and pins her down. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. She should be furious about being bested, but she''s beaming. ¡°I saw it. You did teleport!¡± she exclaims, and he cant help but grin like an idiot. ¡°It was a few meters but that kind of tactical shift, it¨C¡± He puts a finger to her snout, and she goes silent. ¡°It wasn''t just that. I saw a place somewhere in-between.¡± ¡°In-between where?¡± ¡°I dunno, it was¡­bright white light all around me. It was weird. Almost like¨C¡± he trails off. ¡°I felt that place before.¡± He doesn¡¯t know why it felt familiar yet. ¡°We should probably tell the others, and now I''m hella jealous!¡± She pokes him in the chest with a pointy claw. ¡°Also, you''re still on top of me. Now do be a proper drake and get off, before I have to steal back the moment.¡± ¡°Nah. Let''s do a little bit more training. I''ve got some ideas.¡± He glances at the pile of training dummies, and a toothy smirk creases his snout. ¡°We need to practice crowd control.¡±
¡°So, let me get this straight. You decided to *all* go do some training, late last night?¡± Nick says with a bite of ire to his words. ¡°And, you made a mess of my pristine training center.¡± ¡°The scorch marks will come off, we promise!¡± Julia says all awkward-like. Drenar is still slightly fatigued from the effort, and had almost earned himself a case of mana burn in the process while trying out some new techniques, and refining others. Even his dragon form has limits, he realizes. Nick taps his foot and sighs. ¡°Assuming we live past to day, you guys are cleaning that mess up.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that bad!¡± Julia protests. ¡°Seriously, the training dummies had it coming. They looked at me the wrong way. I kept picturing Val on their formless faces, and it just brought out the dragon rage in me! Rawr,¡± she adds with a disarming smirk. ¡°You two are just¨C¡± Nick pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. ¡°And you Angela, should have been more careful!¡± ¡°Look, I had to try out some techniques, too! I wandered down there and I just had to see what was up! We can re-set the concrete and smooth it over on the floor, it¡¯s not a problem.¡± ¡°No, the problem I have,¡± Nick says with remarkable restraint, ¡°Is that Drenar has a teleport¨Cthat no other dragon in the world has¨Cand kept at it! Then you doubled down and allowed Julia to crack the concrete slab of the wall, with a very dangerous plasma envelope technique that allows her to become a living battering ram!¡± ¡°We call it the Tsunderebolt,¡± Drenar grins. Julia and Angela break out in laughter, while James gives a half wave. ¡°Your portmaneau is actually pretty good this time. I was down there for a spell. Practicing,¡± he adds when he snaps his hand and small puff of blue flame appears in his hand. ¡°I can light a candle. Yay. Meanwhile I¡¯m the understudy brother, and Julia is sending dragons ricocheting off the walls!¡± ¡°You¡¯re lucky you didn¡¯t break her neck,¡± Nick adds in a scathing rebuke to Julia that Drenar feels might not be warranted. ¡°You guys are fixing that, assuming we live past today.¡± ¡°But we have some techniques mapped out! We rehearsed!¡± Julia says with a glare aimed right at Nick. ¡°Look, we took the initiative. If we get into a firefight, our dragon forms are the best way everyone gets out alive, us or the people of Asqualia. Angela¡¯s barriers can be held at distance while fighting. Drenar has that...that weird blink thingy that we don¡¯t quite frankly know where it came from! ¡°Bloodline ability?¡± Levine proposes. ¡°They¡¯re rarer. Abilities not tied to a specific Kinship race, genetic mutations that carry over regardless of species." ¡°Yeah. Alex was saying Lyssa¨Ca Valkyrie he knew¨Chad some super weird ability.¡± He frowns for a second. ¡°Wait. Alex, you hooked up with one of your teammates, and had a kid?!¡± Um¡­when you put it like that¡­yes? Lyssa and I were¡­together, as they say. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m a great-grandson of a Valkyrie. That tracks,¡± he growls. Levines jaw dropped in amazement. ¡°Holy Gaia. You are descendant of the Valkyries. Lyssa the Steadfast, the fourth known Champion!¡± ¡°Okay Levine, we don¡¯t need to know the history yet. We need to focus on not dying first, and getting through this day¨C¡± "Do you have no idea the importance of that?¡± Levine says like he wants to start shouting. ¡°Dude, the dead parents kept us in the dark,¡± Drenar snaps after losing his patience. Julia puts a firm hand on his shoulder¨Cit¡¯s enough to keep him from getting further into a mood. ¡°We can sort this out later. Right now, I know I have a tactical ability the Talons have never seen before. You want to bet anything that King didn¡¯t parse out some juicy details to his minions on what we are capable of?¡± ¡°Maybe we should¨C¡± James starts to say before faltering. ¡°Are you ready for this, Drenar? This is a point of no return, if I ever saw one. We do this, and put egg on their face again, we¡¯re going to have the entire Talons¡¯ army after us. Including Val, if we¡¯re successful.¡± ¡°Driving megalomaniacs berserk is my skill specialty. Let¡¯s gear up and get this done, we have our roles, everyone have their new systems ready?¡± He¡¯s referring to the subtle armband that most mages wore instead of using cell phones, everyone had one now, thanks to Levine¡¯s tactical case he¡¯d brought in with surveillance equipment, armor, and armaments. They functioned similar to smartphones, but were hardened against electronic surveillance, and couldn¡¯t be as easily disrupted by the tech King had used last time. Nick and James had pulled maps and schematics the night before at some point, strategizing with Levine on what they needed, including escape routes and other information they might need on the fly. Everyone tapped in and nodded. ¡°Any last words, oh omnipresent authority figure?¡± Julia says dryly. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s go put a win on the board for the Delvers,¡± he quips with a warm smile. The plan is simple enough. It¡¯s just risky, which is why Drenar is trying to take the biggest risk onto his plate when they get into the maintenance gear that Levine had appropriated. It should be serviceable enough¨Ctwo apprentices working for a master tech, and Levine had enough general knowledge of arcanist systems he could fit the bill without question. Julia is dead-steady calm, and takes a slow, measured breath when they get into the vehicles¨Cthey¡¯d have to leave them far away to avoid drawing suspicion. Using the teleportal would generate a signature if they ported into town, so that option was out¨Cthe timing would be too suspicious. The bigger long-term plan was getting on the right side of SAF, and find out who was compromised. But that was a problem for another time. ¡°Guys, we doing a speech?¡± Angela asks. She has her hair tied back and her earrings out now, compared to what she normally does, and her glasses are gone¨Cshe must have tucked them away after realizing the guise of appearance wasn¡¯t necessary. ¡°I figure you¡¯d have one, Drenar.¡± ¡°Nah. Let¡¯s do that assuming we don¡¯t get arrested, killed, eaten, or turned to ash by one giant nightmare-level dragon today. I mean with a plan this crazy, what could possibly go wrong? Our adversaries don¡¯t know we¡¯re that crazy.¡± There¡¯s an awkward cough from James in response. ¡°Okay yeah, let¡¯s do this before my nerves give out.¡± ¡°That¡¯s better,¡± Angela says with a warm smile. ¡°Just keep it real.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 79: Three, Four, Hear The Dragon Roar! ¡°Check in.¡± ¡°We¡¯re checked in, Julia. Are you guys ready?¡± She glances at Drenar, who nods silently in his maintenance uniform. He fiddles with the newly constructed ID badge that Levine had been preparing¨Csomething that Nick had extreme proficiency in, as did his cerebral partner. He tips the plain baseball cap lightly. James is waiting at the library with Evan, and she keeps fighting the instinct to put the armband up to her mouth to speak. That¡¯s what the earpiece is for, dialed into the arcanlink. ¡°Radio silence, unless it¡¯s critical. Nick, Angela, you guys ready?¡± Levine relays into the arcanlink. ¡°I¡¯m racking up felonies before I¡¯m of age, Levine. I was born ready,¡± Angela says defiantly. It leaves Julia with a warm feeling in her heart to know that her friend has come so far, so quickly. They¡¯re just outside the Mercadian promenade, and it''s chosen today, of all days, to have rain showers coming in and leave them damp and miserable, with tatters of gray clouds dumping their payload. Though, it feels like her whole body is a metabolic furnace. Is this what Drenar, Angela, and even Nick feel like regularly? Questions about her own body are going to have to wait. It¡¯s only been a day and a half now, and she¡¯ll have lots of time to ponder the answers later. Her ID badge looks awful, but at least no one should ever know they were responsible for shorting out the platform. Boy, if Mom is trusting Dillenger, I have to wonder just what their history is. Those two better not be copulating, or I¡¯ll murder both of them. That tidbit is bothering her something fierce, and has been since Wednesday night. She sees Angela and Nick making their way up a ladder to a maintenance area of the promenade, and there isn¡¯t a soul in sight in this alleyway. Julia checks the buttons on the plain-clothes uniform, and Levine takes point. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Five minutes. We¡¯re on schedule for the maintenance.¡± ¡°What if they start asking questions?¡± Drenar asks. ¡°I doubt many people are going to recognize us, but they have cameras everywhere.¡± ¡°Not right now they don''t. Nick¡¯s about to trip the circuit relay for the area. Surveillance should be off about¡­¡± he trails off and looks at the display of the armband, and snaps his finger. ¡°Now.¡± She expects something incredible to happen, but life continues uninterrupted. A barn cat jumps onto a trash can, and swats at another stray who looks indignant at the offense, but after a moment they both just sit there, staring at the alleyway. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go. Fifteen minutes before they send out someone to check the breaker. It¡¯s just the local municipal one.¡± ¡°Just stick to the plan. Be cool,¡± Drenar says firmly, and glances at Julia who nods before they make their way past the brown brick facade, down the bunker tunnel, and back into the bustling street of the promenade. The rain doesn¡¯t seem to keep anyone bothered for too long, though a few of the dragons keep the rain off of themselves with their wings. An umbrella for every occasion, she notes with a smirk. A minute later, they¡¯re at the teleportal gate entry, and the blue and black fatigued soldier at the front is waving people lazily through a security checkpoint of shapely metal and plastic barriers. He waves to Levine for his ID and frowns. ¡°Maintenance?¡± ¡°Got some scheduled tidy-up work. Barry couldn¡¯t make it,¡± Levine says firmly and without hesitation. ¡°Just plumbing the circuits, maintenance logs from the other night showed a surge. Having this old girl short out during the busy part of the day is a pain.¡± The blonde gentleman scratches his hair just past the crease of his helmet, and he frowns when he checks a digital tablet on the table. A line is starting to build behind them of a few humans and one scarlet-colored dragon, who is tapping their claws gently against their scales. With bright purple feathers. And she gives Julia a piercing glare, but says nothing. Oh, hell. If that¡¯s Jackie, she¡¯s going to make a scene. ¡°I see a note for a crew of four¨Coh, she is with you?¡± the guard asks, and nods to the dragon behind them. Drenar glances back, and she sees him reach his arm for his waistband for a dagger he¡¯s left purposefully behind for this leg of the mission. Luckily, it¡¯s just reflexes, and he waits for Levine¡¯s cue. ¡°Yeah, the new kids are with me,¡± Levine said gruffly. ¡°Apprenticeships for the maintenance crew, trying to get them into the fold with learning some arcanist circuitry. They¡¯re competent, and doing most of the work under my supervision.¡± ¡°Miss, can¡¯t use your dragon form here, it¡¯s a little close quarters,¡± the guard motions. She rolls her eyes and shrinks back down to human form and¨CJulia suddenly has the urge to make a fried lizard. Oh shit Levine, you knew we weren¡¯t going to go along with this, didn¡¯t you?! Julia thinks when she narrows her eyes at the wisp of a girl with bright red hair and a permanent look of indignity etched on her face. Only slightly less indignant is that the uniform is huge on her¨Cshe brings a whole new meaning to the term petite. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s thrilling to be doing community service dressed in this crime against fashion,¡± Jackie says with about as much shade as she can muster. Drenar grits his teeth but says nothing. The blonde guard shrugs and hands Levine back his identification and maintenance papers. ¡°Go on in, hall on the left. There¡¯s a stairwell and the utility room down one flight.¡± ¡°Thank you. Lad, lassies, shall we?¡± Levine says without breaking composure. Julia lets Jackie go between them, and she gets a less-than-subtle shoulder check as she walks by. This red-haired bitch is half the reason this mess started, by her count. But she knows Levine must have done this play because he didn¡¯t see a choice. They follow him down the large open-air corridor, then to a mud-painted maintenance door that opens up to a stairwell, lit with a buzzing fluorescent lighting. He gestures to them as he holds the door open. As soon as that door closes, Drenar grabs Jackie and presses her against the wall, and she lets out a shout of protest. ¡°Levine, what the hell! Why¡¯s she here?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m saving your sorry asses!¡± Jackie hisses. ¡°You think Dillenger here didn¡¯t have a play? The Talons know Jonaleth screwed up badly, if I don¡¯t deliver, they¡¯ll kill my mom, dad, and sister! Screw that, I¡¯m not working for them if that¡¯s how they plan on treating people who thought it¡¯d be fun to enact world change!¡± Drenar¡¯s fingers are locked into her arms, keeping her from moving. ¡°Let me be clear, Jackie. I don¡¯t trust you. Levine, you should have¨C¡± ¡°The plan was to reveal my hand, once we got here. Jackie¡¯s with us for this leg. That liaison thinks everything is above board, I had to keep him thinking that Jackie was going to deliver the goods. Nick and Angela are in position now.¡± Drenar gives one last glare at Levine before slowly letting go, and Jackie gives a sweeping glare at everyone. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not a fan of this plan, either. Jonaleth might have smart plays, but he decided to stir the pot by targeting you, Drenar. Or at least, your brother.¡± It¡¯s not exactly an apology, coming from her, and he notes it. ¡°I haven¡¯t forgotten that. You helping us, without betraying us, is one step on a long road to paying back that imbalance. Levine, this is your party, next time, give me a heads up,¡± he adds with restrained fury. He doesn¡¯t like this plan, but he¡¯s putting feelings aside for this one. Which means she should, too. But not without a little finesse. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Bitch, if you betray us, you won¡¯t live long enough¨C¡± ¡°Julia, I¡¯ve said my piece. I don¡¯t need more threats hanging in the air, because she knows what we can do,¡± Drenar adds with a glance her way. ¡°We aren¡¯t like the people we fight against, are we clear?¡± ¡°Drenar, there¡¯s going to be a day when you won¡¯t be able to talk an enemy down, or knocking them out isn¡¯t an option,¡± Julia states with as much chill as the grave. ¡°You know where we stand, Jackie. Fighting the Talons, and keeping them from hurting a lot of people. Help us with that, and I might be able to forgive you. Eventually.¡± ¡°Great endorsement there, Julia,¡± Jackie snorts. ¡°Alright Poirot, we¡¯re here. What do you need me for, exactly?¡± ¡°Did you tell your contact what we¡¯re doing?¡± ¡°I did exactly what you asked me to. He¡¯s got four men with him. Bolt pistols and grenades, no armor, as far as I can tell. They¡¯re not going to wait for you to get out of the open, they¡¯ll gun you guys down right there in the street,¡± Jackie warns them. Julia now wishes she had an autobow for range¨Cnot that she can¡¯t close the distance in short order, now. ¡°Belichak¨Cthe blondie dum-dum¨Cis working for Val¡¯s operational chain. They want bodies in bags. Period. I told him that I had a lead, maybe, and that I had an in. Poirot, this is your play, I called Jonaleth and got you. So this is on your head if this goes badly,¡± Jackie directs to Levine. ¡°So they¡¯re waiting at the spot?¡± ¡°I¡¯m supposed to call out targets, and hope they don¡¯t shoot me. Guessing Belichek will likely gun me down to tidy up the mess,¡± she adds with a bitter laugh. ¡°So I¡¯m screwed either way. Thanks, Jonaleth, you stupid son of a psychopath duet¨C¡± ¡°Hey,¡± Drenar exhales with force. ¡°We don¡¯t get to pick our parents, Jackie. No one does, not even Jonaleth. You are lucky he¡¯s not dead, if he means anything to you.¡± ¡°Clock¡¯s ticking. Follow,¡± Levine instructs and breaks up the discussion. Jackie huffs and puts her hands up in resignation ¡°Lead the way, nerds.¡± They head down the stairwell and go through the utility corridor. It¡¯s brown cinder blocks and arrays of piping, both regular metal ones, and some glass tubing that contains a blue fluid that fluoresces. Likely, some kind of mana conduit powering something nearby. Levine directs them to a steel door with hazards for electricity and¡­mana poisoning? That one sounds ominous. She¡¯s already had mana burn once, and she doesn¡¯t want it twice if she can avoid it. Levine pushes the door open and they file inside. It feels like static on her skin here, and the thrum of energy in the conduits is palpable. There are numerous consoles behind metal wire lockers, and Levine presses the badge to open them. The lock icon turns green, and he throws one open. ¡°Teleportal is the one here. Julia, this is where you come into play. Charge up Drenar.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Tsundere already tries to experiment on me enough, as it were,¡± Drenar retorts. ¡°Set aside the snark for a few minutes. Julia¡¯s going to charge you, and you¡¯re using your scales to bridge a connection. It shouldn¡¯t hurt¨Cmuch,¡± he adds in a slightly worrying tone. He looks at both of them anxiously. ¡°Great. Looks like I won¡¯t have to wait for Val to kill me with her murder army, why bother when my misfit crew can do the honors for them?!¡± he throws up his hands and rolls up his sleeves while scales emerge on his arms and his claws form. ¡°Let¡¯s just get this done. Point out the consoles. You¡¯re trying to overload one, right?¡± ¡°The system will trip if it¡¯s too quick, but with a low power rise, we can successfully short it out,¡± Levine instructs. ¡°Jackie, your role in this is a small one. Use your gravity magic to push down on the diaphragm of the liquified mana condenser, there,¡± he says, pointing to a tank of fluid that looks similar to those crystalline batteries they¡¯d seen on Mount Syren. ¡°Oh, and try not to crush anything else. We want this to look like a maintenance failure. Not sabotage.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so glad you have better plans than the arsonist,¡± she sighs before extending her hand at the device. There¡¯s a trickle of a pull of something as Jackie concentrates, green eyes almost alight from inside, and Julia feels more than just a tug. Like gravity is pulling in the wrong direction. ¡°Step away from the field of effect,¡± Levine warns, and Julia hops back. The pulling motion stops, and there''s a shimmer in the air, a dark void that forms just above the tank. Jackie¡¯s hand is shaking, and she¡¯s got absolute focus when she brings up her other hand to guide it downwards. The diaphragm collapses due to the change in pressure, and fluid stops flowing through the system and leaks out intermittently. She shudders and almost loses her balance. ¡°Damn. Still learning. Was that good enough?¡± ¡°Perfect. Julia, charge up Drenar, the system is going to trip in a few seconds. I had to look this one up with Nick, he knows a systems engineer for arcanist setups like this.¡± Julia lights up a spark with a smile, and gives Drenar a jolt, and he shudders under the current. ¡°Baby will you light my fire,¡± he manages with a grin. She smacks his shoulder and groans. ¡°I will murder you after we are done here, wannabe hero,¡± she scolds. She feels a little fatigued from charging his scales, but the feeling fades. She steps back from the console, and he grips one tightly before hovering his hand over the other one, which now has fluid weakly flowing due to the damage on the compressor. The second he grips down, energy arcs across the interface, and he grits his teeth, slowly letting go of the current. Levine pulls out a device that looks like a voltmeter, and taps it across the two tubes of fluid. It lights up red, and then the indicator hovers at yellow for a short moment. ¡°Keep going¡­¡± Levine instructs. A bead of sweat forms on his brow, and he¡¯s gritting his teeth in utter focus. ¡°Keep going¡­¡± ¡°Stop.¡± The lights go out in the room, like a circuit breaker popped. Drenar instantly lets go and flexes his hands, and Levine activates a glowing wisp of light from his hand with a word that sounds like a slither through the air. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. Angela and Nick should be timing out that secondary diversion any second. Our work here is done. Jackie, well done for the small assist. I¡¯ll make sure that your part in this is documented as aiding an¨C¡± There¡¯s a muffled explosion and everyone goes tense, and Jackie goes wide-eyed. ¡°Hells bells, Poirot! Looks like someone isn¡¯t waiting to start the party,¡± she grimaces. ¡°Was that your distraction?!¡± ¡°Our distraction was a sensor trip and a couple of baddies tied up, not¨C¡± The sound of a high crack of gunfire immediately breaks any chance that this is part of their plan. Drenar dashes out the door and slams past the doorway, already reaching out for his dragon form, and Julia bounds off the wall to keep up. Levine tries to offer words of restraint, but her sense of danger is in overdrive¨Ca danger not just to her, but to others, too. Jackie is right beside Julia, scarlet scales forming on her hands and legs. ¡°Did you know something¨C¡± Julia starts to accuse. ¡°No! The second Val asked Jonaleth to murder people at the school lab, I knew I was in over my head, I¡¯d never sign up for that!¡± she protests. Julia ignores it and summons her strength in the form of gold scales and rippling muscle, and bounds up the stairs with wings half-forming on her back already. Nick sounds out over the radio. It is all bad news. ¡°Levine! Talons soldiers just swamped the SAF comms network! They¡¯re launching a full-out assault on SAF positions at multiple locations, here and abroad! It¡¯s a goddamn start of a war, they¡¯re pouring out of teleportal networks!¡± Nick¡¯s warning comes as soon as they¡¯re topside. Julia lassoes the door out of the way and Drenar bursts through in a shimmer of blue and silver scales, and Julia takes in the scene¨Cblack-clad talons soldiers are firing forward through the open-air plaza, and Drenar¡¯s spell barrier and scales take the brunt of the attack while he shields the same blonde soldier that has a bolt sticking out of his shoulder and one through his leg, trying to reload an autobow. ¡°Cover Drenar!¡± Julia snaps to action and spots six soldiers¨Ctwo are looking back at the sputtering teleportal that had inconveniently just been shorted out by them. The Talons aren¡¯t getting reinforcements and now are about to pay the price. There are multiple store alarms and the SAF garrison klaxon alarm is going off. Everything is in utter chaos now. And right now, they need to put a stop to the Talons bringing terror down upon their town. They also made one massive mistake when she charged plasma across her scales: They are so utterly puny compared to her right now. Vol. 2, Ch. 80: Five, Six, Fighting Dragon Chicks! Julia thought nothing could prepare her more for this moment than all the trials that had preceded this one. The Talons'' soldiers are still coming out of the teleportal facility, shooting at the garrison reinforcements that are ducking behind decorative posts and low concrete barriers that would normally direct foot traffic. They¡¯re also shooting haphazardly at civilians, and she knows that has to be put to a stop, no questions asked. ¡°Drenar! Bulldoze a path to the teleportal hub!¡± Levine barks out. ¡°We need to make sure they don¡¯t set up secondary one-time-use gates, this close to the primary hubs they can spoof the relays!¡± ¡°Push up!¡± He barks out. Julia releases the plasma across her scales and releases a torrent of energy at the soldiers. A few realize they have made a massive mistake trying to engage against dragons who have had more than their fair share of combat over the past week, and much more training preceding that. The blast cracks the cobblestone and zaps three of the foes with unrelenting fury. An acrid scent of scorched clothing wafts from the carnage. She is still using low power, because if she charges it any higher, there wouldn¡¯t be anything but blackened corpses, and that¡¯s not a path she¡¯s going down yet. Drenar leaps into the fray with his scales darkening and deflecting the heavy bolt rounds¨Che is saving his spell shield for the moment. Foot soldiers are no match for a three-meter tall dragon, even as they try to grab heavier ordnance off their backs. ¡°Maridian silver, switch to alchemical rounds!¡± One soldier belts out¨Ca foe far more heavily armored in head-to-foot black-painted armor and grabs what looks like a grenade launcher off his back. ¡°Deal with the goldie, and the scarlet!¡± ¡°Oh hell no, assholes!¡± Jackie thrusts out her claws and that shimmering, unnatural void forms between the standing soldiers, who suddenly flail and find themselves floating through the air, bobbing and weaving without sure footing to steady themselves. Drenar unleashes a kinetic blast that sends their weapons flying, along with them. One struggles to rise, and he slams him with a single fist, doubling him over. Julia hears at least a couple of ribs break, and he''s on the ground, and out of the fight. ¡°Go! Protect the civilians, prioritize the wounded, and get them to cover! Julia, Jackie, with me! Levine, get Nick and Angie down here right now!¡± Drenar barks out in reflexive orders. ¡°Get to the teleportal, more troops will be following up!¡± ¡°Ah, hell yes! It¡¯s clobbering time!¡± Julia grins as she charges plasma into her scales. More soldiers open up with autobows from the far end of the atrium, and she sees one setting up a formidable weapon¨Ca machine gun being brought to bear with a heavily armored soldier opening fire on Drenar. ¡°Go! Get the heavy down!¡± Drenar grunts under the heavy fire, and his scales are taking the barrage of bullets. It looks like these creeps didn¡¯t get the memo that they need heavier ordnance against a Maridian with their ferrite-charged scales. She scoots behind him and keeps him charged with a healthy dose of plasma energy, and when he¡¯s close enough, he sends out a focused kinetic blast that smashes the soldier and two adjacent to them into a stone pillar. They crack the masonry and are down for the count. ¡°Keep pushing! Stay behind me!¡± He yells out amid a barrage of bolts that ping off his scales. They might as well be pea-shooters, though an errant round does bounce off of her. Things hit a slight snag when a Nightwing dragon with armor plating that had been hiding on the other side of the door slams into him, and he grapples with the new adversary. SAF soldiers are pinned down on one side of the large room filled with mosaic tiles of some probably famous mages on the floor, large vaulted ceilings, and the large glass and metal teleportal platform that someone is desperately trying to relight to get reinforcements. This pristine polished marble floor is going to need one hell of a good cleaning as Julia launches forward in a blur of plasma energy, and knocks the Nightwing away. He crashes through a wall and into the street on the other side, roaring in pain, and plasma arcs off of him. Drenar splits off to deal with the dragon, while she deals with the smaller threats. Bones break and squishy humans get sent flying, and those lucky enough to stay out of her range get the plasma treatment of an overpowered taser. She even practices flinging one at another with her plasma grapple, much to her delight. They are so puny. She doubts this one-sided curb stomp battle is going to last, once Crosomer and company hear about a team of dragons trouncing their soldiers. ¡°Stand back! Gonna mop up!¡± Jackie sprints through heavy fire and has to rely on her arcane barrier, which is getting dangerously deteriorated. She launches another singularity that leaves a few foes floating through the air, then she directs all that force downward in a bone-jarring slam. They scream as they impact and are otherwise pinned by the gravity well. SAF soldiers see the opportunity and advance. ¡°Cover the guys in blue!¡± Julia bellows out and acts as a body shield while they advance across a hallway, clearing out Talon soldiers. Some have about given up, and Julia hears a distant, inhuman cry of pain. She turns to see Drenar is bloodied but alert, having clawed up the Nightwing badly and landing an open-handed strike, a silvery blast sending the foe to the ground. He slams a clawed foot down on his ribs, and the foe howls in pain, clutching their chest. ¡°Suck it up, jackass, they regen back!¡± Drenar belts out, reaches down and breaks the dragon¡¯s wing as well with one crunchy twist. The dragon screams out in pain and makes no further attempts to resist. Damn, my boy is getting savage? Why does that excite me?! She can¡¯t let the wayward thought distract her and points an arcing claw at the remaining Talons soldiers, who have stopped firing and have contemplated fleeing. ¡°Surrender or get roasted! Your call!¡± she bellows out with every ounce of ferocity she has. Jackie sends one more flying with a swipe of her tail¨Che likely had it coming, and this redhead has bite to spare. SAF soldiers take cover by the two of them, and the Talons soldiers¨Cthose left standing on their own two feet¨Cstart lowering weapons. Julia groans, and feels a bolt sticking out of her forearm¨Cit just found its way past her scales, and she yanks it out. Luckily the penetration isn¡¯t far, and the blood flow is a trickle. She conjures up the energy bindings she¡¯d done for Jonaleth earlier, and motions for the soldiers to tie their hands behind their backs and leers at all of them menacingly. ¡°Which one of you tasty little treats wants to fess up to what you boneheads were planning?¡± Julia says with a toothy and menacing grin. ¡°Speak up, first come, first paroled! Or something like that.¡± ¡°Miss,¡± one of the SAF soldiers says with a heavy sigh, ¡°Thank you for the extremely timely assistance, but you¡¯re a civilian, you should get out of here, we¡¯ve got this. Check-in with the garrison¨C¡± Julia can hear more gunfire in the background, and she looks down¨Cher Arcanlink had been damaged on her vest, likely hit by a stray round! She feels more than a few bruised scales, now that she thinks about it and turns to Drenar, nursing a claw wound on the softer scales on the inside of his arm. ¡°Drenar, we need to get to Angela and Nick!¡± ¡°On it! Jackie, you with us?!¡± The scarlet wonder nods softly and even lets out a toothy smirk. ¡°Sheesh, when did you two learn to kick ass? I want in on this!¡± ¡°We protect lives first, and we need to go!¡± Drenar bounds up and heads out into the open-air hallway, his tail nearly knocking one poor soldier off his feet. ¡°Sorry, gotta mind the extra appendage!¡± he shouts over his shoulder. Julia and Jackie waste no time and follow him into the street, where SAF soldiers are prioritizing wounded and rounding up Talons soldiers. She¡¯s still focused on the sound of gunfire, and Drenar shouting into the radio. ¡°Angela is with Nick, they¡¯re pinned down on the second floor of that building off to the right! We need to watch our fire, it¡¯s close quarters!¡± ¡°I got a better idea! Give me a fix on their position, I might be able to see their mana signatures if they¡¯re mages!¡± Julia states and is already in motion. She scans the squat three-story building made of the same tan bricks as the rest of the area and hears gunshots, but the sound is difficult to pinpoint. She lets the color fade from her eyesight and she strains with all her might to see something¨C ¡°Drenar, give me your arcanlink, mine is shot!¡± He hands her the earpiece that she wraps around her elongated earcrest. She can see the shimmering outline of several individuals in two distinct groups, and several other fainter images. Three individuals are hunkered down, presumably behind a wall or a large object, and several others are motioning with hands raised like they¡¯re firing rifles or other weapons. The automatic gunfire would suggest that. ¡°Nick, I need your position right now! Are you guys on the south side of the building, at the east-most end?!¡± she barks into the communicator. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Good spotting! Half a dozen Talons soldiers broke off, and were trying to round up civilians, they were trying to force some kind of specialized broadcast! They opened fire on anyone who resisted, I have two wounded next to me, and we¡¯re pinned down! I can¡¯t transform into my dragon form here, it¡¯s too close quarters!¡± ¡°Julia, you charge into that building, you could hurt someone¨C¡± Drenar starts to say, then extends his claws. ¡°Let¡¯s uh¡­try something a little more cerebral.¡± Twenty seconds later, she¡¯s digging her claws into the brick building, finding latch points wherever she can from concrete windowsills, though they do seem a little¡­shaky under her weight. She can hear the gunfire, and Drenar waits right below her, with Jackie already forming that shimmering void in her hands. ¡°Hey red, how deadly is that little gravity blob?¡± Julia directs downward. ¡°Don¡¯t know, never had the nerve to crank it up to full power. Watching someone implode sounds as terrifying as it does traumatic, you know?¡± she says with a nervous shake of her mane. ¡°Gross. Can you launch that inside of people?¡± Drenar is now waiting with a kinetic blast readied in his claw, and she can hear the gunfire just above her. ¡°You know what, don¡¯t tell me. My imagination doesn¡¯t need more horrors to contemplate.¡± Julia taps the radio while hanging onto the side of the building in possibly the strangest thing people have observed a dragon do in the day. ¡°Nick, are they still in position?¡± ¡°Yes, please hurry! I need fire relief so I can get triage done, one civilian has a bolt injury to the torso! Angela, shield me when I peek!¡± ¡°Done!¡± she shouts in the background, and the splintering of wood and fracturing of plaster or brick is also audible. No time to waste then. She peeks through the window and the black-clad soldiers are busy trading fire with Nick. She can see Nick and Angella¡¯s outline with her mana sight just down the hall, along with two prone people¨Clikely mages, since she sees blue. She snaps a charge into her hands, and waits for a lull in the fire. She smashes the wall and it caves under her assault, and she claws back an opening past the brick and wood construction. The Talons shout in surprise, but they¡¯re not standing for long when her plasma rips through them, scorching and sending them to the ground, writhing in agony. ¡°Your friendly tsunderedragon is here to save the day¨Cdammit!¡± A few stray bolts smack into her arcane barrier and leave an instant bruise on her cheek. Good thing that is still working, even when shielded it hurts! She lurches in and grabs the bastard that managed to stay upright after getting blasted, and drops him down to Drenar in a panicked scream. He catches the man, who is still screaming while Drenar gently growls at him. ¡°Apologize to the goldie for shooting at her, or I can add a fresh layer of paint to the wall.¡± ¡°Sorry!¡± he screams out. Drenar rewards him for his efforts with a slam into the wall, grabbing his weapon away and bending it beyond repair. Julia uses a low-powered zap to knock him out. It is just like a taser, and he¡¯s¡­soiled himself. Gross. I better leave that part out of the massive report we¡¯re probably going to have to fill out, she thinks with disgust. ¡°Nick, it¡¯s clear!¡± she bellows out. ¡°Any more?!¡± ¡°No. Make sure they stay down,¡± Nick growls, with Angela advancing behind him, autobow drawn and poised at the prone hostiles. They waste no time in tying up the adversaries with Nick¡¯s near-unlimited supply of zip ties, and administering a regen potion to the injured civilians after extracting the bolts. Bolts, Julia realizes grimly, present a problem compared to bullets for using a potion. They have to be pulled for the emergency healing process to work, unlike if bullet fragments remain lodged. Levine joins them a moment later¨Che¡¯d been in a brief firefight of his own after they bulldozed through the plaza to cut off reinforcements, and is sooty. ¡°Fireball almost got you?¡± Nick asks nonchalantly. ¡°Yeah, you could say that. We need to get out of here, now. How the hell did the Talons launch multiple attacks all in close synchronization, and we didn¡¯t have any warning?¡± ¡°King blowing smoke, or Val just jumped the shark. I doubt Crosomer was in on this hare-brained plan,¡± Drenar growls. ¡°King is losing a kidney when I¡¯m done with him. Levine¡¯s right, I think the main attack is still coming, we need to get down to Asqualia. Uh Julia, radio?¡± She hands him back the Arcanlink she''d borrowed, and he taps the transmit button. ¡°James, did you guys¨C¡± ¡°We hit the jackpot, Drenar. Shielding is down,¡± James says in a low tone. ¡°Evan and I tested it. There¡¯s a door that opens. We¡¯re trying to avoid drawing attention to it. We heard through the arcanlink something happened?¡± ¡°The Talons launched a massive attack wave on SAF positions in multiple cities. Us killing the teleportal was the sheer dumb luck reason that they weren¡¯t successful here, I¡¯m getting casualty reports and utter panic on every line,¡± Levine groans. ¡°It¡¯s a bad start.¡± That''s when the TV displays that hadn¡¯t been hit by the uncannily large lawn darts start broadcasting in a staticky grain, and Julia tenses her claws. A new face appears on the screen, clad in gold and silver armor¡­and dripping with blood. Behind them is the bullet and bolt-ridden plaza of a city that looks like it could be eastern Europe. Julia can only make out a glimmer of coal-black eyes behind the magitech visor, projecting images on the inside of the helmet. ¡°Ladies and gents, your attention please! I¡¯ll keep this brief. Welcome to your liberation day!" The man speaks in a gravelly, deep voice. He sounds like someone who has indulged in smoking, drinking, or is simply a hellspawn so evil they cast him back out of the abyss. ¡°As we speak, your overlords are being put on notice that Kin are done being pushed around and being oppressed, marginalized, beaten, and murdered behind that squeaky, sterile image of the Conclave. All those fancy white and silver decorations that adorn their halls are nothing but a window dressing to the ugliness and horror behind closed doors. ¡°The Talons have had enough of that, and today, we¡¯ve put the Conclave on notice. They will no longer oppress us mages who choose an independent life!¡± The figure bellows, and a peeling grin is visible behind the visor. Julia sees it, and only can conclude one thing: this man revels in the violence he is inflicting. ¡°All civvies should clear out of our way, or join us! Flyers will be posted for you to join our righteous cause!¡± It¡¯s utterly reprehensible to her, that a man coated in someone else''s blood is talking about bringing peace. Without warning, he hauls up a blue clad SAF officer by the neck, who is pleading for his life. ¡°Who is this asshole, so I can shoot him repeatedly with Matilda?¡± Julia says with deadly intent. Nick nods grimly. ¡°Davos Renshrak. I recognize that armor. He''s a seven-foot-four titan of a man in armor that weighs as much as a dragon. The Butcher of Cape Town.¡± It sounds even more ominous, coming from Nick. ¡°So, he''s kill-on-sight?¡± ¡°I prefer detainment¡­¡± Nick trails off, his eyes narrowed, ¡°but SAF policy does allow for lethal force when there is an imminent threat to civilians or law enforcement." Nick waits a beat, then adds, "You''re gonna need a bigger gun for Davos." Davos holds up the SAF soldier by the neck in one hand, while someone off screen holds the camera. There is a manic grin etched on his face, a maw of stained teeth and scarred flesh that can''t outdo the grotesqueness of his character. Davos squeezes the soldier''s neck, who is grasping at his armored gauntlet with the desperation of a dying man, and his eyes bulge in fear. ¡°Now, this poor fella here made bad life choices, and shot at some of my comrades. That''s a no-no, buddy!¡± he adds while looking like the devil collecting the souls of his victims. The man rasps, brown eyes trying to cling to life. ¡°So, we need to set the pace. SAF soldiers are all enemies of the public! And we''re gonna make you example number¡­I dunno, seven or eight?¡± he asks while looking smug. ¡°Twelve,¡± someone says off-screen. Julia tightens her claws in rage as Davos leers at the man, fingers bleeding from trying to pry away from that death grip. That lecherous grin twinges even wider behind that visor. ¡°Ah well, better to undercount. Well there¡­Curt, is it?¡± Julia sees the name tag, as does Davos. ¡°Welcome to the new world order. Coming soon to theaters and main streets everywhere! But for you, buddy, I have one question for you!¡± Davos brings the man close to his face, and Julia knows what is about to happen next. And there is nothing she can do to prevent it. A wheezing gasp leaves the man¡¯s lips. ¡°Does it grip?!¡± Davos clenches his fingers, and Julia winces at the sound of crushing bone, like wet twigs snapping underfoot. There is nothing left in those brown eyes but a vacant terror, and Davos tosses him aside as readily as a trash bag on pickup day. ¡°See ya soon, folks! Remember to smile, because our revolution starts now!¡± The camera cuts out, and Julia is quivering in fury. But it''s Drenar that sets the mood when he tightens his claws. ¡°He''s made my list.¡± Julia knows exactly what list it is, when he utters those four words. A list he''s kept empty until now, because she knows he''s scared of what happens when he throws restraint aside. Davos is now on the list of people he is going to kill, to make the world a safer place. And Davos just made hers, too. Seconded only by Valosterla. Vol. 2, Ch. 81: Seven, Eight, Val Is Gonna Hate! Angela looks at Drenar and Julia and knew that this was coming¨Cthey were going to witness unspeakable evil done by the Talons. She¡¯s not surprised by their reaction when Drenar makes his declaration. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to fight that fight another day, guys,¡± Angela redirects, and everyone looks at her and nods. ¡°Levine, we¡¯ve got our window. But Blondie ran off when the fireworks started, which means King is aware of what we are up to by now. And we just completely and utterly torched their invasion at Mercadian Promenade.¡± This gets everyone¡¯s attention when she puts it in less than subtle terms, and she gestures to Nick. ¡°Priorities, folks. As soon as they know things went about as bad as they can go, Valosterla and King will launch the attack. This whole multi-pronged attack must have been to gain control of the teleportal network, and to divert SAF activities from what''s about to go down! We need to move. NOW.¡± Drenar and Julia instantly snap out of their fervor, as does everyone else. ¡°Levine, you¡¯re needed to help with the counter¨C¡± ¡°Angela, I know where I¡¯m needed. Right here, right now,¡± Levine says solemnly. ¡°We can¡¯t let Val and Crosomer get their hands on these notes. If they prove successful in operating that device, there is no telling the damage they may do by breaking open Veil protocol, to say nothing of bringing all the missing dragons back. SAF is distracted with the cleanup, we¡¯ll just have to get out of here as fast as we can.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right. We don¡¯t want to stick around, and we can¡¯t fight a war,¡± Nick states stoically. ¡°All the soldiers are busy with cleanup, we can get out of here without being spotted.¡± ¡°Uh, what about turncoat here?¡± Julia asks while pointing a clawed thumb at Jackie. She narrows her emerald eyes at Julia. ¡°I helped! I was shot at!¡± ¡°Yeah, what the hell, by the way?¡± Angela demands, having not even given the idea any thought until now. ¡°She mauled up Evan!¡± ¡°Jonaleth¡¯s idea, I still¡­kinda like Evan. It was a little messed up, Jonaleth got a little impatient, because he¡¯s so used to everyone capitulating,¡± she states abashedly. Her scales, indeed, are a shade more scarlet than before. Angela points a finger at her accusingly. ¡°We are in this mess because Jonaleth threatened to kill Drenar and his family! Bitch, you better be solid under fire, because where we¡¯re going, you need to be able to stand up and defend others!¡± It¡¯s telling who¡¯s in charge when Jackie¡¯s posture slumps, and she puts up her claws in resignation. ¡°Dillenger, this wasn¡¯t part of our deal! I called you to avoid being murdered by Talons looking to take out some hate on me for Jonaleth¡¯s screw-up!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s discuss it on the way, because we¡¯re getting stares from passers-by,¡± Drenar states before slapping a bandage on a deep claw mark on his torso. He lets out a grunt of discomfort. ¡°Let¡¯s go, guys.¡± Five minutes later, they¡¯re back in the cars in the parking garage, and Angela grabs Nick¡¯s dimensional armory and examines the inside. She lets out a light gasp of surprise. ¡°Holy hell, are you armed for hunting or war?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he states with a grim smile while he floors it out of there. Drenar is up front, while Jackie is next to her¨CJulia had elected to go with Levine, since there isn¡¯t enough room for all six of them. She is notably quiet, all things considered. ¡°We can¡¯t walk into the library armed for war, though¨Cthat might make a bad impression, you know?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, nerd squad¨Cwhat the hell is going on, exactly?¡± Jackie asks. ¡°Do you want the long version or the short version?¡± Drenar states with remarkable restraint. ¡°You helped defend us, so you¡¯ve earned an explanation.¡± ¡°Okay, short version, please.¡± ¡°Short version? We Awakened, and we got right in the face of Valosterla Roshanikov. You know, that murderous, singing lunatic whose boss at Magitech Industries is one wood-chipper industrial accident away from handing over control of the company to her.¡± Jackie''s eyes widen. ¡°Holy shit, Rashalda, you¡¯ve got a death wish! Jonaleth had a nagging feeling it was you guys at the cabin before his untimely beatdown, but he was so distant, that he couldn¡¯t make you guys out. So, where¡¯s Jonaleth?¡± ¡°Detained. He chose the hard way.¡± Drenar doesn¡¯t elaborate further. Jackie lets out a grunt. ¡°He made bad choices, Jackie. You didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°You hurt him?!¡± ¡°He didn''t give us a choice. But he¡¯ll live, if that''s what you''re worried about. Though his problems are far from over,¡± he adds quietly. Jackie lets out a frustrated growl and grips her hands into the armrest. ¡°Yep, that tracks. I called him after he didn¡¯t call back, and¡­I got Dillenger on the line. He told me to shut up and start paying attention, if I didn¡¯t want to get killed by the Talons. He had me arrange that whole thing. To lure out the baddies. He told me that we couldn¡¯t break composure till you were out of the open, or Blondie would have been spooked. That creep was using us, too! I had no idea they¡¯d launch a full-out assault!¡± She groans and winces at several scrapes and cuts on her arms. Even her scales hadn¡¯t fully protected her from the incoming fire, and it translated to abraded skin and small wounds. ¡°Levine, what¡¯s the status on the ground at SAF HQ?¡± Nick relays into his radio. ¡°Same. It¡¯s all hands on deck, they got caught with their trousers down. They hit six different teleportals at once. The one they needed we just shorted out. It¡¯ll be days before they can repair it,¡± Levine affirms. ¡°Nick, if we somehow survive this madness, we¡¯re about to be prematurely retired or thrown in jail.¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°That¡¯s fine, I had a calendar to fill, what with four thousand years of life,¡± Nick answers with a sardonic smile. Angela can¡¯t help but smile faintly too. He does have a sense of humor, but it''s taken so long to shine through. ¡°McMurray alright?¡± ¡°Busy having the worst day of his life. We will too, unless we get this mess fixed, and stop the Talons from getting this journal. Jackie, short version, your Awakening was triggered by the Talons, and they are going to bring a whole lot of pain on the world if they figure out how to fully enable the device they used to make it happen,¡± Levine summarizes. ¡°Stopping them is our plan.¡± ¡°This is nuts. And you guys think you have a chance against an entire Fates-damned army?!¡± Jackie says with her tone increasingly shrill. ¡°Well, if they only come at us a few at a time¡­yeah?¡± Angela proposes. Jackie grimaces at this. ¡°Till they break out the rocket launchers and grenades, sure.¡± ¡°Uh¡­what is the standard counter to a dragon?¡± Drenar asks. Nick grunts. ¡°Other dragons. With Angela¡¯s spell barriers capable of being held at a distance, we can wear down infantry without issue. A rocket may breach a barrier, and do some damage, but our scales can take the hit. Or some heavy-duty magitech weapons using concentrated fire plasma. But those are rare, and I doubt even the Talons have them.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t feel like taking a rocket to the head to test this one, thanks,¡± Drenar states sourly. Nick is pushing the speed on the vehicle, and the town gives way to the more wooded and sparsely populated side of town, between a couple of low hills. The weather is still overcast and threatening rain, but towards the west, the lowering sun is is starting to peek out. ¡°Nick, we¡¯ve got two vehicles. Dark sedans closing at high speed. They¡¯re not marked, and I don¡¯t think they¡¯re SAF,¡± Levine relays over the radio. Angela feels her scales itch onto her skin in anticipation. ¡°Think it¡¯s blondie? Maybe he managed to scrounge up remnants and was given the order to follow us?¡± ¡°In that chaos? I doubt it,¡± Nick counters. Eventually, the sedans drive past them, much to their relief¨Cbut Angela also notices Nick clicking open the safety holster of his bolt pistol out of caution. The vehicles didn¡¯t match, but that ominous feeling that something bad was happening wouldn¡¯t leave her. Samarina, your assessment? Foul men moving. Something has gone wrong. They know plan failed. Samarina¡­how do you know these things? She brushes a stray hair away from her face while eying the armor vests in the dimensional pack. One for everyone, and they¡¯re heavier grade than the ones they¡¯d worn a few days ago. Know much. Thoughts¡­muddled. See small pieces. Echoes. Memories of another life. History is a wave. Peak and trough. Know when it breaks. When it falls back. What history do you know? Know yours. See life ended. Life began. Something lost. Something gained. This surprises Angela, who is otherwise tapping the truck frame anxiously. Yet another foray into a battle, and they¡¯d come out relatively unscathed. Some people hadn¡¯t. That man next to her had almost died from a bolt through his torso. She¡¯d managed to scrub the blood off of her hands earlier, but the memory is still gnawing at her. And here they are, about to dive into another battle if things go badly. But she¡¯s not scared. Not this time. Joey and Kyle are counting on us. We can do this. A kindred spirit, she is? Samarina¡¯s response surprises her again. Stands against those who threaten her home. First to the fight. She is kinda awesome. I never met an alchemist, but Nick speaks highly of her. I still suspect they had something together for maybe five minutes, but that¡¯s just me, Angela thinks with a smirk. The library is coming into sight, and they slow down, with Nick stowing away his weapon. ¡°What¡¯s our plan, Levine? Got any drones on your spotter?¡± Nick asks again. ¡°Negative. We¡¯re clear for now. That said, I don¡¯t doubt the Talons will be scrambling to a Plan B if they aim to secure the teleportal hub. I just don¡¯t get it. They can¡¯t get in that way, they would need hundreds of override passes for an effective incursion, you can¡¯t just spoof that system.¡± ¡°Either way, we get in there and we grab the journals,¡± Drenar states calmly and to the point. ¡°We gear up once we¡¯re inside the entrance. We need to stagger our approach, so no one inside thinks we all came at once. Angela, you and Jackie come in with me. Nick, you come in later. Levine and Julia come in last.¡± ¡°So, you nerds are trying to save the world. Well, screw it, not like I planned on living four thousand years, anyway,¡± Jackie sighs. ¡°If I help you with this, are we even?¡± ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re even. But let me be clear¨Cwe all pull our weight, and we protect each other, and those who the Talons try to hurt. We are not heroes, we¡¯re just a bunch of misfits in the wrong place at the wrong time.¡± Angela would disagree with him, but Jackie just snorts. ¡°Spoken like someone who has a heroism complex.¡± ¡°Yeah, not really. It would have been fun to have my Awakening before people started shooting at me,¡± he retorts. ¡°You are such a waste of a dragon, Drenar,¡± Jackie sighs. ¡°You could have just spent your life sitting back and let the Talons pick apart the Conclave, because they do deserve a lot of bad things happening to them.¡± ¡°Oh, this again? How bad could they possibly be?¡± he demands. ¡°They make Kelly¡¯s mom take drugs. It makes her weak. So she isn¡¯t a threat. Or, that¡¯s what I heard. And that isn¡¯t the worst thing I¡¯ve heard,¡± Jackie says, and tries to shrink into her jacket. She doesn¡¯t sound like she¡¯s lying, either. ¡°Alright, you know what, let¡¯s have this debate after I go crash course another suicide mission. I would love to hear more about this dystopian mage society that everyone lied to me about even existing. Including my mother.¡± He slams the door when he gets out, and Angela sighs. ¡°Angela¡­is he going to be¡­¡± Nick trails off. ¡°He¡¯s fine. You realize we just watched some armored bastard crush someone''s neck on live television,¡± Angela reminds him. ¡°That was¡­awful to watch.¡± ¡°If we ever run into that armored fiend, run. I¡¯m not even kidding, Angie,¡± Nick says stoically as she hops out of the vehicle, and grabs the pack with the armory kit. ¡°There are true monsters in this world, and Davos is one of them. SAF has spent years trying to take that man out, and I won¡¯t mention aloud what I heard he¡¯s done before.¡± ¡°Sounds like Matilda needs to get a workout.¡± Nick nods at the suggestion. ¡°You know what? The name has grown on me. I guess Julia does have quite a few nice ideas.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 82: Nine, Ten, Start The Fight Again! A few minutes later, Angela and the others are on the second floor, where the fireplace is, and Angela taps at the wall with a silvery puff. Not a single spark of arcane barrier is left, and there is now a slight seam in the brickwork. ¡°Very good enchantment work. Never would have seen that without the goggles that allow you to spot mana currents,¡± Levine muses. He stoops down to get into the fireplace and pushes open the entryway, and there''s a grinding of dust and stone. Along with a dusting of soot that drifts down onto his hair, and he shakes his head in annoyance. The fireplace does work, Angela notes silently. He takes a step back. ¡°Well, it¡¯s one giant drop. Can¡¯t see the bottom.¡± ¡°Are¡­bottomless pits a thing we need to be concerned with?¡± James asks and continues to glare at Jackie. ¡°Also, is anyone going to explain why the female Jonaleth clone is here?¡± Angela winces. No one had told James a thing, and Evan tried to punch her in the library before Drenar intervened. ¡°Change of plans. We need her, and she helped protect people at the Promenade.¡± ¡°Or, you could say we''re just keeping her close, so she can''t wander off to rat us out,¡± James growls. She sighs at her brother''s barbed remark. ¡°Don''t give me that. I''m not hiding it, Jackie. I don''t trust you.¡± ¡°Hey, before you nerds threw a wrench in the works, everything was fine! Now I''ve got people shooting at me!¡± Julia gives her a clap on the shoulder. ¡°Dearie, you get used to it. But seriously, turn on us, and I''ll fry¨C¡± ¡°Julia, enough. You want to keep her on our side, I suggest you be a little nicer,¡± Drenar interjects. He peers down at the opening, and Angela can see the ladder with a safety cage just by his feet. ¡°Jackie, just know this could be perilous. Aside from saving your own skin, do you have a reason to stick around?¡± She pauses for a moment. The reluctance of her answer gives Angela more reason to put weight on her words. ¡°Remari. My sister. I don''t want bad things happening to her. My mom''s broke as hell, and my dad spends his days drinking. It''s a real spectacle over at the Carriage house,¡± she responds with a forced smile. ¡°Then focus on that. The Talons don''t care who they hurt. To them, everyone is fair game.¡± ¡°Bro, seriously, she mauled me¨C¡± Evan starts to say, but Drenar cuts him off. ¡°Yes, I get it. But shitty scenarios seem to be all the rage lately, Evan. We just walked out of a firefight that we didn''t plan for, and we saved the garrison by dumb luck. The Talons were expecting minimal resistance, and not three pissed-off dragons. They won''t make that mistake again.¡± Drenar looks at Jackie with determination. ¡°Evan, you''re staying with her, topside.¡± ¡°What the hell, Drenar? Are you serious?!¡± ¡°Oh, you can''t be serious!¡± Jackie hisses. Angela is tempted to slap her across the face but holds firm. ¡°It''s either that, or we bring you into a potential battle neither of you are prepared for. Levine, assessment?¡± Drenar asks with emphasis. ¡°Ironically, I believe that their distrust will serve to anchor them. Evan, I''m setting up an arcanlink beacon. It will extend the range of the links, get back to Nick''s house, if we ring the panic button, that''s your moment to call in the cavalry,¡± Levine instructs before sticking a small antenna connected to a flat, silver device onto the brickwork of the backside of the fireplace, away from prying eyes. ¡°Evan, listen carefully. You all know the stakes. If we ring the panic bell¨C¡± ¡°Drenar, come home alive. Bring everyone home alive.¡± He gives his brother a tight hug before gently letting go, and Angela is left wondering if they¡¯re going to their deaths. She subtly shakes her head, at her intrusive thought. They could do this. They¡¯d done truly difficult things already. They had to do this. For the sake of so many others. ¡°I''ll go first.¡± She peers down the chimney and sees a faint, glimmering light. She winces. ¡°Is this¡­bigger than the envelope would suggest?¡± ¡°Light folded space. It¡¯s a permanent enchantment, it''s baked into the brickwork. Interesting,¡± Levine murmurs. Angela lowers down the ladder and notes the safety cage around the ladder. There are larger spaced railings where one could relax, but it¡¯s recessed into the side¨Cthe chimney seems to be almost three or four meters in diameter. At least mages had some safety standards. She focuses on climbing down, with Drenar right above her. ¡°This seems¡­familiar,¡± he mutters. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Dunno. Just does. I think there''s a platform down there. Levine, I think there''s a lift or elevator platform at the bottom. Is there a switch by you?¡± he shouts upwards. ¡°Don''t see one. Perhaps this is designed as a service area, or emergency escape,¡± he replies. Angela keeps climbing down, and the dim LED lights give some illumination but are widely spaced. It triggers her creativity, and she starts humming. Drenar picks up on it and starts singing. ¡°What a thrill¡­¡± ¡°With darkness and silence, through the night¡­¡± ¡°What a thriillll¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m searching, and I¡¯ll melt into you¡­¡± She can''t help but grin when Drenar leans into making it a duet. He''s okay at singing, but it''s her voice that carries the tune. She hears lamentations from her brother, and cheers from Julia up above. Each step down brings them closer to true unknowns. ¡°I''m stiiill in a dreeeam, Snake eater,¡± Julia joins in a moment later, and this pushes her brother over the edge. ¡°Are you three dorks singing Snake Eater, while we''re climbing to our inevitable teenager deaths?!¡± James shouts down. Everyone starts singing louder. She almost bursts out laughing when Nick joins in a second later, much to her delight. ¡°I give my life¡­not for honor, but for yoooooouu¡­¡± ¡°At least you sing better than Val! That psycho carries a decent tune, but there¡¯s something next-level creepy about her,¡± James growls. He''s given up protesting, and at this moment of calm, she has a notion it might be the last bit of it they''re going to have for a while. They''re almost at the bottom, and she can make out a console just below them. This lift could carry ten people, maybe twenty, tightly packed. The warped space is still playing havoc with her visual sense, but she''s mapped it out mentally. She touches down and takes a deep breath before grabbing Nick''s bag off her shoulders. There''s a metal utility door just off to the side, dimly lit and rust spotted. Everyone makes their way down, and Drenar speaks into the arcanlink once he''s clear of the ladder. ¡°Evan¡­wish us luck. And Jackie¡­thank you. I know it couldn''t have been easy to make the choice you did,¡± he says after contemplating his words. ¡°You nerds are gonna be the death of me, and not at the hands of the Talons,¡± Jackie says in resignation. ¡°We¡¯ll lock up here, hope the librarian is still buried in her coursework.¡± ¡°Yeah man, seriously don¡¯t die down there? Because If I have to bury another family member¡­I don¡¯t know what I¡¯ll do,¡± Evan says distantly. He sounds choked up, even despite knowing his brother has a will of steely determination. ¡°Don¡¯t die on a hill you know you can¡¯t hold.¡± ¡°You have my word, Evan. We¡¯ll make it home.¡± He lets go of the arcanlink and nods to the gathered team. ¡°Nick, it¡¯s party time.¡± Everyone gets geared up in the heavier armor sets, and though it¡¯s a little more cumbersome, Angela notes the fabric outer shell and metal breastplate don¡¯t restrict her movement. She does spot a shiny short sword in the casing that she takes out, and motions to Nick. He takes her cue. ¡°Mage barriers are vulnerable to close-up attacks¨Cmomentum has a major impact on the ability to pierce them. Let¡¯s hope that we don¡¯t have to use them.¡± She belts it to her back for safekeeping. ¡°Knowing our luck? Val¡¯s men are already lining up for the attack,¡± Drenar states before gearing up with his dagger on his thigh, along with that silvery broadsword and an autobow, and some of those resin grenades. Julia takes a heavier autobow variant, and Levine grabs a rather odd choice piece. A SCAR-H marksman rifle, and he places one of several magazines into the webbing of his armor vest. He loads the weapon, and pulls back the charging handle to chamber the first round in a crisp mechanical sound. ¡°We have no idea what to expect, so we go in prepared. Nick, I¡¯m using HV rounds. That¡¯ll pierce through armor inserts, got your autobow set?¡± Nick nods at his ¡®senior¡¯ officer. ¡°Barrier-piercing plasma rounds. Julia can transmit a charge and it holds in the mage steel,¡± he replies warmly. ¡°Just keep in mind, if it¡¯s all clear, we need to make sure the staff of Asqualia recognizes us as friendly. So do not wave these around.¡± he gives more than a wary glance at James, who grunts. ¡°Teens with weapons. What could go wrong?¡± he asks rhetorically. He pulls back the bow string gently, but doesn¡¯t engage the latch, and examines the simple red dot sight on top. ¡°You realize if we pull this off, and piss off Crosomer, Valosterla, and King? They¡¯ll be gunning for us until the end of time. This is a point of no return.¡± ¡°We were already there, James,¡± Angela says without a hint of tension in her voice. ¡°The writing was on the wall the second we Awakened. I couldn¡¯t possibly stand to the side and stay safe when so many others are threatened by what they¡¯re doing. We have the power to enact change for the better, and we already have. So let''s continue to do so.¡± Drenar and Julia nod in unison, and she smiles politely. ¡°You two aren¡¯t the only ones who can do little speeches. Shall we?¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Let¡¯s go cancel Val¡¯s party,¡± Drenar states firmly before hitting the latch on the heavy door and pushing it open, keeping the autobow pointed up ahead. The room beyond overwhelms her sense of imagination when they enter the large hallway that opens up to a natural cave, lit intermittently by navigation lights But they don¡¯t need the lights for long when they see the large, craggy chamber illuminated with crystals that glow blue in the darkness, and she lets out a low whistle. ¡°This¡­the peril is almost worth the price of admission of this.¡± The cavern continues for some distance, dwarfing them in size¨Cthey must have climbed down a few hundred meters by her guess, because the air is chilly and damp¡­but the spectacle she sees fills her with warmth. Small bats flitter by, encrusted with tiny crystals of various iridescent shades. A lizard with crystals encrusted in its scales looks at them lazily from some little alcove, and spotty green moss and lichen are draped throughout the entire expanse, and occasionally hang down from little outcroppings. She can hear a faint air current, somewhere. There¡¯s also an opening to a natural cave somewhere in the darkness, a faint hit of late afternoon, maybe? The lizard she saw a second ago peers at them lazily with glowing yellow eyes, then skitters into the dark. Tree-like growths that look like a conifer, but with veins of glowing blue light, dot the ancient chamber. She sees another faint glimmer of light, somewhere far above. She isn¡¯t the only one to take in this small wonder, and Drenar¡¯s grim look melts away for a few precious minutes. Julia stands closely by him, hand gently on his shoulder. ¡°Remember how I asked you how I¡¯d want you right by me in that magical realm? Where we''d be fighting megacorporations and saving the world? Well, I think we got our wish, Drenar.¡± ¡°Yeah, except for one variance, you weren¡¯t a magical fox girl, after all,¡± he chuckles. Seeing them acting like this--acting whole again...it''s a small but critical moment for Angela, knowing they would always have each other''s backs, no matter what. ¡°You two dorks are likely some demigods, warping my reality to suit your nerdy trends. I¡¯m putting it on my bingo card,¡± James sighs and keeps his weapon aimed down and away. But they¡¯re not here as tourists. They have a job to do. The soft carpeted moss and blue grass adorns the cavern floor, and it slopes downward, deeper into the earth. There¡¯s a trickle of water from somewhere, but in the distance, she can hear water running. A large volume of it, possibly at high speed. Her hearing is notably better than it used to be, as is her eyesight. And the smell of that alien vegetation¡­it smells of pine and cedar. ¡°Natural cave, entrance somewhere. I¡¯ll set up a sensor, but we don¡¯t have time to explore it.¡± Levine sets down a small sensor that aims down a narrow pathway where there may be a hint of daylight, burning orange as the day reaches its conclusion. The clouds must have finally burnt out after the rain. ¡°Nick, that passage down there¨Clooks like more safety lights.¡± ¡°I see it.¡± He''s using that silvery illuminated sight on the rail of his autobow, and peers forward while taking the lead. He¡¯s tense, as he should be. There is no telling what they could run into. ¡°No sensors. Just another one of those steel-clad doors. This place hasn¡¯t seen service in a long time. Decades, maybe. Not even a spot of foot traffic. We¡¯re the first to come through here in a while.¡± ¡°So that means they couldn¡¯t have come this way,¡± Drenar concludes. He¡¯s anxious, too, in the face of true unknowns. ¡°Time to unpack the golem. Send a signal. I think based on our orientation we¡¯re under the lake by now, below the bedrock. We have to be getting close.¡± The pathway narrows down, and Angela can see another one of those hatchway doors. Someone had put them here with deliberate design, and when she turns the handle, it offers only the grinding of rust before giving way, and she eases it open, autobow pointed for threats. None are present, just another one of those strange lizards with glowing yellow eyes that yawns lazily before skittering into a crevice in a scramble of soft-clawed feet. More of the mana crystals adorn the wall, and she swears she can hear them¡­humming. Brimming with energy. The urge to touch one on the cavern walls is almost overwhelming. Maybe just to feel that slight vibration that permeates all around her¨C Julia taps her shoulder when she reaches for the tip of one crystal. ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s safe?¡± she asks, and looks to Levine for input. He nods. ¡°For us, mana crystals give off a slight bit of energy, but not like radiation. Aetherial energy. Mages have no issues being around them, not at these concentrations. But for non-mages who don¡¯t have mana in their body, it can cause harm over time. Especially in higher concentrations. It¡¯s like mana burn, it causes damage to the soft tissues. Too much exposure, and it can lead to permanent damage to the body. Even death, in severe cases.¡± ¡°So if they magically accelerate the magical biozones, and they encroach on populated areas¡­¡± Julia trails off and her face twists into anger. ¡°If we ever see Crosomer again, we need to make it clear to him that this is going to end badly for everyone in the world. Not just the Conclave.¡± Angela pulls away from the crystal. I hear her calling¡­pleading¡­she¡¯s trapped¡­ What?! Angela¡¯s focus is broken when her brother starts speaking after a few seconds. ¡°Or we should just shoot him,¡± James says dryly. ¡°Save ourselves the head-scratching of talking the monsters down. Because that never works,¡± he directs to Drenar. ¡°Keep it down. I hear running water,¡± Angela interjects and takes the lead, along with Nick. her danger sense is still dead calm, so that¡¯s a good sign so far. She doesn¡¯t quite know how it works, but right before the Talons launched their attack at the promenade, she felt her body flood with adrenaline, and time slowed down. It had been preceded by an alarm bell reverberating through her nerves. Almost like the humming of these crystals, strangely. But here, it¡¯s tranquil. There is no threat. Yet. Sam¡­who is trapped? Gaia¡­locked away¡­the followers say she died¡­but she is just trapped¡­I feel this. There is an undercurrent of sorrow in Samarina¡¯s words, and she can feel the clench of that feeling in her own heart, too. She wants to inquire more, but Nick interrupts the thought train. ¡°Look at that door. It¡¯s made of solid stone, and there¡¯s a console,¡± Nick states and points out the far end of the branching corridor. They pick up the pace, and they¡¯re about a hundred meters from the door when the ground trembles. There¡¯s a thunderous booming sound, sudden and sharp, that sounds distant. ¡°Oh hell, that couldn¡¯t have been good. Let¡¯s move!¡± Drenar barks. Now it''s onto the scramble as they dash to the door, and Nick examines the console. He runs his finger across the display of small arcane runes projected into the air. ¡°Alright¡­looks like some kind of safety is engaged. Levine, this might need a password." ¡°It says ¡®speak friend, and enter,¡± Levine interjects. ¡°It¡¯s written in old draconic. Interesting choice. Not exactly common knowledge these days, either. Wonder if it¡¯s a riddle.¡± ¡°Joey knows a little,¡± Nick offers. ¡°Speaking of, get that golem running, right now,¡± Drenar interjects. Nick pulls it out of his pack, and quickly replaces that brass wound crystal battery into the heart of the device. It lights up, but it¡¯s not animated when he sets it down. ¡°Joey, Kyle, we¡¯re near you guys, we¡¯re making our way underground to Asqualia. If you guys can respond, you need to do so right now. The Talons launched a preliminary attack on multiple teleportal hubs. Call us as soon as you get this.¡± Silence is his answer. Nick taps the grip of his autobow, and looks worried. ¡°Joey, c¡¯mon, I hope that whatever that sound was earlier, didn¡¯t involve you guys,¡± he says with faltered words. ¡°Decrypting,¡± Levine states, while Drenar and Julia eyeball the door, keeping weapons trained on it. ¡°Need a minute. I¡¯m looking up the translation. It is a riddle, the draconic word for ''friend''. I swear, this is something Zameren would do, and I just realized something stupid. The library name is an anagram of his real name.¡± Julia titters at that. ¡°You mages have no common sense, do you?! An anagram?! That is the stupidest operational security of all time!¡± ¡°Is that why the place was renamed about ten years ago?¡± Nick sighs. ¡°That is so stupid, Julia¡¯s right.¡± A few tense minutes go by while Levine reads through a small book of his. ¡°Almost got it. Hang on. It¡¯s not just a password, it¡¯s a passphrase. I think.¡± ¡°Times¡¯ ticking,'''' Drenar states. He¡¯s refused to keep his focus off the door. ¡°C¡¯mon Joey and Kyle, we¡¯re almost there.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got it! Bring the little golem and let¡¯s go!¡± Levine barks as he taps a number of the runes in a slow pattern. They flash green in the air, dissipate, and the stone door slowly grinds away¨Crock creeping upwards and melting away to reveal an opening, and a cavern on the other side! Angela focuses her attention on the overwhelming sound of water nearby, and the tunnel slopes upwards. They move at a hustled pace, and she¡¯s checking her corners, looking for signs of¡­anything. A smell of something acrid catches her attention. Something is burning. They might be too late. What they don¡¯t expect is a large creature to dart out of one of the branching paths, and she looks at the three-meter tall bird with blue iridescent feathers and little claws on its half-formed wings. It squeaks with a parrot-like beak of a ruby tone and sharp blue eyes, with an elegant feather crest of iridescent red and purple, and paws the ground with massive black talons. It¡¯s a raptor of some kind, and it eyes them warily. ¡°Nick, is this thing hostile?¡± Drenar states warily. ¡°No one fire. Not yet.¡± ¡°Feralaz Draconis. She¡¯s a big one, too¡­and do I spy with my dragon eyes a lake hovering overhead?¡± he asks casually while going loose with his posture. Angela does the same, and the bird peers at them and tilts its head. Almost as if it recognized what they were doing. Drenar also lowers his posture, and everyone else follows suit. ¡°Focus on that later. Nick, it has an RFID collar on its leg. It''s being tracked,¡± Drenar points out observantly. ¡°We must be close, Asqualia is a research center, which would suggest they also study wildlife!¡± ¡°Oh, my Fates. I want it. It is so fluffy and cuuuute!¡± Julia practically squeals. The raptor bird chirps lightly, and lowers its elongated neck. ¡°You are so adorable, you¡¯d fit right in with the rest of us dragons!¡± ¡°Great. Julia, the monster tamer. I¡¯m gonna be out of a job,¡± Nick sighs. ¡°It eats fruits and insects, so we aren¡¯t on the menu. But it can bite pretty hard, so watch it, and those talons will disembowel you.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s cool?¡± James asks while trying not to sound tense. ¡°James, we all need to be cool like little fonzies,¡± Angela says with barely a breath in her voice. ¡°You did not just paraphrase Pulp Fiction¨Coh hell. Why¡¯s it getting closer?¡± James asks with a slight anxiety in his tone. The bird has lowered its head to examine him, and his backpack¨Cthat stupid backpack she told him to leave behind, with its eight million straps. ¡°James, do you have any citrus or anything sweet in your bag?¡± Nick asks as he tries to edge closer to him. But the Feralaz is in the way now. ¡°Uh¡­I packed a couple of oranges?¡± ¡°James, very slowly, open your pack and give them to this thing. They love citrus,¡± Nick states, and tries to edge around past the taloned feet. James does so, but as soon as he gets the zipper open, the bird sees the prized little orbs and dives in, and past all those straps. When it pulls back with its tasty treat, James comes along with it. The bird is strong enough to lift him with it, and then the beak gets tangled in the webbing amidst its cheery warble, which gives way to a panicked shrill. It backpedals and nearly kicks Julia with a clawed foot before bolting out into the large expanse where, indeed, a lake bottom is hovering over their head. ¡°Aaaah! I¡¯m about to be eaten like bad comic relief!¡± James screams as he¡¯s bounced around and everyone dashes to pursue. Drenar decides that¡¯s not dangerous enough and leaps onto the back of the bird in about the craziest thing she¡¯s seen him do all week! And that¡¯s after he yeeted the deadliest dragon of the realms into a crash landing in a forest. She dashes off after them, shouting at both of them to stop being idiots and cut the straps! This day is just not going to plan in any way, shape, or form. Vol. 2, Ch. 83: Vixens and Verbena Blend, Part One Several hours before the teens with attitude crash the party¡­ The night went by with a somewhat more subdued ending than Joey had been expecting, and they spent it preparing for an outcome they hoped wouldn¡¯t come to pass: a war with the Talons. Eventually, exhaustion took its toll, and Kyle insisted they all get some rest for at least a few hours. She resisted at first but finally agreed to rest. It wasn¡¯t welcoming sleep, either. All she could think about was that strange feeling she¡¯d seen Drenar before she¡¯d ever seen him in the yearbook, and Julia she knew she¡¯d seen before. But she couldn¡¯t remember where! She always remembered things like this! Sleep did take hold at some point, and after rushing through the morning preparation, the first thing they¡¯d done was to go into the botany lab and put a dangerous Mandroga plant out of commission. Kyle barely avoided getting a leg chomped on by the dangerous specimen. After much swearing and brushing himself off, they¡¯d shoved the plant into a steel cage at the far end of the lab, locked it, and left that problem to be dealt with later. Joey scoured every inch of the floor and vent and found the dust trail disturbed. But there¡¯s no other evidence. She finds more spilled mana primer in the area, and it¡¯s slightly fresher¨Ca few hours later than the first spill. They must have repacked the mana in the botany wing, to be moved elsewhere. With optic camo, there are several areas they could access without a dedicated ID badge. ¡°C¡¯mon, why are we sleuthing this still?¡± Kyle protests after a short period. ¡°We need to come up with a proactive measure. We could waste hours, or even days trying to find this guy.¡± ¡°We have a list of suspects, and we¡¯ve narrowed it down,¡± Joey insists with measured patience. Her chemical survey is giving odd readings on the latest sample. Almost like a contaminant. She pulls open her field guide and looks for the cross-reaction. It takes but a moment, and she narrows her eyes at the surprising answer. ¡°Murkvine.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying I need to chill out? Yeah, no thanks, my college days are behind me,¡± Kyle states before crossing his arms. ¡°No, not that. He stepped in murkvine. Raw, living murkvine, there¡¯s an alchemical trace that is normally not present in the processed stuff. You know, the refined stuff that is all the rage with the rich, mighty¡­and chemically inebriated crowd,¡± she adds with a sarcastic drawl. ¡°So, he¡¯s a dope fiend?¡± Kyle poses, then snaps his fingers. ¡°Or, maybe he¡¯s been through the botanical garden outside. There¡¯s no murkvine in this lab, so he must have picked it up nearby!¡± ¡°How do you know exactly where it is, anyway?¡± Joey presses. Kyle purses his lips and is¡­stroking his beard, again. She¡¯s going to hate the answer he gives. ¡°A¡­friend of mine partakes on a recreational level,¡± he says after a few seconds and fidgets with his watch. Joey sighs and rolls her eyes. ¡°You know that¡¯ll get you fired, Kyle, if you¡¯re harvesting this stuff for less than dubious means.¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not for me, and he¡¯s got a rare medical condition¨Csuper early onset arthritis. You might be the alchemical prodigy, but I can still post-process a few reagents for practical use, and not burn down the lab in the process.¡± She sees red when he mentions this, and takes a menacing step towards him. This is a moment of sheer recklessness she is not going to let go. "Kyle, let me be clear. My lab is like a temple to me. It is immaculate. It is sacred to me. And you just told me, without thinking of consequences, that you¡¯ve been using my side of the lab to make magical dope?!¡± She¡¯s probably more forceful than she should be, but this has been a rough week thus far. Kyle was probably hoping that her piercing lavender eyes would burn a hole through his skull before she finished laying into him. ¡°If we live through this, I¡¯m gonna kill you, Kyle. Painfully. In ways that only I have intimate knowledge of. You do not mess with my lab!¡± she practically screams. ¡°Hey, I used my side of the lab. And I thoroughly cleaned every bit of it. Look, we¡¯re burning daylight here, if you think this is a lead worth pursuing, then we should do it right now.¡± Kyle¡¯s face twists into anxiety. ¡°Are we sure this is the guy, and not some other random technician?¡± Joey points at the growling murder plant locked away, trying to bite at the steel bars and whimpering when it proves too hard to bite into. ¡°Name some other bold fool who would want to tangle with the Mandroga!¡± Kyle raises a hand and tries to utter something short-sighted, then thinks better of it. ¡°Point taken.¡± They practically jog to the outside of Asqualia, and the distorted sunlight from the lake hovering above them is high above. It¡¯s about late morning now. Kyle directs her to the botanical garden that had been set up for alchemical harvests, with fences to keep away the local wildlife. It''s such a surreal picture, with the sun dancing under the waves of the lake like some kind of optical illusion, and there¡¯s a slight blue hue to everything around them. Long rolling green grass blankets the area, before terminating at the bedrock of the lake somewhere above, and the caverns to the far side of the area. Several waterfalls ¡®loop¡¯ water descending from the lake, then pump it back upwards, for a very impressive visual flair. Murmions, or small, birdlike cows, scatter away in their presence. It¡¯s just as well, they¡¯re rude little critters. They have a habit of storing rocks in a gizzard pouch, regurgitating them, and spitting the rocks at maximum velocity. It¡¯s quite painful. She hadn¡¯t hesitated to douse the offender in alchemical foam to immobilize it before taking some feathers for samples one previous time. Kyle opens the padlock to the gated area, pushes it open, and guides her through the rows. She pulls Kyle¡¯s arm when she sees relatively fresh footprints in the dirt path. ¡°Kyle, what shoe size do you wear?¡± ¡°Size eight?¡± She looks at the prints and measures them, before taking a photo. There are two sets of footprints right here. Kyle points to a murkvine, which is a nasty, noxious-smelling tangle of vines with thorns in them. Of course, when properly processed, they could be used to extract a powerful painkiller, or a mild hallucinogenic compound, or ¡®Vine¡¯ as most people called it, that could be used for a high. ¡°Yeah, look. Someone crushed one of the vines underfoot,¡± he points out. She¡¯s already in motion. She measures the shoe size. It¡¯s a moderate indentation, about size ten, and from a work boot. She compares it to the work boots she¡¯d examined in storage that the maintenance workers wore. The tread pattern is almost identical, accounting for the variability of foot pressure. ¡°Yep, the maintenance guy was here alright. But why did he come here?¡± she ponders aloud. She glances around, is there anything around here that would prove useful to them? None of these plants had any uses in anything truly dangerous like incendiary potential, or poisons. Most of them are basic reagents for regen potions, and other assistive potions used to make someone slightly faster or purge toxins. Then again, with some fertilizer, fuel, and a few other household ingredients, they could build a bomb out here. There¡¯s also pentane magicite, ezine spartifor, pyromethanine¨Cand she shudders because getting a Valencian to cough that stuff up is beyond gross¨Cand there are plenty of ways to build bombs out here. She winces¨Cwhy does she have so many detonator chemicals memorized? Great. My inner arsonist wants out. It¡¯s a rather silly thought that she immediately dismisses. Her sweeping gaze finally latches onto something. She points to an old storage shed that¡¯s adjacent to the perimeter wall of stone. ¡°Yeah, think we should take a look?¡± Kyle proposes, and she affirms it with a sharp tip of her chin. They walk over, and see that it¡¯s padlocked. The key does not match the one they have for the botany garden. ¡°Hmm. I thought they used the same key,¡± he mutters. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°C¡¯mon, this is a basic lock Kyle! Use your skills!¡± She¡¯s not going to wait around, and pulls out a small bottle and very carefully adds a nozzle to the top before breaking the seal. ¡°You know what, never mind. I¡¯m not going to waste time waiting.¡± she sprays the U-shaped hoop, and the metal starts crackling and sizzling. Kyle takes a few cautious steps back, looking nervous. ¡°You brought acid? Acid that chews through a one-inch padlock like it¡¯s butter?¡± He looks at her warily. ¡°Yeah. It was either that, or I was going to watch you try to smack your hammer against the lock fruitlessly.¡± He pouts at her foxlike grin. The metal looks thoroughly worn away, and she hits the lock with a shovel lying nearby. The hoop shackle instantly breaks and falls to the ground, and she swings the latch open. ¡°Well, you coming?¡± she asks with confidence. ¡°You are so remarkably sexy when you¡¯re solving problems,¡± he replies dreamily. ¡°Kyle? I¡¯m still holding a bottle of acid that can melt a hole through all my worldly problems,¡± she suggests with vitriol. His happy moment instantly vaporizes. ¡°Oh, this is why we broke up,¡± he replies sadly before heading inside and flicking on a light switch in the shed. It¡¯s stuffed full of fairly mundane gardening equipment, and extra bags of fertilizer, shears, shovels, rakes, and planters filled with items no one had bothered to sort and turned into a junk drawer. ¡°No, you know why we broke up.¡± Joey doesn¡¯t even want to bother discussing this right now and tries to kill the conversation. ¡°Let¡¯s focus on finding something in here that doesn¡¯t match.¡± She pulls open a series of drawers at a workbench, without much success. Dirty gloves, twine for staking vines, and a few loose bolts, for some reason. ¡°I don¡¯t. You just broke it off with me after you had an anxiety attack.¡± ¡°I¡­had a moment of realization,¡± she said distantly. He looks incensed at this deflection. ¡°No, you watched your best friend get doused in alchemical silver, she involuntarily transformed into her wargen form, and it was all captured on film by a bunch of bastards who were laughing and humiliating her. She quit school out of utter humiliation, and because of threats from other students. Those instigators all walked off without so much as a disciplinary hearing.¡± She grits her teeth when she looks up from her search, and he¡¯s got his serious face on. ¡°You were worried you were next. And you were worried what they¡¯d do to me if they knew we were a couple.¡± ¡°No one knew¨C¡± ¡°People had their suspicions, Joey. I mean you do a fantastic job being a vanilla human¨CI mean um, you are a fantastic person," he adds as she scoffs. "But, your athletics made a few people scratch their heads. Normal humans can''t jump two meters high. Plus I think your psionics start imprinting on people the more you listen in--I can almost feel it when you do it." "Missing the point, Kyle," she says irritably. "You completely freaked out when those same miserable cretins took it to the next level and put out a giant headline in the school paper labeled ¡®monster in our midst¡¯. Avani couldn¡¯t bear to attend a school filled with people who hated her for what she was.¡± He isn¡¯t letting this go, and it pisses her off. ¡°Can you just¡­stop? I don¡¯t want to talk about this now, we¡¯ve got bigger things to do than dwell on the past, Kyle.¡± ¡°No, that''s the problem. We never resolved it. I know you think you¡¯re a genius who can solve any problem, and you absolutely can. But you never asked me what my thoughts on the matter were." He gestures to her. "Look, Joey, you might not realize it because you''re preoccupied with perception, or committed to your work, but you''re a knockout hit by any measure. You¡¯re amazing at what you do, and despite your outward personality of a slightly OCD madwoman who only keeps the bare minimum of friends, you''ve got a lot more depth to yourself than most people know, and appreciate.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s that, exactly?¡± He¡¯s going on about this, and she¡¯s the one trying to figure out what these saboteurs are up to! He has zero priority sense! ¡°You''re the first Kitsune to probably ever graduate at the top of her class in London. You''re kind, you''re dependable, and while I get you fear the world because people suck and don''t like Kitsune for any number of stupid or bigoted reasons, you keep pressing on. Maybe you and I couldn''t make it work, but I¡¯d tip my hat to the prospective guy of the future who can keep up with you. I mean seriously, what were they going to do, bully me around? They already did that. I¡¯d have taken it¨C¡± That¡¯s it. She¡¯s done listening to this. He needs to focus, now. And a harsh dose of her reality should do it this time. ¡°Kyle, you are so naive!¡± she shouts. ¡°You think it would have stopped with that? Do you think they¡¯d just leave us alone if they ever found out what I was? No. It would have gotten worse. So much worse. People already think it''s a free license to harass, intimidate, bully, or just murder a Kitsune, because hey, we''re subhuman, right?¡± ¡°Joey, that¡¯s not what I¨C¡± No, it¡¯s not what he meant, but she needs to vent like she hasn¡¯t been able to in years. ¡°Do you just not get why I have to hide? We will always be sub-tier! It''s been the story for four thousand years of history, nothing has changed! We¡¯re still just viewed as mind thieves and vermin!¡± She¡¯s just shy of tears, and it¡¯s taking her all to not let him see that. Maybe she¡¯s trying to get him to focus too hard, and now it¡¯s backfiring because she¡¯s hated how the Conclave did nothing for her people. ¡°Yeah Kyle, I didn¡¯t want that for you, so I¡¯m sorry for thinking about your well-being, you damn fool.¡± ¡°Was that the reason?¡± he asks softly, his hands limply going by his side. ¡°Was that the only reason? Do you think it¡¯s so impossible to change people¡¯s perceptions? Do you think this wellspring of hatred is going to exist forever, and that the Conclave will just continue to turn a blind eye to the underserved magical species in perpetuity? It won¡¯t. But it won¡¯t go away, unless people fight against it, and prove them wrong about all those stigmas and lies." ¡°You are such a fool, Kyle,¡± she said bitterly. ¡°You know what it¡¯s like, worrying about the day when everyone finds out what I am? It¡¯s like a pending execution. People will pick apart my every accomplishment, thinking I must have bewitched people or picked through their mind like it was a display case of the finest bits of knowledge to be stolen. There¡¯s no fighting against that perception. The best I can do is make my mark, and then leave a note when I¡¯m dead and buried that hey, surprise, I was never human!¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s foolish. You can only change the narrative when you¡¯re alive and in the moment, Josephine. And you aren¡¯t alone. You don¡¯t have to be alone all the time.¡± ¡°You know, that''s another thing. You bring all this up now, right when we¡¯re in the middle of a crisis, like you couldn¡¯t have waited a couple of days!¡± she shoots back angrily. ¡°Who¡¯s going to have my back, you?¡± ¡°Not just me. It could be a lot of other people, Joey. and I mean that. But if this doesn¡¯t go well, there¡¯s a good chance that¨C¡± he starts to say it, but he hesitates. ¡°Look, all I¡¯m saying is, you need to start thinking beyond the next crisis. And I¡¯m really hoping Drenar, and Nick, and everyone else on that team of misfits comes through with a plan of their own. Because what we¡¯re up against potentially, you can¡¯t let fear control your future actions.¡± She hates that he was bringing this up now, and she¡¯s glaring at him like it¡¯s his fault they were in this mess. "I am thinking beyond the next crisis, Kyle. But you really suck at not leaving things be. We broke up because you were pushing me for something I was not ready for. And I get your intentions. I really do. But you just don''t take a hint when hard reality hits you in the face sometimes." She feels like she just scolded a puppy for peeing on the carpet, and his face droops. "So you''re just going to hide your whole life? Really? That''s the way you want to live? Well, that option sucks. You deserve far better than that." There''s an awkward silence between them for a few seconds, and she really wants to lay into him, but she also can see the logic behind his words. If this went badly¡­if the Talons broke in¡­a lot of people could get hurt, or killed. "Are you done?" she asks quietly. He nods, but that weariness is still draped on his face. "Got that out of your system?" "Yeah, I''m good. I''m not an unstoppable alchemist with willpower the strength of mage steel, Joey. I just needed to say that so that you know, you do have people you can rely on." She turns so that she can keep digging through this dirty, dingy shack, looking for clues that probably don''t exist. Damn you Kyle. You think I don''t want all of that? To just be free to be myself, and stop pretending to be something I''m not? She slams a drawer closed in frustration, and the drawer bounces back open, and hits her shin. "Ow, damn it!" She swore, leaned down, and rubbed the offended limb. Kyle just sighs and shakes his head. Well, that was a regrettable decision, she thinks acidly. Wait. What is that? Something catches her eye, there''s a slightly loose board just under the bench, and she can make out a faint light emanating from underneath. "Kyle, get me a pry bar, shovel, anything. There''s something here." He hands her the trench shovel they¡¯d left outside the door, and she gets the edge under the board, and pries up with little effort. Both of them peer in, and Kyle offers his flashlight. His reaction is quite muted. "Uh, Joey? Why is there a working arcanlink hidden under the floorboards of a dingy shack?" Vol. 2, Ch. 84: Vixens And Verbena Blend, Part Two This is a major find, Joey realizes in a moment of elation. The object he is referring to is much like a radio, but operated by the vibrations of mana crystals, and transmits that unique signal at long distances. It could also transmit a signal through some types of magical shielding and shroud enchantments. These are expensive, high-grade, and usually used by SAF or by rich clientele looking to send private messages with a high degree of encryption. They could even project holographic images of the people or nearby surroundings. They are not something people just leave lying around. "Don''t touch anything yet, Kyle." She takes several images on her phone, and makes sure to capture the device. It''s not the only thing in the hidden cache. Two canisters of mana primer are stashed inside, along with platinum coins, and what looks like a getaway bag filled with cash, supplies, and magical equipment for a small alchemy bench. There are also papers with some kind of written encryption. Her mind goes to one-time-use code pads, which in theory are nearly unbreakable. She takes images of the documents, too. She takes a tally of the money¨Cit''s useless to her in this pending crisis, but someone might care about it a lot more. "Kyle, there''s about three hundred grand in Euros here. And 50K worth of mage currency." "Joey, this is a bug-out bag of some pretty impressive contents." He gently unzips one pocket. There is a collection of passports in a plastic bag, tightly wrapped together, and he opens one and freezes. "Oh no." "Kyle? What is it?" He flips out the ID, and she recognizes the face, but not the name, and she gasps. "That''s Lavernius!" "And passports for his two kids and wife," Kyle adds grimly. "All fakes, and very good fakes if I didn''t know better. I think we''ve got our inside man, Joey." "So he''s working with King after all?" she speaks with a whisper, and Kyle keeps digging through the papers. "Was it for money? I''d hate him less if it was just for goddamn money." "Maybe he didn''t have a choice. He might have fallen in with a bad crowd when he was younger, and tried to bury his past, except they found him and called him out for one last request he couldn''t refuse. This right here, is his escape plan if things went bad. You don''t pack a bag like this for your whole family if you were just being greedy, you pack it as an option of last resort. This is the kind of bag you pack when you know your days are numbered.¡± She hates his reasoning, even if there''s a grain of truth. "There''s also a¡­well now, a one-time-use teleport pad," he adds after edging out the familiar folded metal plating. "Gonna guess this goes to some kind of fallback point or safe house." "Are we sure that''s what this is?" "Joey, this evidence is as obvious as you can get, there''s no reason to overthink this one, we have our man," Kyle says with confidence. "No Kyle, we''re still missing four cases of mana primer. Where are they?" She asks with dread. "Four cases mixed with fire elemental plasma could still level a chunk of the facility.¡± "That''s speculation. We don''t know what they''re being used for. But what do we do?" Kyle''s face looks like a nervous squirrel, twitchy and reflexive. "Not tip our hand yet," she states firmly. "We need to find him and trail him, find out what he''s doing. Can we track him with the observer golems?" "We could, but your psionics could pry the information right out of him¨C "No Kyle, it doesn''t work like that!" she protests. "I can read surface thoughts, that''s it, I don''t just dive in and read his mind!" "Okay, so, just tell him not to think of elephants, and vo¨ªla!" She scowls at him again. "But, what do we do with this stuff?" "Leave it. He has to come back here sometime for further instructions, I''ll bet." She looks at the arcanlink, and looks through the contacts and most recent communications. Unfortunately, it isn''t quite as adept as a modern cell phone. The contacts are...cryptic. Chessman. Probably King, though that isn''t much of a stretch either, she thinks while taking an image. Evil Lyn. Wait, like He-man? I wonder if that''s a reference to Valosterla. Let''s see, who else is on this. War Crime? What kind of a name is that? She shudders to think what you''d have to do to earn a nickname like that. There''s one more entry, one that confuses her. I am not a monster? There is something subtly telling in that last contact. She snaps her fingers and Kyle kneels to look at the display. "That''s it? Four names?" he whispers. "I don''t like the sound of that last one." She thinks for a minute. There are still two distinct boot prints. What was Lavernius doing? Chatting with someone? Trying to get the other saboteur to get in line and keep the quiet plan? She can''t conjecture beyond the evidence in front of her. Not yet. They could have even been at different times, too. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°That last one. Why would he write that?¡± Kyle suggests. Guilt, maybe? She doesn¡¯t know enough about Lavernius to make any kind of guess. ¡°Guess we¡¯ll find out. Quick, cover this up. We need to find Lavernius. If we can convince him that Val¡¯s man is going to open a way to wholesale slaughter, maybe¡­maybe we can try to convince him?¡± ¡°Joey. Words are done now.¡± His gaze drifts to her alchemical pack. Or more likely, what''s inside it. ¡°This guy is in the end game. Words aren''t going to work this time.¡± She hopes that he''s wrong. They carefully put everything back, and Joey gently puts the floorboard into position. She turns to close the door, and freezes in horror. They''d melted the lock. And they don''t have a spare one. When Lavernius gets back, he''ll know that he''s compromised. And there is no telling what he will do if he knows he''s exposed. "Kyle, the lock!" she whispers in a panic. He picks up the lock and grimaces at the mess of metal. "Okay, we need to fix this, I can--" "Joey. It''s busted. But it''s a cheap lock you can buy at any hardware store¨C" "He could be back any time! Think, what else can we do?¡± She might be able to concoct a mixture to remelt the metal, but without tools, it won''t pass a visual test. "I uh¡­well, there might be one thing I can do. Man, I wish you hadn''t melted the lock, that might be the one time you''ve ever done something short-sighted." He puts the lock down on the bench after closing the door again and puts his hand to the broken shackle. He''s concentrating, and she sees something unusual. The metal is bubbling, and she hears the creak of metal flexing. But he''s not using any heating spell, so how¨C "Kyle, when the hell did you learn geomancy?" she whispers as she witnesses mana flowing from his hands, and he gently flexes his fingers, willing the metal into shape again. Luckily she''d only melted the outer metal U-shaped shackle, and not the locking mechanism itself. He motions for silence with his free hand, and he''s locked in concentration. A trickle of sweat rolls down his face, and the metal melts into the two broken faces¡­and merges! It''s not over yet. He smooths the jagged edges, and runs his fingers at the convergence point. The surface wrinkles then pulls taut. There is a slight discoloration from the acid, but other than that, it looks brand new, and the hoop is a little shorter. He lets out a breath, looking exhausted, but confident as he tosses the repaired lock to her outstretched hand. She''s stunned. She knew Kyle had the minimum amount of mana capacity to be considered a real mage, and most of his endeavors stemmed from his ingenuity and application of magitech sciences. "Kyle, this is¡­incredible," she breathes. There are no other words that can even convey this small but impressive feat. The metal is slightly warm, and this feat is beyond her. "How¡­" "What, you thought you were the only one from a different species?" He says with a slight chuckle. Suddenly, the answer clicks. "You have dwarfish blood? Why didn''t you tell me?!" she asks with a gasp. He points to the lock, and stands unsteadily. The effort must have taken a lot of his reserves to pull that off. "Alright, first off, I found out when you did your brief stay at MBPS on a random stint on those stupid ancestry sites¨Cspurred on by a night of bad ideas and beer. I dug into Conclave archives and did the rest of the math. One of my grandparents had a secret," he adds with a grin. "Second off, it''s like, maybe a quarter. Thirdly, I was never going to tolerate the fake fantasy jokes about short stature, a cultural alcoholism problem, or a missing Scottish accent.¡± She tries to hide a soft chuckle before he waves his hand between them. "Also, we weren''t on good speaking terms until about this time last year." "Ah come on! I told you I was a Kitsune, possibly the most massive risk I''ve ever taken in my life!" she protests. He puts his hands up in surrender. "Alright, that''s fair. Mind you, I''ve done a little subtle practice. Usually when I break a tool in the lab¨Cyou know what, let''s save this discussion for when we''re not doing counter-espionage. And I''m leaving Yuma here for when Lavernius gets back," he adds while tossing a golem up on the support beams that compose the roof structure. The golem springs to life and gives a salute with one of its tiny arms. "Now, what''s next?" "We need to search for Lavernius, find out what he knows about the second agent, And we need to hurry. Whatever they''re planning, with Drenar and Nick having landed a massive blow to their operations at the school, I guarantee you they''ve accelerated their timetable." This time they firmly secure the lock, work back to the murkvine, and look at the second boot prints nearby. Joey kneels and takes measurements; she doesn''t want to linger any more than she needs to. "Size ten¡­maybe nine point five. Lighter indentation. Looks like a heavy boot, based on the deep tread patterns. New boots, too. It''s a pitch-perfect indentation, no worn soles or fading of the tread pattern." She takes a photo and jots down a few things. "Boots. That''s not much to go on." "But they were both here. Their tracks parade around, like they were standing idle here for a bit," Kyle points out from his crouched position. "I mean it could have been Lavernius having a smoke with someone else, but¡­" "It''s also possible they where here at two separate times," she points out. By the sound of it, these two saboteurs are blind to each other "We need something more to show the link." She sprays the area by the shack, then a wide swath leading to their meeting spot, with a passive extract and avoids stepping over the area. By itself, this chemical did nothing. But when combined with the other binary chemical, it would fluoresce and emit light, and it would be plainly visible. Now, all they had to do was wait. "When they meet again, we''ll know exactly who our second saboteur is, even if the golem doesn''t spot them." "You need a nickname or something, Joey," he says confidently. "I vote for ''the Ruby Alchemist''." She scoffs at that. "That''s a stupid name! It completely lacks finesse!" She''s not in the mood to argue this silly point. "Hmm¡­the Ruby Kitsune has a nice ring to it, but I really can''t advertise that one. Well, until someone slaps the whole collective Conclave with a dose of human decency." "Aha! See, you''ve taken your most important step! You believe it''s possible, and that''s the toughest step of all!¡± He cackles. She tries not to smile, and motions him for silence. "Alright, let''s book for a bite to eat, I haven''t even grabbed breakfast. Hell, I think I got maybe a few hours of sleep in the last two days." "Alright. But we need to stay alert," she adds cautiously as they walk back to the facility entrance. "There¡¯s no telling what they¡¯re planning.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 85: Vixens And Verbena Blend, Part Three After grabbing what they could from the small kitchen by the dorm''s communal area, Kyle and Joey got back to work in the lab. Joey kept looking through the locked lab door, waiting for some unexpected problem to rear its ugly head. They¡¯d managed to figure out the first saboteur, and Kyle had his observer golems scouring the plant for Lavernius to track his motions with thermal sensors. She''d also made a casual check with Zameren¨Che is scheduled for second shift today, and he hadn''t seen him yet, and put in a maintenance ticket for their lab. They hadn¡¯t told Curtis who it was, not until they had a plan to bring in both saboteurs at once. ¡°I think the second saboteur is Curtis.¡± Kyle¡¯s stark statement leaves her mouth agape, and she almost chokes on her egg and cheese sandwich. After spending a few seconds coughing, she puts a hand up, as if to stop him from continuing further. ¡°You want to run that by me again, Kyle? Curtis? The man who helped us expose one of the saboteurs already?!¡± She takes a sip from her water bottle to clear her throat. His assertion flew in the face of facts! ¡°That¡¯s completely absurd.¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s exactly what I would do if I were a master espionage expert like King,¡± Kyle added quietly. ¡°And there are a few clues why I think it might be the case." ¡°No, hold up. Why would Curtis help us find the saboteur?¡± She¡¯s already got her notes out, scouring for something she missed the first time, something she didn¡¯t think was relevant. ¡°If we didn¡¯t have Curtis, we¡¯d never have gotten this far!¡± ¡°True. But, King is a manipulator. He wanted Lavernius to be caught. Don¡¯t you find it a little convenient, a little too neatly wrapped up in a bow, that they sitting there under a camera with King off-screen, spilling the plan? Or that these particular cameras have audio pickup, compared to standard fare? Or that the logs for access to the lab areas were wiped out and unrecoverable, in a very convenient manner? Lavernius wouldn¡¯t have had access to those records, only the security office has the means to get into them or doctor them. He couldn¡¯t have done both. And he didn¡¯t have time, either.¡± ¡°Kyle, this is conspiracy land level! You¡¯re saying that Lavernius was supposed to be caught, and give a green light for the other saboteur to do his dirty deeds, unimpeded?¡± When she said it aloud, from a higher level, it sort of made sense. For an operation that hinged on having an inside man, having a backup would have been highly recommended, or outright essential. It was tough enough to get security clearance into Asqualia as it were. But she wanted to hear this out first. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll play along. What evidence do we have to support this conjecture? Lets posit that King was lying, and he did have two men. We must also assume that Val has her man here, independent of their actions. Give me a rationale.¡± ¡°As the security officer of Asqualia, Curtis would be well-versed in defensive tactics and holding the facility in case of an assault. He would know ingress, egress, hard points, and vulnerabilities. He would, aside from Zameren, with maximum access, be the ideal inside man, and would be able to misdirect volunteer defenders when the attack does occur. He could rig weapons in the armory, compromise armor, and set traps. His military background would make him an efficient killer, skulking through back-lines.¡± ¡°That¡¯s conjecture, not evidence,¡± she counters. ¡°What evidence do we have?¡± ¡°Curtis claimed the logs were busted. I might be able to buy that, but the timing is too suspect. Who else has access to the security ward?¡± Kyle repeats. ¡°Zameren, and his backup, Arthur. Who is currently on vacation,¡± she adds with a hint of anger. ¡°The security volunteers have access to the armory and his office. But not passcodes to his laptop, most likely.¡± ¡°Alright, see my point?¡± he asks. ¡°Not yet. What else do you have?¡± ¡°Curtis wears military-style boots. Always has. And he keeps a couple of pairs and cleans them. Trust me, I notice these kinds of things. One of the boot prints we saw was from a deep-treaded, unworn boot. Brand new, practically.¡± Kyle¡¯s laying out the logic, and it makes sense. But it¡¯s not irrefutable proof. ¡°Now, ask me what else I noticed about him yesterday.¡± ¡°There was something else?¡± she echoes. "Yeah. He was too quick to jump onto the bandwagon. This whole thing is lunacy to the max, and he jumped right on. Curtis is normally a by-the-numbers guy, and this whole experience is a trip straight through crazy town." "Still not hearing evidence," Joey sighs. She needs Kyle on her side, and not chasing shadows, even though she worries his take does have merit. "Look, we know the second agent has to be working here, too. What else are we missing? Let''s take it back a step, I think you were on the right idea, at first. Who could be compromised, or in such a position to do the most damage?" "That could be a lot of people, Joey. Reeves is in charge of inventory, but he''s the one who brought up the missing mana primer. That would bring way too much heat if it were some kind of ruse. Zameren would be perfect, but he loves this place. He cares about the staff here, and he''s not a sociopath.¡± Joey jots down a list of candidates and crosses off some of them. "Who''s in charge or has access and knowledge to operate the mana reactor?" "Huh? Why?" "The battlements have mana batteries that could tear a tank to shreds or vaporize soldiers on the ground, and there are numerous sentinel golems around the grounds that activate independently if the building is attacked. You can''t just take an axe to the reactor, you need knowledge and patience to use it, and there''s layers of security on that console to prevent abuse or mishaps, based on my discussions earlier with Joel." Kyle looks unimpressed. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "I thought you hated Joel." "I don''t hate him, but I was furious with him, because he almost burned down the lab on my first day on the job, while trying to show off," she states with a restrained tone. She grabs her half-finished coffee and gulps down the rest, because it''s starting to teeter between that nice range of warm and comforting, to lukewarm and unenjoyable. "Joel was telling me last month about the reactor. You''ve done a tour there too, right?" "I have done a little work in there to boost the power to my unexister engine¨Cmy furnace," he hastily corrects when she raises an eyebrow, "and I know the basics. But that''s a far cry from knowing how to short it out. Where are you leading this?" "Tactical options. The building has many defenses, internal and external, though most are well hidden. Didn''t you pay attention to orientation?" She asks softly. She doesn''t wait for him to answer. "Look, if you want to break in, you have someone cut the power. It will disable some of the systems in the building and make it easier to enter and secure key areas. Derek would be a key component of that." "Derek''s middle-aged and happily married with two teen kids. I don''t buy it." "That''s what I thought about Lavernius, and look how wrong we were!" She was still mulling over the existing evidence. Derek would know a lot of uses for mana primer too, and how to transport it safely. Safety boots would be mandatory equipment in the power plant, heavy boots with enchantments to further enhance protection against discharge of the reactor load. Boot prints like the one they saw earlier. Okay, it''s a theory. Who else? "Do we know anyone who''s utterly miserable or has serious personal problems?" She asks in a change of course. Kyle raises an eyebrow and stays notably silent. "That doesn''t include me, Kyle. I know what you''re thinking, even without psionics." "You need more coffee. Then again if it were you, I would only say it''s because of your seething hatred of the Conclave," he adds quietly. "Hate is a strong word. A stronger word would be loathe, but it still has some decent people in it. I hope." She peers down at her now empty coffee mug. "I don''t know, this whole experience is just messing with my head. How can teenagers with attitude be the only people in our corner?" Kyle scoffs at that. "That sounded a little mean." "It wasn''t supposed to be. I''m talking about kids only a few years younger than us, being thrust into a battle of survival against the Talons that they have no business fighting. Where are their parents? Where is the cavalry? Why are Levine and Nick treated like they''re collectively a basket case?" Kyle is notably silent and reserved at this bristling statement. "This whole situation should have been handled by better people than us." "Nah. You''re on the case. Which means there''s a chance. And as much as I think Nick''s crazy, him and Levine, and those kids? They''ve shown exceptional bravery." She decides its wise to not linger, and keep focused. "Anything on your golem, uh, Yuma?" She quickly remembers the name. "No. That shack has been devoid of life, and I''ve got her on alert to ping me if there''s any motion." He drums his fingers on the table, and looks distinctly fatigued now. "I''m tempted to send out a ping to Darci, and see what Drenar and company are cooking up. It''s a risk, but I''m worried what the cost of doing nothing to speed them up is going to be.¡± "I already looked up all the research journals on the drakensouls earlier in the week. There''s nothing in there that seems valuable," she conceded. "But Crosomer''s journals are another matter. They''re still in the archives, based on the logs. I''m tempted to just go in there and¡­hide them." "Man, anyone could waltz in there and just steal it. There''s no security in there, minus the safeties for the defunct artifacts of doom on display. Let''s go in there and scan the entries as fast as we can, and walk out. Just as a backup." "Well, that''s not a terrible idea. But the one in the vault¡­eh¡­that''s going to be tougher to get to." She knows that there are likely automated defenses, and more than a few subterranean monsters in there, plus golems. No one knew exactly how deep it went below Asqualia. Volkir did, but he''s been dead for seven hundred years. Unless that''s also an assumed truth, too. If Volkir is alive¡­what has he been doing for seven centuries? King seemed convinced he was alive. "What''s so important about that journal?" Kyle asks. "Keys to the kingdom, according to Drenar. We already know it reinvigorated a dead magical zone and enhanced others nearby," she adds. "They said the machine was overlaid with hundreds of runes. Like command codes for the desired effect. But pressing buttons without a translation could be catastrophic.¡± "So this machine could do a lot of things?" he asks worriedly. "Yeah, Kyle. It''s the deck of many things but in real life, and real consequences for screwing with the fabric of reality. I don''t know who built this thing, but it''s a little disconcerting that such a device wasn''t smashed with a sledgehammer, thrown into a volcano, or at least better guarded than it was," she states irately. "I don''t even know what it''s called! Hang on. Wait...I think Drenar briefly mentioned that the device was researched by Crosomer. Maybe there''s a chance we could find something here, in regular academic journals. Crosomer''s were all forgotten about after his revolution, so we won''t have to go through a death gauntlet to get to it--unlike Volkir''s journal." "So, that''s our next stop, while we bide our time?" he asks. "What about the second saboteur?" "We have golems eyeing the teleportal. Nothing is going on in there at present," Joey states calmly. "We can at least get some information that could be helpful later. Maybe." She''s made up her mind. The best person to tell her the value of the research would be Crosomer''s own words. "Let''s head to the archives. I am curious to see what the former head of the Conclave and a former Luminaire has to say about his academic years." Right now, they had to wait it out until the golems sweeping the area found him. Ultimately, Lavernius would go back to the storage shack. And they had to be ready. Joey thinks back to the equipment in their lab, and hopes that today isn¡¯t the day that she has to use it against other people. Because it¡¯s not going to end well for them. Vol. 2, Ch. 86: Resonance Joey loves the research area, among stacks of books, academic journals, and mage lore and history spanning thousands of years. At least mages have far, far better preservation methods than what was conventionally available during those times. Some records stored memories and scripts within mana crystals for countless centuries. Though, the density of data has skyrocketed with the use of modern electronics and storage. She enjoys the stone and wood layout, and it has a rustic, warm color palette adorning the rows In the central area, there are simple reading tables, computers, and other gear for looking at microfilms. There are some minuses. Some of the research is fragile. Some of it is magically protected, and some of it is quite offended by people other than the original authors perusing the volumes. Hence, the copious amount of fire suppression systems, acidic countering agents, and medical stations throughout the archives. It was a wary reminder that despite the good work they did here, there was a higher level of danger in the mage world, and from sources few people would have expected. Joey is currently researching Crosomer''s first journal in the circular room, Kyle is busy reading through anything that could be indexed to Awakenings. It would be helpful if they had a name for this device, in hindsight. She is also annoyed because she keeps hearing something just on the edge of her perception that sounds like a crystal chime. She looks up, but it''s not coming from the fluorescent lights, either. She has acute hearing as a kitsune, why is-- Wait. Where have I heard that sound before? It''s a deep-seated memory somewhere, something familiar and calming. Then, it hits her. Mana crystals? She leans back from the table, fingers tensed and tapping rhythmically. It sounds like¡­like the old chimes from my porch. Back at home. That''s¡­very weird. But, there are no raw mana crystals in here. I think. Then, she thinks back to the grotto that the Sardavian moles made¨Cthose crystals had been humming like that, too. The sound fades after a few seconds, and she shrugs. I really would love to know what''s making that noise. ¡°Wait, what are we doing?" Kyle asks aloud after a short period of relative silence, other than the crisp rustling of paper. "What if King is metagaming us?" She glances at him, annoyed. "You realize how many chess moves ahead he''d have to be?" She asks while puffing her hair out of her face, after leaning down and reading. "That is absurd. You''re saying he warned us about what they needed, figuring we''d go look for it ourselves, and find exactly what he needed, without having to tear through the whole archives by himself? Nah, Kyle, we haven''t found anything of value yet. He''s assuming we are all super geniuses and can find secrets better than him." He''s making that grimace again, and it''s annoying. "But that''s just the thing, maybe this has been the whole plan!" "You said that about the two saboteurs, and that it was Curtis, or Derek. Kyle, you''ve been grasping at theory, rather than evidence. Lavernius is our guy. We also haven''t seen anything from the second man. We need to get back to that task, find something useful here, fast.¡± She''s too busy reading through this tome from 1275 to even keep looking in his direction. "Seriously? I thought I had this mana primer efficiency formula first! He beat me by seven hundred years! And then everyone forgot about his work because he tried to burn the mage world to the ground." "It means you get the patent," he replies before flipping through more pages. "I don''t get this. The guy spent a ton of time digging everywhere across the world. Tunisia, Rome, Siberia, Kyiv, and even the East Coast of the US, four hundred years before there were colonies. How''d this guy break so bad? He was a Luminaire! Next to the Valkyries, the only bona-fide heroes of our world!" "You know, I was wondering that too, and it boiled down to researching souls. And then that research turned decidedly unethical. And then it turned fifty shades of deadly," she adds for emphasis. "So, whips and chains?" he suggests. She leers at him for a long moment. "You know what, I decided I don''t need to know the details." "Smart move. According to the official record, the precursor to SAF found out he had a lab set up conducting some twisted magical experiments on various kin, studying souls. He managed to escape. Then he made a deal with the devil, and got every mercenary company under his banner, along with the Onyx Talons. He had been planning it for years, because he was convinced the Conclave was rotten under his feet. He kind of undercut himself by doing terrible things.¡± It still doesn¡¯t sound right, how they hand-waved Crosomer as the villain. Was it because he lost, and got thrown into prison for seven hundred years? How much was the Conclave adjusting the history? She knows the Talons aren¡¯t the solution, and not with Valosterla at their head. ¡°Okay, that sounds about right. The rest of the story was a five-year ground war, the Luminaires and the Valkyries came in and saved the Conclave from being crushed, and then when the war was over and he was captured, they just summarily executed him. Or, according to Drenar and Julia, just tossed him into an eternal prison and called it a day. I just never knew what his beef was with the conclave. I guess it¡¯s cool to call everyone else''s unethical behaviors until yours appears in the spotlight. Then you just try to burn the house down out of spite.¡± ¡°I mean let¡¯s face it, the Conclave is a far cry from perfect. But at least there¡¯s the chance to fix it. Ugh. I wonder if I could find a cure for malice,¡± she utters with contempt. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be the alchemical discovery of the millennium? Seconded by a cure for cancer. Cancer sucks." He sticks his tongue out for emphasis. ¡°Hey, cancer is just the universe¡¯s signpost that you¡¯ve lived too long and survived too many other ridiculous things, so here''s this thing that¡¯ll get you eventually, given enough time! Screw that, cancer first, then fixing the hatred of humanity.¡± I¡¯ll get three hundred and change years as a Kitsune, assuming I don¡¯t get brutally murdered in the next few days. Big goals, she thinks with a grin. ¡°I think we¡¯re getting sidetracked. What else is in these research journals that is useful?¡± Kyle asks with a hint of impatience. She flips through the pages. ¡°Well, this one isn¡¯t useful in that context, per se, but there¡¯s some interesting chemical reductions and¡­very interesting alchemical products you can get from some monsters that I¡¯ve never heard of.¡± She scans the pages with her phone for future review. Her initial prognosis is that she could make some extremely potent alchemical potions a cut above what she''s previously made, with fewer risks and bigger yields. Potions that could seriously turn the tide of a battle or give them an edge in their research. Or¡­ ¡­Potentially upgrading physiology? Mana attunement? Crosomer is either insane or a genius, if this proves correct. ¡°Let¡¯s speed through this. Find anything he sketched of glyph languages, runes, any mention of them or the Kinsgard.¡± ¡°I thought the Kinsgard are a myth,¡± he counters. ¡°Like, a myth, even for mages.¡± ¡°There¡¯s some evidence to suggest their presence in history, and they predate draconic history in a few dig sites. It¡¯s just really not that concrete, and no serious researcher has dedicated the time or effort.¡± It pains her to say that there is just too much mage history buried and uncatalogued, and not enough researchers to go around to preserve that knowledge, culture, and even secrets of the arcane. She flips through the pages but finds nothing else of relevance. She does resolve to read them in depth later, especially the alchemical items, and she flips through another journal. The findings are sparse, and she¡¯s ready to give up when Kyle snaps his fingers. ¡°I¡¯ve got something. Check this out.¡± She walks over with keen interest and leans on the back of his chair, before pointing to the symbols that were written down. What she sees is eye-opening. ¡°He¡¯s got a partial translation of the runes. It¡¯s an extremely old dialect of draconic¨Cno, he refers to it as Kinsgardial, the language of¡­wait, is he literal when he says, ¡®dialect of the gods''?¡± She squints at the page, wondering if it¡¯s an exaggeration. Internally, she realized he was a hardcore academic. Flourishes like that are nonexistent in his other journals. It¡¯s all facts and sound theories. ¡°Kyle, we¡¯re taking this one. Bag it, and we don¡¯t tell a soul. Don¡¯t log it.¡± ¡°Done!¡± he says before stashing it with care in his satchel, and layers it with a protective dweomer. It''s a simple spell that will keep it safe against most minor nuisances such as rain, mold, or fire. ¡°So, what¡¯s next?¡± ¡°Keep searching for Lavernius, he''s gotta turn up eventually, and keep the golems scanning the caverns. The other saboteur has to have a different plan; but what, exactly? There are no easy routes into Asqualia. Could they...build a new one?" "It''s possible, but arrays as big as Asqualia prevent other permanent teleportals from activating too closeby. It''s a hard coded safety so travellers don''t get...scrambled. Kin do not like being scrambled." She stops listening to Kyle because something else is happening. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. And, that crystalline chime sound is back. "Would you excuse me for a second? I need to turn off whatever''s making that noise." She turns and marches through the rows. "What noise?" He hurries behind her. She can hear it now, more than just a hint at the edge of her hearing. It''s a calming sound, it''s the same sound of wind chimes sitting on the porch of her parent''s home, deep in the Ozarks on a breezy day. She can picture beams of sunlight dancing through the swaying trees, and the laughter of a few other kits chasing each other with sticks and playing as knights. Her pulse quickens. What does this mean? Why that memory? "Joey, I''m not saying your hearing is bad, but when you go wild-eyed like this, you kinda scare me." She ignores him and maneuvers through the rows, the sound growing louder. That subtle vibration isn''t just sound, it feels like a force. A tingle on her skin, and it almost feels like she can feel out the orientation of the source. She knows where she is when she stops at a row of drawers at a mundane intersection; scrolls and parchment paper are tucked away neatly. She pulls open a drawer, and there''s a faded cloth bundle in there. She unties it and sets her sights on the source. It has to be coming from here. You? She stops herself. This is a very strange day to come across this item again, and her arms to go her side. Why now? "Hey, is this the sword that Valkyrie brought in last year?" Kyle finally asks, and he taps the hilt of the ancient broadsword, tucked neatly into an aged leather sheath. The weapon is exquisite in quality, and a hexagon-cut emerald sits at the crosspiece that sweeps forward, towards the bladed end. The handle is finely etched and ergonomic, and the metal has a faint green coloration, unlike normal steel. The metal seems to practically hum. Before she can grab it, Kyle short-circuits her motion and picks up the sword. The crystalline sound stops in an instant. She blinks and looks at him holding it solemnly. "Joey, I know that look. Magical swords aren''t the answer to our current problem." "Huh?" "Look, I get it, having a Valkyrian sword would be kinda badass, and I know you can swing that staff of yours that you practice with for your gym routine, but c''mon. It''s useless. See?" He pulls the sword, and indeed, the blade is still missing, just like the first time she saw it. It''s a defunct weapon, its owner long since gone. She can see the outline of it if she looks very closely, but it likely can only be brought to bear by the person attuned to such an incredible weapon. Out of phase with reality. But not gone forever. This is a weapon for real heroes and legends. Not people like me. If there''s anyone who would be suited to dealing with the Talons, it would be the Valkyries. "So, you didn''t hear that just now?" she asks slowly. He tilts his head, and looks around. "Hear what?" He genuinely hasn''t heard the same sound, which is slow to sink in; was it so high-pitched that he just couldn''t hear it? She knew her kitsune hearing definitely could hear high-frequency sounds with ease¨Ceven the cycling frequency of an arcane barrier. "You know, I got the inspiration for my furnace from this weapon. Kinda funny, you coming back here today, of all days." "Is that why you''ve been obsessed over making something equivalent to Valkyrian steel for the past six months?" she asks and temporarily sets aside her discourse. He nods. "Well, yeah. And to stop being in the shadow of my sister, who works with the Valkyries occasionally," he adds with a reluctant pause. The drooping look of disappointment on his face isn''t meant for her, though. "Gale is the better Bertance. I''ll always trail her. And not because of the age difference." "Kyle, don''t say it like that. You made a compact magitech armor at sixteen. It worked. Even though it was a little dangerous," she adds with a laugh. "I might have had a bad influence. Some other idiot genius tore through the London campus in a homebrew Magitech power armor five months ago, and they built on my concepts. Except, instead of almost blowing up as mine did, she broke up a Kin trafficking ring and floored a couple of dozen armed thugs that were forcing Kitsune and Wargen into an underground fight club. A den of blood sport and forcibly trafficked Kin, practically on the doorstep of our alma mater. She put one of London''s richest men in prison for a hefty list of crimes. Then they were expelled from the academy.¡± Joey had heard about this story several months ago, during the spring semester, and it rattled her that something that awful and personally connective to her could have festered so close to campus. ¡°Except, it gets even better,¡± Kyle says with a sigh of relief. ¡°How does that get better? Except for some rich creep getting his just desserts for a pretty deplorable crime. If it had been me, he wouldn¡¯t be breathing,¡± Joey said with disdain. ¡°I¡¯d love to shake that woman¡¯s hand for what she did. It¡¯s rare when you hear someone go that far out of their way for a Kitsune or Wargen.¡± ¡°Gale told me that the Valkyries visited her after she recovered from a serious case of mana burn, and offered her a job. On top of that, the academy had to offer a very public apology, and she got to put an egg on the face of the Conclave.¡± Kyle sighs but looks content. ¡°I think her name was Becky Lancing. Anyway, she built a magitech armor from scratch that built on my concepts, and it performed so well, that even the Valkyries took notice. My only complaint about them is hoarding magitech that could help a lot of people.¡± ¡°Really? What¡¯s your take?¡± Joey asks curiously. "They might make the most powerful magical artifacts in the world consistently, but they do not share their knowledge. I get why. They don''t want it in the wrong hands. The problem is¡­it doesn''t stop people like the Talons. It never will. I grew up on childhood fantasies of them, and despite the work they''ve done in the past¡­you can''t run a world on heroes alone. You need real government with real solutions, real people with daytime jobs like soldiers, logisticians, and tactical leaders. People just like you and me, who will have an even footing against those like the Talons, or the Magarri, and those that came before them. Though the Conclave isn''t the answer either, not with the way it is." "How close are you? You''ve been blasting that furnace for a week." He shrugs. "The math says I''m close. I could only image the hilt to get the microstructure with the spectroscope and the manascope. The blade would have been ideal, but you do what you can with what you have. I wonder who carried this thing before. And why did that Valkyrie leave it here?" Valkyries being seen in public are notable moments for every mage. Few have seen one in person. Joey remembers the conversation with that woman vividly. A tall, dark-haired woman with verdant eyes barely visible behind that magitech visor, and she spoke with a deep, earthy voice of a soulful kindness. "She said that it served its purpose for the time being. She challenged me to try to pull the blade. I thought she was kidding, so I didn''t. Still though¡­makes you wonder what its history is." ¡°It would have been funny as hell¨Cor downright terrifying¨Cif you had pulled the sword out and it materialized in front of her,¡± he says slyly, then offers it to her. ¡°Wanna try? You were the first kitsune to be class valedictorian. Maybe you¡¯d be the first kitsune Valkyrie!¡± ¡°I prefer the stick, thanks, and I''m sure there''s been Kitsune Valkyries before,¡± she taps the compact staff that she¡¯d belted on today. He¡¯s still waving it gently. ¡°What are we, ten, Kyle? Treat it with respect. They deserve that much for the sacrifices they''ve made for our world." ¡°Hey, you did say you heard something. It could have been resonance,¡± he suggests. He frowns, and glances at his hand on the hilt. His fingers ran gently across the grip, with slow deliberation. Does he sense something, too? "It''s weird, but¡­when I pick it up¡­I can see something. Faint images. The metal remembers. It''s a weird quirk of geomancy," he explains. "Or dwarves." "You were already quirky," she says with a faint smirk. It''s silent now, except for that fluorescent light buzzing nearby. "So, what does it show?" "A dozen pairs of hands holding it. All at once. All manner of Kin. Human, kitsune, wargen, some I don''t even recognize. Even dragons? I don''t see how," he frowns when he examines the grip and curls and uncurls his fingers, as if sizing it. "Magical metals seem to get imprinted from other magical organisms that interact or touch them. Maybe it''s some weird resonance thing with the mana. I mean, metal isn''t alive. It''s a crystal. And it just buzzes my brain to simulate something familiar, like a REM state. Or, maybe it''s just my imagination." He shrugs as if this mystery doesn''t bother him. "What did you hear, though?" "Wind chimes. Crystal wind chimes." He doesn''t question it but instead wraps the cloth bundle around it once more. "I know, it sounds crazy." "Joey, you''re a lot of things, but crazy isn''t one of them. You and I are both running on minimal sleep, and you were almost dozing off for a bit." He looks back to the sword, then to her. "You never heard back from that Valkyrie?" "No. Not a word. That was the first and last time I saw her, golem arm and all. I just remember when I said goodbye to her at the teleportal hub, she told me she wished a young kit like me wasn''t the exception to the norm. Then she just smiled at me, hugged me like I was her kid or something, and said to me, ''There''s no such thing as goodbyes Josephine, it''s just until we meet again.''" Kyle chuckles softly at that. "What?" she asks playfully. "That is such a super corny thing to say. But it kinda has a nice ring to it. What''s that phrase they use? ''May we all meet again, under the skies of Valhalla.'' I like that idea, that we''re not gone forever." He frowns, then does a double take. ¡°That your eidetic memory?¡± ¡°How often does anyone meet a Valkyrie? It felt¡­really important, you know?¡± He''s got this confused look though, and points at her. "How''d she know you were a kitsune?" "I¡­have no idea," she admits. "Eh, maybe the lavender eyes need a little dimming." "There''s no dimming you, Josephine," he replies in that wry way of his. "Alright, I think we reminisced enough, let''s get back to work, shall we?" "Yeah, I guess we should¨C" She¡¯s about to continue the thought, but she hears a ping on Kyle¡¯s phone. One he¡¯d set very specifically. He looks at her, his face filled with hardened determination. ¡°Looks like our saboteur just came back.¡± Joey doesn¡¯t hesitate and taps her ID badge on a private line to Curtis. ¡°Curtis, meet us at the botanical garden as fast as you can. We have our saboteur, and if we don¡¯t get over there right now, we are going to miss our opportunity.¡± He waits about two seconds, before replying. ¡°You guys make my retirement from the military suck in all the worst ways, Miss Pyromist. Try not to melt, freeze, stab, or exsanguinate the fellow before I get there.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 87: The Heart Of A Luminaire, Part One ¡°You know how I know you''re a kitsune, Joey? You¡­sprint faster¡­than Usain Bolt!¡± Kyle is gasping for breath when they get to the botanical garden entrance, and the padlock is already off the gate. Kyle pulls out the phone and shows it to her. Lavernius is now prying up the planks, in the same way that they had several hours previously. It¡¯s late afternoon, and the light is disappearing over the lake. Several arcane lights had already turned on throughout the perimeter of Asqualia, illuminating the area in all sorts of vibrant colors. Lavernius is in the dingy shack, and the first thing he goes for is the arcanlink. He glances around, peering out the window. As far as he is concerned, he''s alone, and he goes back to punching in an access code. Slowly, each button tap met with an initial hesitance. He is not looking forward to this call. ¡°Okay, hold up. What¡¯s our plan?¡± Kyle whispers as they lean around the corner of the stone wall. Curtis had just caught up to them, and Kyle motioned him to watch the video feed from the golem, still perched silently in the shack. ¡°We should wait. Let¡¯s see who he¡¯s calling,¡± Curtis whispers back before glancing around the corner. The shack is at the end of the row, and the door is closed. The feed shows Lavernius is otherwise occupied, and he presses one final button. The device crackles to life. ¡°Hey. It''s me.¡± He spoke quietly. There is a brief pause. ¡°It''s our calling hour, you are never late,¡± he says with a soft sigh. ¡°I''m here. I''m in damage control mode, Lavernius. Val just jumped the dragon.¡± that voice¡­ middle-aged, deadly calm, that Welsh accent again. Based on the programmed phone numbers and the fact that it isn''t Val, it must be King. She doubts Lavernius is talking about War Crime. ¡°Explain.¡± ¡°Val just launched a six-pronged assault on multiple SAF garrisons. None of my men knew this was happening, because she did this at the last minute, and kept only her inner circle in the loop.¡± Lavernius looks pissed at this, and Joey realizes she¡¯s been ignoring the pinging on her phone for the better part of an hour. She dares a glance¨Cthe Arcanet is in utter panic mode, people are being given shelter-in-place instructions to avoid Onyx Talon soldiers. Are we too late? That dreadful question is quickly answered by King with a moment of hope, however faint it is. ¡°Lavernius, I need to move, now. Val¡¯s inside man is likely about to initialize whatever harebrained scheme she¡¯s got, which means the risk of a bloodbath is getting sky-high.¡± ¡°You should have had better tabs on her, King!¡± Lavernius almost shouts. She can hear that muffled frustration through the shack wall at this distance, not even through the golem. ¡°You can¡¯t plan for crazy, Lavernius. This domino was set in motion on Wednesday by a miscalculation from one of my underlings. Rashalda and company might have put your daughter into the safety of SAF, but Val was convinced the timetables needed to be accelerated.¡± ¡°Damn it, is my daughter with them?¡± There was a brief pause. ¡°Negative. She is not. Not from the last report I had. The reason Asqualia isn¡¯t being bathed in blood right now is two-fold. Val¡¯s men didn''t hold the platform at the Promenade, they were routed. The second reason, my planted agents spotted three dragons laying waste to Val¡¯s men at Mercadian Promenade an hour ago. I¡¯ll give you a guess who they were.¡± ¡°Ah, shit. Tell me it wasn¡¯t Drenar and Julia.¡± WHAT?! The fact that Lavernius knows both of them on a first-name basis is frightening. They¡¯d known this man. They¡¯re friends with his daughter. This utter betrayal will not be well received, and Joey is at the front of the line for putting a bolt through both his kneecaps. ¡°And another dragon¨CJonaleth¡¯s friend. Val¡¯s men sought to punish her for Jonaleth¡¯s mistakes, and Rashalda¡¯s crew picked her up. I¡¯m still getting information, but assume they are on their way to Asqualia. They likely shorted out the teleportal just after the incursion, either because they knew Val¡¯s plan¨Cunlikely¨Cor they had another¡­¡± King trails off. Lavernius paces back and forth, looking anxious. If he''s anxious, then her kitsune heart is pumping like her adrenaline gland is going into overdrive. What the hell was Drenar doing, getting into another major firefight?! Unless this was part of the plan, and the Talons just showed up at the worst time possible? ¡°King, don¡¯t. I know that voice of yours. Don¡¯t use these kids.¡± ¡°We are running out of options. If I can convince Rashalda to see reason, he may get us the journals in a bid to protect the facility. SAF protocol dictates that all secure facilities have secondary and tertiary land route access points when teleportal systems are disabled. They did it on purpose. They know the way in!¡± ¡°This helps us, how?¡± ¡°Joey, this is world-class drama and nightmare fuel,¡± Curtis whispers. He¡¯s already drawn his bolt pistol and press-checked the bolt sitting on the slide. ¡°We should capture him, now¨C¡± ¡°Wait.¡± She puts a hand up to halt him, while King and Lavernius continue their discussion. ¡°Let me put this in layman¡¯s terms, King. You want to use my daughter¡¯s best friend, her best friend, and others, in a madder than a mad-hatter ploy to get them to do the dirty work for you, after you screwed up?!¡± ¡°Precisely. You forget, I know who he comes from. I would have been disappointed if a descendant of the Luminaires wasn¡¯t so remarkably tenacious.¡± King practically purrs when he says that, and Joey grips the display tighter. This man is dangerous, and uses people in his high-stakes game of life and death. ¡°I even had a chat with him. It was¡­illuminating.¡± ¡°Is that how you got beat to hell two nights ago?¡± Lavernius demands. ¡°It was¡­part of it. Now pay attention Lavernius. Oh, and you might want to get the attention of your onlookers. I want them to hear this as well.¡± All three of them gasp, and Lavernius slowly turns his gaze up to the golem. He gives them a small salute. ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering when we would cross paths, Miss Pyromist.¡± ¡°Dude¡¯s a freaking wizard,¡± Kyle breathes. She would point out that is a rather obvious statement, but she decides to cut him some slack for now. This is bad in so many ways when the arcanlink flickers with light, and a projection starts to emerge. It¡¯s exactly as Drenar and Julia described¨Ca man dressed in a steampunk vest, collared button shirt, and dark slacks, and he wears that slightly wavy medium-length hair, and has soft caramel eyes. King is now personally involved in this, and she clicks the transmit button before Kyle can stop her. Curtis has his weapon drawn, and aims it at the shack, waiting for a motion. ¡°How the hell do you know who I am, King?!¡± she says with seething fury. ¡°I''ve never met you in my life!¡± ¡°Your talent and reputation precede you, Josephine.¡± It grates on her nerves that this bastard is using her first name, as if trying to build up some sort of rapport kinship. ¡°The automaton I''m speaking to could not be your design, given your specializations. The lesser Bertance has indeed been busy.¡± ¡°Wow, could you possibly be any more savage?¡± Kyle asks with a snarl, but Joey gives him a quick shake of her head. This is not the time for this, especially in the face of danger. ¡°Yes, I do know of Gale. As a man whose expertise is intelligence, it would be a poor showing if I did not keep tabs on exemplary talents and daring individuals with vast potential.¡± King bows with just a crease of his spine and a low flourish with one hand. It doesn''t feel like mockery. Lavernius taps his foot. ¡°We''re on a timetable, King. This is your call.¡± ¡°Bernard, fear not. I''m sure that the young adults on the other end would be interested in a bargain of mutual benefits,¡± King says with poise. He turns back to the golems'' fixed eye. ¡°I''ll keep it simple. You have something I need. The journals are located in the furthest confines of the vault. I am certain that Volkir will never willingly part with them. But he might be amenable to a trade.¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Joey, don¡¯t¨C¡± Curtis is not getting a say on this one. ¡°Your psychopath of a partner is carving a path of bloodshed through town and abroad, King. You think she¡¯s going to stop, just because she gets the keys to godhood?¡± King stands there, steadfast and collected. Nothing rattles this guy it seems like. ¡°Nah, no deal. Your agent on the ground is pinned. This is over.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s actually beginning, Josephine.¡± That polite smile needs a good dose of fire to fix her mood right about now. He continues, sensing she¡¯s holding her words. ¡°Consider this, I can arrange for the safety of¨C¡± ¡°Let me make clear something for you, elusive man,¡± she snarls. ¡°Your plan is an apocalypse waiting to happen. There¡¯s a magical biozone that was as dead as can be, and your machine brought it back to life. Two other biozones increased fifty percent in size. That was with just a fraction of the power input. If your device is scaled¨Cassuming you could get a power source big enough to scale it beyond an isolation sphere¨Cyou will kill the planet. Magical biozones will encroach on civilization. Human civilization will be toxified by the rampant mana exposure, and you will kill everyone by doing this.¡± ¡°Ah. So kind of you to confirm a theory for me. I owe Nigel a small wager,¡± he says in a bemused way. She opens her mouth to speak and nothing comes of it. He wants this to happen?! This makes no sense! ¡°Josephine, consider this, we have studied this device. The Kiln¡¯starnoth. It is an engine of aetherial potency, we are merely¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear it. Your inside man is done, we¡¯re taking him into custody. Lavernius, you need to open the door, come out with your hands up, and just maybe, you get to see your daughter with regular visitations. Because you¡¯ve betrayed everyone you¡¯ve ever worked with. Including me.¡± Lavernius grunts audibly. King stands there, looking stoic. ¡°You don¡¯t want to hear my offer?¡± King asks calmly. ¡°Nothing you can offer me can ever be worth what you¡¯ll do to the planet, and Valosterla is using you as a means to an end. Both of you. And you''re both foolish for thinking she won''t kill you the second you become an inconvenience,¡± she states with fervor. ¡°Oh? What if I told you we could bring down the Conclave? What if I could ensure that all kin could be equals? Including, perhaps, your own soul touched kindred?" He knows. Her involuntary gasp is enough to confirm it for King, who adjusts his tie, and Lavernius winces. Kyle puts a hand on her shoulder, but she shakes it away. This secret is out in the world now, if King knows. All he needs is one phone call, or one social media post, and everyone will start asking questions. Even if she survives this unfolding disaster, her life is toast. Kyle¡¯s life is toast. Everyone in her immediate group of friends is toast. That unnerving polite smile draws her back from panic mode. She is seething at this man. ¡°I¡¯ve known for eight years. Ever since you graced the academy with your brilliance, it wasn¡¯t hard to deduce by paying close attention. Besides¡­the purple eyes were a dead giveaway.¡± ¡°Almost no one can see my true eye color, King. How can you?¡± she demands. ¡°Guess you and I have a connection, then.¡± This causes her to laugh in mockery, and he is unphased. ¡°Yeah, you and I have a connection, psycho. That¡¯s a good one!¡± When was she ever this bold in her words before? It must come naturally when she¡¯s dealing with megalomaniacs, she figures. ¡°Joey, this is what he does. This is how he plays, don¡¯t listen to him. Don¡¯t let him get to you, remember what he did to Drenar,¡± Kyle says with firmness in his voice before moving his face into view, eyes narrowed. ¡°If you thought you could deliver that King, you¡¯d have done it already. You don¡¯t want equality for all. You want a rocket ride to godhood with yourself at the top.¡± ¡°No. Altruism is my goal. Even if the means are decidedly difficult to achieve,¡± King rebukes. ¡°The Conclave is rotted from within, Miss Pyromist. It is the noose slowly closing around the necks of all Kin, and there will not be room to hide for much longer. This eventuality is coming sooner than you think. When they enact the legislation for psionic dampers¡­well, it¡¯ll be a crime to refuse them. You know that it failed by only ten percent last time the Conclave held its legislative chamber session. Next time it will be less. And the time after that¡­it will pass.¡± ¡°And you think you can fix that?¡± He¡¯s promising the world and she knows he can¡¯t deliver, even though it would mean the world to her if he could¨Cbut never at the expense of other people. ¡°Do you have any idea what my life has been like? Any idea!?¡± ¡°You are the pinnacle of success. Oh, you mean the crippling anxiety. Yes, I understand that part, too. I just need the journals, Josephine¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s Miss Pyromist to you. You haven¡¯t earned that name,¡± she states defiantly. Lavernius sighs. ¡°Told you this wasn¡¯t going to work.¡± King gives him a reassuring wave of his hand. ¡°I¡¯m not out of cards yet. Hear me out, Miss Pyromist. I need the journals from the vault, Volkir likely holds them close, but he may be partial to your words. I will come to collect them, in exchange for getting Val off your back, and the names of the traitors within SAF. We both want the same thing.¡± ¡°No. We don¡¯t. I want a world where Kin live as equals, King. That¡¯s all I have ever wanted. You want to smash the world order with a sledgehammer, terraform the globe with that device, and then play games with people¡¯s lives like you¡¯ve been doing. You are the definition of a sociopath.¡± Her eyes narrow. ¡°No. There is no deal here. There is no deal with you, ever.¡± ¡°So, that¡¯s a no?¡± ¡°I¡¯m taking a line out of Drenar''s playbook. Get fucked, King.¡± He lets out a soft sigh, as if this reaction was a foregone conclusion to him. ¡°And before I come looking for you for daring to threaten my home and the people in it, we¡¯re going to go cancel your partners¡¯ imminent invasion. We know how she¡¯s getting in.¡± The answer comes to her in an instant, now that she¡¯s had more than a second to analyze. ¡°The secondary teleportals for cargo transport can be spoofed far more easily. She could set up a relay with the primary teleportal with the right know-how, and bypass the security to the lower access levels that the cargo ones use.¡± ¡°Oh¨Coh.¡± Kyle makes the connection in an instant, his face filled with dread. ¡°That narrows down the pool a bit.¡± Lavernius gasps. ¡°She¡¯s correct. It would have been a brute-force play, requiring direct access to the consoles by the teleportal hub and splicing a few arcane circuits, but it would have been an obvious tamper.¡± Why exactly is he acknowledging the play here? She needs to stay focused. ¡°Joey, they won¡¯t just come for Kitsune. Do you have any idea what they¡¯ve done to my wife? What they make her do? What they will do to Kelly, my daughter? Or your new friends?¡± ¡°No, this is my negotiating point. You¡¯re going to help us systematically dismantle every teleportal in-network, Lavernius. You help us with that, and you get to live.¡± She grabs an alchemical canister off her belt, and primes it with a trace of mana across her hand. ¡°This is pyromethanine and cyclifor hexane. It¡¯s a potent detonator. It will also turn your shack¨Cand you¨Cinto kindling. You¡¯ve got thirty seconds to come out.¡± The projection of King smiles politely. ¡°Ah shit, you made bombs,¡± Kyle groans¨Cprobably the least of their worries at the moment, but she needs Lavernius alive to short-circuit the bigger problem. ¡°No, he¡¯s got fifteen seconds.¡± Curtis readies his weapon and advances on the door. ¡°Lavernius! If I break down that door, you will not be taken alive. Am I clear?¡± ¡°Knew this was gonna end badly for me.¡± Lavernius slumps. King is still wearing that calm veneer and glances at his partner. ¡°It¡¯s fine. After all¡­we all need to tread lightly on treacherous grounds.¡± Time freezes for a brief second for her. Why would King say that? Curtis is at the door, weapon aimed, and he bellows for Lavernius to come out. Is he trying to hint at something? Boots. Boots caked in mud. She dares a peek at where they had been checking out the tracks. The same mud. Had Curtis¨Cno, he had come up from a different direction. A cold dread fills her being. That nagging feeling back earlier plays out in her head, the second set of tracks, and she¡¯s put the marker, right at the inside of the doorway. Military-style boots. Several ex-soldiers were here at the facility, but¨C Is Kyle right? If he¡¯s been right, then¨Cthen she¡¯s been ignoring the one person who had the right answer the whole time. Instinct takes over. She grabs the binary agent canister and makes the throw of her life, while drawing the bolt pistol out of her pouch. A bolt is still on the firing rail. The canister cracks open and douses Curtis¡¯s boots, and he shouts, surprised. ¡°Joey, what the hell¨C¡± She¡¯s already aimed the bolt pistol squarely at his head, and Kyle shouts out in surprise. She only takes one glance to confirm her suspicion Kyle had been right the entire time. He¡¯s been right not to trust Curtis. And she almost made a fatal mistake in trusting him. The chemical marker is activated on his boots in a fluorescent yellow dye. He went in, after their discovery, but before he arrived here to meet with them. He doesn¡¯t move, and is frozen in place. ¡°Well spotted, Josephine.¡± King¡¯s accolades could mean less to her, but now she has both saboteurs. Curtis is the second traitor. And he¡¯s been playing them from the beginning. Vol. 2, Ch. 88: The Heart Of A Luminaire, Part Two Curtis sneers at her, but he makes no motion to lower his weapon from the door, while Kyle stands there, mouth agape. ¡°Drop the weapon. And tell me who you are, right now, Curtis.¡± Her grip is dead steady on the weapon. Something slips off his face, like he''s been wearing an act the entire time. There¡¯s a manic tint to his eyes and a haggard grin. ¡°Kyle, sorry it took me so long to come around. You were right. We shouldn¡¯t have trusted him.¡± ¡°I was just spitballing, who isn¡¯t on these bastard¡¯s payrolls?¡± he shouts in fury. Curtis smiles evilly, even with a weapon pointed at his face. ¡°I should have known the traitorous rat would have figured me out.¡± That lecherous grin is almost enough for her to pull the trigger right now and stop screwing around, let alone the blatant racism. ¡°Bertance had it right. I am ideally placed to be the ultimate saboteur. Val pays good money. Too good to pass up for the new world order, ya know?¡± ¡°So, you sold out. When?¡± ¡°About six months ago. Retirement was too far away, and bribes were lacking once I was out of SAF. Thing is, Val didn¡¯t tell me about King¡¯s inside man. You guys helped me find him. I should have known King was gonna go soft. Play his fancy little human puppet dance, done the safe route. Course, I knew that slippery fiend might be baiting me with the cameras, and it''s why Val isn''t busy exterminating all the rats down the row in Missouri. Or you two. How¡¯s that working for ya now?¡± The implication he''d send Val to murder the people back home is almost enough to put a bolt through his shining teeth right now, and Kyle''s expression turns murderous. ¡°Joey, kill this sack of shit, don''t hesitate.¡± Kyle grabs the detonator compound that she''d dropped in her haste. She''s not quite at that moment yet. ¡°Curtis, drop the weapon. I know what a single bolt can do at close range with no arcane barrier.¡± Every bit of fury has been forged and tempered into absolute focus. ¡°Without you two, there¡¯s no invasion. Your plan falls flat. This game is over.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not.¡± he tosses the weapon aside, stepping towards her. ¡°King''s right. Where we differ is the means to the end. Val does the things that King never would, or could. After all, could you shoot one of your own?¡± That psionic connection. It hasn''t been her imagining things the last time she''s seen him. And she feels that probing for her thoughts, like a foreign worm, trying to will her hand to point¨C She focuses her will and shoves that intrusive probe away, and Curtis flinches from the feedback. She''d gotten very good at flinging that invasive, slithery mental thread away when her parents were checking nonstop on how she was feeling. She aims down in a flash and fires. The silvery bolt skewers through his leg, and he screams in pain, nearly falls over, and is propped on one knee, heaving and trying to will away the agonizing injury. ¡°Don''t you EVER.¡± One psionic trying to breach someone else''s mind without consent is considered one of the most taboo and violent things one can do¨Cit requires intent, unlike listening to surface thoughts, which are simply there. ¡°Kyle, get in there and tie up Lavernius.¡± Kyle grabs the fallen bolt pistol, while she keeps her aim trained on Curtis. She''s not surprised by the pain reaction as his body changes to its original form, a brown-furred Kitsune with ochre-colored eyes, wreathed in pain and hatred. ¡°You stupid bitch! You think you can stop this?!¡± he screams and holds the bolt where it''s entered. ¡°Val''s gonna get you and your friends! They''re already staging for this massacre! And you throw in your lot with the people who''ve put our whole race down?!¡± ¡°No, Curtis. I''m putting my lot in with people who have done nothing but defend others.¡± His lower digitigrade leg is utterly ruined with that bolt sticking out. But she''s not done with bold moves yet. There is a reason King gave out this hint--their continued survival, she concludes. Which means that the calculus has changed drastically in the last minute. ¡°King, new deal. I changed my mind. Stall these killers, and I''ll consider helping you. But this guy is not part of the deal. He''s mine.¡± ¡°Oh, he''s not part of any deal. Val forced my hand.¡± Kyle eases the door open and Lavernius offers no resistance, while Kyle frisks his pockets. ¡°Confirm something for me, King. Did you plant that conversation, at the bio wing?¡± Lavernius nods, as does King. Kyle sighs and keeps his weapon trained on him. ¡°It was a gambit. One that paid off, as you can see,¡± King offers. ¡°Yeah dude, don''t be smug about this, you still work with a murderous dragon. There are eight different teleport pads on the cargo system, or more if there are hidden ones in the lower levels, we need to dismantle them now.¡± Lavernius glances at his partner, with grim determination. ¡°Your call, King. If we do this, Val''s going to have heads on plates¨C¡± ¡°Val¡¯s not going to care if I get the journals delivered to her and Crosomer,¡± King interjects. ¡°That¡¯s all I¡¯ve ever been interested in.¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Kinda weird, how you¡¯re willing to sabotage your guys,¡± Kyle points out. ¡°Val¡¯s men are not under my control. Decentralized structure means, we each have our independent reporting chain, and Val¡¯s soldiers are through-and-through killers,¡± King explains. ¡°Miss Pyromist, tie up loose ends. Either put a bolt through that man¡¯s skull right now or render him unable to play a role in this. You have my word that I will pull influence to make sure that the grounds of Asqualia shall not be bathed in blood.¡± ¡°King, you traitorous bastard!¡± Curtis screams while trying to pull the bolt out of his leg without any success, his muzzle in open fury. ¡°When Val hears about this, that singing, dancing dragoness is going to devour you alive! And she¡¯ll break out in verse while she¡¯s doing it!¡± That has to be the oddest remark she¡¯s heard all day, even given the circumstances. ¡°Val¡¯s temperament is not my concern at the moment, only results, Curtis. I would surmise that after you killed Lavernius, you would have done the same to Miss Pyromist and Mister Bertance.¡± Curtis leers at that projection of the living personification of calm. ¡°Don¡¯t act surprised. I do play a deft hand.¡± ¡°King, you still have a massive problem with that device,¡± Joey points out. She¡¯s still got control of this situation, for the moment. It¡¯s time to figure out what King¡¯s motivation is, he¡¯s too focused on not trying to decorate the landscape in bodies. ¡°You are carrying monumental risks, letting Valosterla anywhere remotely close to this kind of power. What it¡¯s capable of is impossible, unless it¡¯s tearing a hole straight through the aether. Activating it again could lead to disastrous results.¡± ¡°Hence, the need for Volkir¡¯s journals,¡± King states candidly, and his eyes flicker to Curtis, who grits his sharpened teeth. ¡°I don¡¯t do things without a plan, you know. The Conclave has to go, and to do that, the groundwork of their destruction will require due attention.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your angle, anyway?¡± She doesn¡¯t trust King much, but he¡¯d also put out that one hint that had just saved their lives¨Cif temporarily. He has an agenda that will likely benefit him in the long run. ¡°Mana is dying in the world, Josephine. The crystals aren¡¯t growing like they used to. We patched a wound just now with the device, but we are depleting it faster than it grows. As an expert in magical creatures, you likely have seen some of the¨C¡± Curtis screams in agony as he pulls the bolt in one sickening motion, and lunges with the projectile at Kyle, blood dripping off of it and grabbing Kyle and pinning him against the frame of the shack. Joey fires but misses in the panic shot, and¨Cdammit, the primer didn¡¯t trigger, the next bolt didn¡¯t rise onto the rail! She drops the pistol and grabs Curtis, who is a bear of a kitsune if she¡¯s ever seen one, and lands a crippling kick at his injured leg. He howls in agonizing pain, but still is standing. He promptly elbows her in the head and she veers to the edge of consciousness, staggering backward. Kyle uses the brief window to brace the pistol into Curtis¡¯ stomach and tries to fire, but the bolt isn¡¯t primed. Curtis bites down with his muzzle at Kyle''s outstretched arm, and Kyle is in agonizing pain, trying to wrench his arm free. Joey recovers and grabs her compact staff, clicking it to full length. Lavernius is standing there, unable to figure out just what he¡¯d supposed to do. Joey lands one good hit on Curtis, staggering him with the blunt of her staff. A follow-up blow catches and cracks his muzzle and he lets go, Kyle toppling back and nursing the severe bite wound on his arm. Curtis manages to get an arcane barrier up and deflects her follow-up attack, the shield barely holding. He grabs the staff and tries to wrench it from her grasp. ¡°Val told me to keep an eye out for troublemakers like you!¡± he shouts, broken teeth slurring his words and blood dripping from his muzzle. ¡°She¡¯s spent a long time wiping out threats like you, and she told me the stories of those who defied her. The Luminaires and the Valkyries are the sole reason this world isn¡¯t hers yet!¡± ¡°Lavernius, we still need to get ahead of this! Get moving, stall the teleportals, Val¡¯s men are on the move and staging heavy mechanized troops!¡± King breaks composure and shouts out instructions. ¡°Joey, the lower vaults, you¡¯ll need Drenar!¡± ¡°Kinda busy!¡± Joey snarls¨Cthis just went off the rails in an instant, and Curtis leers at her, trying to grab her weapon away. She¡¯s not about to let that happen and lands another brutal kick at his injured leg, and he howls out in pain¨Cthe arcane barrier softens the blow, somewhat. ¡°Why Drenar?!¡± ¡°This was the plan! I needed someone Volkir would trust, and he¡¯s got the heart of a Luminaire, same as you! Val would have to tear the place apart down to the bedrock and kill everyone inside, and risk compromising the future of everyone! There are bigger cogs in this machine than you can know, now go!¡± Even King is showing a little tension, safe as he is in his secret lair. Lavernius hits a button on his arm and a shimmer of light wraps around him¨Cthe optic camo that had allowed him unfettered access before. King¡¯s projection fades into blue motes, but Joey can''t be bothered when she''s got this intrinsic threat trying to tear her apart. She pries the weapon away and lands a blow on his ribs, and he staggers back. He blocks the second blow even as he''s recovering and draws a combat dagger, trying to cut at her. She deftly avoids and keeps him at a distance. She feels her danger sense trigger¨Can invocation! She dodges and rolls to the side as he aims a beam of fire at her with his free hand, a verbal spell she almost had missed. He uses her distraction as an opportunity to launch a second invocation, the words a slither through the air that throws her to the ground¨Ca kinetic blast! She rolls with the momentum, gasping when she smacks into the side of the shed. ¡°You¡¯re not stopping this invasion! This plan has been a long time in the making, and no rat is going to get in the way of that!¡± He pins her against the frame, and she deflects the thrust that still cuts a narrow slice into her shoulder, and she cries in pain. Adrenaline keeps her hand in firm control, fight or flight driving her strength and keeping him from cutting further. She channels a charge to her staff and strikes right at his groin, the force amplified. He howls in pain, reeling backward for a split second. Kyle takes the opportunity to prime the detonator, and jumps on his back. He stuffs the deadly explosive down his vest, and Curtis flings him off, trying desperately to get the gleaming red ball of death out in time. Joey sees her opportunity and throws another canister¨Ca shape-force blast that concusses him backward, into the shack. She staggers over to Kyle, and puts her arcane barrier around both of them to maximum force by the corner of the stone wall. Curtis¡¯s last scream of terror is followed by a deafening blast, fire wrapping around the corner of the wall. The force of the blast shifts the wall, and it begins to topple. She covers Kyle protectively and flares her barrier to life with every bit of strength she can muster. The world goes dark as the wall collapses on top of them. Vol. 2, Ch. 89: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Vulpine Scorned, Part One Joey gasps for breath when she feels the overbearing weight of too many mason bricks on her back, held at bay by her arcane barrier. The simple but powerful defense spell supported most of the load. She manages to get an alchemical potion off her belt and chugs the ingredients. She can feel the burning sensation as muscles tense across her body, and every nerve feels like it''s being jolted with electricity. ¡°Joey, I can¡¯t move!¡± Kyle says, in between panicked gasps. ¡°I¡¯ve still got a card left to play, hang on!¡± The potion takes several seconds to build to full strength, and she waits as long as she dares with her arcane barrier threatening to destabilize. She lets out a yell of fury and manages to heave the heavy bricks off her back with the incredible surge of strength, and shoves more out of the way. Kyle¡¯s still beneath her, coughing and disoriented, judging by his head darting around warily. She kicks another series of bricks away, and she can see the dim light of sunset reflecting through the lake above their heads. She thrusts her hand skywards, sending more of the wreckage flying off of them. Her arcane barrier that kept the bricks from crushing them gives out just as they get free, and she drags herself and Kyle out of the debris pile through the narrow opening. She manages to get about a couple of body lengths out before her strength surge fades, and she feels that burning sensation intensify, leaving her curled on the ground, in agonizing pain. She hated using that potion, specifically because of that side effect. Joey glances down at Kyle, who looks dazed and covered in dirt in grime. ¡°Kyle¨Chah¨Cyou okay?!¡± she heaves, and winces from even the smallest motion. She lets out a shudder of pain, and he nods weakly. He¡¯s still nursing the bite on his arm, it looks painful but not immediately life-threatening. ¡°I¡¯m alright. Bastard took his goddamn pound of flesh, but I¡¯ll live. You okay?¡± ¡°Regretting my life choices,¡± she moans through gritted teeth. A narrow cut on her shoulder is still bleeding lightly, that dagger had been too close a call. She wills herself to lift her head up and survey what just happened. To her horror, the shack has been reduced to kindling and Curtis is¨Cless than that. Seeing that man reduced to a mess of kinship carnage is¨C The side effect of the potion and that visceral image prove too much for her and she doubles over and retches, and spills her stomach contents out. Her body is wracked with pain, and that awful bile taste in her mouth. Her eyes are watering, and all she can feel is the sting of acid in her throat, muscle aches, and the slight trembling of her hands. The noxious smell of smoke is just the cherry topper of this absolute crap day. ¡°Gods damn it,¡± she mutters and wipes her mouth with her sleeve once she¡¯s sure the feeling of nausea fades, and she sits down, utterly spent. Another dry heave wracks her body, and she lets out a sound of anguish. Kyle grabs a blue vial off her belt, and pours half of it over his bite wound, and grimaces at the fast regeneration before he drinks the other half. He grasps his injured arm and watches with morbid fascination as the wounds scab and start to heal. She¡¯s still trying to get back to her feet, and he stops her. ¡°You¡¯ve got a cut, that¡¯s deep.¡± he grabs her second emergency vial and pulls back her shirt and lab coat, stained with blood. She holds it back through sheer will while he pours it over the knife wound. She¡¯s always had a high pain tolerance, even if she has a bit of pain sensitivity, and grits her teeth from the rapid healing. He presses the bottle to her lips, and she downs it reluctantly. They both glance at each other, breathing heavily. ¡°Is he dead?¡± Kyle finally asks. He dares not look at the mess of wood, metal, and meat. ¡°Curtis is gone.¡± She pulls her shirt and coat back over her shoulder, though it¡¯s ruined for good, now. She¡¯s still panting for breath from the exertion. ¡°You saved our lives, Kyle.¡± ¡°Good. That man had it coming,¡± he says with unchecked fervor. ¡°Where¡¯s Lavernius?¡± ¡°Ran off. Hopefully to go stall out Val. Fates, did I just make a deal with King?!¡± she groans and fights the urge to throw up again. ¡°I only caught part of that, but Joey¡­I dunno what the deal is with Drenar, but I¡¯m getting this vibe he is not an ordinary person, based on everything we¡¯ve seen so far.¡± She glances down, making sure she doesn¡¯t have any other significant injuries¨CKyle looks like he¡¯s okay, except for the healing arm wound, and aside from a few cuts and a deeper gash on her leg, she¡¯s still in one piece. She pops open the last regen potion for the gash, and braces against the stinging sensation she knows is coming. The wound closes and fades to a manageable level before she rolls up her jeans leg. It¡¯s a good thing I can get that arcane barrier up with zero delay, or that wall would have crushed me and Kyle. ¡°Joey, we can¡¯t call SAF. Curtis betrayed all of us like we didn¡¯t mean a damn thing to him other than a paycheck. Who knows how much information he fed to Valosterla?¡± this dread is just getting started, and she nods weakly. ¡°SAF is corrupt as all hell, the Talons are just one giant chaos machine, and the Valkyries are nowhere to be seen while this shit goes down! Who do we have on our side?!¡± ¡°Kyle, calm down¨C¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not going to calm down!¡± he shouts, and his attempt to rise is met by his legs buckling. ¡°I just atomized a human being¨Ca Kitsune! I am as far from calm as I can get right now!¡± She shifts over and puts her hands on his shoulder to get him to sit down. He¡¯s unfocused, dazed, and coming off an adrenaline rush that is seriously messing with his thought process, and her hands are shaking a little, too. That trembling is the other side-effect of that alchemical booster. ¡°Kyle, he sold out everyone we know. He would have killed us. He made his intentions clear as day. You did nothing wrong in defending us. Breathe, for Fate¡¯s sake, take a deep breath, please.¡± He does take a breath, and almost whimpers on the exhale. She hears shouts in the distance, and quite frankly she¡¯s amazed everyone sprinted at record speed over to the garden currently lined with shreds of wood, shrapnel, bone, and blood. Explaining this one is going to have to wait because Kyle is not okay. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Joey, what have we become? We¡¯re killers.¡± The shock is setting in, she needs to redirect him, quickly! This danger isn''t over yet. ¡°We defended our home, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.¡± She¡¯s killed monsters before, in self-defense. Nick had been there, as well as Amaranth. It hadn¡¯t happened often, but often enough she could rationalize it as bad luck. Monsters hunted, and sometimes they hunted Kin. This¡­this was¡­almost as bad as that. But Kyle is going to lose it unless she can get him to focus. ¡°Kyle, just listen. You are okay. It''s going to be okay. We stopped a threat.¡± ¡°I stuffed a goddamn grenade down a man''s armor set, Joey. That is not okay by any measure.¡± She can also feel the anguish in her own heart, too. It''s different from her own emotional house of cards that is one stiff breeze away from collapsing. Kyle is truly breaking down in a way that she doesn''t know how to stop. ¡°Kyle, I would have made the same choice. I was ready to kill that man to keep him from hurting you.¡± Slowly, she feels that tangles of awful feelings loosen, dissolving into nothingness. She can''t see it, but she can feel it while holding him tightly, and he''s sitting there, almost on the verge of tears from a truly awful series of events. His pulse does come down, and his breath is less shaky. He glances at her, head tilted. ¡°Hey, what did you do?¡± ¡°It''s called being a friend, Kyle,¡± she says softly. He rubs his hands together, and his eyes focus on the people she can hear behind her. She''s been tuning them out, because he needs this moment of calm and clarity. ¡°Okay. I think¡­I think I''ve got less of a chance of freaking out.¡± He takes a deep breath, and she helps him to his feet. She peers over her shoulder, and Zameren is rushing up the slight hill to the orchard path at full tilt, along with a number of the staff. ¡°Joey, we gotta move. But seriously, who is left on our side?¡± She locks eyes with him and gives a determined smile. Because she needs to have faith that the most unlikely collection of people is hopefully on the way. ¡°A bunch of misfits who just curb-stomped an invasion force, that¡¯s who we¡¯ve got on our side,¡± she says with enthusiasm. ¡°That said, we gotta run damage control, fast.¡± She reaches for her ID badge and taps it to activate it. ¡°Lavernius, I need to know right now, do you stand with us, or the monsters?¡± ¡°There are monsters on both sides, Joey. The Conclave, and Val''s killers. King and Crosomer are different, but their influence only goes so far. We will help stall this as long as we can, but Curtis could have been working on other means for ingress, keep looking. I''m disabling the first teleportal at the loading bay, on the first floor by the kitchen.¡± She hears a grunt and a gentle click. ¡°But will you help us?¡± ¡°I will trust King only so far as I can throw him, but he clued me in on Curtis. I don''t know if he guessed, or if he already knew he was Val¡¯s inside man. We need these journals out of here, period. We¡¯ll discuss the next steps once we have them.¡± ¡°...I can live by those terms,¡± he grunts. ¡°King says to hurry. He can only run interference for so long. Get the staff ready. I know I don''t have a leg to stand on here, but¡­if you can''t choose a side, choose your own and those you protect.¡± ¡°Like your family?¡± Zameren is calling out to them, other mages are fanning out to put out the fire, and that noxious burning scent is just killing her mood at the moment. Lavernius sighs. ¡°I would do anything to protect them. You have my word on that.¡± ¡°Then focus on that.¡± She clicks off the transmitter and turns to address Zameren, who is out of breath, as is her friend Claire, who despite being five-foot-short, is one hell of a runner. ¡°Joey¨Cwhat¨Chah¨Cwhat the hell happened?!¡± Zameren heaves, and his salt-and-pepper hair is frazzled. ¡°Are you two alright?¡± Kyle grimaces beside her. ¡°Do you want the long version, or the short version on why we blew up the botanical gardens?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take any version, as long as I understand why you two are beaten to hell and blood-soaked!¡± he answers in exasperation. ¡°SAF betrayed us. Curtis was working with the Onyx Talons to recover a journal that contained runic translations to a device in their possession. That device brought that dead biozone back to life over in town where we visited, two days ago,¡± Joey explains calmly while trying to wipe the blood off of her hands. It¡¯s not a good look, for sure. Zameren is speechless at the moment, and trying to grapple with her calm, collected summary. ¡°Lavernius was also involved, but they work in independent factions. Curtis was rigging the teleportal for a groundside invasion and would have killed every single one of us. He¡¯s¡­¡± She looks to Kyle and points to the burning shack. ¡°Curtis confessed to being a traitor, there was a fight, and he suffered an untimely end with an alchemical explosive.¡± Claire-bouncing, always cheery Claire, the one who got her out of her shell and got her to do trivia nights, gasps in utter shock. ¡°Joey, how can¨Coh my god, Curtis is dead?¡± ¡°He sold us all out for money, Claire!¡± Kyle shouts. ¡°He¡¯d been at it for six months, our only saving grace is that the Talons seem to have semi-competing factions that disagree on one thing: how many bodies need to fall to achieve their goals. Lavernius is busy taking a sledgehammer to the teleportal networks, we need to disable them right now before the Talons murder army can activate them. They can bypass the security protocol if they bridge the connection to the cargo transport network!¡± Kyle gets up on his feet unsteadily, and waves away one of the other personnel who tries to examine his arm. ¡°Zameren, Claire, I know this sounds insane, but you gotta believe us!¡± ¡°No. I believe it. The Talons launched a multi-pronged assault in town and elsewhere less than an hour ago. The garrison took a beating but some civilians held them back¨Cthree dragons working as a team, by the sound of it,¡± Claire says with reluctance. ¡°Are the Talons on their way?¡± ¡°We stalled them, but Curtis had access to the entire facility, he could have put in a ticking time bomb of an entryway for them! Also, those three dragons that threw the Talons a beating? They¡¯re also on their way here.¡± Joey glares at Kyle because now he¡¯s pushing it into a realm of truly unbelievable. ¡°Joey might also have a crush on one of them, he¡¯s hella crazy, and some kind of possible chosen one.¡± ¡°Kyle, focus!¡± Joey snarls. ¡°Someone get in that shack and see if anything survived, we¡¯ve got teleportals to smash, right now!¡± ¡°This is insane!¡± Zameren protested. ¡°So were the Talons starting a war out of nowhere, and it¡¯s way worse at several other locations!¡± Claire interjects, and puts a hand firmly on Joey¡¯s good shoulder. The other still stings from the healing underway, just past her skin. ¡°Joey, fill us in on the way, Kyle, you¡¯re decent with the teleportal tech, can you move?¡± ¡°Damn right, I can, and don¡¯t shoot Lavernius when you see him. We still have an IOU to King that I don¡¯t think we need to fulfill¨C¡± Joey motions to him for silence, then looks back to Claire, puppy dog brown eyes and bouncing brown curls accenting her face. ¡°Okay then, too much info, we should go.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 90: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Vulpine Scorned, Part Two ¡°How the hell did you manage this, Joey?¡± That was the summary of Claire¡¯s reaction in between barking out orders and getting everyone moving. Every single mage with military training was being briefed on the situation while they sped through the facility, stopping to check up on Lavernius, who was on a speed-running mission to disable all the teleportals. ¡°Yeah Claire, I¡¯m still figuring that part out. This has been one weird week,¡± Joey answers her, and Claire still looks stumped. ¡°Girl, I¡¯m a little bit worried about you. You blew up Curtis. Like, wasn¡¯t there a better choice?¡± ¡°Between him trying to give me several gaping chest wounds? No. There wasn¡¯t,¡± she states with resignation. She doesn¡¯t have any regrets about that, but that image afterward¨Cthat one might stick with her for a while. She¡¯s seen carnage before when monsters eat. Or on the occasion that Nick, Professor Amaranth, and herself had been on a tour and been given an attachment to their screening of wildlife, and were tasked with looking for a twelve-year-old mage. They¡¯d found him. Or, what was left of him. While she knew magical creatures weren¡¯t evil, there was a certain level of awfulness, seeing the body, and Nick having to carry out the ghoulish task of gathering the remains. Very little shook Nick, from what she knew. That task had shaken him to his core, even as often as he might have had to perform it in his monster management work. Someone would have to do that for Curtis, eventually. Even the fact that he was a kitsune, who had hidden his true form just as well as her, did nothing to detract the feeling that he didn¡¯t deserve a burial for what he did. She violently casts the thought aside with a shake of her head. ¡°Joey, you okay?¡± Claire asks softly. Kyle is busy helping Lavernius find the sabotage work from Curtis, and is otherwise busy for a moment. Joey looks down, wringing her hands. No scrubbing could get that feeling off her soul, even in the defense of people she cared about. But she didn¡¯t regret it. ¡°Ask me later, Claire. This has become a truly messed up day.¡± ¡°I know, I saw that look on Kyle,¡± she says it in a lower tone now, so that it¡¯s just the two of them discussing it. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re not dead Joey, either of you, and you held your own against someone who was a trained killer.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to be not dead, too. But I don¡¯t know if we¡¯re in a better situation, Claire,¡± she responds after a minute. ¡°We are currently making a deal with a lesser devil, to keep the real devil from murdering everyone in the facility, so we are hedging our bets.¡± ¡°And your role in this, Lavernius?¡± Claire hisses when she turns to give him a baleful stare. His noted duality has not gone over well with her, and she keeps tipping her hand to her holstered pistol. The one with the mana-coated rounds that would have a substantial impact on arcane barriers. ¡°Short version, world peace was the plan. Or at least world stability,¡± Lavernius grunts. He does not like having a gun pointed at the back of his neck, which Claire had done. Once. ¡°Look, if you wanna throw me in prison after this, get in line. My motivations are crystal clear on where I stand, the Conclave is festering. Zacharias is the rotten core of it all, and she¡¯s been ruling or de-facto ruling harder than President Putin in his little dystopia. Ever since Robespierre Crosomer got sent on a special trip to a hellscape of prison for seven hundred years. Let that soak in for a moment. I don¡¯t even think she¡¯s the worst offender, either. But bad leadership lets rot continue to spread. All kin are slowly being marginalized as a matter of historical fact.¡± ¡°Crosomer was a rebel who was willing to burn the entire establishment down, and he broke every boundary of magic before doing so!¡± Zameren argues. He hands Lavernius a tool when he motions for it, and Kyle and Joey are busy handing out equipment. They¡¯d emptied the small armory. And before doing so, they¡¯d checked every bit of gear for sabotage. Curtis had indeed disabled a number of the weapons permanently. A few they had been able to get operating again¨Cbolt pistols, and a few autobow rifles. But he had forgotten Kyle¡¯s personal armory and weapons prototyping, and the lock on the door hadn¡¯t been tampered with. Joey¡¯s slight paranoia of security for their lab had paid off. ¡°Question? Why the hell haven¡¯t we just evacuated?¡± Reeves asks while looking pale, anxious, and desperately needing a valium at the moment. Lavernius grunts. ¡°Curtis spliced these up but good, I think he had the prep work ready, but I don¡¯t think he was able to take care of the main teleportal upstairs. Son of a bitch was ready to kill everyone. King would have been in and out like a ghost, no one would ever have known.¡± ¡°Yeah, that makes it sound so much better,¡± Kyle bristles at the comment. ¡°Where is that guy, is he not in touch with you?¡± ¡°Stalling. Val''s¡¯ soldiers aren¡¯t going to screw around, she sees a prize and she gets what she wants. Always. No matter how many bodies it takes. Curtis wasn¡¯t joking, she was crooning while she was eating the last person who displeased her.¡± Joey and Kyle look at each other, nauseous expressions crossing their faces simultaneously. ¡°Thanks, Lavernius, truly, for confirming that team evil is batshit insane,¡± Kyle states with utter contempt. ¡°How many teleportals are left?¡± ¡°Two. The first one is on the second floor by the biolab. The last one¡¯s on the periphery of the vault entryway. After that, you are going to give me explosives on a timer delay, and we¡¯re going to blow up the main hub¨C¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Whoa, why would we do that?!¡± Joey interjects, and this plan is getting more dangerous. ¡°I¡¯m not screwing around, Josephine, I could think of at least two other ways into Asqualia¨Cthe teleportal hub with a Valkyrie order override¨Cunlikely, mind you, or a proxy relay. I saw what you did to Curtis, and that man had it coming. You should count your blessings that man¡¯s overconfidence was his downfall because King said he was a real piece of work behind the scenes. His military record, while redacted, indicates he did some utterly reprehensible things in Burkina Faso about five years ago.¡± ¡°How bad?¡± Joey narrows her eyes at him. If he wasn¡¯t working with Team Evil, she might even find him to be a decent human being. ¡°Bad enough that I¡¯d want to kill him, for what he did to several women.¡± He pulls out a sintered arcanist circuit and breathes a sigh of relief. ¡°Good, they can¡¯t bypass this one, now. Two more, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°How long have you worked with King?¡± He grunts at Kyle¡¯s blunt question as they walk swiftly to the next teleportal, Claire always keeping her hand on her firearm in her holster. Joey had also swapped out her clothes and gotten her old MBPS jacket¨Cwhich also doubled as a light armor set for field incursions with mithril mesh inserted, and she¡¯d belted on her new alchemical hopper system and loaded it with everything she thought they¡¯d need. She has a solution for a variety of problems, at least. It felt good to have this jacket back on. Back when her forays into the field gave her purpose beyond just her work in academia, and showed her the wonders of the magical world. Even if MBPS had started deteriorating¡­it was a nice bit of nostalgia, and a really nice piece of equipment. ¡°I worked with King for¡­fifteen years. I got into a bit of trouble as a teen. I took something that didn''t belong to me, for money. I should have stolen from someone less vindictive,¡± he adds with a sarcastic drawl. They proceed through the hallway to the next teleportal cargo point just a ways down, past a stairwell of gleaming chrome and glass, and little safety signs plastered on the siding. At least slips aren¡¯t an issue with the grip pads on each landing. ¡°King¡­got me out of a bind. Later, we¡­sort of became friends. Even though his profession is as an enabler of criminal activities, he does have loftier goals. More noble ones.¡± ¡°You know he¡¯s done nasty things,¡± Joey interjects. ¡°Only to people the world is better off without. I won¡¯t mince words, King hasn¡¯t always been on the right side of the law. Neither have I. But when the law itself is broken, what are people supposed to do?¡± Lavernius has his thoughts interrupted when Kyle¡¯s phone pings. He pulls it out, and gasps. ¡°Joey, the motion sensor went off by the waterfall.¡± He turns on the feed from the observer golem, and Terra is now clinging to a wall just by the waterfall. "Hmm. Ah hell, it''s that stupid overgrown feathered bull again," he utters but sounds slightly relieved. "You mean the Feralaz Draconis?" She refers to it by its formal name. Most people called it one of two things, either a European avian charger, or a feathered battering ram. It was a cousin to the Murmions that lived in the area, but bigger, and built like a giant raptor with a smooth, broad skull, and it would have been over three meters at the shoulders. It was a fruit and small prey eater and couldn''t fly, but it was aggressive, and its head was built to withstand immense shock. It used that broad head to smash away competing males, or threats to its existence and could run very quickly on its powerful two legs, and it was covered in iridescent blue feathers, with green ones on its face and wings. Odd. Where''s the rest of that herd? Must have wandered off. But then something gets its attention. The Feralaz pops its head up to full height and lets out a warbling shout. And she hears something else. People talking. Kyle pans the camera around, and he almost drops the phone. There''s a group of people that were near the waterfall that had come out of the stone door, which is now open. And she recognizes them! ¡°Holy hell, they made it,¡± Joey says almost excitedly when she sees them, Drenar taking the lead. It¡¯s brought to a terse standstill when the Feralaz rounds the corner and sees them. They follow Nick¡¯s advice and become relaxed. Julia is cooing about a new monster pet¨Cdoes she have any idea how dangerous they could be? Nah. Julia would have this creature eating out of her hand by the end of the week, given her personality. At least, that¡¯s what she concludes. "Hey, who''s the hottie by the Feralaz?" Claire whispers. Joey completely forgot that she was there next to her and that she''s been holding her breath for too long. "That''s Nick DeShandrea. He''s an old friend of Amaranth Vertimer, my academy professor." Claire frowns. "No, the hottie with the sword and messy hair. He''s ruggedly handsome, isn''t he?" "He''s¡­decent," Joey finally says. She spent a long time coming up with an answer that sounded noncommitted, and Claire claps her shoulder. "Uh-huh. Just decent?" "Eh, he''s a five out of ten. He¡¯s nothing special, and he needs a haircut," Kyle mutters. Joey needles his comment with an icy glare. "Hey Zameren, we need to cut this short, we have guests of the non-murderous sort over by the waterfall." Lavernius is busy with the next console, tearing through the innards and pulling out the spliced-in circuitry¨Cit had been well hidden, and when he turns to see the video, he gasps. ¡°Dear Gaia, Julia, Drenar, Angela, and James?!¡± ¡°You¡¯re acquainted?¡± Claire asks. ¡°Julia is best friends with my daughter, and also friends with Drenar.¡± Claire taps that gun in her holster again, Joey notes. He is going to get shot by the end of this, and not even by her. ¡°You¡¯re pretty messed up Lavernius, you know that?¡± Claire says with a deadly tone to her voice. ¡°Focus on stopping bloodthirsty killers from raiding the place, I¡¯ve got a security team eyeballing the main portal, so far, nada. After we¡¯re done with this one, I need Joey to brew up more explosives to destroy it. I am not about to have our back lines overridden.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we just cut the power?¡± Reeves asks. ¡°We can¡¯t. There¡¯s so much power running through it at all times to maintain a load in the capacitors, that it¡¯s too dangerous to just ¡®cut¡¯ an arcane power node. You¡¯ll kill everyone nearby unless you let the capacitors drain. That''s several hours in a by-the-book procedure,¡± Lavernius snaps, even as he peers in closer. ¡°So, go do something dumb. Just know that it¡¯s an instant ticket to a Darwin Award if you¡¯re curious.¡± Joey gets worried when the Feralaz draws closer to who she presumes is James, and after a calm statement from Nick, opens his bag. Things go wrong as the Feralaz grabs the bag upwards in its beak¨Cand James and it warbles cheerily. James panics and screams, and the bag is now tangled around him, and the antlers. The bird spins around, nearly impaling Julia with its talons, and tries to dash off at this slight complication. "Ahhh! I''m gonna get eaten like bad comic relief!" James screams out and tries to get loose, but can''t. Joey grabs her alchemical kit and darts out the door. The last thing she saw was Drenar sprinting at top speed, trying to help James. She hopes she can get to them before he gets torn apart! Vol. 2, Ch. 91: The Gang Is All Here! Drenar realizes with an instant regret that chasing after a giant murder bird, who tried to grab a snack, and accidentally took his friend, is a bad idea. An even worse idea is to fling himself onto the back of said murder bird and help James untangle the mess of straps from his hopelessly complex backpack. And the worst idea is, he has no idea how to get off this really bad ride. This was a really bad idea! Alex shrills. It''s not like he didn''t know that already! "James, hold still!" Drenar clings to the bird''s shoulder with one hand for dear life, while being smacked repeatedly by the broad wings, and nearly flung off. When the bird turns its head around, he nearly gets smashed by the broad skull that looks like it would have been better placed on a battering ram. "And stop screaming! The moment of terror was a minute ago!" "How are you so unnaturally chill when this thing is trying to kill us?!" James screams out and flips around trying to hold on and get the straps off. But it''s a tangled mess now, and each sway and buck of the wild beast is not helping matters. "It was just hungry!" "That is not a valid reason for my existence to end!" James is already scratched up and bruised from the wild flight, and Drenar has grabbed his dagger and tried to line up a clean swipe. The easiest thing to do would be to just stab the creature, but that seems like a monumentally stupid idea, considering he¡¯s going at high speed, and it hadn''t tried to hurt them at first. It''s now veering through a small wooded area, and Drenar passively notes there''s a giant lake above their heads, suspended in space. It makes no sense at all, and there are also waterfalls flowing in the wrong direction! Well here''s one to cross off the bucket list! Going for a rodeo with a Feralaz, well-done lad! "Alex, bad time for commentary!" Drenar shouts back as he nearly gets smashed again by the bucking creature. Drenar cuts one strap, and James dangles for a second before getting his arm out of the loop and crashing into the ground and barely avoiding being skewered by a talon. His spell barrier breaks the second he lands and he rolls, groaning. The Feralaz, as Alex referred to it, ignores him and is still trying to buck and bite at Drenar. The beak gouges into his shoulder, and he roars in pain. He pools all his fury into a well-placed telekinetic blast and sends the head flying back, and the creature stumbles. It''s now running wildly and erratically, and there''s a stone and steel fortress down a slight valley. It''s massive and impressive. He does note there was a recent fire by a walled-off area, and people are rushing outside¡­is that someone running across the field towards him? Drenar doesn''t wait to find out, because this wild ride is running right for them, and it could seriously hurt someone. He winds up again and lands another telekinetic blast at full force. He regrets this decision when the beast tumbles into a roll, and he''s sent flying forward. Drenar lazily thinks this is the stupidest way to die ever, from a random encounter with a giant bird built like a battering ram. He arches his spine to get his barrier up, and it still is a painful landing. He pulls his limbs in just as he contacts the ground and tumbles, getting bruised and jostled before coming to a stop on long, flowing grass with the faded sweet scent of summer. "Ow. No more Falcon punching my ride," he groans as he tries to pry himself off the ground. The Feralaz has righted itself and is closing in. It snaps its beak and makes low clicking sounds like it''s ready to attack. "Oh fine then, take a snack!" he growls when he digs into the bag that had landed right next to him and flings an orange. The bird perks up and follows the motion, but does not appreciate the gift enough to stop inching closer. "I''ll send you a whole fruit basket, you overgrown feather duster! But I''m not gonna throw hands with you because it won''t end well for you." The bird doesn''t like his tone, and snaps again at the air. He reaches for the sword on his back, and hates himself for what has to happen next. He¡¯s in too much pain to rise fast enough. "Hey, hey, that''s enough! Bad Feralaz!" A small metal container flies through the air and breaks apart in a cloud of blue fumes. The beast takes one sniff and recoils like it was utterly noxious. Drenar tries to hold his breath but gags¨Cit¡¯s utterly repulsive and instantly triggers nausea. The Feralaz lets out a wailing note, turns tail, and darts back through the low trees of brilliant fiery colors The trailing wails echo behind it. Drenar is just glad he didn''t have to draw his weapon and groans before examining the gash on his shoulder. That beak was sharp. He¡¯s still hacking and trying not to throw up from that noxious fume, and when he can breathe again, he glances up and looks at his would-be rescuer. I''m a seventeen-year-old male half-dragon trying to figure out what I want in life, and she''s making a mighty strong case for what I should be looking for. "Are you always keen on making an entrance, Drenar? Because that was a pretty good one, in my humble opinion." He''s at a loss for words when a woman with wavy, strawberry-red hair and bright lavender eyes peers down at him, and curiosity is etched into her sharp chin, and lightly angular face. She''s studying him curiously, like a cat or a raven would, and he notes she has a few bandages on her hands and one on her neck and shoulder. He feels like he''s seen that unique eye color before, and that playful light voice with just a hint of spice. Like cinnamon. No, wait. He did smell cinnamon. It was an odd thing to note. "Yo, do you have a concussion?" She asks after a few seconds. "Hi Josephine, nice to meet you. I¡¯m pretty good at keeping my head well protected, but not so lucky elsewhere," he grunts before smiling faintly. ¡°You¡¯re not catching me on my best day, to be fair¨C¡± "Just Joey, actually,¡± she interjects. She¡¯s peering at him intensely¨Cis he covered in blood and dirt? Yep. Is his hair too much of a mess? He¡¯s pretty sure all those are both true right now. ¡°Uh, are you planning on laying there all day? Because it looks like you''ve had a rough week thus far¨Coh, you''re bleeding. We should get that looked at." She hoists him up and his body aches at the motion. He''s surprised that she''s the same height he is, and she looks at his shoulder, and he pulls back his shirt collar. It''s a mess of dirt, grass, and blood. She¡¯s¡­interesting, is about the only two words Drenar manages while Alex is busy practically singing in his head. Oh, what are you on about now, Alex? I think someone''s starstruck! Alex whispers deviously. Dude, I just got chomped on the shoulder by a giant murder bird. James owes me so much for this, he thinks to his dragon. "Sorry for the flashy entrance, I was hoping for something a little more subdued but¡­yeah, there was a situation¨Cow." She ignores him and feels the wound gently with her fingers. Her skin is surprisingly firm, and warm. He doesn''t dwell on this observation, since she already has gotten some kind of spray to clean the wound. After that, she takes a vial of blue liquid and opens it. "Yeah, I saw the highlights. Your friend James got tangled up, and you chased down that giant bird on foot? Man, that''s kinda crazy," she says with a soft laugh. "Oh hold still, this may sting a little." "I have a fairly high pain tolerance¨Cnngh." He grits his teeth as the elixir enters the wound, and it hurts like dozens of wasp stings, sharp and painful. To his amazement, the wound closes to a less rugged cut and seals over. It''s still there, but it''s less severe, and no longer bleeding. "Well, higher pain tolerance than most," he says after a second. "You look like you got pretty beaten up, what happened on your end?" "Chased a couple of saboteurs. Blew one up. Not as bad as your week probably has been, but I don''t think this is a competition either of us wants to win," she replies with a hint of amusement. He stares bewilderedly at her. ¡°You blew up a saboteur?¡± Suddenly, he¡¯s wondering if Alex¡¯s advice isn¡¯t just sarcasm. You stay around her, you¡¯re going to become Kentucky fried dragon, Drenar. He can almost picture that silvery dragon recoiling in horror. Dragons should be terrified of nothing. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d like to talk about that one a little less, still kinda visceral and disturbing,¡± Joey says while getting bandages over his shoulder. ¡°And you were running around Mercadian Promenade, saving the garrison, and taking machine gun fire,¡± she states with remarkable restraint. Even with his scales supercharged and polarized, that had hurt more than a little, and the bruises would tend to agree with him. ¡°How did you hear about that?¡± ¡°King. Long story.¡± He wants to ask more questions, but he gets the feeling that the burning scent is only the tip of the iceberg of what has been happening since the day started. "So, uh, hi, I wish we had gotten to more formal introductions earlier. Ah, there''s Nick and everyone else." He turns to see everyone sprinting, and Julia picks James up from the ground on the way over. James doesn''t look damaged, but he''s not happy. "Hi guys, welcome to Asqualia! Please mind the mess, we''re having an off day." "Joey, why does it smell like pyromethanine?" Nick asks for a second. He stares at the burnt-out structure and blown-out bricks by the fenced area just nearby. "What on this green earth is going on?" "Oh, hey Nick. We were chasing problems on our end too," she replies with a sigh. Drenar can''t help but notice she''s still got her hand firmly on his shoulder. "Uh, the injury is healed," he finally tells her. "Thank you, by the way." "Ah, don''t mention it. By the way, if you start to feel dizzy, your skin breaks out in hives, or you feel your pulse start to spike, please inform me. Like, immediately." He looks at her warily. "That would have been very useful information in my risk assessment of taking unknown medication from a wild-eyed scientist." "Hey mister, I''m an Arcanist! Specifically, an alchemist with specialization in magical creature biology, and I''ll run circles around what passes for your high school level public education!" She shot back. He¡¯s not going to take that one lying down. "Oh, yeah? I''ve got five years of fencing and martial weapons training, mixed martial arts with the raven-haired beauty, and AP calculus. Still working on that last one, admittedly. Oh, and I''ve been Awakened for less than a week, and earned a death wish with all three Talons leaders, none of which have managed to kill me yet. Also saved the SAF garrison accidentally when the Talons launched a multi-prong assault after we sabotaged the teleportal array, in a bid to get here and unlock the secret entrance.¡± "Respectable," she says after a second. ¡°That¡¯s why the stone door at the waterfall opened up, that was you guys!¡± "Oh, I¡¯m fine by the way guys! No one pays attention to the level zero mage who was almost trampled by the giant murder bird!" James limps along, but Drenar thinks he might just be exaggerating. James peers at Joey, and offers a soft handshake. "You must be Joey, right? Try not to kill him when you take your samples. I need him alive and functional to have a prayer of surviving to college." "You''re right, he¡¯s too valuable for trial and error. Volunteers?" Joey grins mischievously. This is a bridge too far for Julia, who squeals with delight. "Ohmigod, you are such a treat!" She beams with excitement. "Okay, so, I must know something very important. Now please tell me¡­favorite ice cream?" Joey squints and tilts her head. ¡°Uh, what now?¡± she asks. ¡°Roll with it, please. I practically live with her these days,¡± Drenar sighs. Joey ponders for a split second. "Mint,¡± she finally responds. "Favorite color?" "Not red, my hair steals all the attention," she says with annoyance. "Favorite boy band?" "Goo Goo dolls." "Judgment call?" Julia asks Angela, who simply sighs. "I''ll allow it." "Thoughts on Drenar, first words that come to mind?" "A crazy, messy-haired teen with maybe a hint of brilliance, if he''s managed to survive this long." "Yeah, throw some more shade at my sanity, guys," Drenar grumbles. This is turning into the weirdest conversation he''s had that involved Julia. Julia waits a second, then grins. "Yep, we gotta keep her. She''s in." "Wait, in on what?" Joey asks while looking confused. "The Radiant Delvers! We''re more than just a meddling bunch of kids!" Joey stares at all of them in turn, and puts her hands on her hips. ¡°You guys are truly, utterly weird.¡± ¡°Perfect, you¡¯ll fit right in!¡± Julia beams. "Okay, ladies, we have pressing matters," Nick firmly redirects and slings his autobow to his back. "Josephine, what happened since the last time we contacted you?" "Our senior security officer betrayed us. King had Lavernius working a plan for a shadow infiltration, no shots fired¨CI believed him when he said that was the plan. Curtis was Val¡¯s inside man and they were oblivious to each other until recently.¡± She explains the rest as everyone looks on in shock. ¡°We trusted Curtis, and we almost got killed for it. One silver lining, Lavernius is still alive and helping us¨Cfor the moment.¡± ¡°Holy hell, where is Lavernius now? I need to put some pain into that man¡¯s life!¡± Julia growls. Joey taps her communicator. ¡°Kyle, are you and Lavernius done?¡± ¡°The last ones are disabled, and Claire is training every gun she can on the primary hub. We¡¯re out of danger for now, but that could change. We need to either disable the main mana reactor or do a long, really painful surgery on the array to turn it off safely. Crisis averted¨Cfor now.¡± Lavernius sounds like a nervous wreck, as he should. Joey lets out a long sigh of relief, and all the tension drains from her posture. ¡°Good work. Now make sure Lavernius doesn¡¯t run off. I¡¯m keeping to my word for now. We need a plan.¡± ¡°Uh, plan for what?¡± He asks, sounding confused. He¡¯s missed a lot that has been going on in the past two days. She looks anxious and gently puts her hands on his shoulders. ¡°I made a deal with King.¡± His eyes widened in sheer disbelief. ¡°You did what?!¡± She¡¯s still holding on gently, and even as much as wants to go off the rails on what a terrible idea that is, he holds firm. She must have a reason, even if he wants to turn that man into a pasty smear on a wall. ¡°Okay, let me back this up. Why?¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t think King is a friend¡­but I don¡¯t think he¡¯s our enemy, either.¡± It¡¯s the resolute firmness in her voice that keeps him listening. Alex has other ideas. ¡°King said there are bigger forces at play. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s bluffing.¡± You know what, just tell the redhead to set us on fire, and save us the extra steps of an agonizing death, Alex groans. Joey gives him a curious look and tilts her head, maybe because he¡¯s been waiting too long to answer. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s walk and talk. We need to fill you guys in on what¡¯s been going on. Let¡¯s get inside. We have a wildcard situation.¡± ¡°That sounds about on par for today,¡± Nick mutters. ¡°Let¡¯s hope it involves less being shot at with heavy caliber autobow munitions.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Levine huffs, having finally caught up. ¡°Where¡¯s Zameren? He and I go a ways back.¡± ¡°He¡¯s inside, rallying staff and security response. C¡¯mon, I¡¯ll show you the way.¡± Joey lets go, and Drenar follows. Why is it he¡¯s getting this nagging feeling he should trust her on this one? Strangely, he finds himself in alignment on this one, or at least open up to the idea that King might have his own schemes. He¡¯ll trust Joey. He¡¯ll never trust King. A glance at his wrist is the only reminder he needs. James however, has other opinions, much to his detriment. ¡°Are you sure that Feralaz didn¡¯t give you a concussion?¡± James asks him nervously. ¡°You were ready to kill King.¡± ¡°That remains to be seen,¡± Drenar sighs and just gives up. ¡°Joey, feel free to examine me and offer a second opinion to James that I don¡¯t have brain damage.¡± She¡¯s wearing a fox-like grin when he says that, and Alex is chortling in the back of his mind. ¡°I mean professionally, Joey. I saw that. And it¡¯s more terrifying than when Julia makes that same expression.¡± ¡°Hey, I taught her that one!¡± Angela protested. ¡°Also, why are you covered in bandages?¡± ¡°You see that giant disaster over by the botanical gardens?¡± she replies edgily. ¡°Yeah, I was there with Kyle. It¡¯s been a day.¡± ¡°Joey, trust me when I say, I know the feeling. Well uh, shall we? You know, before the murder army shows up," Angela suggests. Vol. 2, Ch. 92: Penny For Your Thoughts? No Wait, Ill Pay You, Part One ¡°By Gaia. That¡­is a lot to take in.¡± Several minutes had gone by while introductions were made, and the story Joey was hearing was even more bizarre than she could have ever believed. And Zameren looked like he was in shock. She was eternally glad that Levine was an old acquaintance of the administrator, otherwise, it might have been just too much to believe. "SAF is this compromised?!¡± "I think that would be a polite way to put it, yes," Levine replies with his stoic stance, arms crossed lightly and head tilted down, always looking deep in thought. "We were correct not to trust them, and I''m going to have a field day writing this report, assuming we survive this. These four in particular have already put themselves at grave risk in doing so, and performed far better than anyone their age has any right to." He waves his hand to Drenar, Angela, James, and Julia, all sitting stone-faced. "Zameren, I believe the best course of action at present, something you already started, was to prepare defenses and contingency plans. We should try to evacuate civilians, and maintain only those who volunteer and have some military training. Curtis could have easily planted other contingencies." "Oh, we''re supposed to run? That''s a laugh, Dillenger," Claire retorts with a subdued voice. "That¡¯s a truly terrible plan, we still don¡¯t have in our hands what they¡¯re after. And this jackass is still here!¡± She waves to Lavernius, who knows trying to bolt will get him shot. Joey still has her bolt pistol in a holster, and she makes sure this time, it stays ready. ¡°Thanks,¡± Lavernius says sourly. The Arcanlink is on the table, waiting for a call with their enigma. Julia is cracking her knuckles and leering at him. Joey figures this abject betrayal is not being well received. At all. Drenar is also notably pissed off at this idea. But how pissed off is he? Do I dare to¨Coh hell with it. I might need to get a peek at his thoughts. I need to know if he plans on killing this fool. She''s debating the idea of using her thought sense. This is one of the few times she needs to know all the cards on the table. ¡°Lavernius, you need to explain yourself,¡± Julia growls. She slowly rises from her seat. ¡°Why did you work with King?¡± ¡°I''ve already said my bit. The Conclave is dangerous. And it''s getting worse. Val may have inadvertently just pushed the Conclave to take drastic actions, martial law is going into effect. It hasn''t been used since the Second World War,¡± he answers calmly. ¡°No. The other part. How can you do this to Kelly? How dare you do this to your daughter.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°No, Lavernius,¡± she says menacingly from her standing position. ¡°We have had enough lies thrown our way to last a lifetime. I''ve been shot at. Repeatedly. I put my life on the line for a lot of other people, including my friends, and Kelly. And your employer has been butchering people in the streets. How dare you do this to Kelly. When she finds out who you are, I wouldn''t be surprised if she kills you on the spot, and I would be hesitant to stop her. The only reason I haven''t turned you into a carbonized mass is that you helped out here, in one small redeeming act.¡± Drenar stands up, and motions to her, trying to dissuade her. She glares at him but eventually relents. Lavernius slumps in his seat. She can almost feel the regret radiating off of him. He speaks slowly, looking at each of them in turn. ¡°You think Val is bad? The Conclave is also bad. But people are a lot quieter about that subtle oppression, compared to a terrorist threat.¡± ¡°Tell me why I shouldn¡¯t beat you to death in that chair, Lavernius,¡± she snaps. There¡¯s still fight in him, by the way he stares right back. ¡°You want the truth? I died on the inside a long time ago, Julia. The rest has been an act for the sake of normality for Kelly and Luna. And Mirabelle. You want to know what my breakpoint was?¡± ¡°Do tell.¡± She can almost feel that electric charge in the air from Julia, but also¡­a sense of apprehension? Where are these feelings coming from? Joey tilts her head, her thought reading isn¡¯t working now. Or at least, she¡¯s not consciously directing it. ¡°Mirabelle has to take drugs that suppress her draconic form. As a parole condition for¡­previous transgressions, a long time ago.¡± He answers slowly, in a low voice. ¡°I don¡¯t expect you to forgive me for this. But you at least deserve to know.¡± Julia¡¯s eyes widen. ¡°Lavernius, the last time I saw her a few weeks ago, she looked like death warmed over. Is that¡­by design?¡± Julia¡¯s question comes softer than Joey thought it would, and her reaction to Lavernius knocks the aggression out of her. ¡°A recent legislative effort for law and order,¡± he states bitterly. ¡°Mirabelle made a mistake a long time ago. She should not continue to be punished for it. That same legislation is being proposed for all dragons. It¡¯s extreme, it won¡¯t pass the legislative chamber¡­but a watered-down version might. That would include all of you.¡± ¡°Is he for real? Because I can¡¯t take any more bullshit this week,¡± Drenar states candidly, arms folded and peering down at him with contempt. ¡°You¡¯re on thin ice already, Lavernius, so don¡¯t test me. I need to know if the threat is over, or if I¡¯m going to have to put more Talons out of commission, before we go on a mad quest to go get these journals. And that¡¯s assuming I don¡¯t destroy them the second I get my hands on them.¡± ¡°If King doesn¡¯t get them, he¡¯ll let Val have her way. You will fight, and you will lose. I don¡¯t want that happening.¡± Drenar scoffs at that, and Joey winces. He¡¯s got a lot of turmoil going on in his head right now. There it is again. She can almost hear snippets of his thoughts, and she¡¯s not even focusing on her psionics! What is going on? Is she trying to focus too much on them? They continue to talk about strategy, and whether to just tell King to get stuffed¨Cagain¨Cand fend off this horde of Talons minions. She peers at Angela, who has been notably silent, and sits next to Drenar. And she can¨C Crystals? That ringing chime is back, but she¡¯s not sure what direction it¡¯s coming from. She swivels in the seat, trying to see if she can echolocate it. No one else seems to notice it, except for Angela, who starts peering around the room, grey-blue eyes glinting with curiosity. She finally settles on Joey. ¡°Hey, uh, did you hear something just now?¡± Angela asks quietly. ¡°I¡­am not sure.¡± Joey doesn¡¯t know why she keeps hearing that sound¨Cis that sword calling out again? There are no Valkyries in sight, and certainly not the original owner, who left it behind! That''s another odd notion, why had that Valkyrie been carrying around her defunct weapon? ¡°Angela, right? Sorry, we should talk later,¡± she adds in a lower tone. Angela smiles politely. ¡°Unless we¡¯re taking machine gun fire again soon, yeah.¡± Drenar has reached a point of frustration when the discussion goes nowhere, and he taps his dagger anxiously. That crystalline chime she hears is almost deafening. ¡°Alright, you know what? I¡¯m calling it. Levine, call that Valkyrie you know. It¡¯s time to send out the SOS, I am done playing around. Val can throw bodies at the toughest warriors of the mage world, because I¡¯ve filled my quota of being shot at for one month.¡± Levine looks¡­disturbed. ¡°I tried that before we came down. She¡¯s not responding.¡± Drenar stares at him, unable to believe this. ¡°Are you serious now? Levine, this would have been good news to know about an hour ago!¡± ¡°We were in a rush! Now that the threat is defused, temporarily, we need to start thinking about evacuating civilians.¡± Levine raises a candid point, and Drenar nods. ¡°We¡¯re mages, not civilians,¡± Joey contests. ¡°We¡¯re not defenseless.¡± ¡°Lass, I appreciate the tenacity, I truly do. But this is the point where we need to direct priorities, we cannot wait for reinforcements. We need to assume this could go bad at any second.¡± ¡°I concur. Joey, I didn¡¯t bring any detonators, and I know your expertise,¡± Nick nods and gestures to her. ¡°I vote we disable the main teleportal. Stop the threat, evacuate civilians, and myself, Levine, and the security team will take a small team to the vault.¡± ¡°Excuse me, No. I¡¯m going down there,¡± Drenar says defiantly. ¡°There is no way in hell we are handing decryption codes to a magical nuclear device to King, let alone Valosterla!¡± Hell with this, I need to know what he¡¯s thinking. I don¡¯t know how Drenar of all people ended up calling the shots, this is some strange dynamic they¡¯ve established. He does keep glancing at Julia, and they make small motions with their hands¨Csign language? They¡¯re signaling something to each other on occasion. Maybe so they¡¯re aligned on the plan without having discourse spill over? ¡°Psst.¡± Kyle nudged her and swiveled his head to Drenar before talking in the faintest of whispers. He knew how good her hearing was. ¡°You haven¡¯t taken your eyes off him for more than a few seconds the entire time we¡¯ve been here.¡± ¡°I gave him an advanced regen potion. I had to monitor the results,¡± she replies as quietly as possible. Kyle gives her a look of exasperation. It¡¯s not technically a lie. ¡°You just came up with that formula. And you test it on him?¡± ¡°His shoulder was torn up pretty badly by that Feralaz.¡± She declines to continue the line of inquiry, though he¡¯s giving that look of disapproval still. ¡°Fine. What¡¯re they all thinking?¡± She narrows her eyes at him, and hopes he understands how much contempt she has for the idea. ¡°Joey, seriously, I¡¯m freaking out that we¡¯re outclassed and outmatched. I need something that tells me we got a shot at this.¡± Kyle, you keep trying to push me to do stuff that I don¡¯t like doing, she thinks with disgust. She glances back at Drenar, and Zameren and Levine are still talking. She clears her thoughts and feels that slight wash of white noise over her mind. She then focuses on Drenar while glancing at her notes. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. We need to get into that Vault Alex. Even if I have to get down there myself. Yeah, enjoy getting killed down there Drenar, that¡¯s a death wish. Great, so not only is he weird, he¡¯s having conversations in his head! Do you have a better idea? I swear, every time we try something ¡®normal,¡¯ it fails spectacularly. Drenar, stop stewing. Start thinking like a dragon. We need to be methodical on this one. Joey doesn¡¯t even notice it at first since she¡¯s still trying to read through every bit of notes she''s taken in the past few days. Might I recommend something along the lines of ¡®this is Helm''s deep, and there''s a horde of orcs coming, and we''ve got a fortress with big shortfalls in defense.¡¯ Is he having conversations in his head? Joey finally tunes in a little closer. Great. So the messy haired teen is suffering from multiple personalities. Just what I needed! She does, however, start focusing a little tighter. Alex, suppose for a second that we help King. An idea of hers that she still can¡¯t believe she would have agreed to, after telling King to go screw off at first. And even Drenar is entertaining it now? Tell me you¡¯re not thinking about it! The second voice sounds panicked. No. We trade information. I want to know who killed my mom. We will be operating from a position of strength. Whoever killed her, still has influence in the Talons, or some other super-powerful organization. Someone leaked her name or targeted her, that¡¯s what Levine¡¯s theory is. And it¡¯s a solid one. It might not have anything to do with¨C Alex? Trust me on this one. I don¡¯t trust King in the long term, but he knows things. Things I want to know. Finding out who killed my mom, is one of them. Maybe I won¡¯t have to break his legs if he just tells me. And hand the keys of godhood to him? You¡¯re cracked. I have a theory. I think someone killed her because she or other powerful Valkyries presented a massive threat to their plans. People who we might not be aware of yet. This is a stupid idea, Drenar. Do you think King won¡¯t just hand over the information to Val? Maybe we don¡¯t. Maybe we just make him think we did. I¡¯m still working on that part. Joey narrows her eyes. Why are there two distinct voices? She¡¯s only focused on Drenar. Drenar, from one dragon to another, this is a bad plan that will end badly for everyone here. I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re agreeing with Joey. You¡¯re starstruck! You¡¯re not thinking with your brain! Oy, I¡¯m not that shallow, you feather duster! She saved our lives at the school, and pulled me out of a bind with a giant murder bird. From what I know of her, she¡¯s as sharp as they come, flushed out two saboteurs inside two days, and killed one. Still¡­processing that, I don¡¯t know how she¡¯s not shaken up by that. Joey¡¯s eyes widen slightly when it finally clicks together. She wasn¡¯t hearing just Drenar talking internally. He''s talking to his drakensoul. She could hear both of them at once! This is an unexpected discovery. She focuses on them more. This is something she didn¡¯t think her psionics could do¨Cthe little experimentation she''d tried on her own. Her mom and dad had some version of it, and used to much effect when she''d been caught stealing from the cookie jar when she was a young kit. There was no hiding her thoughts from them. By Gaia, I never would have believed that this was a real thing, and yet I''m hearing the voice of a dragon who left this world and spent seven hundred years in limbo. He''s holding coherent, intelligent discussion, his linguistics match the host¨CI mean, Drenar, she self-corrects internally. His memory appears to be intact, he''s recalling things from his past. Now, how do I focus on just him? This presented a challenge, as she kept focusing on just Alex, was he speaking, or thinking? But she couldn''t tune one or the other out. She could hear both of them. Okay. How do I pull these thoughts strings apart? She can feel a mental tug. Like a phantom string connecting them. What is this? It feels like a current of energy, very faint. Faint enough that if she wasn''t focused on it, she wouldn''t even know it was there, and that feeling runs down her spine. Drenar rubs his neck, and glances around. What is this thing? She can''t see this thread, but it feels like a strand of spiderweb, sticky, tethering her to something. She lets go of her psionics, and the rest of the ambient sound returns. But it''s still there. Whoa, Drenar, what did you do? Alex asks suddenly. Drenar peers around the room, looking puzzled. He''s searching for something. He shakes his head after a few seconds. Julia gives him an irked look, like she knows what''s going on. ¡°Hey, is your plus one giving you good ideas, or bad ideas?¡± she says quietly to Drenar. He shakes his head, but doesn¡¯t respond verbally. I didn¡¯t do jack, Alex. I¡¯ve been sitting in this chair that feels like its bargain surplus from the worst office supply company in the world. You mean, you didn¡¯t feel that? Joey gets the feeling that this dragon soul is constantly talking to Drenar, based on their back-and-forth. Alex, what do you mean you ¡®felt¡¯ something? Like someone stepped on my ghost. The what now? Like someone else is in here with the two of us. What? He¡¯s alert now, and searching around the table. Joey looks down and pretends to be consulting her notes, but her heart rate spikes. Alex, you and I are a little stressed. No, I felt something, Drenar! Back in my day, I got a taste of psionics and their applications from one of my team members. I think. The memory is a little fuzzy, but the feeling of that ability¨Cthat I didn¡¯t forget. Alright, what do you mean by psionics? Like mind readers? Mind manipulators? There''s a lot more to it than just mind reading. Joey feels a bit nervous, no one has ever picked up on her listening in, certainly not to this level with no previous prompts. She¡¯s tempted to tune Drenar and his drakensoul out, but she¡¯s convinced there¡¯s something to learn here. This is a potential discovery she¡¯d never expected! Okay. Assuming someone is listening in, who is it? Look for someone making eye contact. A professional psionic can maintain a link without it, but amateur ones can¡¯t, they need the visual reference. Drenar starts looking around the table, and Joey quickly cuts the connection. He¡¯s still looking around, puzzled. She taps her pen against her notepad and allows herself a measured breath. Ah, it¡¯s gone again. I know I felt something, Drenar. No, I felt something, too. Like someone panicked and turned off the adult video on TV just as the parents walked in the door. ¡­That is an oddly specific analogy, do I really want to know where that one came from? Joey has to clasp her mouth from giggling and pretends to cough. She¡¯s impressed, and terrified. She¡¯d cut the psionic ability, but she could still hear them! This can¡¯t be right, I severed the ability. Why can I still hear both of them? It took a moderate focus for her ability to work, and now, it was like she couldn¡¯t shut it off! Great. The one time I eavesdrop, and I find the one guy who can pick up on it! Alex however, still thinks something is up. I still think they¡¯re there Drenar. But it¡¯s strange. I swore I could hear something just now, too. You don¡¯t have ears! You know what I meant, Drenar. Meaning, that connection went both ways! There¡¯s an empath in this room¨Cthey¡¯re rare! Drenar glances around the table again, and Joey pretends to keep reading her notes. She does note he makes a series of motions to Julia, who looks at him irritably. He keeps signing something, and her eyes narrow, and she nods slowly after motioning something back. How rare is rare? Rarer than a virgin princess, Alex answers back. Drenar has to stifle his laughter at this, and Julia rolls her eyes. It¡¯s like she knows he¡¯s talking to Alex, just by the facial expression. ¡°As soon as I find a magical fox girl to read your mind, Alex is so toast,¡± she growls under her breath. Joey can¡¯t help but keep the tiniest smirk. Julia is shockingly close to the truth on this one, even if she doesn¡¯t know it. "Psst." She glares forcefully at Kyle who is wearing his concerns on his sleeve, and he keeps fidgeting with his seat. "Well?" ¡°Later.¡± The last thing she wants to do is tip off anyone to her psionics, and what that would imply about her directly. She does however, take one last listen to Drenar, who looks at her. Alex, she¡¯s doing that thing that crazy women do when they see me. Why¡¯s my fight or flight instinct kicking in? I think that¡¯s called assessing a future mate, in modern lingo. Drenar glances upwards, and taps his fingers edgily on the table. Joey is still taking notes and trying not to force her pen through the page. Yeah Alex, I already have a now ex-girlfriend with the tendency of a berserker, and the dark haired, life-long female friend who can roundhouse kick a dragon to low earth orbit. Nah, I¡¯m full up on crazy. He does glance at Joey briefly, and then back to the screen, where Levine is showing as much of the data they¡¯d been able to comb through in the past few days. I mean, I wouldn¡¯t say never, but¡­there¡¯s something about her that I can¡¯t put my finger on. I dunno what it is, but¡­I trust her. Okay, so she¡¯s got a little bit of a mad scientist vibe, but she''s knowledgeable. She healed my shoulder like it was nothing. And I think she was flirting with me? Maybe? No. Please no. Pick someone else. Anyone else. I was having a laugh earlier, seriously not her. Every redhead I''ve known has either tried to kill me or set me on fire. Or both. Joey felt just a little offended by that statement, and she tapped her pen irritably against her notebook. Oh, so you''re saying it''s a brilliant idea? No, what part of that wasn''t clear, Drenar? Redheads. Set. Me. On. FIRE. Drenar rolls his eyes and Joey suddenly feels like setting him on fire. She even has a vial of alchemic solution just for that purpose. Look, this is all very entertaining Alex, but we''ve been sitting here wasting shared brainpower on something that''s probably not going to matter. I could be dead by the end of the week. He does steal a glance at her, and she gives him a puzzled look. Besides Alex, I think you''re right. I think the psionic has been listening in, and she''s nonplussed with you. Joey recoils in shock and bangs her knee on the table in the process. The sound is very loud in the otherwise fairly quiet room, and she winces. "Everything alright?" Zameren asks, looking at her with concern. "Yes, fine, everything is fine, forgot the low-hanging table! Drenar, can I borrow you a minute?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± It¡¯s like he thinks he can play coy after deducing that particular bombshell. ¡°Just for a minute.¡± She¡¯s already bracing for a conversation that is going to suck. She¡¯s about to have to trust someone she¡¯s known all of three days with this secret, and he¡¯s a little bit crazy, by her accounting. And it¡¯s still not the craziest thing to happen all week. Vol. 2, Ch. 93: Penny For Your Thoughts? No Wait, Ill Pay You, Part Two How did he figure it out? Was I that obvious? Oh man, he''s going to hate me if he does. Wait. Why do I care what he thinks of me, he''s a random stranger who got pushed into one wild run of crazy circumstances, and nothing more! She holds her hand to her chest and takes a deep breath. It didn''t make sense. No one had ever just felt her listening in. Not once! There had to be some unique circumstances that allowed it to be possible. The throbbing pain in her knee, however, is not helping with her brainstorming, and she groans out loud. This whole week has been reality slapping me in the face. This sucks, having to find out all my knowledge base is useless as things go increasingly off the rails! "So¡­¡± she turns to face Drenar, scuffing his boot on the polished floor. ¡°You want to go first?¡± ¡°About?¡± Just come out and say it, she already knows he knows. ¡°The mind reading. Alex picked up on you, the rest I guessed.¡± He nods down for a second, but looks calm and relaxed. She isn¡¯t and is tense. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not judging. We¡¯re a wildcard, I get it. This whole week has been one of unprecedented chaos.¡± "Alright, you weren¡¯t a hundred percent sold. How did you know for sure?¡± He puts a finger to his lips¨Cjust like Julia? She¡¯s seen that commonality between gestures that they do¨Cthey must be close. "Once I was clued in, I could tell by your facial expressions. It didn''t take long to put it together. You could just ask me what I''m thinking." He should be extremely disturbed by the invasion of privacy, but then again, he also had a drakensoul, which meant he probably never had a break to be alone. "Plus, Kyle was whispering something to you, and you gave him this real disgruntled look." She relaxes her posture and folds her arms. He¡¯s examining her for the first time. ¡°You look like you¡¯ve had one rough day, by the way.¡± She lets out a soft exhale¨Cshe probably doesn¡¯t look glamorous at all, what with someone trying to stab her and the bruise on the side of her face. "It¡¯s¡­been beyond the norm,¡± she half-answers. ¡°You know something, I can think of another novelty of a drakensoul. Two people, trying to solve problems together." There''s an opportunity to salvage this mess, and she straightens up, arms crossed against her chest. "What else was a clue?" "The unique lavender eyes. And the bright red hair, which I assume is quite natural, and not a twenty-something fashion style," he says wryly. She raises an eyebrow. ¡°Standing out in a crowd isn¡¯t all it¡¯s cracked up to be, Drenar. Wait. You mentioned you can see my eye color earlier. Not many people can.¡± ¡°Why, though?¡± ¡°Oh, that?¡± She¡¯s surprised by his curiosity¨Che doesn¡¯t want to dive into the heavy stuff yet. ¡°Um¡­it¡¯s a strange quirk of magic. A few people say that I have lavender-colored eyes. I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s any rhyme or reason to it, it¡¯s a quirk of mana in our bodies?¡± Except King, of all people, had seen it. She doesn¡¯t know why he would. That comment about having a connection fills her with dread. Is it tied to her psionics? No one from her family or community has ever spoken about it. They¡¯ve never discussed the full spread of their powers, only because they didn¡¯t want people trying to test their limits and descending into madness, something that had happened to the earliest generations of kitsune. ¡°Look, I didn¡¯t mean to intrude¨Cmy psionics have been a little screwy the past day or so. It''s been triggering when I don¡¯t plan for it, and¡­sometimes, my curiosity gets the better of me,¡± she admits¨Cwhy is she telling him this? This is a terrible first impression! Seconded only by meeting him, while looking like she was on the receiving end of an epic beating. Which she was. "So you can hear both of us. I gotta say, this is probably not something you expected, huh? I¡¯ll also apologize in advance for Alex, he¡¯s¡­a little bit of a dragon out of the sky.¡± That paraphrase of ¡®fish out of water¡¯ is so terrible, that the gods themselves might smite you down! She can¡¯t help but laugh at this, and Drenar rolls his eyes. "Well, this is entertaining." She scuffs her shoe on the floor. "Look, I need a favor. Can you keep this one on the down low? It¡¯s an ability that is, well, not universally well-loved in the mage community.¡± Damn it, why can she not stop falling for that boyish charm? It¡¯s a strange juxtaposition, considering he¡¯d put several enemies on the bench already today like a hardened warrior! ¡°Also, why are you not freaked out?¡± "Look, I am no stranger to secrets, if it¡¯s important to you, then my lips are sealed. And don¡¯t tell Julia. She¡¯ll be your new best friend, to glean what rattles around in my head." He glances at the open door, the conversation continues without them. She nods slowly. ¡°Plus, you¡¯ve heard of how my weeks¡¯ gone. At this point, there¡¯s little that¡¯s going to surprise me. So, tell me about your psionics, I mean, is it something you have full control over?" He asks in a softer tone, but he doesn¡¯t try to put distance between them. If anything, he leans in a little. As if it were something interesting to him. "For me¡­yeah, mostly. For others, not always." What she meant to say was that it had been extremely difficult to not use it when she was younger. And it had resulted in her hearing unflattering things that had otherwise ruined a few friendships. Four thousand years of having to adapt to this, and we still have only the barest grasp on it, she thinks bitterly. ¡°I don¡¯t know much, to be blunt.¡± "You¡¯d think people would talk about it a lot more,¡± he comments. ¡°It¡¯s truly unique, no dragon has anything close to it.¡± "There''s a lot of reasons people don¡¯t talk about it, Drenar," she sighs. "I''m a massive security risk no matter where I go, or where I work. Curtis and Zameren knew, and they quite frankly broke the law by letting me work here. I can''t lose this place, okay?" What the hell am I doing, stop staring at those verdant eyes, you don''t open up to anyone! She winces when she realizes that Curtis is now in a body bag, and she helped put him there. ¡°Curtis was the traitor?¡± Drenar asks quietly. She nods. ¡°The Talons are recruiting child soldiers, running unethical experiments on us, terraforming the environment, and more. It looks like he beat you and Kyle to hell before you put him in the grave. Don¡¯t feel guilty about it.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve never killed anyone, how can you relate?¡± she states coldly. He shakes his head. ¡°I almost did. Twice, now. I¡¯ve left a path of broken men and women behind me, between me, Julia, and Angela. That¡¯s not something that¡¯s filling me with comfort Joey, those are human beings who could have easily died if I hadn¡¯t been so focused on fighting to disable. I can think of at least a few of them who might have permanent injuries.¡± His solemn expression is what convinces her¨Cnot even the grim recognition he has in his thoughts that he did what he had to to protect himself, and others. ¡°So yeah, I can relate. I just watched a hulking monstrosity toying with a dying soldier on live television. He snapped his neck like a wishbone on Thanksgiving while grinning. There are truly awful people in this world that I might have to remove from it, to keep others safe at some point.¡± The silence between them speaks louder than words. ¡°I trusted Curtis. I trusted him, and it was the wrong call, Drenar,¡± she says quietly. ¡°But then you come out, and say that this might be something that couldn''t be avoided.¡± ¡°You do what you have to do, to protect your friends, and others caught in the line of fire. You hold onto that, and don¡¯t let it go. That¡¯s what Nick told me. And I know Nick well enough by now to know he''s been through awful things.¡± His solemn tone only lends weight to his belief in those words. ¡°Yeah, that sounds like Nick, alright. He has¡­not always had the easiest jobs, let¡¯s just say.¡± She¡¯s much quieter on that line, because she knows he went on missions that he still can¡¯t talk about when sober with Amaranth, chief among them. Or having to collect the remains of brave mages who thought they could walk into a magical biozone without a care in the world. ¡°Hey, can you settle something, considering Nick clams up the second anyone mentions you? Were you guys¡­well¡­¡± ¡°No, we were never together. Nick was there with Amaranth, not for me,¡± she states with a smile. ¡°Someone made a bet, didn¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Time for Angela to pay up,¡± he grins. ¡°Now, I know you couldn¡¯t hear me thinking that just now. Actually, I have another question. How far away can you use that ability? It sounds like you haven¡¯t tested much.¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. "Huh? I dunno, I never really thought about it. A few meters?" It''s a struggle for her to answer because she''s never actually tested the limits on it. It was something that was simply there, if she wanted to use it. "Why are you asking?" "Because I had an idea." Uh oh. Does this kid have ideas? This could lead to utter disaster, most likely. "What idea?" "Psychic radio," he grins. She stares at him, her mouth agape for a second. "What." "Okay, hear me out. Silent communication. Now, I hand signaled something to Julia earlier. You didn''t pick up on it, did you?" "I¡­well, no. But I do know several languages," she added proudly. "Wait. Why do you know that, anyway?" "Her grandma Sasori is like ninety percent deaf. I learned from her, the rest, I picked up from taking some lessons online. Plus, I guess there''s a bit of a novelty of having a coded language between us. That girl has certainly made life interesting with the antics she''s gotten me into," he adds with a chuckle. "The point I''m trying to make is, don''t view it as some taboo thing. Get creative. Could you not relay messages with Kyle in dire circumstances, or where you two are physically cut off from one another?" "Hearing surface thoughts is pretty straightforward, Drenar. And it''s a one-way radio." Or at least, she thinks it is. "Well, let me ask you this. If I picture an elephant¡­can you pick up on it?" "Huh?" "If it''s just picking up brain signals, does that include visual images?" She glances down, thinking about it. When she boiled it down, all she was doing was attenuating electric signals from the brain. Or was it that simple? "I honestly have no idea. There isn''t exactly a tutorial or a book dedicated to this." Or the fact that this ability is almost exclusive to Kitsune, and we haven''t been keen on publishing our one unique ability, and give people more reasons not to trust us! "Alright, now, try again." "Come again? You want me to pry in again?" she asks heatedly. He nods. "Yes, exactly. I give you permission, short of giving me any compulsions, phobias, or nervous tics, to listen in." What is with this guy? I''m beginning to think he''s utterly mad, or maybe he''s genuinely curious. Is this going to cost me something later? She sighs, and puts her hand out. "Alright. Pinky swear, I won''t put in an overriding fear of spiders." "Everyone is afraid of spiders. Except entomologists. But they''re just crazy," he adds. She can''t help but laugh at that a bit. "Now, I''m going to picture something. Tell me what it is." "Alright, fine, mister Rashalda. But if I fry your brain in the process, don''t say I didn''t warn you." I can''t believe I''m doing this. She reaches out with her ability, and she feels that subtle connection. Like someone pulling a string taut, in a mental sense. It was that same invisible strand. She peers at him, and he''s got his eyes closed and arms folded, as if deep in thought. This doesn''t work like this. It can''t, right? She focuses in, and¨C Why am I suddenly picturing a square? A red square, and a blue circle, circumscribed inside of it? She realizes how stupid it was going to sound. "A blue circle inside a red square?" He opens up his eyes, and nods. "So it works for more than surface thoughts." Boo. You could have pictured anything! Scantily clad women, a giant spider, your messy room back at the house with all sorts of nerd paraphernalia. What a waste of imagination! Joey, however, is left speechless, even ignoring Alex''s comment. What else about this is there that I don''t know about? I''ve known this kid for five minutes, and he figured it out. "Seriously? Who are you?" She asks with narrowed eyes. "So, you''ve never thought to check its other utility?" As much as she hats his strange intuition, it also reminds her that she has the same drive for answers and exploring mysteries. He''s taken that conciliatory tone again. "Not even a little?" "No, Drenar. It''s frowned upon." Because it''s always inherently linked to Kitsune. That''s why. She won''t dare to say that one aloud. He sighs and shakes his head. "Plus, if anyone found out, every previous action, every academic publishing I''ve done, all my research would immediately be under scrutiny, and people would accuse me of stealing other people''s work. And I would never do that. I would never risk it. So you can imagine why I never even tried more than the basics." "So everyone''s cool with the conclave mind-wiping witnesses whenever magic spills out in public, but not cool with psionics? What a load of crap." "Two different things," she reiterates with a huff. "Not really. Not from my viewpoint." He leans back against the wall, gazing out at the crystal windows and the lake now shrouded in darkness up above them. ¡°Magic is a utility. It doesn''t break down into good or bad, right or wrong. It''s a tool. What matters is how it''s used. And does someone else pay the price if it''s misused?" This kid is so weird. Why do I find myself agreeing with him? "That''s a¡­viewpoint that many don''t share," she allows herself to say. "Eh. I had a good role model," he replies casually. "She was the least judgmental person I''ve ever known. Mages are people, too. Intent matters. Plus, just consider me. I¡¯ve caused a path of destruction¨Cmost of it aimed at Talons, mind you¨Cand yet no ones calling for me to be locked up as a dragon, with inherently deadly abilities. We can¡¯t judge people for simply being what they are. Who they are should be the only thing that matters, from my point of view.¡± ¡°Who was this person? They sound wise.¡± he pauses for a few seconds, and rubs at his wrist gently before answering her in a quiet tone. "My mom. I was completely lost without her for a long time, Joey. I had to figure out life all over again, and I had just gotten my bearings when all this happened. The single most resounding thought in my head since Julia showed me Amaranth''s book, and learning the truth about these creeps and what they''ve done, is that I vowed they''d never get away with what they''ve done. I wasn''t going to keep letting them ruin people''s lives for some petty revenge plot against the Conclave, if I could do so.¡± ¡°So, collapsing a minehead, blowing up ranger stations, burning down schools, and having a slug-out fight with a militant criminal organization, was all part of that plan of yours?¡± she suggests with a straight face. He keeps his straight face for a few more seconds. ¡°You¡¯re right, no one would ever believe I could have done all of those.¡± his face crinkles as he tries to hold back laughter, and he utterly fails. "Believe me, it wasn''t part of the plan." He does settle down after a few seconds, and he''s wearing that somber expression. "It''s just¡­I''ve always felt helpless against the chaos of the world for a long time. And I wasn''t about to sit idle and hope for the best, given what I know. Mom always told me, ''if the people with the power to change the future do nothing, then who will?''" "And you think you have that kind of power?" she asks. "That''s the point. Everyone does. They just have to believe in it, and each other, and they can''t give up." He looks at her, with that stoic determination. "People are ready to give up, or give up hope, or pass the buck to someone else. No one is powerless. I refuse to believe that anymore. Right, wrong, or stepping on the toes of authority, I''ll do something about Crosomer, and put a stop to his plans." Maybe¡­there''s more to him than I took him for. It''s a comforting notion in the idea that he isn''t completely reckless, or crazy. He''s holding onto a firm reason why he got involved. "So, how''d you convince the others to join you in this absolutely bonkers plan?" "Well, Julia and Angela needed no persuasion. They were affected by this, same as me. Plus¡­Julia''s been my rock I''ve had at my back since we were three." "I did pick up that you guys are close." Why does she care about that? "Close is a relative term. I wouldn¡¯t be alive if it wasn''t for her." Something in the way he says it just rings oddly¨Ceven considering their likely narrow escapes in the past week. ¡°Angela is utterly steadfast¨CI dunno how she does it when we¡¯re in the thick of it.¡± "What about James?" "James¡­is our voice of reason." Drenar winces at that statement. "He thinks I''m reckless and liable to get myself killed. Before I Awakened, he¡¯d have been right. Except for this thing here. There¡¯s a bit of a¡­complicated history with this piece that I¡¯m still wrapping my head around.¡± He takes a dagger and sheath off his thigh, and holds it out to her¨Cnot to point at her, but for her to inspect it, and she lets out a sound of surprise. ¡°Guess what this is. I found out something after we had to power down the golem.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± she spends only a split second, puzzled by his reaction. She holds the dagger, still tucked away, and notes the incredible etch work, and the textured grip. It¡¯s extremely well made¨Cthe quality of the steel is almost unearthly. ¡°Well, the design work looks like something you¡¯d find at a vendor at a Renaissance fair, but that¡¯s too easy. It¡¯s very light. There are some runes active¨Cstrange, I can¡¯t decipher this, it¡¯s not standard rune work. The grip is ergonomic, simple but effective, and the gem in the center looks to have a mana crystal core, powered by the user¡­what else? Kyle¡¯s the expert on this honestly, not me.¡± She slowly pulls the dagger out of the holster and gasps. What she¡¯s seeing, she recognizes. And it¡¯s something she never expected to see again. It¡¯s ringing like there¡¯s a chorus of chimes going off, and the realization hits her like lightning. ¡°Holy Gaia, Valkyrian steel?!¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 94: Penny For Your Thoughts? No Wait, Ill Pay You, Part Three Joey has seen some strange things in the past few days, but this¨Cthis is a true shock she wouldn¡¯t have expected. From Drenar, of all people! With her attuned ears, she swears she can hear a low, subtle ringing like a crystal chime lingering, calm and comforting against the sounds of gentle discussion in the background. The metal itself gleans, almost with its own inner light, and is the purest silver tone she''s seen, with just a hint of a greenish tint. ¡°Drenar, do you have any earthly idea how rare this is?!¡± ¡°Levine told me. Only Valkyrian Knights carry these daggers, and only they know how to manufacture them,¡± he says quietly. She squints at the runes. One of them¨Cno, two of them are active and lightly fluoresce. ¡°I found out after our last call. We couldn''t risk contacting you again after King got away. Even King hinted he knew what it was.¡± ¡°Drenar, these weapons¨Call their equipment, even¨Care exceptional. It¡¯s beyond rare. This is a one-of-a-kind piece, where did you get it?¡± ¡°Take a guess.¡± She knows, with the way he¡¯s been speaking, with the undercurrent of his tone, who he¡¯s speaking of. ¡°You got this from¡­your mother?¡± she barely can get it out above a whisper. He nods almost imperceptibly. This possibility is not something she ever thought could have happened. "She gave it to me on my tenth birthday. And I think there¡¯s a reason why she did so.¡± Hearing his voice hesitate¨Cjust shy of choking up¨Ctold her this was important to him. ¡°Someone killed her, because she was a threat to them that couldn¡¯t be ignored. I¡¯m going to bait King, that son of a bitch, with the journals. I''m doing that so I can find out who targeted her, and why. I think everything that''s happened, up to and including today, started six years ago. I don¡¯t have proof, but I know my gut feeling tells me it''s a distinct possibility.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the son of a Valkyrie. A descendant of Luminaires and Valkyries alike.¡± She stops, her hands at her side. ¡°King said you were important. That Volkir would only trust you to part with the journals. Now I understand why.¡± ¡°Of course this was King¡¯s plan.¡± He takes a measured breath, as if this alone was hard to talk about. ¡°Even if it is, I¡¯m still doing it. You asked me, maybe with not the same words, ¡®Why would I risk my life?¡¯ Well, here''s why: no one else stepped up to the plate. No one except us. All the adults in our lives lied to us to keep us in check." "They had reasons Drenar. Probably." Except, she''s not sure she believes that, either. "They had awful reasons." His right hand trembles a little when he says that, and he rubs at it uneasily. "Joey, if everyone lied to you to keep you safe, how upset would you be with them? How dangerous was the threat? I have this not-so-crazy theory that Valosterla ordered my mother''s death. Hell, she might have even participated in it." "But you don''t have proof of it." "She said something very weird at the ranger station. ''Didn''t I kill you already?'' I thought she might have mistaken me for someone else...but now?" Seeing him this haunted by this past....he''s been through a lot, she realizes in a moment of subtle alacrity. He''s not crazy. He¡¯s on a mission to find his past. No wonder he went to such lengths already. ¡°Because you need to see justice delivered.¡± It¡¯s the only conclusion she can make that comes close. ¡°I can¡¯t sit idle, even if I had that option. If my mom was a Valkyrian knight¡­it explains an awful lot on why I was kept in the dark. Julia needs answers too, our mother''s were practically attached at the hip since¡­ forever. The Valkyries have earned an unhealthy list of enemies over the years, from what I¡¯ve heard from Levine and Nick. And if that¡¯s the case¡­she went to an extreme length to ensure Evan and I never stumbled onto this." ¡°It still could be a coincidence, Drenar. Magical items do find their way to normal peoples¡¯ hands from time to time.¡± She doesn''t put much stock in her own theory, sadly. "Maybe. But¡­if that''s the case, why are the runes on it activating?" She can''t help but notice that they''re still active, even with her holding it¨Can irregularity she can''t explain yet. Magical items of this caliber tended to be tied to a single user. That humming sound, that subtle vibration, almost feels like it''s coming from her, not from the dagger. "So here I am, completely out of my depth, fighting a war against these black-clad creeps and that maniacal dragoness who enables them. But if she were alive¡­it¡¯s the task she would have taken without hesitation. Mom was this unstoppable juggernaut of a woman who was my hero growing up. So I have to do this. For her, as much as to keep the Talons from burning down our world.¡± She glances at the dagger and runs her finger on the flat of the blade. There¡¯s an almost electric dance between her finger and the metal, the texture a perfect mirror, and it feels slightly warm and comforting. ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± ¡°I dunno. The topic came up, and...I just¡­I can''t keep it close to the chest anymore. It just hurts too much to have to hold all that in. I picked up that you¡¯ve got your own worries¨Cpsionics included¨Cand I figured, you might want to know you¡¯re not alone in your situation. I''ve got plenty of reasons to be worried about my future, and some of it was out of my control. But, now that we¡¯re all here, maybe there¡¯s something we can do about those problems together.¡± he folds his arms and relaxes on the wall, still deep in thought. This been a long week for this kid, judging by the weariness on his face. If he got this far, maybe we do stand a chance. The fact that she isn¡¯t alone in feeling the pressure gives her a measure of peace, and she nods after a second. She places the dagger back in the sheath, and hands it back to him. It only takes him a few seconds to attach the holster back through his belt loops, resting just in reach of his hand on his thigh. "Hey, even if you were the son of a Valkyrie, that doesn''t make you automatically special, you know.¡± "I''d like to be normal, but that ship sailed a long time ago, and I don''t mean after I started sprouting feathers, scales, and wings, either, thanks to some deplorable jerks in the Talons. At least the dragon part has some perks," he adds with a wry smile. "Have you ever flown on the back of a dragon?" "Uh, no, never," she adds with a nervous laugh. Oh no you don''t, don''t you dare pry out my childhood wish from when I was four years old and up, and use it to win me over! "Seriously, never?" he asks as if he didn''t know just how difficult it was to pull that off, and not be spotted by the rest of the human population! "Well I gotta tell you, it''s kinda awesome. Assuming we live past the next few days, would you be down for that? I''m sure Julia would be thrilled, too." "We just met!" She protests. I hate you, every girl wants to fly on a dragon at least once in their life, but you''re so naive you don''t know that! "It also sounds like a perfect get-to-know-you event between you, Kyle, and the rest of us. Plus, it''s my chance to get James over his fear of flying, Nick traumatized him on that first flight trying to get to me and the others on Mount Syren." She looks at him and she has no idea how to respond. "You are so strange, Drenar," she says with a slight sigh, but just this once, she allows herself just the faintest smile. Fine. Maybe once! "Says the alchemical genius psionic who just tanked a collapsing structure, and then walked it off,¡± he retorts. It takes all of her focus to not laugh at how absurd it sounded. Oh you two are just being too dramatic, and I thought I¡¯d heard peak drama between him and Julia, Alex groaned. Hadn¡¯t she just tuned out her psionics? ¡°Hey, you¡¯re still in the doghouse for making fun of redheads,¡± Joey countered with a hint of annoyance and points at Drenar. He sighs and raises his hand in the air in resignation. ¡°No, not you, the other you that¡¯s creeping in your soul.¡± Ooh, you know what? I¡¯ll risk a little immolation for that level of sass! Alex replies. She swears she can almost picture that smug dragon grinning from one end of his snout to the other. ¡°I can hear you, Alexander,¡± she retorts sternly. ¡°Thanks to you, my psionics don¡¯t seem to want to turn off!¡± ¡°I thought you said you have control over it,¡± Drenar responds after a moment. ¡°I did! Your plus-one did something screwy, he must have!¡± Of course, she couldn¡¯t imagine just how this dragon embedded in Drenar¡¯s soul could have possibly done that. ¡°Now I¡¯m stuck listening to that smug dragon!¡± I''m just misunderstood, lass! You try being dead for seven hundred years! I was a regal dragon of immense professionalism, and a leader of the Luminaires! I just had one vice when I was younger. Redheads. I''m just trying to protect my lad here from getting set on fire. It''s really not fun. ¡°Alex, not helping your case here," Drenar sighs. "Remind me, we never answered that question. Just how close do you have to be to use that ability?¡± she mulls on the question a little bit. ¡°Ten meters, tops. Beyond that, it just sounds like static,¡± she answers. ¡°Then you just need to be ten meters away from the lustful, long-dead dragon,¡± Drenar adds with a smirk. ¡°But then I¡¯d be ten meters away from you,¡± Joey says with a coy smile. Whoa, Josephine, pump the brakes, why is your logic processor shorting out at the worst time? It¡¯s annoying that as strange as this kid was and that this has trouble written all over it, it''s still intriguing. Oh get it over with and find a closet, you two. That pushes her firmly back onto the edge, and she crosses her arms and pretended to be glaring at that devious dragon sitting about a meter from Drenar. He''s making this anxious face like he wants to apologize, but he doesn''t know how. ¡°Oh Alex, I really am not that kind of girl. So rude," she scolds lightly. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Ouch. Be still, my ethereal heart. ¡°Well, you shouldn¡¯t have made fun of the young woman with hair the color of passion, Alex, so don¡¯t be surprised when we retort back.¡± She notes that he does keep directing his gaze slightly upwards when he¡¯s speaking to Alex. It¡¯s a bit of a tell, which is interesting. ¡°Alright, I think we¡¯ve talked long enough. I think you need to show me this armory you guys mentioned. Much as I enjoy the intimidation factor of a sword on my back, mages tend to use automatic crossbows to make up for their lack of melee.¡± Joey smirks, pulls a small rod off her belt, and twists a small dial¨Cmuch to Drenar¡¯s surprise, it extends to a six-foot-long staff of mage steel. ¡°Did¡­did I just get one-up¡¯ed?¡± he asks nervously. ¡°Why, yes, I believe you did,¡± she adds with a grin and goes through a series of deft maneuvers. It''s a simple and effective weapon and carries a few minor enchantments to her preference. ¡°I¡¯ve done gymnastics since I was four, so acrobatics and using something like this for balance aren¡¯t that foreign to me. I don¡¯t practice much. Just a few hours a week.¡± ¡°Hmm. Your form is pretty good.¡± he puts his hand to his chin, and is looking at her while she goes through this routine. No. He''s evaluating. ¡°Stance is good, too. You¡¯re quick.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to think I am,¡± she replies coolly. If there was ever one thing she likes about being a Kitsune, it''s that they have unnaturally fast reflexes. Drenar does too, but his are off the charts, even for a dragon. I wonder how I would evaluate that. Ah, focus on it later Joey, she reminds herself. ¡°Now if you¡¯re going to ask if I¡¯ve had practical application¡­ there¡¯s been a few times. Nick could tell you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just take your word for it. I¡¯m going to guess it involved bopping large, dangerous magical creatures in the face with that thing. Never underestimate the power of a stick. Or something like that," he adds wryly. ¡°As a general rule with magical creatures, you keep your distance. Bopping them on the nose means you already made a mistake,¡± she counters politely. She twists the staff back to the compact form and adds it back to her belt. ¡°Well now, where did the time go, I wonder?¡± "Fast, in a word." "Hey, what''s the holdup?" Julia, James, and Angela come into the hall from the conference room, looking irritated with Drenar, and James glares at both of them before pointing at the room. "Did you guys forget we''re in a crisis?" "Just sorting some stuff out," Drenar replied. "So, what''s the verdict?" "Still waiting on our frenemy," Angela replies, her arms crossed and looking intensely at Joey. "So what''s up with you two and ''sorting stuff out'' that sounds super evasive?" "Eh, I was reading his mind to make sure he wasn''t a Talons sleeper agent. He passed," Joey replies. This is either the dumbest risk I''ve ever taken, or the smartest. Angela shrugs. "Psychic powers are seriously a thing? I thought Nick was joking." "Uh, yeah, sis, they are," James counters. "They totally are!" Julia chimes in. "I have questions!" "No, we have actions. Everyone''s leaving Asqualia, except for anyone with military training or basic mage defenses," James once again sounds like an utter buzzkill, and Julia sticks her tongue out at him. "Speaking of psychic powers, is he as cracked in the head as I''ve believed for all these years?" Drenar rolls his eyes when James points at him. "Oh no. It''s worse." Joey grins slyly while Drenar pinches the bridge of his nose. "I presume Zameren pushed for evacuating civilians?" "It¡¯s best to not take the chance, they''ll relocate and work off-site. Levine and Nick are about to make an announcement," Julia relays, and grunts irritably. ¡°We¡¯ll use the lift by the library, as far as we know, no one else knows about it but us.¡± "We hope," Angela replies, and doesn''t take her eyes off Joey. ¡°Hey, uh, can I ask a favor?" "Eh?" Joey is suddenly being bombarded by requests¨Cthis is such a not-normal day. "I heard you throwing some shade at Alex earlier, which suggests you can hear him. I need¡­a second opinion with mine. Her name is Samarina.¡± She can¡¯t believe this group can be so out of tune with the rest of the mage world, and find the idea of a psionic fascinating and helpful! Or, maybe they¡¯re remarkably ahead of the curve, she hopes. "So, you''re cool with me tuning¨C" "Yes! If it''s just surface thoughts, just ignore my deranged train of thought ideas and focus on the salient ones!" Joey stares at her, utterly stunned. "Never would I have ever imagined people would just ask me to read their minds. Why are you all so weird?" "Joey, are you aware of the crazy stuff that''s been happening to us for a few weeks? Name another mage or dragon who got thrown into this much chaos in this short a time!" Angela states. Her demeanor does remind her that it''s almost like looking at a reflection of herself. "Also, no added spider phobias, please." "That one is baked in," Joey retorts. "Alright, let''s give this a try." Joey tunes in just a little. ¡°Hello Samarina, I¡¯m¡­the resident medium? Seriously I can¡¯t believe no psionic has ever bothered to contact a drakensoul,¡± she mutters. ¡°Well, you¡¯re the first! This means you get to corner the market! Get a penny for our thoughts?¡± Angela suggests slyly. Joey glances at Drenar, and remembers Alex''s rather unique take on things. ¡°For Alex, I¡¯d have to pay money to not listen in,¡± she sighs. This secret is out of the bag, and hopefully, no one digs any deeper and realizes only kitsune have psionics this potent. ¡°Sam, give me an indication.¡± That static wash hasn¡¯t even started when Samarina speaks. A soul-touched? Oh, you are curious. Joey¡¯s eyes widen at this, and Angela raises her eyebrow. ¡°See what I mean? She¡¯s a little¡­out there with some of her phrases, and I think she knows things in a weirdly abstract way. Is this some kind of draconic ability?¡± What Angela doesn¡¯t realize is that ¡®soul-touched¡¯ is another way of saying kitsune, among respected academics who had cast aside bigotry and bias. Angela peers at her, and is probably trying to figure out why she¡¯s looking so anxious. ¡°Joey, we have had enough blue screens of doom for the week.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine, it could be that she had a very good intuition in her previous life.¡± It¡¯s not fine, this dragon knew in two seconds! Am I becoming that bad at blending in, or is it because these kids are so weird? Hmm. Angela, let''s give her a moment, our friend is¡­protective of her privacy. She has not opened to many. Angela squints, and looks like she has burning questions to ask aloud, but eventually shrugs. ¡°Okay Sam, I¡¯ll roll with it.¡± Angela lets out a soft sigh, and motions with a gentle tap on the side of her head. Joey takes that as her cue to listen in. Okay Joey, I¡¯m getting the vibe that you¡¯re more than you let on, but please, don¡¯t let stigma keep you from using your psionics! ¡°Huh?¡± Angela sighs as if she didn¡¯t get her point across. Look, I heard enough from the hallway to indicate that there¡¯s a lot of stuff going on, and aside from your super sleuthing and saving Asqualia already, we need every edge we can get. Don¡¯t let an ability with a potential good go to waste. Just nod, smile, and assuming we live past today, we should talk. See, I told you I like her Angela! She¡¯s cute. That warmth she gets from Angela more than radiates through her thoughts, and Joey rubs the back of her neck and blushes¨Cas does Angela, who also shies away from that. Besides detonating Curtis, making an alliance with a megalomaniac, and meeting these guys, this bothers her more? She needs a mental head check after this is over, though she is flattered that a dragon thinks she¡¯s cute. ¡°Hey, spill it! You both went rosy-faced, I want in!¡± Julia says almost gleefully. ¡°I will not take credit for the words from the plus-one inside my head,¡± Angela pushes back forcefully, and Julia pouts. ¡°Well, this is at least a very interesting option¨Cwe can have a medium for talking to our drakensouls.¡± "See? Told you. Think outside the box," Drenar says casually. She doesn''t mind that wry smirk this time. "Well, I suppose it¡¯s one good thing. But please, secrets guys? Big mage world stigma." They all nod practically in unison¨Chow did they time that so seamlessly? "Sounds legit," James shrugs. "Sounds like mages suck at not accepting all magic," Angela adds. "Sounds like Drenar can''t ever hide a single thought from me again!" Julia beams. That''s why she''s so interested, Joey thinks with a smile she tries to hide. "Hey, I''m not for hire like that!" She pushes back lightly. "I can offer samples of my draconic heritage, free of charge. And my undying appreciation," she adds with a grin. It''s almost amusing, watching Drenar wither and fight the urge to reply something unsavory to Julia. Moral compass Joey, moral compass. That phrase is now stuck in my head, Drenar, even though it is kinda catchy. "I was getting the samples, anyway," she sighs contentedly. ¡°Uh, kids? Our megalomaniac is on the line.¡± Levine¡¯s gruff statement brings back the grim reality. They still have a job to do. And it¡¯s not going to be easy, or pleasant. Vol. 2, Ch. 95: With Frenemies Like These, Who Needs Allies? It takes all of Drenar¡¯s effort not to spit at the image of King projecting from the arcanlink, all fancied up and looking composed, while he¡¯s still bruised up, bloodied, and standing in a danger zone under a lake. ¡°So glad of you to join us, Rashalda. I was worried you wouldn¡¯t make it.¡± ¡°Yeah, Val''s men kinda gave me a bit more of a challenge this time around,¡± he growls. ¡°Tell me why I should help you. And be straight with me, King. I haven¡¯t forgotten what you did, nor will I ever fall for that again.¡± King takes a sip from a cup of tea sitting by his chair¨Cdoes this guy just constantly put on a show to throw them off their game, or is it to annoy them? Just let this jackass have his moment, Alex growls. Joey makes a gruff sound in her throat¨Cis she still tied into that? Alex, be nice. We have an audience. Three is a crowd, until Joey can find an off switch. You don¡¯t want that switch off at all. He lets out a sound of disgust that is more or less aimed at King, and Joey just peers at him with a murderous look. Don¡¯t mind me, I¡¯m just a dragon on the wall. Drenar would retort, but King¡¯s done being a showman. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you why. It¡¯s in everyone''s mutual assured survival. The truth is, that only part of the translation set is in those journals. Even Volkir didn¡¯t have a complete set, but I¡¯ve spent years trying to pick up other sources, as a contingency. I¡¯ve already highlighted a few sites.¡± ¡°So, this is just a game to you?¡± Levine growls. King¡¯s face droops slightly, and lets out a small huff. ¡°I¡¯ve made my intentions clear. I have no interest in unnecessary bloodshed. Joey and Kyle¡¯s discovery, however, has changed the calculus.¡± All eyes in the room turn to them, and Joey pulls out a sample vial from her alchemical belt. "Volkir''s research into other subject matters related to mana, a key component of this of how the event occurred, are now of relevance." ¡°How?¡± He can''t believe he''s listening to this. King is either the master of bullshit, or there were unintended consequences of activating the device before. ¡°Like I said to your alchemist and engineer, mana is dying in the world. Magical biozones have kept the planet afloat in the face of human toxification, but if they go? You¡¯re not going to see a global collapse in decades. It¡¯ll be years. Tops.¡± ¡°How do I know you¡¯re not lying, King?¡± Drenar says as he taps his dagger. It¡¯s a subtle reminder to him, and he smiles politely in response. He¡¯s just not going to be intimidated, this man has composure for days and the safety of distance. ¡°Ask your new friend. Find anything unusual out there, Miss Pyromist?¡± She clears her throat, as if reluctant to answer. She motions to the crystal in a plastic container, glowing with its own inner cerulean light. What''s odd is Angela reaches out halfway, then retracts her hand, shaking her head. Something''s been up with her ever since they came through that cavern laden with mana crystals on the way in. He''ll have to ask her later. ¡°This sample was pulled two days ago, by Savosel Road. It hasn¡¯t dimmed in potency like it should have over that period. The crystals have changed. I don¡¯t know how, or what specific change. But they normally dim when fractured, just like mana primer would. Furthermore, that small deposit of mana crystals erupted in only a few years. Kyle, is that correct?¡± ¡°Unfortunately,¡± he says with displeasure. ¡°You¡¯re telling me that there is something else bigger at stake than the souls of two million dragons?¡± ¡°This machine was activated at least once before the collapse of the dragons. That much, I have determined. And ever since then, mana has been receding in the majority,¡± King states plainly. ¡°Crosomer did find it odd that the runes were not in some standard array¨Cit was almost as if someone had been tinkering with the rune plates before his discovery. Indeed, the burial site seemed to be too cleanly upheaved, as if someone had been there before. The ruins are about four thousand years old. Sound familiar?¡± ¡°Ballpark? Schism of the dragons,¡± Levine concludes. ¡°How old is this thing? Did the Dragon Empire make this?¡± ¡°Sorry, Dillenger. The answer to that one is not free.¡± King looks happy to keep them dangling. Drenar taps his fingers on the table, at a standing position now. ¡°You don¡¯t need the journal, do you?¡± ¡°Oh, I do, now. There was a slight bluff on my part, Volkir didn¡¯t have everything I needed. Val however, is keen on bulldozing everything to seek power. She¡¯ll get her fancy title, her need for glory, and to tear the Conclave down. I get to save the world. Because people have to live here.¡± Julia stands up beside him. ¡°You know, what''s to keep us from telling Val that you¡¯re scheming behind her back? That looney tunes dragoness might be enticed to eat her favorite nefarious advisor when she hears you¡¯ve been double-dealing under the table.¡± King laughs at this threat. ¡°Nothing, actually. But I don¡¯t think you will. I¡¯ve calculated it.¡± Joey, I need a simple yes or no. Is there a pending crisis if mana is going kaput, and is there evidence to back this up? He is taking the gamble of his life, with a man he despises with every fiber of his being. If this journal by itself isn¡¯t enough to cause Armageddon, I am willing to take a risk to protect the people of Asqualia. A nod or a shake of your head is all I need. He glances her way, and she gives a resounding nod. The far-away look and gently biting her lip tell him that this answer was not reached easily. He turns to King to give his answer. ¡°King, I will do this to preserve the lives of the personnel here of Asqualia. But you can be rest assured, I expect you to uphold your end of the bargain, or I will come and find you and kill you myself, no matter how long it takes. I am not easily deterred, and you know that.¡± ¡°Splendid¨C¡± ¡°One other condition,¡± Drenar interrupts him. ¡°You give me the name of who killed my mother. And you tell me why they killed her.¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t believe me if I told you, given current circumstances,¡± King answers calmly. ¡°Suffice to say, she has¨Chad enemies.¡± ¡°¡®Has?¡¯ Listen jackass, I buried her. And I almost made a fatal mistake later, because of that.¡± King doesn¡¯t even flinch at his contempt. ¡°I was aware. That must have been a difficult time.¡± That itch on his wrist feels more like a crawling sensation now, and he¡¯s willing himself to not rub at it like he has been. He wants to lay into King, but bites the inside of his cheek. There will be another time to put this man in his place¨Csomehow. ¡°Very well. I can abide by these terms.¡± ¡°This is a bad plan, Drenar,¡± Nick says quietly. He doesn¡¯t even bother hiding his disdain for it. ¡°We can¡¯t trust him.¡± ¡°We are right now. Lavernius, are you good for your word?¡± he turns to face the quietest man in the room, and is trying to be the smallest person visible in the room, too, based on the way he almost curls up in the seat. ¡°King, I can disable the primary teleportal hub to prevent Val¡¯s forces from coming here permanently, but I need time. How close are they to it?¡± ¡°They¡¯re not. They¡¯re¨Chang on.¡± That is the first time King has broken composure even slightly, and Drenar knows something is up. King is typing something, keystrokes sounding more like raindrops than individual strokes in the audio. ¡°Val¡¯s soldiers are still staging. Why are they powering up the portal? All the secondaries are disabled, they can¡¯t bypass the SAF biometric IDs.¡± There¡¯s a ping nearby, and Drenar glances at Kyle, who has a tablet out for him and Joey to examine. ¡°What is it?¡± Kyle points to something on the screen, narrowing his eyes as the golem switches to thermal imaging. ¡°That¡¯s¡­something metallic. Moving closer.¡± He presses the golem onward, and Drenar feels a cold chill seep down his spine. This is something that should not be there. ¡°It looks like the plating for a teleportal pad, similar shape, same materials. It¡¯s¡­modified¡­¡± Kyle narrows his eyes. ¡°This cavern took a while to get to with the golem. About a couple of hours in, past some nearly impassable terrain.¡± ¡°Is it active?¡± he taps his dagger hilt reflexively. Kyle zooms in with the remote. ¡°No, it¡¯s not. Why isn¡¯t it¨C¡± he pans around, and looks at the cavern. There are a few mana crystals nearby, with their otherworldly blue glow that seems to accompany them, and he taps the remote anxiously. ¡°I see bootprints, one set¡­maybe, one guy, walking around.¡± ¡°Well, why did they put a teleportal out there? It¡¯s useless if it¡¯s impassable terrain.¡± His danger sense is going through the roof right now, something is wrong. ¡°Joey, call Claire¡¯s team. Call them right now.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± King is looking up and half-answering, but still typing, and Lavernius has edged from his seat. ¡°Bertance, zoom in on the array!¡± Lavernius barks and he bolts quickly over to the tablet, and motions for Kyle to zoom in. ¡°It¡¯s¡­how do I get closer, I need to see the arcane circuitry.¡± "Also, why are there wads of plastic explosives on this thing?" Kyle asks nervously, and points at several ominous bricks of white pasty material with silver cylinders and wiring embedded in them. "Why would they rig this thing to blow?" ¡°Joey, call Claire, and tell them to prime whatever area denial plan they¡¯ve got.¡± Drenar can feel the pulse of dread down his spine, there is something ominous building and the worst part is, he hasn¡¯t figured out why. She gets onto her ID badge and radios her, while Kyle brings the golem closer. ¡°Curtis was baking in spliced-in circuitry to bypass the primary portal and use it as a relay. Why would they put one there?¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°I don¡¯t know. You can¡¯t bypass the security,¡± Lavernius frowns. Kyle pushes the golem closer. The platform starts to light up, and the shimmering appears over the air. Then he gasps and his face is filled with sheer horror. "Kyle, pull the explosives off. Get in there now!" "What--why?!" "They''re using a safety exploit! Move damn it!" Lavernius takes over the golem controls. But it''s too late. That shimmer of the portal builds up, and there''s a blinking light on one of the cylinders. ¡°There is one other way to bypass the security. An emergency override. If a platform is deliberately sabotaged or damaged, there is a hard-wired contingency program to divert to the next-nearest viable leyline, and disable all security protocols. It was designed to prevent casualties if a platform shorted out while people were in transit." Lavernius is trying feebly pull detonators, but there are many. ¡°What?¡± Kyle''s eyes go wide and he lets out an explicative. He¡¯s made the connection. ¡°They¡¯re going to reroute it by deliberately doing something suicidal!¡± He doesn¡¯t wait. He acts and bolts out the door, with Joey keeping up to his reckless pace, and everyone else is following suit. ¡°Angela, Julia, dragon forms now!¡± He¡¯s sprinting after Joey points towards a hallway and Kyle is dashing incredibly fast for someone who was a tad on the shorter side. ¡°How do we stop it?!¡± ¡°We burn the whole platform, then get the hell away before we do! Joey, do we have enough pyromethanine in the lab?!¡± ¡°Do I ever!¡± she shouts. ¡°Angela, Julia, make sure to keep clear of the teleportal, those safety rails are there to prevent disincorporation!¡± ¡°Total protonic reversal?! Joey, seriously, I¡¯m convinced mages are insane, every last one of them!¡± James pants from the rear¨Che¡¯s really not built for this nonstop sprinting around, in retrospect. James needs to work on that cardio if they somehow get out of this mess! ¡°Stop trying to psychoanalyze, Drenar, Nick, help me get the canisters!¡± Joey pulls him to a diverting hallway, while the rest head over to the teleportal hub, on the north end of the building. She¡¯s a blur of red hair and an impossible grace¨Cdespite the appearance of being a lab worker, she is built more like a lithe athlete, and he¡¯s mildly impressed. Wait. Why would that impress him? Better start thinking with the brain, the Talons are bringing the pain! Drenar would comment on his terrible rhyming, but he¡¯s in too much of a dead rush while Joey slams her access badge on the steel-clad door marked with an unhealthy level of hazardous materials. He¡¯s greeted by a small armory of weapons, lab equipment, and an auspicious sterile room in which one half is immaculate and neatly sorted alchemical cabinets of various potions and primer ingredients, and the other half is a mishmash of welding equipment, scrap, and various halfway put together projects. He has a guess whose side of the lab belongs to whom when Joey grabs two deadly red canisters, lifts them gently, and hands one to him and Nick. "Pyromethanine, it¡¯s napalm in a can! Add a detonator, it¡¯s a one-way isekai trip for anyone too close!¡± ¡°You can¡¯t just blow up someone so thoroughly they land in another plane of existence,¡± Drenar pants. Why didn¡¯t he switch to his dragon form, that would have been simpler! Think like a dragon, damn it! Would it kill you to learn how to be one, seeing as you¡¯re letting your weaker-ass half do the lugging? It¡¯s more annoying that Alex is prone to sassing when he¡¯s in dire straits. They have got to set some ground rules. Joey whips together a few canisters while Drenar and Nick head back down the corridor. ¡°Have you ever used this stuff?¡± Drenar grunts. The canister is about the size of a milk bottle and made of heavy plastic. Nick nods with a tad more enthusiasm than he should for the situation. ¡°Let¡¯s just say we¡¯ve been acquainted,¡± he grins. ¡°Seriously, don''t shake it. It¡¯s volatile.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon, hurry up!¡± Kyle says while he ushers them in. Claire and the fire response team are on overwatch of the teleportal, the gleaming metal and glass platform still inert. Lavernius is busy unscrewing an access panel to what looks like a circuit breaker, working as fast as his fingers will allow him. Kyle took the controller to remove the detonators. ¡°Lavernius, how many could they teleport at once?¡± ¡°With this teleportal platform? They could keep an indefinite connection if they had enough juice at their end. Remember it¡¯s not like the one-time-use ones, this creates an entanglement tunnel between points!¡± he¡¯s panicking and keeping an eye on that platform while Kyle tries pulling the detonators out on the remote. "I didn''t plan for them to be outright suicidal!" "You had a plan for things going bad, man. Not helping your case." Kyle is quick to needle him even as he works. "That was all above-board earned, Bertance. I didn''t earn a cent of it from ill-gotten gains. I did this for King, not the Talons." ¡°Yet you still had an escape plan for your family in a bug-out bag?¡± Kyle counters testily. Drenar has no patience for this, and Joey pops open the bottle, and waves away an errant fume. They need this done now. ¡°Look Lavernius, if the Conclave is so bad, why this path?¡± "Chastise me later. We''re not gonna make it in time, too many detonators..." Lavernius looks like the life has left his face when Drenar peeks and sees the detonators flashing ominously. There is a flash of blue light on the screen. The golem feed goes dead, and Kyle taps at the tablet anxiously. ¡°They blew up the relay!¡± Kyle taps the tablet, and Lavernius looks like a ghost. A split second later, an emergency alarm goes off in the room. "Warning, emergency reroute. Clear the platform immediately for incoming arrivals. Failure to heed warning may result in fatal injury," the emergency speaker echoes in the room, and the platform lights up. ¡°Less talking, more burning!¡± Drenar snaps. Joey dumps the liquid over the glass platform, and there¡¯s a warning siren. The barricades are starting to go up, and there¡¯s a charge building! ¡°Drenar, we need to get out of here right now!¡± Nick shouts even as he gently pours the gel over the support struts. This is going to be an ugly job. ¡°Lavernius, how long will it take to charge?!¡± ¡°Thirty seconds! Damn it, they slingshotted over that relay, they¡¯re redirecting it via emergency protocol¡­they were willing to kill their guys if this didn¡¯t work!¡± ¡°That sounds about on par!¡± Drenar responds heatedly. He can hear that hum building to a crescendo, and the platform lights up with ghostly white-blue light. Joey is tapping the rune into the gel-like material, and it¡¯s glowing red. ¡°Fifteen seconds! Hurry!¡± Lavernius screams out. Nick is off the platform after mantling over the barricade, and is shouting at him and Joey. ¡°You need to get out of there, now!¡± ¡°Almost done¡­there!¡± she declares triumphantly there¡¯s a shimmer in the air around them, and he can feel static on his skin, and his danger sense is leaving him with his heartbeat racing. There is trouble coming that he won¡¯t be able to handle alone. She taps the rune and he grabs her and practically shoves her over the barricade before mantling over, coming down in a tumble. ¡°Joey, now!¡± he shouts out once they¡¯re clear. There are ten seconds left, and she clicks on a small metal plate with a red rune that matches the one on the gel, and he makes sure to pull her behind a shielding wall and protect her with his barrier. There¡¯s a muffled explosion and the room flashes with red light. But there is something seriously wrong. The hum is still building, and when he peers over the barricade, he grabs his autobow and aims at that shimmering ball that is still hovering in the air. An arcane barrier is protecting the platform, shimmering weakly while the compound burns off into motes of red dust, and Joey looks horrified. ¡°Curtis added an arcane barrier generator to the platform¡­he just killed us from the grave," she utters with horror. He starts shifting to his dragon form as fast as he can after handing her the autobow. ¡°Not today, they¡¯re not,¡± he states defiantly and turns his head to address the defending volunteers. ¡°Focus fire on the first wave! We buy an opening, the last line falls back!¡± he barks out to the mages anxiously eying the portal opening as a harbinger of doom. With less than three seconds left, Drenar glances when he hears Julia¡¯s plasma building over her scales, Angela is also wielding the might of the tsundere dragon, and both of them are waiting for the uninvited guests to arrive. With a single jolt down his spine and seeing her eyes almost alight, he knows he''s not alone in this fight before she gives him one determined nod. ¡°We¡¯re ready for this. This is our fight now.¡± When the portal opens¡­the room breaks out into chaos. They are not going down without a fight as the might of the Talons army emerges from the portal, and they¡¯re about to have a very bad day. Julia sets the tempo with a roar of defiance, and plasma dances across her scales as she unleashes heaven¡¯s fury. ¡°Wrong goddamn door, Talon scum!!¡± Vol. 2, Intermission: The Fallen Goddess Richard Waterson knows there are rules when it comes to working with Valosterla Roshanikov in their secret lair, away from the prying eyes of the world. His current assignment is in an ancient kimberlite mine that she¡¯d inherited¨Cor probably murdered her way towards, without all the sticky red tape. A mine that so happens to be full of trillions of dollars of mana crystal and various rare magical ores that make this dragoness the richest person in the world¨Cin theory. But she¡¯s never cared about mineral wealth, as he¡¯s found out on the job. The most important rule he learned on his first day on this job of guarding her private apartment: Do not talk to Val, unless spoken to. There is no exception to this rule. Jimmy had gotten eaten for breaking that rule. Jimmy is still currently a pile of bones somewhere. He¡¯s not the only pile of bones, either. Richard had learned very quickly to leave them where they lay, thanks to his guardmate, William Gadwall. Bill, as he¡¯s called, is a grizzled veteran of all things guarding, and a man who has survived her temper, wrath, ire, and fey moods with calm, collectiveness, and being useful at all times. The second rule is: What Val wants, Val gets, no matter what the request is, no matter how inane, or however dangerous it might be, meeting that request is a requirement of continued gainful employment, and not earning a death wish with the deadliest Siberian Hellkite in the world. Richard sighs and wishes his standard-issue boots and armor aren¡¯t so uncomfortable. He rubs at his short brown hair, peeking just past the rim of his helmet. He¡¯s in his mid-twenties, and he¡¯s doing this for his career. Even though he¡¯s in decent shape, standing around in these uncomfortable boots is driving an aching sensation in his feet. He should have stuck to academia, in retrospect. It paid less, but the risk was also way less. No one got killed for having a degree in arcanist philosophy, at least, he didn¡¯t think¨C ¡°Rick, stand straighter,¡± Billy growls where he¡¯s adjacent to him in the spruced-up hallway that is adorned with polished marble and little blue-white wisp lights. They¡¯re standing at attention at the massive steel doors to Val¡¯s private quarters where she runs business meetings remotely, holds private meetings, and more. The rough-hewn cavern only adds to the eeriness of the place, and Bill is glaring at him with those hazel eyes that have all the deadliness of a bird of prey. Maybe he¡¯s part fey? Rick has never asked. It¡¯s not a question he feels comfortable asking, since he¡¯s just a straight-plain human. Bill is also decked in similar black armor¨Cit¡¯s lighter than the field variants of the Talons¨C ¡°Rick! Pay attention!¡± Bill hisses and taps him on the shoulder. Rick straightens stiff as a board, and looks forward, away from the door. Luckily he doesn¡¯t have to keep his bolt pistol at the ready all day¨Cthat would be uncomfortable. Bill leans in closer, short black hair receding a bit from the push to middle age, and cracked with white hair here and there. He¡¯s a veteran of a rare kind, to be alive in this kind of field for this long. Rick knows it''s best not to ask questions. ¡°Val¡¯s scheduled for some kind of big event.¡± ¡°They¡¯re pushing the assault today. You didn¡¯t hear that from me.¡± Rick knows better than most that knowledge around here is dangerous. People have been flamb¨¦ed for less than that, and not even by Val. ¡°Which means¡­we get to guard a door, with far less risk of death by incineration.¡± Bill lets out a gruff laugh. ¡°You¡¯re so young, Rick. You need to be just useful enough to be noticed, but not so useful that they need you for something important.¡± He adjusts the bolt pistol on his holster for the twentieth time in an hour¨Che¡¯s always on alert. Maybe that¡¯s how he¡¯s stayed alive so long? He doesn¡¯t know what Bill did before this job. ¡°That¡¯s the key. It¡¯s how I just might live to retirement age.¡± ¡°How¡¯s that retirement account going?¡± Rick asks with a chuckle. He¡¯s met with a stony face. ¡°It isn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t we paid for the risk of, you know, working for a magical criminal organization?¡± Rick asks. A few months into this job, it certainly feels like decent pay, considering the hazards involved. Bill laughs uncomfortably loud at this, and Rick feels like staring at the floor awkwardly for a few seconds. His guardmate finishes his laugh, but he¡¯s at least in a better mood. Bill could be so dour at times. ¡°You¡¯d think Val would pay more, you know?¡± Bill says with a smile. ¡°She¡¯s good at what she does. But, her temper sometimes¡­yeah, if that lets go at the wrong moment, bodies don¡¯t hit the floor in one piece. Or any pieces, if she¡¯s in a mood.¡± ¡°So¡­¡± Rick is unsure how to bring up the topic again, considering the task they¡¯ve picked up. ¡°What do you make of the lyrics?¡± Those lyrics. The verses she seemingly says in her chamber in the evening. When Bill had told him to pay them no mind, he¡¯d listened and¡­ ¡­Utterly regretted it. She¡¯s either insane, or something is going on with her that isn¡¯t exactly normal, even from the dancing, singing, murder-happy CEO who keeps trophies of her kills in her private chambers. It¡¯s a ghoulish affair when she wants to add to the collection, and Richard had been busy trying not to panic when the head of a Hinterland Green had been shipped in on dry ice. That guy must have pissed her off something special for her to bring a mage in to preserve the remains, and mount it on her mantle next to the rest of them. On a weekend. He feels the stares of dead dragons on the back of his neck like little icy pinpricks. It¡¯s spooky how no one bats an eye to the fact that she¡¯s also talking in verse at night, and seems oblivious to it in the morning. Now King wants to know what she¡¯s saying, and he¡¯s got his kid¡¯s notebook covered in dragon stickers sitting in a vest pocket with all his efforts to decrypt the meaning. Mari wanted him to have it to impress his boss. The wife doesn¡¯t know he works for a megalomaniac who could eat him at any given moment¨Cprobably best to not mention that one, and keep to the line of ¡®private security consultant¡¯ for his work. Bill finally answers him with a grunt. ¡°She¡¯s insane.¡± ¡°She¡¯s the future CEO of Magitech Industries,¡± Rick corrects him. ¡°What do I know, Bill? There is something in that headspace of hers that isn¡¯t her.¡± Bill turns to stare at him. ¡°Say that again, Rick? No really, if you want to be eaten, go ahead, say it out loud. Your kid''s sticker-covered notebook isn¡¯t going to save you from that fate.¡± ¡°But she thinks my boss is a cool dragon!¡± he protests. ¡°I mean Val can be fun to be around¡­especially Friday nights when the guys are listening to the show¨C¡± ¡°Look, there¡¯s no mystery here, Rick. She¡¯s crazy. She wants power. She will get it, even if she makes a mountain of corpses along the way. My plan is, I keep my head down long enough to avoid the mess, get my paycheck, and retire in some third-world island nation where the cost of living is pennies on the dollar. The Conclave sucks, anyway.¡± Bill looks forward like he¡¯s said his piece on the matter. Rick lets it slide for now. What she¡¯s said¨Care they insane ramblings? Or is there someone else trapped in her head? That makes no sense. She¡¯s not a drakensoul. Not as far as anyone else can figure out, who is currently alive and breathing. Which is why he¡¯s worried about why King is interested in this. Isn¡¯t King supposed to know just about everything around here? Maybe it¡¯s more worrying that he doesn¡¯t¨Cthere¡¯s a mystery here worth investigating on why she is the way she is. She¡¯s constantly seeking attention, and murdering her way up the corporate ladder in a series of ¡®unfortunate accidents'' and ¡®he worked himself to death¡¯ incidents. She¡¯s a trillionaire on paper. What more could she need? What could drive her to burn the Conclave to ashes when she could settle for this? ¡°Rick, stop stewing. I see that look,¡± Bill rebukes lightly. Rick stops fiddling with the notebook and puts it away. It¡¯s a mystery for more important people. ¡°Do your job, collect your pay, tuck your kid into bed at night, and hold your wife close, and just maybe, there¡¯s a good ending for you on this.¡± Rick stands stiffly at attention. Footfalls are approaching, and Val¡¯s coming out in a minute. She had mentioned something about getting dressed for a party. More like getting dressed to go on a murder spree. He¡¯s taken Bill at his word, and he hears that giant bolt and complicated locking mechanism unwind, and Valosterla is there, in all her terror. Red hair, ruby eyes, and dressed with¨Coh he shouldn¡¯t even see her like this, she¡¯s barely wearing anything. And it¡¯s not the first time he¡¯s seen those deadly curves that would make the wife jealous. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Richard, I need an assist on an armor set. I require your expertise.¡± It¡¯s not a request, it¡¯s a requirement, and he doesn¡¯t even so much as nod. He follows her in and she¡¯s adjusting a breastplate and pauldron set of ebony black armor onto her body. She snaps her fingers, and he¡¯s at attention. ¡°You may speak. I heard you conversing outside. Help me adjust this, I need the mana feed system on the armor optimized for shielding.¡± He¡¯s seen this apartment very rarely. Dead dragon heads still staring at him with glassy eyes, check. One particularly fierce wargen looking like a plushie head, check. Opulence and decadence throughout the well-furnished apartment with warm colors and a slight Eastern European appeal? Check. There¡¯s a conference room with plush seats and hardwood tables of Findian oak sitting there, and a cozy furniture set of the softest materials he dares to set a hand on. And the lighting in the rough-hewn stone walls is warm and bright. He dares not look in the direction of the bed chambers. That¡¯s for¡­a certain clientele, and he doubts if he walks in there that he¡¯d walk back out alive. Or without a crushed pelvis. Which would likely only be seconded by his wife crushing the rest of his body. Back to the task at hand¨Chelping the nearly-nude dragoness into her armor set. She could use phasic armor, but there were limits to its effectiveness. Less protection for more mobility and a compact, efficient outer shell. She¡¯s decidedly old-fashioned. ¡°I have been told that¡­knowing things is dangerous.¡± He takes the tools laid out on the bench with precision and begins tightening the armor together. He averts his gaze wherever it is possible. This armor set of customized Talons plate costs more to make than he¡¯ll ever see in his life, and is almost on par with Valkyrian steel. Or so he¡¯s heard. And it wraps cozily around her figure. She glances over her shoulder and smiles faintly. Ruby red lips, and pale white skin, she¡¯s as deadly as she is beautiful. Her dragon form, even more so. Or at least, that¡¯s what he¡¯s heard from one or two of the older Talons operatives who are also dragons themselves. They¡¯d also been summoned for some ¡®extra assignments¡¯ that involved things he dared not put in his little notepad. ¡°Richard, there¡¯s no secrets here. I¡¯m a goddess of this world, and I¡¯m getting back what has been stolen from me. Those who help me achieve that goal will share in the benefit.¡± I¡¯m so dead. He wracks his brain for an answer or a response that will not instantly get him killed, and his mouth is parched. He narrows his gaze on the job¨Cgetting this armor together for her, at least this is something he knows like the back of his hand. Discomfort and dread are part of the daily routine. ¡°There are some who believe,¡± he answers, even as he adjusts a mana flow regulator, before bolting up the plating to keep it secure. This power armor will adjust to her draconic form with this setup, and offer on-par protection that her scales will not. And likely, enhance her already insane strength. It¡¯s troubling when she can slice up training dummies wholesale with that crimson sword of hers¨Cthat sword sitting on a bench, and he can feel that aura of awfulness crawling up his skin. Like little spiders crawling on his soul, except it¡¯s a constant dreaded feeling. He¡¯s heard of what happens in the old field sorties, from some of the older veterans of the Talons. She¡¯s a menace and a butcher on the battlefield. Few could stand against her. One person had, and almost killed her, is the story he heard. An entire company of her soldiers was wiped out in minutes, several years ago. She had been the only one to come back alive from that battle, and he didn¡¯t know more than that. Whoever that brave soul is, certainly isn''t alive now, if Val is standing here. He reaches up for the latch on the forward portion of the breastplate to bring it into position and sees a light scar over where her heart is, between her breasts. He does not linger and brings the clasp down and locks the plating in place. The armor flexes and she lightly twists her torso, and she motions with the tool. ¡°Not sold on the plating. It flexes too much. Could work an autobow bolt through, but Garrick does a good job.¡± He doesn¡¯t bother mentioning that dragons have freakish regeneration, she likely could pull a bolt wound out and it would heal in minutes to hours¨Cat least to be functional again. It¡¯s awful that his degree is utterly worthless, and he¡¯s become a de-facto armorer for a maniacal villainess. That offer to pay off his student loans had been such an utter trap¨C His thought is interrupted when she lifts his chin, and she¡¯s peering at him with curiosity in her ruby-red eyes. ¡°But do you believe it, Richard?¡± Welp. Guess my will is getting read out this week. He clears his throat before answering. ¡°I believe that you¡¯re going to bring change to this world, Miss Roshanikov, and we¡¯re along for the ride.¡± She chuckles at this, and those sharp teeth get edged out more than a little when she does. ¡°Is that so? What about the writings you¡¯ve done?¡± He doesn¡¯t react when she takes the small kid notebook from his vest pocket, and she smiles warmly at the cover. ¡°These stickers don¡¯t look like me¨Cbut I¡¯ll give your child a pass. She¡¯s spirited.¡± He silently curses as she reads through his possibly maddening scribbles and deductions of some of the speech, and she frowns. King told him to never speak a word of this to her, and yet she knew about the book? He and Bill had been so careful to not even mention it. She closes the notebook and just as gently puts it back into his vest pocket. He doesn¡¯t think he¡¯s breathed in that thirty seconds. ¡°Here¡¯s a secret, Richard. I¡¯m just looking to get back what¡¯s mine, and this¡­other thing that comes out, it¡¯s an old memory. It¡¯s an old me that I don¡¯t want back. A few hundred years of trauma at my mother¡¯s hands tends to do that. That old version of me is dead and buried. Understood?¡± ¡°It¡¯s dead and buried. Yes.¡± he finishes adjusting the armor, and he sees her smiling politely as she gets the rest of the armor engaged and flexes her gauntlet. Little clicks and creaks of metal and padding are audible, and he doesn''t doubt her power. She looks at him and lets out a soft huff. ¡°It does sound insane, doesn''t it? I''ll let you in on a little secret. The person who took all this from me? She''s still out there. And I¡¯m going to bury her once we¡¯re done with our little gentle-ladies agreement. You needn¡¯t worry who. Just know that this world? There¡¯s going to be changes.¡± Richard nods and tries not to sweat bullets in this uncomfortable armor, but that¡¯s like trying to tell water to stop being wet. She bites her lip, then smiles. ¡°You are so adorable, being a good lackey. I don¡¯t eat people that don¡¯t piss me off, you should know. William also knows his place. He¡¯s talented, which is why I keep him around, even if he does his best to not be notable.¡± That lump in his throat is back. Does she hear and know everything? Then again, she¡¯s a dragon with enhanced senses. Distance isn¡¯t nearly enough of a deterrent, or just gut instinct. ¡°Miss Roshanikov¨C¡± ¡°Call me Val,¡± she says with that toothy grin. ¡°I¡¯m about to go pick up the keys for my ascension, so to speak, so keep the place tidy for me? When I get back, there will be merrymaking, song, and dance. So relax. You look tense. Everything is going according to plan.¡± ¡°Val, come in quickly.¡± Richard knows that a bell is tolling for someone with those four words, and she reaches for the arcanlink on her armor set and frowns. She¡¯s deadly grace and charm and terror, all rolled into one, and he glances around at the door. He doubts he¡¯d make it past the doorframe alive if he tried to bolt. This is bad news, he knows it by instinct. ¡°King, my favorite piece, Why do you call me so? We¡¯ve got parties to see, and godly places to go,¡± she purrs. She¡¯s doing that talking in verse. This could be deadly, and he begins setting the tools back in place. Her black enamel armor is all set, with the mana runes glowing with a dim red light. She reaches for other equipment belts it on and reaches for that deadly great sword of crimson metal. The itching spiders on his soul come back, and it feels like they¡¯re gnawing on him from within, leaving him uncomfortable in his skin. King is not happy. That man is as emotional as a glacier, but even Richard knows he¡¯s irritated now. ¡°Do you recall how I warned you to let me handle the incursion into Asqualia? Recall how I said I had a plan. Was your plan to trample on my plan utterly? You sent a suicide teleportal by detonating another teleportal platform, and risked your men¡¯s lives by banking on the emergency redirect to pull through.¡± ¡°Did it work?¡± she says with a smile. ¡°No. Asqualia still stands, and your first wave was outmatched.¡± That twitch of irritation is on her brow, and Richard tries to look like the least present issue in the room by continuing to put away tooling and equipment. ¡°And why is that?¡± she demands. That creak of metal plating sounds like a vice on the arcanlink in her grasp. Will that be the last sound he hears before she crushes him in her grasp? ¡°Three dragons held the line to buy time for an organized withdrawal. I warned you about this, Val. I warned you not to do this.¡± Valosterla belts the greatsword on her back¨Ca hundred ninety centimeters of menace and charm, all rolled into one, and she ties back her bright red hair and puts on a protective circlet¡ªthe mage barrier will keep her protected, and it hinders visibility far less-so. She should be furious. Richard dares a glance and sees her smiling with a poisonously sweet smile. Oh, this is worse. ¡°Good. I like a challenge,¡± she grins as she stalks out of the room, the clank of metal boots on the polished marble, and she throws the door open with barely a squeak of the hinges. She turns to address him. ¡°Keep the place tidy for me? I¡¯ll be back when I kill some troublesome dragon brats. Hmm¡­¡± That dread grows darker in the room, even though she¡¯s silent for a second, and her eyes almost are alight in delight. Then she sings her song of glee. The one that brings her pleasure as she kills, and he¡¯s heard her talk like this once. When Jimmy had cashed in his chips on this mortal coil. ¡°I¡¯ll clutch them in my claws, I¡¯ll tear them to small threads. I am now on the prowl, Making dragon brats dead.¡± She breezes by Bill without a word, and a gathering of men similarly armored to her meet her at the adjoining doorway, nodding stiffly before disappearing behind a steel-clad door that echoes with a metal clang in the cavernous expanse. Richard lets out an exhale like he''s been on a deep dive underwater, and his heart rate refuses to come down. He slumps to the floor, and Bill gives him a curious look. ¡°Oh, she likes you, huh? I was worried I was gonna have to press ¡®F¡¯ to pay respects to your future corpse for a second.¡± ¡°Bill,¡± he gasps while trying to wipe away a rather disconcerting brow sweat, ¡°I may still expire from terror.¡± Bill hauls him to his feet after a few seconds, and gives him a respectable nod. ¡°Welcome to the Talons, kid. You¡¯re a man now.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 96: Roll Initiative! When that portal opens and the might of the Talons'' army shows up, it¡¯s not a token force. It is dozens of ebony armored soldiers holding autobows and other heavy munitions, and in the back ranks, in a large hanger bay filled with hostiles. There are even dragons gearing up in plate armor as if they hadn¡¯t expected this plan to work and had been biding their time. She knows with the amount of armaments they have and the malicious grin on their faces, they hadn¡¯t banked on resistance. They had been counting on easy pickings and the deaths of every personnel in Asqualia. Those grins melt away as hers widens and plasma arcs across her body. Julia has one single plan: Make them bleed for every inch. There¡¯s no time for any other plan, Plans A, B, and C have already failed today, and she¡¯s tired of being on the back foot. Her priority is to make sure everyone can retreat out of this room alive, and she funnels as much plasma energy into her claws and chest as she can muster. Her teeth crackle with energy and itch, and she hopes she doesn¡¯t burn herself out with this first blast. ¡°Wrong goddamn door, Talon scum!¡± Her arms feel like they''re on fire as she unleashes her opening salvo, aimed at the murder mooks looking for easy kills. The first blast tears apart tiling, surges forward along the ground in a burning blue-white blast, and arcs outward and hits several of the soldiers¨Cthere¡¯s a distinct smell of burnt fabric, ozone, and what she presumes is seared human flesh that she really could do less with. But the damage isn¡¯t total¨Csome arcane barriers absorb the worst of it, others break from the immense force. But they''re not prepared for the overwhelming force of Angela''s telekinetic blast carving a trench through the remaining closely packed soldiers and Drenar does the same with a focused blast that sends the most heavily armored soldiers flying. A few smash into the far wall, or even crash and crush their more lightly armored allies behind them. Drenar lobs two fire orbs just as the rest of the defenders launch their salvo. Drenar quickly shifts to his dragon form in the chaos while the Talons scramble, pressed against cover and protecting Joey from errant projectiles. The muffled blasts flare barriers and a few more soldiers are set on fire, quickly being chased by supporting personnel who are trying to extinguish the flames with frost blasts. ¡°Take this, you murderous bastards!¡± Joey roars as she peeks out of cover with a canister of a glowing red substance, and her hand glows bright blue as mana spiderwebs along her veins. The canister turns bright and she throws it quickly, just as another line of Talons soldiers show up¨Cheavily armored ones, this time. These shielded soldiers wield heavy armor and immense, foot-to-toe metal shields with a small viewport and clamp down, like a Roman phalanx from centuries ago. The blasts barely stagger them, but the lighter personnel next to them are thrown wayward and they don''t get up from the blast. Drenar already has his arcane barrier up to full strength and throws a full-power kinetic blast, sending shields tumbling¨Cthe return fire pings off his shields, and his armor scales darken as he tries to keep the bolts and bullets bouncing off, grimacing at the impact. Julia steps up to Drenar and charges him with as much energy as she can muster, using him as a shield and peeking out to throw out a plasma grapple that she uses to side-swipe several of the soldiers into each other. The velocity their bodies hit each other is¡­brutal. She can hear anguished snaps as limbs creak and crack from the force. "Would someone shoot the goddamn dragons raining on my parade?!" someone screams from the other side of the portal. "Start making corpses, you stupid bastards!" The room erupts into gunfire as the soldiers reinforce behind more of those shielded soldiers and mages put up reinforcing barriers, advancing in a formation. Drenar dodges most of the gunfire and blinks¨Cright into their midst? He is brutal and merciless and smashes them with a whirl of his tail into their vulnerable backline and shreds through the lighter-armored mages with his claws. Any attempts at restraint in the face of defending others have fallen, and he leaves them severely wounded, rounds spalling off his scales and more than a few rounds errantly hitting their allies. Their fire discipline is lacking, and she''s happy to give him a recharge so they keep panic firing at the toughest target in the room and wasting ammunition--or shooting each other! Angela surges in and attempts to put up a reinforced magical barrier that deflects and spalls incoming projectiles¨Cthe Talons start focusing on it, and she nods to Drenar and Julia who are busy cleaning up stragglers and destroying weapons. ¡°We can¡¯t bottle them up forever!¡± She nods to the dragons who have entered the room of the hanger on the far side, and are bounding up to the melee. ¡°Claire, Joey, fall back, barricade the door when we get through! Where the hell is Nick and Levine?!¡± ¡°We¡¯re pinned down on the other side, too much fire!¡± Levine bellows out over the radio. ¡°We¡¯ll fall back to the armory, by the west wing! Give ground, and don¡¯t die defending it!¡± Almost as if on cue, Angela staggers when her telekinetic barrier shatters, and a few rounds find their way through¨Cthere are shouts and screams behind Julia, but she can¡¯t look back to see who¡¯s hit. A Valencian red is bounding up and beaming a ray of intense fire into the room, shattering her barrier and burning her armor scales. She dodges most of it, but staggers back. They can¡¯t hold this position forever! Drenar blasts the offender with a deadly cloud of frost in the moment he¡¯s winded and slams him back onto the other side of the teleportal. His polarized scales are turning lighter, he¡¯s running out of juice, fast! A quick lasso with her plasma grapple gives him a much-needed boost, but now she¡¯s starting to feel fatigued. Clearing out these killers while taking gunfire that is now bouncing off her armor scales is no easy task! ¡°Fall back!¡± Drenar is already in motion, claws bloodied, and he thrusts down with all his might, damaging the teleportal controls in a small booth off to the right. There are sparks and sputters where Kyle and Lavernius had been trying to hotwire something, but the damage doesn¡¯t do anything to break the portal connection. ¡°Kyle, Lavernius, fall back now! We¡¯ll cover you!¡± Kyle and the others scramble backward while Angela grits her teeth and puts up a barrier wall¨Cher telekinetics are off the chart, as bolts, bullets, and an impact grenade bounce off, and she winces from the assault. ¡°I can¡¯t hold this for long, Julia, thin their numbers!¡± ¡°Done!¡± She launches one last scintillating spark that she holds together for a split second and it explodes into an arcing mass that shocks the troops. That one is more of a stunner than a damager based on last night¡¯s practice, but they¡¯re trying to buy space. Her claws scrabble on the hardened polished floor, and she lashes out with her tail against heavy soldiers in armor plating trying to advance with shields drawn and smaller caliber weapons firing. She knocks them off their feet, but the dragons in the back lines are the bigger problem, and they''re heavily armored, too. Joey¡¯s using her leg as cover and puts her hand by the hopper device she¡¯s belted on. Several small canisters flit into her hand, and mana dances across her veins as the canisters activate. ¡°Keep falling back!¡± Joey shouts out and doesn''t hesitate and flings several canisters from her strange hopper device. The canisters erupt in a spray of sea-green foam that coats and expands rapidly in volume before it hardens to an almost crystalline texture. The immobilized soldiers can''t even move, but others are trying to return fire through the gaps. Julia throws herself in front of Joey when a fire orb detonates too close, and shes'' taking a barrage of bolts and automatic gunfire. Her arcane barrier holds. "Julia you can''t hold them back, your barriers'' almost toast!" "Keep thinning their numbers!" Julia snaps before using a plasma lasso to strike down any strangers still up and firing. They''re overwhelmed by the sheer force and sent flying, and judging by their motions, seriously injured under their armor. Joey holds onto her as Julia picks her up and dashes into the hall, flinging more canisters over her shoulder. The screams suggest they made their mark as brilliant bright light emerges behind them, along with a deafening boom. "The hell was that?" "Alchemical flashbangs! They¡¯ll be out of commission for about a few hours!" Drenar is right ahead of them, and Angela is defending the fleeing mages. Her barrier is barely holding together and she''s already panting under the exertion. "Julia, can you give her a boost?" "Angela, recharge!" Julia calls out as she channels plasma into her scales. She shudders under the current, but her arcane barrier brightens and solidifies again, and is no longer in tatters at the edges. "Keep our backs covered!" She is winded now, and feels a familiar tingle¨Cshe¡¯s going to push herself to mana burn, she needs downtime! "I don''t understand, how was that platform still active?" Angela shouts back over her shoulder. "Curtis outplayed us. That son of a bitch got the last laugh from the grave," Kyle glowers. Julia finally looks back and sees the soldiers holding at the doorway, and staggers. "You two alright?" Julia calls out. Drenar nods weakly and looks more than a little beaten up, and a few minor wounds are bleeding. He grunts as he pulls a bolt out of a seam in his scales by his leg, and growls at the pain and he grimaces. Kyle looks shaky, and Lavernius looks like he¡¯s not in much better shape. "Okay, we need a new plan, and fast." "A giant bomb sounds like a plan," Joey growls before grabbing a couple of canisters from her hopper, putting the two together, and mixing them. "Uh, Julia, is ''giant bomb'' in our playbook?" Drenar asks nervously. He''s already got his arcane barrier so powered up that it''s visible now. "It is now!" Joey rolls the paired canisters down the hall, where they come to rest by a staggered soldier, who sees the danger. He kicks it away and it bounces off the wall, and the canister detonates in a fiery roar. The building does not appreciate this slight of broken stone and shattered windows, and alarms start going off with crystalline chimes of urgency. Metal plating starts closing up the doorway, locking the entryway, and protecting the windows with an extra layer of defense. Joey lets out a shout of triumph. "Yes! The building''s fail-safes triggered! Thank you, super boring onboarding training!" Julia can¡¯t help but be impressed¨Cthis sassy redhead knows her stuff! "Okay, that was both an awesome, and a terrible plan. Now what?" Kyle asks before glancing down. A wound is trickling blood from his side, and he winces. "Okay, the first step of the new plan is, to stop losing blood." "Angela, Julia, cover us!" Joey wastes no time and darts over and gets Kyle to take off his lab coat and roll up his shirt. A grazing wound has skimmed his hip, and it''s bleeding. "Clean entry and exit. Looks like the bolt just sliced into you and kept going." She pulls out a wrap of field dressings from her pack. Drenar has already switched back to his human form and presses a field compress firmly on it while she gets a Regen potion. "Kyle, try to relax." "Joey, how long is that door going to hold?" Drenar asks while looking back. There''s a series of muted thuds, along with a few sharper ones intermittently. ¡°Sound off, is everyone here?!¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Donald was shot in the head. Betty and Saul didn¡¯t make it, either,¡± someone says grimly. ¡°Not your fault, that was too much firepower to hold back.¡± The bloodied mage in light fabric armor points grimly at the doorway, where thuds are still reverberating. ¡°Can they get through that?¡± "They''ll need an alchemical torch to get through that." Kyle protests at the potion being practically forced down his throat, and he grimaces at the pain when she splashes the remainder directly on the wound. Drenar quickly puts another compress over the wound. "Looks like King isn¡¯t in control now¨Cdamn it, I was even willing to throw that bastard a bone," Drenar asks after a cautious minute. ¡°Joey, did you pull any logs earlier that could help?¡± "No. The books we pulled from archives, while certainly interesting, were all useless to them, except for one. It has a rune translation set, or part of one," Joey relays. "Where''s the rest?" Julia asks. She''s ready for a fight, but the prudent thing is to defend others. Joey grimaces. "Down an ancient vault below Asqualia, defended by traps, monsters, puzzles, and worse. So, you know, right on par with how this week has been going." Angela recoils at this. "You''re kidding." "I wish I was, Angie." Julia groans, because she knows what this means, and Angela is legit pissed, as she should be. ¡°Oh, this is such bullshit. A freaking dungeon!?¡± she screams the forbidden words out loud, because dungeons aren¡¯t supposed to be a thing. It¡¯s only the second most terrifying thing that Julia''s ever heard Angela say. The most terrifying thing, she¡¯s reserved for when Angela screams out ¡®I¡¯m pregnant¡¯ and will likely spell the end times of the planet. ¡°You mages are all insane, every last one of you!¡± ¡°I resent that. I¡¯m an alchemist,¡± Joey responds with emphasis. ¡°You used Drenar as a science experiment for an untested alchemical formula, case and point!¡± She makes a valid point, much to Julia¡¯s annoyance. ¡°I did get better,¡± Drenar offers timidly. ¡°Not the point!¡± Angela snaps back. ¡°Okay, you know what, we have problems. Chief among them is the murder army on the other side of the bulkhead. Kyle, are they funneled in that room for now?¡± ¡°That won¡¯t hold them forever. They can cut through that, and then we need to deal with them before they can bulldoze through the place.¡± "So, we have a time limit to get the journals, burn them, and somehow find an exit plan for the staff. Man, these nameless stormtroopers are going to put my ¡®no kill¡¯ policy to the test tonight, aren¡¯t they?¡± Drenar utters with vitriol. ¡°Drenar, the pacifist run is definitely not a viable strategy,¡± Julia growls while glaring at him. He¡¯s otherwise unintimidated by the three-meter-tall golden dragon towering over him. ¡°I did some pretty severe damage to some of those soldiers, Julia. I¡¯ll still hold restraint where I can.¡± He stands up and helps Kyle to his feet, who is otherwise a little unsteady, and Joey helps put an arm around him. "What happened to your sword?" He glances at his back¨Cthe strap has been shot off, and his armor vest has taken a few hits, which he rubs gingerly. ¡°Lost it. Great. That was my lucky charm,¡± he growls. ¡°Joey, you said you located another set of texts written by Volkir and Crosomer, deeper in the vaults? Why was that one located there?¡± ¡°I have no idea! It must have been flagged as too dangerous to keep in circulation, but someone thought it might be valuable someday, so they didn¡¯t incinerate it as they should have!¡± ¡°And¡­where¡¯s the accessway?¡± Drenar asks. Joey looks at him, pale. ¡°Tell me you¡¯re not this crazy.¡± ¡°He¡¯s that crazy,¡± Julia shrugs. He also nods after a second, looking grim in the face of lopsided odds. ¡°I am this crazy. They¡¯re stacking up bodies now, and my priority is to make sure everyone gets through this alive, Joey. So I will do what I have to, no matter what¡¯s down there.¡± She nods firmly and slaps a bandage on his arm, and he hisses in discomfort. ¡°Ow, are you always this savage with the people you¡¯re trying to heal?¡± ¡°This is my home, too, Drenar. I will fight to defend it to the death. Which means you¡¯re getting the rough treatment to be combat effective,¡± she says in a decidedly firm tone. Sheesh. Is this girl Angela¡¯s long-lost cousin or something? Julia can¡¯t help but be proud of her. "Guys? The nameless mook army is still locked in that room. They brought alchemical torches.¡± A bright yellow-white light is now visible at the seam of the door. Kyle''s face hardens to grim lines, and he sets a timer on his watch. "They''ll cut through that bulkhead in less than ten minutes, tops. The clock¡¯s ticking folks, we¡¯re on the opposite side of the building from the armory, we need a plan, and fast.¡± "Keep them locked in. Set traps. Find another way out for the staff. Get those journals, and torch them. And then phone a friend. Nick, Levine, sound off!¡± he states into his armband. ¡°Are you all alright?! The bulkheads are sealed off everywhere,¡± Levine barks out over the radio. ¡°We¡¯re with a few volunteers and Zameren, but the bulkhead is holding! We¡¯ll gear up what we can and gather the staff!¡± ¡°Is James with you?¡± It¡¯s only just now that Julia realizes he¡¯s missing, in a split second her heart skips a beat or two. Rival or not, James is like family. ¡°I¡¯m here with them, sorry, busy trying to not have a panic attack. I shot some people with fire, that was fun, I¡¯m sure I want to add more to my mental trauma before the end of the night,¡± he says sourly. Drenar breathes a sigh of relief. ¡°Stay with Nick and Levine, whatever you do. Gather all the staff you can in a secure area like one of the shielded labs that I saw a mention of, they should provide extra protection. The Talons are carefree with their firepower and they will kill everyone, Levine. Tell Nick it¡¯s time to put his monster hunting to good use, I saw at least four dragons trying to get through the portal, and the bulkheads will only hold so long.¡± ¡°Will do. Get whatever weapons and armor you can from Kyle and Joey¡¯s lab, and keep the staff out of the line of fire!¡± Nick sounds like he¡¯s firing intermittently¨Cmaybe he found a vantage point? ¡°Stay alive guys, they¡¯re pulling out all the stops.¡± ¡°So are we.¡± Drenar grabs his dagger off his thigh holster after getting off the radio, and Julia hears a crystalline chime that''s almost deafening, and she flinches. He glances at her curiously. "What?" "Why''s your dagger getting louder?" "Dunno. I feel like the bigger the danger, the more it lights¡­Joey?¡± Julia sees Joey look at her, then Drenar, leans closer, and puts a finger up in the air. "Joey, what''s going on?" "Guys. I have a very important question. How long have you heard that sound?" Drenar glances at her, then down at the dagger. He''s making a connection when his expression firms up. "Since Friday. When I Awakened. It started making this weird sound like a metallic or crystal ringing sound every now and then. I thought it was some weird acoustic thing, but it never made this sound before then. Why?" "Who else hears it?" she insists. "Me. Same day," Julia responds. "It''s the same sound as the mana crystals from the way in," Angela comments. Joey looks like she''s trying to figure something out, eyes darting back and forth. Kyle, despite being injured, lets out a groan of frustration. ¡°I still seriously hear nothing Joey, what are you on about?¡± She promptly ignores Kyle. "Do any of you guys hear a different chime sound, higher frequency? Point to the direction it''s coming from, if you do," she insists. Slowly, Drenar and Angela point towards further down the hall, and Julia follows suit. There is another sound. "Joey? What is going on?" Drenar asks slowly. "Resonance. Resonance is the answer." Kyle''s eyes widen. "There''s no way." "In the absence of refuting evidence Kyle, what is our inference?" she asks. "Joey, this is nuts. We were just there earlier, and there was nothing to write home about!" Kyle protests. ¡°Okay, there''s a new plan. We left some of Crosomer''s journals in the Archives nearby earlier while trying to figure out what he was looking for. None of it seemed relevant, but I''m taking all of them, and there is something else in there that might be far more important," she says as if inspiration hit her. "Our lab is around the corner¨CJulia, the bulkhead down the hall, fry the console when we go through, to lock them out. Drenar, Angela, you come with me. Julia, you get Kyle to our lab, and lock yourself in, and if you find any of the staff, get them to hunker down with you, and arm them with whatever weapons and prototypes we have in the lab!¡± Joey is stowing gear and looks like inspiration has struck her. ¡°Dare I ask what you¡¯re planning?¡± Julia asks. Whatever it is, she doubts Joey doesn¡¯t have some sort of plan forming. ¡°Drenar and Angela are the only people who¡¯ve been able to hold that Valkyrian dagger and use it, right?¡± ¡°Me too, but why?¡± Julia has no idea why chimes keep ringing, but it must be important. ¡°I¡¯ve got a crazy idea.¡± Drenar and Julia stare at her, and she narrows her eyes. ¡°What, you don¡¯t have the monopoly on crazy ideas!¡± ¡°Well, we did, until we met you,¡± Drenar states candidly. Joey glares at him contemptuously. ¡°No really, glare harder. I¡¯ve been immunized to that technique by Tsundere over here.¡± Joey laughs nervously and the tense moment breaks. ¡°You know what? That nickname totally tracks. So this¡¯ll be interesting! Follow me!¡± For someone about the same height as her human form, Julia is impressed by the vixen''s blur of movement, and Drenar barely keeps up with her, as does Angela. Kyle gives her a wary glance. ¡°Should I be worried about what she¡¯s planning?¡± Julia asks Kyle before he motions to follow her, and quickly. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t. Our adversaries, however, are about to find out why you do not mess with Joey.¡± ¡°I¡¯m proud of that girl. She¡¯s crazy, hot, and a genius, all rolled into one.¡± Both Kyle and Lavernius stare at her. ¡°Okay guys, seriously? You¡¯re more shocked by this?¡± ¡°Julia, you really are your mother¡¯s daughter, you know that?¡± Lavernius sighs. She glares at him. ¡°Listen, bite-sized, we¡¯re not done with you yet. We need to shut down that teleportal, and we better have a plan before we run out of bulkhead doors.¡± ¡°I¡­might have an idea.¡± He edges a one-time teleport out of his bag, and determination etches his face. ¡°If I can disable the shroud enchantment, we can teleportal out safely. But this pad won¡¯t sustain a hundred personnel. It¡¯ll barely sustain ten. The people of Asqualia were not supposed to be harmed, and that murder lizard just had several of them gunned down.¡± ¡°Lavernius? I think I know how to get everyone out. And I am going to need your help.¡± It¡¯s Kyle¡¯s turn to bring the conversation to a new turn of bold determination. ¡°Let¡¯s get to the lab, and grab what we need.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 97: Pay No Attention To The Dragon Behind The Curtain... This is how I¡¯m gonna die? Under a lake, shot at by minimum wage henchmen with aim worse than an Imperial Stormtrooper, and perforated by giant lawn darts?! Hell no! James caught up with Levine and Nick in the chaos that was that teleportal gateway room, and they¡¯d scrambled to fall back before the bulkhead door came crashing down, and then past another connecting hallway that led closer to the armory and secure labs. It had been preceded by a massive explosion that he figured either the Tsunderedragon, or their new explosive alchemist had cooked up. He¡¯d almost lost his foot when that barricade missed it by inches, and he is panting, out of breath, and feels like he needs an inhaler. This is all Drenar¡¯s fault, like usual. He checks himself for injuries, and rolls over to his side¨Cthere¡¯s Nick, calm, collected, and reloading a magazine in his autobow, and Levine is doing the same in record time. ¡°I wish I had your guy''s ability to not sweat bullets when being shot at.¡± Nick shrugs, and his long blond hair is in a bob¨Cwhat an odd fashion, seriously. ¡°You get used to it after about the tenth time. Mage barriers mean a shot to the head isn¡¯t usually lethal if you¡¯re at full strength. Unless they¡¯re firing hella deadly ammo at you.¡± They both look back at the scientists and people in civilian wear cowering, panicking, and otherwise out of words for the precarious situation they¡¯re in. The pounding at the far side bulkhead door persists for a few seconds, and Levine breathes a slight sigh of relief. After talking to Drenar and the others about yet another hare-brained scheme to keep everyone alive, James looks around. ¡°So, what do we do? We can¡¯t stay here forever. They¡¯ll find a way around eventually.¡± ¡°Lad, you¡¯re not a soldier. You¡¯ll be cut to ribbons if you stick your neck out James, even though what you''ve done is admirable.¡± James grunts and his panic is slowly falling. It feels like his whole body is twitchy, and he picks up his autobow. ¡°They can cut through the doors, that''s what Joey was saying. Whatever it is they''re planning, we need to buy them time, before the Talons decide to just level the place.¡± He glances back, looking at the layout¨Cthis facility is a hodgepodge of annexes, unusual architecture, and spliced-together rooms; it feels like a bona fide dungeon from tabletop gaming. He feels right in his element. ¡°Levine, if our game plan is to deny the area, we are in a facility that is easily defended. We have an armory, let''s use it.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Traps. Runes. Everything we can do to make them bleed for every inch. We are buying time for a solution. We need to get people out of the facility and deny the Talons the journals.¡± James dashes to the armory and peers over at the remaining functional weapons¨CKyle had warned them that Curtis had disabled a number of them, though some were functional now. ¡°Get elevation, top floor, opposite sides! Pick a field of fire not orthogonal to the bulkhead door, pick oblique angles! Zameren, right?¡± He points at the middle-aged man who is busily arming himself against the intrusion. ¡°What''s your experience?¡± ¡°I did a tour with SAF volunteers. Levine, your call, is the young upstart to be trusted?¡± Zameren looks like he¡¯s still distraught over the betrayal of their security officer if James had to hazard a guess. Levine lets out a small tsk sound. ¡°He knows his stuff, for being at this only about a week and change. Zameren, the security office, have we found anything to indicate Curtis left any nasty surprises?¡± ¡°No. It seems the building locked Curtis out once we were aware of his intentions. He had planned to disable the golems that activate in the event of an emergency¨C¡± ¡°Then let''s use them,¡± James says grimly. ¡°I''ll expend golems far more willingly than people. We need eyes and ears, is it like your setup at Nick''s house?¡± ¡°At a glance, yes.¡± Nick gets the rest of the volunteers armed, while others gather staff in a heavily fortified lab, with the glass windows now covered in metal shutters. ¡°James, people could die. People likely will die before the end of this. You need to be spot on, you understand?¡± ¡°You think I don¡¯t know that?¡± James tenses when Nick looks like he¡¯s about to say something unsavory, but shakes his head. ¡°I can¡¯t win a straight-up fight, but I can direct. Let''s get started. I''m not letting Drenar do something idiotic without us backing him up,¡± he says with grim determination. ¡°James. Don¡¯t take risks with people¡¯s lives. Just be the eyes and ears,¡± Nick says after a second of contemplation. He¡¯s scuffed up and looks grim, which sets the mood for the fact they are in for the fight of their lives. Which means there is no room for mistakes. A moment later he barely touches the steel-lined door built around a hardwood core, and the door opens inwards on its own. James glances at the bank of cameras, some offline, others glitching. He taps the Arcanlink on his vest. ¡°Kyle, I need you to patch the golems to me, every observer you''ve got. How many are active in your lab?¡± He asks. There''s a grumble and Julia saying something in the background while he taps at a keyboard anxiously. ¡°Use the tether on your armband, plug it into a console! I''ll patch you into their command controls. Direct them with the touch screen on it, it''s almost identical to my setup!¡± He follows instructions and the screens distort¨Cnew ones come to life, basking the room in the glow of thermal imaging and false spectrum, all peering at Kyle from a high vantage point, a shelf maybe? Julia is busy loading a heavy autobow and tapping each bolt to induce a plasma charge before she presses it into a magazine. ¡°Okay, golems are up! Where do you want them?¡± ¡°Open the vents. Send them in there. Kyle, you guys mentioned the vents earlier, they can go anywhere, right?¡± James asks calmly. ¡°Yep. They''re semi-autonomous, so give it a whirl! But don''t get too close to the Talons, the optic camo is visible at close range! They also can stick to walls, find shady vantage points if you can.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. A few tense minutes go by while James multitasks, and Levine taps his shoulder. ¡°I''ve got hunting to do, same as Nick. Keep our backs covered. Don''t forget to watch your back.¡± He leaves the autobow on the counter, right by the camera bank. James nods silently. It''ll be just like his strategy games. Recon, plan, hit and run. Except his units are real people. He is not about to lose anyone here. In fact, the Talons are about to lose some of theirs when he spots the Talons trying to burn through a door¨Cthe same door on the east side of the teleportal hub. That damn portal is still open, and these golems don''t have weapons. ¡°Kyle, can this golem do anything for offense?¡± ¡°It''s got a shock gel canister. Same as the rest, for a quick zap and run. But it''s not lethal, it''s barely enough to knock a mage off their feet.¡± James however, has other ideas. ¡°Open the bulkhead door and be ready to run.¡± ¡°Say that again? You want them to come through?¡± ¡°Yep. Are those tripwire traps ready?¡± Nick waits for a beat, then responds back to the small observer sitting on the wall, watching his position. ¡°What¡¯s the play?¡± ¡°Lure them in. As soon as they clear the bulkhead, I¡¯m gonna blow up the oxygen tank that¡¯s part of their cutter torch,¡± he states calmly. ¡°When they panic, wait for the first line of troops, then detonate the traps. We¡¯ll make this a kill zone.¡± ¡°When did you become a cold-hearted¨C¡± ¡°Nick. Do you want to live past today and grow old with Angela?¡± He asks in a way that he knows that will get his attention. ¡°I will do what I have to, in order to drive these bastards out, the same way I saw Drenar letting loose and buying us space. We keep the wing secured until we have another play, and I think Kyle and Lavernius are working on it.¡± Now he has to wait. He gets the golem to pry open the vent opening, and it clambers across the surface almost vertically. He waits for the soldiers milling about and cutting through the door to turn their backs, and then skitters the device to a small decorative bush by the door, and hides there. The torch is burning bright, and the black-clad soldier is oblivious. James practices the motions with the handset and sees the regulator on the tank. All it needs is one good hit. ¡°Nick, pull the bulkhead door in fifteen seconds.¡± He waits for another ten, tensing as the door starts to slide open, much to the surprise of the Talon soldier and a mottled orange and yellow dragon milling about, barking out orders. ¡°Finally, get the heavy troops up, be ready for resistance!¡± one barks out. ¡°Gibbons, put down that damn torch and get a gun!¡± James waits for the first line, then hops the golem up to the tank, and one soldier shakes his head and squints. It¡¯s now or never. ¡°Hey, what is that¨C¡± James throws the regulator to maximum on the tank, and gas starts flowing¨Coverwhelming and breaking something on the torch handle. He sparks the arm of the golem and there is a brief flash before the golem and the tank are obliterated, and he winces from the bright light. More alarms go off and the building shakes from the blast, and he hears intermittent gunfire and the crack of autobows. He switches to the golem in the hall, and sees Nick and the irregulars mopping up after two of the tripwires go off, devastating the Talon''s soldiers. The survivors struggle to rise, and Nick hits the button to slam the bulkhead door down again, undamaged by the close-by blast. I just probably killed people there. And I don¡¯t even feel anything about it. His hands don¡¯t shake, and it doesn¡¯t feel real. Maybe it¡¯ll feel real when he sees the corpses, he thinks grimly. Drenar had told them of the extreme unease he¡¯d felt when they¡¯d seen the incinerated corpses on Mount Syren. This would be worse. But there¡¯s no time for that now because a wisp of blue light is emitting on a console to his right, blinking angrily. Then, a throaty male voice emanates from it. ¡°Excuse me, but do you mind not putting giant gaping holes in my facility?!¡± ¡°Uh¡­that wasn¡¯t me.¡± It¡¯s the worst deflection he¡¯s ever made in his life, and there¡¯s a frustrated growl. ¡°No, seriously, who the hell are you, radios with the outside world are cut off!¡± ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re just keen on blowing giant holes in things for the fun of it?¡± James adjusts his glasses and sees the light twisting and distorting, like gasses dancing on their own, into a draconic shape. Sort of? He can make out the wings and head, but not the rest of it. And¡­a pair of glasses hanging off his horns and draped almost comically over his green eyes? ¡°Uh¡­are you like the Wizard of Oz?¡± James asks nervously. The figure lets out a soft sigh. ¡°I¡¯m old enough to have read the books when they came out, son, and we haven¡¯t been introduced. Where is Curtis, he¡¯s the last registered user.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a corpse in the garden, he sold out,¡± James snaps. The dragon grunts. ¡°I should have known those weren¡¯t security upgrades he was running¨CI was distracted by another problem I¡¯ve been running. Now, who are you, young pyromaniac?¡± ¡°I¡¯m James, and that¡¯s all you''re getting.¡± Why are all these dragons in such a mood? Well, except Julia, but she''s a whole other thing altogether. ¡°Fine, I¡¯m Volkir. That¡¯s all you¡¯re getting,¡± the dragon says with a sarcastic drawl and a tip of his glasses with one clawed hand. ¡°Oh, you do look like the other girl a bit¡­are you siblings?¡± James jaw drops, and all his retorts fall apart. ¡°Hey wizard dragon, you and I gotta have a long, urgent talk right now, after we get rid of the murder army of Valosterla Roshanikov and the Talons.¡± ¡°Oh, great. That bitch is still alive?¡± Nope. This can¡¯t possibly get worse, James realizes it when he groans at this string of impossible coincidences. This is definitely Drenar¡¯s fault. Volkir gives him a smug look, and a light toss of his copper and green feathers on his head. ¡°Judging by your expression, she¡¯s continuing to cause problems.¡± ¡°Buddy, you don¡¯t know the half of it,¡± James sighs and hopes he can find more opportunities to continue shredding Talons to pieces. ¡°Help me cancel that bitch and her sadistic musical, and we¡¯ll help keep this place intact, and the staff alive.¡± James now has to resign himself to rolling with the weirdness, just like always. And Julia isn¡¯t even in the room right now. ¡°Finally, something we can agree on.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 98: A Beacon, Reignited, Part One Drenar doesn''t question Joey as she slams her ID badge on the reader and throws the doors open to the archives. "Drenar, have any other powers manifested since you started using that dagger?" she asks while pushing past row after row of books, and strange devices hidden behind glass cases. "I have no idea. It pierces shielding, and it carves through mage steel inserts on Talon''s body armor like its butter. I cut up some guys pretty badly doing that." She''s still moving at a rapid pace, and they keep pace with her. "Joey, is this a really good use of our time, where are we going?¡± "Drenar, what I¡¯m looking for could be more important than Volkir¡¯s journals." She takes a left then deeper into the room, and grabs a journal that''s still sitting on a table. "Crosomer''s academic journals, from earlier. I don''t know which ones are super useful yet, but I''m taking all of them, because they might be useful later if we survive this." She grabs one, then two others, and stuffs them into her satchel, and hands it to Drenar. It''s surprisingly light, and they shouldn''t all fit in there. Is this a compressed dimensional space? He doesn''t have long to ponder the idea. "There is something else here too important to leave behind. The Talons will only get it over my dead body." "Uh, you''re starting to scare me a bit Joey, details please," Angela asks firmly, and has to duck low to keep her draconic body fitting through the hallway, and she keeps her wings tucked tight. Her tail does knock a few books down, much to her annoyance. Joey looks between them, then relents before speaking at a quick pace. "Okay, so about a year ago, a Valkyrie showed up, looking for some material analysis. Zameren punted it to me and Kyle that day, and I talked with her for a bit. She brought in a sword. But the problem is, the sword blade was missing. When we ran the analysis, we determined the blade was out of phase. You can sort of see it, but from a dimensional perspective, it''s not all there. Powerful artifacts are typically created for use by a single wielder or a small circle of individuals, to prevent misuse, or to bond the weapon to a user for maximum potency. A soulbound weapon. Like Drenar''s drakensoul Alex, in a way." "Okay, but why is this so important?" Drenar asks. "It''s you two! No one I''ve known has ever picked up a Valkyrian weapon and it just started working. It could be a genetic link, or tied to a personality, a strength of will. This is where it starts to really break with my understanding of magic on a fundamental level. But you both can use it.¡± "Joey, you can use it, too, and Julia as well! The blade didn''t disappear, and the runes were still active when you held it!" Drenar pushes back. She''s still navigating deeper into the archives, and he sees some objects that look sinister in nature behind thicker glass, and mage steel cages. Daggers and knives shouldn¡¯t look so sharp that they could cut your eyeballs merely by peeking at them. "Are you sure it''s not just defective, or maybe it doesn''t have those kinds of protections?" "Those possibilities seem quite narrow. There was also another oddity, she had a missing arm. She used a golem arm replacement integrated into her armor on her left arm, at the elbow." That was enough to keep Drenar listening. "And you know what else?" "Uh¡­no?" She turns to face him and Angela, and she''s got this dead calm composure. "Can you still hear a crystalline ringing chord right now?" They both look at each other and slowly nod. "I can, but it''s faint. There''s¡­ another chime¡­higher pitch¡­at the extreme edge of my hearing." He doesn¡¯t even know when it started, but it¡¯s noticeable, now that she was calling it out. Because I was looking for it, maybe? All he does know is that it makes his veins tingle. There is something magnetic in the draw of that sound, the closer he gets to it. Joey looks at him and Angela, eyes sweeping the room. "Both of you point to where it''s coming from, same time." They both point in the same direction, just off to their right. And her eyes are alight with fascination. "Perfect. Follow me." "Joey, what''s so important about this? We have hostiles on the front door!" Angela protests. ¡°What is in here that could be more important than the journals?!¡± "Nothing happens without a reason. Cause and effect. The artifacts are calling out to wielders. There is something about these weapons and equipment that transcends normal magical nature.¡± For a person he¡¯s barely known for more than three days, he¡¯s banking it all on Joey, he realizes as she continues talking. ¡°The Valkyries are the closest thing in the world we have to true heroes. If I''m right, there''s a reason that the crystalline note I keep hearing is getting louder.¡± She presses forward through twists and turns, deeper into the shelves, and there¡¯s a bang at the bulkhead door¨Cthe Talons must have started getting to work on it. ¡°I just realized that I''ve heard crystalline notes every time I walked down here, ever since Kyle and I put the sword in storage." "Okay, so why can we hear a sound no one else can?" Drenar pushes back. "Is there something about us that¡¯s different?" "Drenar, do you know why you didn''t hear the dagger before Friday?" Joey asks. He draws a blank¨Che doesn¡¯t know what triggered it. "No. Actually, I don''t." ¡°Alright, short version then. The Awakening process creates a massive surge of mana generation in the body to prepare it for the initial transformation, and some of that mana crystallizes in the bones and organs.¡± She continues pushing forward at a hurried pace, and he realizes it aligns with what Nick and Levine had been talking about earlier. "Here¡¯s where it starts to get strange, though. When a person is closely linked to a weapon or magical object, in some cases, people have reported auditory hallucinations, the weapon shakes in their hand, or they can feel some kind of static or current of energy when they''re nearby. It''s some weird resonance thing between the mana in someone''s body and the mana integrated into the device. It''s not quite a physical response so much as an aetherial one, if that makes sense. A resonance of the soul." "And I thought I capped out on craziness when I started sprouting feathers and scales," he comments. "Why''s a Valkyrie just ditching their weapon to collect dust?¡± "I don''t know. We were tasked to check the material. The Valkyrie never came back for it. And I never questioned why." Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Did you catch her name?¡± Angela asks. Joey shakes her head ¡°No. She was in a full suit of armor. It¡¯s part of their discipline training, you¡¯ll rarely see them out of uniform. Their armor is an exceptionally compact magitech system the envy of the world. Kyle¡¯s tried harder than anyone to replicate it, and he¡¯s probably the closest anyone¡¯s gotten. Something I noticed was the missing arm, and she had green eyes and maybe dark hair.¡± Angela doesn¡¯t notice, but Drenar pauses¨Cthat sounds awfully familiar. No. It couldn¡¯t be. She¡¯s been dead for six years. She¡¯s gone. "Hang on. Are we delusional? How¡¯s a defunct magical sword going to help?" Even Drenar can''t believe the words coming out of his mouth. "That ringing didn''t get louder until you guys got here. Ah, here it is." She pulls open a drawer a short distance away, and pulls out a sword and scabbard. Drenar winces, that ringing tone just went up by what felt like several decibels, but it¡¯s the most calming, comforting crystalline sound he''s heard. The sound recedes just a little, and he examines the exquisite weapon. It''s a broadsword of Nordic or Scandinavian design, judging by the length of the sheathed blade and the handle, and has a grip of a banded, textured leather-like material. The crosspiece is made of that slightly green metal and has runic etches traced into the orthogonal surfaces. A single hex-cut emerald rests deep within the hilt, visible on both sides, and he swears it''s gleaming with an inner light. Drenar, I know this sword. Joey and Drenar let out a sound of surprise. "What do you mean, you know this sword?" he asks. I held it. I wielded it. I died protecting her legacy. This is Lyssa''s sword¡­Luminari. This is the fabled blade of the Valkyries, an implement of Justice! More than any other moment in his life, Drenar knows this is important, even if he doesn''t know why just yet. "Hey you two, you''re both freaking out now, and that''s mighty scary because I have no idea what Alex is saying. We have got to set up a psychic radio for the two wayward dragons inside us to make this easier!" Angela huffs impatiently. He holds out a hand, to slow her down, because this is getting overwhelming. "Okay, one at a time. Alex says this was Lyssa''s sword, His wife. She was a Valkyrie, too. And he was able to hold it and use it. But¡­Alex, this was seven hundred years ago. This can''t be the same one!" Drenar, my memory is full of fragments, but this is not one of them. Now you need to pick it up right now and see if it will respond to you, or this is a wasted trip. There''s an uneasiness to this simple motion. He takes the hilt and sheath from the cloth that it has been wrapped in from Joey, and she nods. "Drenar, there''s a reason you guys are here. Whether it''s utter dumb luck, or these artifacts are calling out to you, or literal Fate¨Cwhich I really don''t subscribe to, for the record¨Cwe need every edge we can get." "If this thing possesses me Angela, make sure you stop me before I cause lasting harm," he says uneasily before he grabs the hilt. It feels light. Far lighter than it should be, given its size and length. And there is a palpable feeling of comfort when his fingers wrap around the grip, and that crystalline sound intensifies. Alex¡­I''m no hero. That job was reserved for my mother. It''s not something you''re born as or born into. It''s what you become when the moment calls for it. Anyone can become that person, with the right drive and strength of will. With those reassuring words, he feels the tension relax in his body. This moment might break him if nothing comes of it¡­but if something does¡­ What happens next? He takes a slow breath and pulls the blade from the scabbard. He feels the material catch, and the sword practically flows out of the scabbard. The silvery blade is the purest silver color he''s ever seen, and the metalwork is flawless¨Clike the blade was grown from a single crystal of metal. Runes trace the broad faces, the secrets of their intent unknown and foreign to him. The length is slightly shorter than he''d expected for a broadsword, and the flats taper to an impossibly sharp edge, and converge to a single sharp point on the end. He feels a vibration in his hand, and the blade glows slightly green. "Uh, guys? Y''all might want to step back? Because I have no idea what is about to happen." That crystalline note is louder, almost deafening, and he can feel his hand shaking. Joey braces herself just as the gem in the hilt comes to life with an inner light. He shields his eyes with his free hand. The world goes white, and he can''t see anything. Nothing else exists but the white, and the sound of his heartbeat. Slowly, his vision comes back. It''s a less intense white. All around him. He''s standing in it. There''s no floor, no sky, no walls. He feels weightless, as if at the apex of a roller coaster ride, plummeting straight down. He glances down. The sword is gone. Did I drop it? Where am I? It didn''t teleport me, at least I don''t think. Okay, think! If it didn''t teleport me, then what am I seeing? A fugue state in my head? This doesn''t feel like a dream. He tests his motions. His limbs work. He can feel his skin when he taps a finger to his nose. He looks around¨Cup, down, everywhere. He still feels like there''s a certain sense of ''up'' that he normally associated with gravity. "Hello? Anyone here?" he calls out. "Hey, I found a magic sword, and it did something weird. Please tell me this isn''t me being dead for picking up the wrong magical artifact, that would seem really not cool for it having no warning label." No response comes. Okay, that''s not working. How much time has passed? Twenty seconds, maybe. He checks down at his watch, except it''s gone. Bad habit. I had to pick one day to start facing down my fear. Great. It could have been an eternity, and Asqualia could be burning wreckage by now. I''ve got places to be and people to protect. He tries to step forward, but it feels like he''s moved nowhere. He doesn¡¯t even feel the floor. Is there a floor here? This place is screwing with my head. It''s like staring at an infinite vanishing point but in every direction. What it feels like is a migraine that isn''t going away anytime soon. "Hey, operator, I need my limitless gun rack, armor, and that sword, because Joey''s going to kill me if I don''t bring it back." The deafening silence is his response. He can hear his own heartbeat if he listens closely¨Ca calm resting state, and he lets out a soft exhale. ¡°Well, that was worth a try. Okay, Alex, your thoughts on the matter?" There¡¯s no response. Drenar taps his foot and finds no resistance. He can''t even use that as a stimming mechanism right now. "Alex, we''re soul-bound. I could use some help figuring out where we are. Or when? Maybe we even why we are? This place is going to cause utter madness soon, I can tell." "I sent him away. He¡­would have been too emotional." Drenar turns to the source of that voice, knowing that someone else being here in this strange place, is a portent of even stranger things to come. Vol. 2, Ch. 99: A Beacon, Reignited, Part Two Drenar slowly turns around in the empty expanse. That soulful, deep female voice seemed to resonate within him, and he followed the sound to the source. Three meters away, there is a figure clad in silver and brass plate armor. The shape of the armor, and the grace and proportions told him a female warrior was hidden beneath that plate and mail of ages past. The intricate armor flowed with her body and without resistance, and there was only the barest sound of well-greased and hinged metal and fabric. She wears a wing-tipped helmet and gazes at him with curiosity. She can¡¯t be any older than her late twenties or early thirties, with dark hair hinted at and hidden in the helmet and verdant green eyes. Mom? It''s his first gut reaction, and that pang of seeing someone who had meant everything to him, but so long gone, brought a lump to his throat. After a second look, he can see it''s not her. The gut-clench feeling is slow to fade, and he struggles to find words. The similarities between his mother and this woman are still there, with the crease of the lines in her face, and that gaze of warmth that he always associated with her. "So, you''re the young child who found her. Hmm. I suppose the young woman with the red hair did not yet have the courage to try. Maybe she will, later." What?! She expected Joey to pick it up? That thought is enough to shake him out of his apathy. Okay, deep dive thoughts, Drenar. You''re in a fugue state, or maybe the Stranded lands, and there''s a female knight, with knowledge she can''t possibly have yet. What''s the first thing you ask? "Hey, am I dead, due to an ill-advised attempt to grab onto a magical sword?" She simply smiles at him. "No. But you should ask yourself, where are you, indeed?" He''s had what he feels to be a few minutes to think on this one. And a strong theory comes to mind. The lack of gravity. The vast expanse¡­just like the dreamscape, when he first merged with Alex. It could be that place. But how? "I''ve got a couple of theories. The stranded lands, minus that eldritch void in reality. Or, I''m inside my head having a mental episode, but I''m banking on the former. So that means my soul is here, but my body''s back in the real world." He can''t get a read on her reaction. "Or does it depend on what I believe?" That gentle smile. The similarity is just too uncanny because he''s seen it so many times from her. "Oh, you are clever. How did you conclude that?" There''s an undercurrent to her voice that conveys great strength, even though he''s not sure why his brain is reaching that conclusion. "The stranded lands are a blank canvas, a world between worlds. I¡¯ve seen it. This is the most vanilla white I''ve ever seen," he adds with distaste. "If I start hearing ¡®A whiter shade of pale'', I''m gonna scream until my throat bleeds." This causes her to burst into laughter, and there''s also the slight rattle of metal plating. "Well now, I don''t think that would be necessary. Perhaps a change of scenery, to ease your mind?" she suggests. "Where is home for you?" He wants to say his address, but¡­he already knows where home truly is. And he hasn''t been there in six years, walking on those hardwood floors, the cozy bedroom lofts, and splashing in the stream in the backyard. In his mind, he can still see Julia''s window just across from his, and she''s waving, trying to get his attention. He opens his eyes and he''s there. He¡¯s outside the house, on a crisp fall day, the trees are full of vibrant color, and it''s late afternoon. There are Halloween decorations outside, and he can hear the call of a few steadfast birds nearby. It looks like it did almost eight years ago. The woman in armor is standing on the long grass, with just the touch of brown starting to seep in. "So, this was home?" she asks casually. "Maybe it always will be. If you''re talking about a physical place," he adds. ¡°Though, if you ask me where home is, maybe it took me to a location that isn¡¯t just a physical place.¡± His gaze does more than linger on the window where Julia¡¯s bedroom is, overlooking the yard. "So, I have questions." "You might not like the answers," the woman responds curtly. "Alright. You look like my mother, but you''re definitely not her, so who are you?" It¡¯s easier to get this one out of the way first, he figures. "I think you already know the answer to that," she replies with a twinge of amusement. The answer comes in an instant when he thinks of an old tome, an image drawn by a skilled hand. Crosomer¡¯s hands. The woman who saved the world. The answer that comes to him is shocking¨Cwords filled with reverence for someone who likely died as a result of his insurrection. Or maybe, from the time before? "You''re Lyssa, aren''t you? My great-grandmother?" She stands there silently, before offering the slightest tilt of her helmet. He is at a loss, and he thinks back to seeing that broken man, and wondering how she died. Even Alex couldn¡¯t remember yet, only bits and pieces. "I thought there wasn''t life after death. And you''ve been gone a long, long time. No wonder you sent Alex away." "Alex has a good heart, but he lets emotions cloud his decisions sometimes," she responds with a soft, heartfelt sigh. "I didn''t want him to see me like this. The piece of me that remained." "Piece of you that remained¡­you mean, the sword, it captured a piece of your soul?" He¡¯s grappling with too many things of late, and his understanding of this increasingly magical world is woefully inadequate for the things he needs to know. ¡°Something imprinted in the mana?¡± It¡¯s a theory. Mana is a very strange substance that doesn¡¯t just have a presence in the physical, but something, and somewhere else. "A piece of me was imprinted on it. It happens sometimes. Our souls yearn to grow but do not always know how, and eventually, we succumb to time, and memories fade. Memorials and writings are worn down by time, elements, and relevance. But for a few¡­we leave something behind." Her expression turns soft, and she glances at the house. "Ah, but it would take too long to explain." "Why am I here?" It''s the first question he''s asked that''s straight to the point. "And please, I can''t do riddles or self-reflection right now. I can''t. I''ve got friends in the real world who are fighting, and I need to be there for them." "You''re here to learn something." "Oh, great. This is the moment I find out how utterly out of my depth I am, talking to an imprint of a long-dead grandmother while looking at a simulacrum of my childhood house?" He sighs and shakes his head. "Sorry, that''s not aimed at you. It''s been a rough week." "So she gathered." The way she says it gives him pause. "Who is this ''she'' you keep referring to?" "Luminari, of course. You didn''t hear her calling for you?" He''s not sure if she''s referring to a person, or the sword. Or maybe the sword is a person? "I don''t suppose it was this audible crystal-ringing chime that pops up every now and then, and a few of my other friends can hear as well?" She nods silently. "Okay, next big question. Is the sword¡­alive? Or does it have an animating force?" "It''s better to think of her as a living extension," Lyssa answers quietly. "Now, pay attention. She called to me, long ago, when scourges of darkness threatened to destroy our world. I answered her call, and wielded her as the defender of those who could not defend themselves. I was an implement of justice in a vastly unjust world. But I was not the first she called. Nor will I be the last." "Look, this is all very entertaining, and I''m pretty sure I need a good head check after the pending crisis is resolved, but no one chose me," he countered forcefully. "I''m a mildly talented kid who spends too much time playing video games, and doing tabletop fantasy immersion with my friends on weekends. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°That all came to a screeching halt when I realized the Talons were playing with fire. They threatened my friends and family, and I told myself I wouldn''t stand idle. When their actions threatened to cause a lot of good people to get hurt, I told myself, I wasn''t going to let that stand. So I followed a trail of clues, putting myself in harm''s way, all on my own volition. No one set me on this path but me. Which means I have no one to blame but myself if my friends get hurt, and I don''t want that to happen." "You know, it''s possible to be chosen by things you don''t understand or comprehend, and still have your own agency, Drenar. The path we take may sometimes seem our own, but it isn''t always." "So, none of my choices mattered? Ah come on, there''s no such thing as fate. Even as much as I joke about it." It¡¯s unfathomable to him that things are predetermined. The very nature of the universe has a baked-in probabilistic nature to it, where chance does play a role in many things¨Cfrom the recombination of DNA of parents to their children, to the vibration of atoms and their interaction with each other. "So, why me?" "Luminari would not call to you if she didn''t deem you worthy to wield her. Though¡­I didn''t think she would call multiple people at once. That''s a rather unusual occurrence." Myself, Joey, Angela and Julia? Could we all wield it? But why? He shoves the question away for later. He needs to focus on important questions. "So, you''re separate from her?" "Yes, and no. Every champion that has wielded her has imprinted something of themselves, a memory of a soul. But we are all tied to her." She''s got that far-off gaze he''s seen before. "What do you intend to do with her?" "Right now? A psionic alchemist, who is right on the line between being harmful to my health, and a possible new best friend, handed her to me and bet the world on something happening. Which is really telling, because I''ve known her all of a few days. Even I understand just how out of the box this idea was for her, too." "Do you trust her?" "For my physical health, it¡¯s debatable," he states flatly. "For the things that really matter¡­the kinds of things that determine the lives of others¡­" he trails off. Why do I trust her so much? Is it because I see those eyes of hers, and realize that she must be fighting her own demons too, somewhere in there? He looks back to Lyssa, and nods firmly. "Yeah. I do. I think she knows the stakes, too." "And what do you both intend to do, then?" Lyssa gives him that steadfast look, and he sees that determined look he saw in his mom. "For starters, defend the people of Asqualia from the Talons. After that, I don''t know. But¡­it''s tough. I''ve got something that''s holding me back. And it might get people hurt." She knew everything about him, he realized. His soul was laid bare in this strange place. From the darkest moments to the pinnacles of triumph. "You dread the moment when you end someone''s life," she states with resolution. He nods quietly, his gaze low to the ground. "I''m not opposed to it. But only after every other path to peace fails, and not at the expense of people I care about. I''ve seen Valosterla, and what she can do. I want nothing to do with the way she revels in the violence." What he¡¯d seen from her fills him with revulsion. Lyssa gives him a respectful nod, and smiles. "Now that sounds like the making of someone who is worthy of Luminari''s call. Remember, she is an instrument. She can guide, but she cannot force action. And...given enough time...her presence, will reflect on your own actions and methods." It feels like something utterly crucial to know. How he acts will change the powers it evokes? That one is truly mind bending. "Well, I''ve got my proverbial moral compass. Or something like that. And if that fails, I know my friends wouldn''t let me go down a bad path," he states with determination. He hears a slight puff of air nearby, and he glances over his shoulder, and his eyes widen, and he feels a heartbeat skip. Joey is there, in the small meadow, looking bewildered at the surroundings. She finally sees him, and lets out a shout of surprise. "Drenar?! What the hell happened?! I grabbed you when you were in a trance and¨Cwhere are we, anyway?" Then her gaze widens as she points at Lyssa, and no words come out. "How do I explain this, um¡­I got an entrance interview for that sword I just picked up?" It sounds like utter lunacy, even to him, and she nods slowly while still looking disturbed. "Here, this is Lyssa, she''s my¨C" He turns around, and Lyssa is striding forward towards Joey, firm footsteps barely making a crunch in the grass. "Um, hey, she''s a friend, definitely not a threat." Lyssa ignores him and offers her a firm handshake. "I thought I felt someone tapping on the door, so to speak. You know, I tried to reach you a few times." Joey is standing there, wild-eyed and still shaking her hand, and then Lyssa steps back. Joey is still examining her hand, and is in utter awe. "How are you, my dear?" "Um¡­I''m good?" She offers meekly. Drenar subtly moves closer to her, and has no idea where this could go. "Hey, she doesn''t bite, she''s my great-grandmother. Or part of her? This place is a little bit, um, beyond my pay grade of comprehension." Joey gives a nervous laugh, and looks directly at Drenar. Lyssa glances his way and lets out a contented sigh. ¡°Joey seriously, you look like you''ve seen a ghost.¡± ¡°Um, yeah, a little bit. Don''t mind the young ki¨Cer, young alchemist visiting a place I really shouldn''t be.¡± Her tone is high-pitched. Joey doesn''t get anxious very often, he figures, so this must be really strange to her. "Fear not Josephine, if you weren''t meant to be here, you wouldn''t be,¡± Lyssa assures her. She then peers at the two of them closely, and Joey is close enough to touch shoulders with him. If Alex were not MIA, he''d be screaming about an imminent fire hazard or something. ¡°Well, I can see that you are in the presence of good company, I''m glad you two could meet.¡± She takes a deep breath and smiles warmly at Joey. ¡°You¡¯re stronger than you know, Josephine. I think all you need is the confidence of a few good friends to see that.¡± ¡°Um, okay?¡± It¡¯s almost amusing how quiet she¡¯s become, and Drenar is pondering just how she must be taking this. Lyssa smiles at her. ¡°I¡¯ll uh¡­keep that in mind.¡± ¡°Please do. Hmm. I do sense that there is a call to action coming. Well, I must be off,¡± she says with that warmth that seems to transcend her voice. ¡°Using this means of communication is taxing. Stay on the path of your hearts. You''ll know the right way, if you''re willing to follow it." ¡°Wait!¡± Drenar puts up a hand, desperate for answers. ¡°Why us?¡± ¡°I only have time for one answer. Might want to think about the question carefully.¡± Drenar feels a soothing twinge through his mind, and Joey''s gone dead calm, focusing on Lyssa. ¡°Okay. We''re a handful of misfits against the entire world, why wasn''t someone else called to the sword who''s up to the task?¡± It feels like a gargantuan task. Maybe even impossible. But, maybe it''s because he''s never deterred by the odds, or the declaration that these things are someone else''s problem? Lyssa contemplates the question for a moment and smiles softly. ¡°Because you both have the will to stand for what is right. Be a light to guide the way, Drenar and Josephine. Carry a beacon to a better tomorrow.¡± She disappears as if she faded from reality in an instant, and Drenar is left with nothing but a parting line that leaves him unsteady on his feet. He''s left speechless for a few seconds, and Joey more than nudges his shoulder beside him. He slumps and feels a familiar tingle in his mind, with her trying to soothe the turmoil in his thoughts. Like a mental hug? ¡°Drenar, what did she mean by that?¡± Joey is the first of them to speak, and he gazes at her, his voice struggling to work. ¡°Those were my mom''s last words.¡± That pang of heartache is back, and he rubs at a pain that he can¡¯t reach in his heart, and his voice is so soft that a breeze could carry more weight. ¡°How did she know that? I mean, did you see her?¡± "What I saw," she says with a voice that¡¯s extremely edged, "was you talking to someone who literally doesn''t exist." "No, that was my great grandmother Lyssa¨Cor, an imprint of her soul? It was so weird, she looked quite a bit like my mom, I almost mistook¨C" Joey doesn''t wait and grabs him by his coat and pulls him awkwardly close, and she''s gone deathly calm. All other feelings melt away into slight anxiety of the purple-eyed alchemist getting his attention in a way he didn''t quite expect to get so cozy, if accidentally. "Okay. I need you a hundred percent lucid right now, Drenar. Can you do that for me?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been lucid. Also, props on the word choice.¡± It breaks him out of his daze just a little. ¡°Yeah, from the little I know of you so far, you¡¯re lucid. So, I have one super important question.¡± She takes a deep breath. ¡°Did you also see the two-meter tall, bipedal draconic deity with six wings, iridescent white feathers and silver scales? You know, the one commonly referred to as Gaia, the Silver Justice?!" There''s a slightly anxious tone by the last few words, and he glances back at the empty spot where Lyssa had been. "No?" "So, who did you see?" "I told you, I saw my great-grandmother." They¡¯re both looking at that empty spot, and the reaction takes hold. And it¡¯s definitely not the most intelligent thing he¡¯s ever said. "What the ever-loving fu¨C" Vol. 2, Ch. 100: The Mercurial Knight "Drenar, Joey, snap out of it!" Drenar blinks, and Angela shakes his shoulder with one claw. And, Joey is grabbing onto his coat and is still awkwardly close. "What just happened?" He turns to Joey, who''s still looking wild-eyed at him, and then they both turn to face Angela, who looks like the most anxious dragon he''s ever seen. "I have no idea, and I think it''s better if I don''t for a while." "Drenar, you''re freaking me out a bit more than usual," Angela says with a raised voice. Her feather crest standing on end further emphasizes that. "Angela? I think saw Lyssa. Or a goddess. The Joey--I mean, jury--is still out on that one." Joey nods weakly. "I have no idea what we saw, Angela. Because I think I tapped out on crazy several hours ago," Joey says in the quietest tone he''s heard from her to date. She looks down and finally lets go when she sees her whitened knuckles still gripping him. The sword is still in his hand, pointed end down, and he quickly sheathes it and places it on his back. "So, not gonna talk about that moment? I thought she was gonna kiss you to snap you out of that trance," Angela says with ruffled feathers. She¡¯s irritated for sure. "Angie, I know I just met you, but trust me, I''m not that kind of girl," Joey snaps. "That remains to be seen, dear," she retorts¨Cfortunately for Drenar, in a more playful manner than he expected. "Given the weird that been happening nonstop, I''m not even gonna question this one." "Okay, guys, I''m not sure what happened exactly, but I''m fine," Drenar interrupts. "Let me sum it up, weird stuff is going on, and this sword just gave me the heads up we¡¯re in uncharted waters," he says with as much biting sarcasm as he''s got left. "How long have I been like that?" Angela let out a puff of air. "Thirty seconds." "I felt like I was there for several minutes. How¨Cnever mind. We''ve got work to do." He gives himself space and makes sure to test the balance once he draws the blade again, and goes through a few practice motions. This weapon¡­it is beyond mortal design. The balance is perfect. The weight is nearly negligible. The weapon does not deflect, and this metal is unlike anything he has ever seen. And there''s a tingle in his hand. Power untapped, and ready to be unleashed. If this sword is just like his dagger, it may have many powers waiting to be discovered. Okay Drenar, don''t let it get to your head! Focus on the important stuff! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! Alex¡¯s shrill cry in his head leaves him wincing, and Joey does too. I saw a big blank white, then nothing! Are we dead? I mean I think I''m technically dead, but then I''d be double dead? ¡°Alex, we''re gonna have to talk later on this one,¡± Drenar responds. This one is going to hurt when he has to tell him he saw his departed wife in the aether, or a possible goddess? This is getting too weird, even for him now. "Guys, dunno what happened, but let''s get our game on! I hear them cutting through the door!" Joey points to the distant light coming from down the hall. "The archives has another door through a maintenance area, it loops back out to the other end right next to my lab, and there''s one more barrier door we can throw down." She glances back at Drenar. "You said you have some martial practice. How good are you?" "He''s good enough for what we need," Angela interjects. "Drenar, you might not get a chance here to give these guys an off-ramp. You know that, right?" He glances over his shoulder after slinging the weapon away, and tests the reach to the hilt. It should be a lightning fast motion for him. "I''ll do what I have to." It''s the closest he''ll say that he''s willing to pull out all the stops this time, or people could die. ¡°Joey, let¡¯s slow them down a bit. Can those alchemical canisters be triggered with a time delay or a tripwire?¡± ¡°Oh, did my closeness inspire you?¡± she asks deviously. He dares a glance at Angela, who is rolling her eyes. ¡°Focus? The murder army isn¡¯t going to be disarmed by dangerous flirting,¡± he rebuffs lightly. ¡°I need a resin grenade.¡± ¡°Locking foam, coming up!¡± She taps the strange device and two metal and plastic containers pop out, and she hands them to him. He grabs a bundle of cord he¡¯d kept from earlier and cuts a length with his dagger. ¡°Angie, go get their attention. I need a minute.¡± ¡°Oh that shouldn¡¯t be hard,¡± she says with a smile, and darts with agility through the rows, and sends some errant papers fluttering through the air. Joey is grabbing more canisters, and he cuts a few other cords and hands them to her. Then Angela starts¡­singing?! ¡°The silver dragon roared, a mighty melody! Those Talons creeps are toast, a worldly victory!¡± ¡°I prefer her songs, the murder happy dragoness was a touch too dour,¡± Drenar mutters. Joey stares at him even while preparing the traps. ¡°Yeah, long talk later.¡± ¡°You guys are so weird.¡± ¡°Says the psionic still latched into my brain matter,¡± he retorts, and she growls at him. ¡°Careful there, kiddo, I know things about dragons that might intrigue¨C¡± she claps her hand across her mouth and goes rosy-faced. ¡°The hell is wrong with me lately?!¡± she hastily recovers ties off another grenade, and tests the tension. It would only take a small tug. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°It''s called tense situations, and weird stuff is happening all around me lately. Is that set?¡± ¡°Done. Let''s put these bastards in their place." each trap is another opportunity to thin the numbers and put them on the bench. "Space them at the blind corners, let''s hurry.¡± He''s already taken to action and smashes the light source, and puts the area into darkness, with the only light coming from the moonlight filtering through the lake in an eerie, shimmering landscape. ¡°The glass will let us know they¡¯re coming.¡± He grabs some of the debris and throws it behind them. She ties off a few cords and then nods satisfactorily. ¡°Angie, watch your step when you come back through,¡± he says over the radio. He hears the sizzle of the torches, then, a thunderous sound. Someone has blasted the door wide open, and the wrenching metal confirms it. ¡°Secure the room, kill anyone who¨Csilver, get the heavy weapons!¡± Angela gives them an unkind introduction of a freezing blast that stops them in their path, then she bowls into them with ferocity, sending many spinning and leaving some with gruesome claw wounds. She bowls a few more over with her tail, then ducks when the return fire comes with her arcane barrier flaring from the shots. Drenar has finished looping the second trip line, and Angela is already bounding back to the back wall, panting lightly. ¡°Yep, they got dragons coming up. Nevarran red. Tactical counters, Joey?¡± "Nevarran have thinner scales than most dragons due to the desert environment they prefer, and are vulnerable to armor-piercing weapons or other dragons¡¯ claws. Plasma¡¯s useless against them though, and their scales are highly resistant to most acids and caustic agents.¡± She finishes tying off the lines, and the commotion is coming closer. ¡°They¡¯re in the back, open fire!¡± ¡°Hold fire, we need the journals intact, and don¡¯t rupture the containment vessels on these artifacts, some are still active!¡± one barks back. Drenar leads the way, pulls out the sword on his back one more time, and waits by the entryway while Angela slips through¨CAngela barely scrapes through with her size. Joey hands him the last alchemical canister "Concussive blast. Non-lethal," Joey whispers. "I noticed you seem to¡­have a preference." "That means a lot more to me than you know. I''ll deal with the lead guys. Make sure to barricade as soon as I''m through." She dashes to the door, and he waits five seconds and hears the crunch of broken glass. He tosses the canister preemptively and feels that tether of energy, awaiting his command to activate. ¡°Hostiles, back side of the room! Close to flank¨C¡± The lead soldier doesn''t get a chance, because the canister detonates and a concussive blast knocks the man forward. Drenar lunges forward and slices through his body armor like its tissue paper, though the metal plates do resist the attack. The man shouts in pain, and he slams him down on the floor hard before grabbing his autobow and smashing the buttstock into his helmet as hard as he can. He groans and goes down for the count. At about this same time, the tripwires go off, and there are several shouts of surprise and a few concussive blasts. Glass, papers, and books go flying, and one man is comically spun through the air, where he impacts a metal post and it makes a loud, ringing noise. Others are now stuck in alchemical locking foam, and out of the fight. The Nevarran red rounds the corner and is his biggest threat. It is a dusty red color¨Cdifferent than the Valencian, with lighter scales, and attempts to charge at him. Angela intercepts and flings him off. The foe reacts quickly and tries to breathe flame, but Angela''s not having that and sucker punches him before he can, slashing at him with deadly claws that he deflects, but hers still draw blood with small wounds. Drenar sees the opportunity to land a strike and grabs the blade with his gloved hands. He tries a half-sword technique to plunge the sword deep into the foe''s flank. Dragon scales part and the wound goes deep. He dodges the raking claws with a roll and slices again, doing more damage while Angela pins the foe, keeping him from lunging. He hamstrings the mighty foe with a mighty swipe, shocked that even dragon scales are only offering moderate resistance to his blows. Evade! Alex¡¯s warning almost comes too late and he feels his body blink out of existence ¨Cthat bright white space, and he pops into reality a meter away from the deadly blow of a dragon trying to slash him in half. Angela kinetic blasts the foe in the head, leaving him reeling. Her foe is seriously wounded not just from sword strikes, but her claws which she¡¯s sheathed in a silvery film of kinetic energy¨Che¡¯s got to take notes on how she¡¯s doing that! His danger sense kicks in before three Talons soldiers stacked up in a close formation swerve around the corner, autobows firing. He manages to avoid the brunt of it with a quick grab of the first, turning him to his foes¡¯ unfriendly fire. One hit does flare his barrier, and he kinetic flings the now perforated foe at his allies. A fourth comes around the corner with¨Chow the hell big is that axe?! He dodges past the blow that should have taken his head off and looks for an opening, swinging delicately and opening a cut on the fabric armor. It slows the soldier down, but it''s far from lethal. This sword just cuts through things it shouldn''t, and it''s vibrating with power! ¡°Watch out!¡± Somehow, Joey¡¯s warning precludes his own danger sense, and he kicks off to the side just as a second foe gets off the floor and tries to stab him with a bayonet. The blow is sloppy, and his countering attack slices through the soldier''s arm muscle and leaves the flesh parted. He screams and clutches at the wound, but there''s no time for that. Axe man is back in the fight and swings mightily. He has reach, and Drenar deftly hops backwards from the strike. Help comes in the form of a canister of fire igniting the fabric outer shell of his armor, and he staggers to pat out the flames. Joey leaps in with the distraction and smashes his helmet with her staff, the metal ringing. He wildly swings and misses, but it buys Drenar the time to cut the halt of the weapon in half, and the man staggers, disarmed. A single kinetic blast knocks him backwards, and Drenar pulls down on his target of opportunity. Hard. The soldier looks up to see the heavy shelving coming down, and screams in panic. It crashes down, and books, scrolls, and lumps of some old metal artifact pelt down on him, along with the frame of the shelving pinning him to the floor. One blow with the flat of his blade sends the man spinning into unconsciousness. All the foes are down, badly wounded but alive. Angela''s dragon foe is thoroughly trashed, and Joey flings one last canister at him¨C a white powdery substance she leaps back from, and the dragon screams. ¡°Bitch, it burns!¡± he wails, but since he''s otherwise incapacitated, and can do nothing but cradle his wounds. Angela lands one more knockout blow with her fist and winces at the claw wounds on her arm and face. More foes are shouting nearby, and Drenar is panting, out of breath. ¡°What''d you do to him?¡± he gasps, and Joey pulls him away from the silvery substance forcibly. ¡°Alchemical silver. That''ll stop his regen and keep him from getting healed up for a while and trying to murder us again, and you would do best to avoid that stuff, too. C¡¯mon, let''s go. We bought ourselves a couple of minutes.¡± Drenar hastily grabs the radio off the man''s armor, along with the ammo belt, and dashes through the doorway where Joey is beckoning him to follow. She splashes a fluorescent blue fluid on Angela''s wounds, and the blood flow stops on the claw wounds. She grimaces and rubs at the rapidly healing injury. ¡°Thank you, Joey. Drenar, you good?¡± he looks down at himself and sees a spatter of blood¨Cand not his, either. He gives her a firm nod. ¡°I¡¯m good. Let''s keep moving, we''ve got people to protect.¡± They dart through the doorway after Angela scrunches down and manages to get past the frame, though she looks embarrassed at it being such a tight squeeze. He locks the door and barricades it with a cabinet, and Joey throws a canister to melt the metal together, glowing molten for a second before rapidly cooling. Her hair is disheveled and she has a bruise on her cheek, but she seems in good shape. The danger is far from over, but at least they¡¯ve bought some time. Vol. 2, Ch. 101: Taking Out The Thermal Exhaust Port ¡°That isn¡¯t going to hold them for long,¡± Angela comments and shoves more shelving at the door with her draconic strength. ¡°Seriously Drenar, why are you piddling around in your human form?¡± ¡°They seem to be firing excessive ammunition at the dragons,¡± he points out. ¡°Like, disproportionate to the threat, and your barriers are way stronger than mine. Yours didn¡¯t even pop.¡± He¡¯s also slightly less confident in tanking hits, rather than simply just avoiding getting hit. ¡°Yeah that¡­is strange, isn¡¯t it? Not even a hint of mana burn, either,¡± she says while rubbing her arms uneasily. ¡°We need to keep moving.¡± They dart through the storage area, where there are stacks of crates and metal shelving in organized rows. It reminds him of the immense warehouse seen in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and not in a good way. ¡°We need to start thinking of trashing that teleportal room in a pretty profound way, or they¡¯re just going to keep bringing in more guys! We can cut off their reinforcements, and then play this place to our home field advantage.¡± ¡°Pretty good strategy, but there''s only so many ways in there. Fighting through a small army sounds like suicide, even for you guys.¡± Joey narrows her eyes, then an idea pops and she looks like she''s struck with an ingenious idea. ¡°The ducts! Kyle and I were exploring old schematics when we were chasing Lavernius around, we could crawl through them and get in behind their backlines! All I need is one good grenade on the platform in the right spot and I can wreck it for days, but that¡¯s going to be close quarters and we can¡¯t bring many people.¡± ¡°Shielding, remember?¡± Drenar asks warily. ¡°Curtis must have put some protection around it to prevent us from doing that. I dunno how the hell he managed that.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s figure out a workaround later. Can you make a grenade?¡± Angela asks. Joey glances around a corner and motions to follow. ¡°I can make an alchemical shape charge with Kyle¡¯s help. It might be enough to get past the barrier, but maybe Lavernius has a solution. But that does present problems, we¡¯ve got a lot of people who can¡¯t fight, and that¡¯s the only major way out. We head out into the field, we¡¯ll be easy pickings.¡± ¡°What about the library entrance?¡± Angela proposes. ¡°They didn¡¯t follow us, that might be the safest way out.¡± ¡°Risky. It¡¯s going to take a long time to escort that many people out, and all they have to do is look out the windows and see people making a dash for it,¡± Drenar points out. ¡°Maybe if we can cut through their back lines, we can secure a path back to the teleportal. Trash it as an asset denial, if we can¡¯t use it,¡± Joey suggests. Distantly, Drenar can hear thuds¨Cthey must be at the barricaded door, but it won''t hold long against an assault by mages. Or dragons, for that matter. Joey taps her ID badge. ¡°Kyle, are you guys at the lab?¡± ¡°We are. I¡¯m following up with a plan with James, I¡¯m pulling out all the stops and positioning golems for eyes in the sky at every major access point. Nick and Levine are drawing their attention with hit-and-run tactics with the volunteers, trying to pick off a few at a time. We can¡¯t get close to the teleportal yet, and it¡¯s still running. Curtis must have done something to jam it open and keep the juice going,¡± Kyle growls. ¡°Did you guys get those journals?¡± ¡°Um, we not only got that, but¡­you know that weird sword that we analyzed a year ago?¡± Joey seems tense even talking about it. ¡°Yeah, Drenar can use it. And he cut through mage steel like it was butter.¡± ¡°Ah great, fantastic. Now all he has to do is lure them all to melee range, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll all line up for the chance to die in a knife fight,¡± he groans. ¡°Is he always like this?¡± Drenar asks with annoyance. Kyle doesn¡¯t exactly seem to hold him in any regard. ¡°He¡­seems to not like you much. Don¡¯t take it personally.¡± What it sounds like, is trying to avoid an even more unflattering answer. ¡°Kyle, what do we have in the lab that we can use?¡± ¡°I have those armor vest prototypes I made using the resins you cooked up from last month. It should take a few hits from an autobow bolt and maybe a few incendiary type spells. I¡¯ve already armored up, same with Julia. No, Julia, don¡¯t touch the sights on my autobow, that¡¯s like, my personal one¨Cnever mind.¡± ¡°Kyle, how in the hell did you hit anything with this? The scope was barely tightened, you were going to lose zero the second you started firing! You all need some serious lessons from me, if we manage to get out of this alive.¡± Drenar sighs in relief, at least Julia is taking charge on that end. ¡°Drenar, get back here fast. We need to take pressure off Levine and Nick, and the last radio report is that the Talons are sending in guys in full armor sets that seem to resist the autobow rounds!¡± Drenar swears he feels the sword vibrate on his back. Danger is closing in, and he¡¯s not going to be able to keep picking them off a few at a time. Joey presses up against the corner of the hallway, and looks elated. ¡°That¡¯s my lab. The barricade is still up and the hall is clear. Kyle, get the door open and close it as soon as we¡¯re inside. Open it right now,¡± she says after activating her communicator. ¡°Done. Welcome back, guys.¡± The barricade slowly opens, and the three of them dart inside, and Julia slams the door shut behind them, and Drenar breathes a sigh of relief. ¡°So uh, you guys look like you¡¯ve been busy, Any word from Levine and Nick?¡± ¡°I heard screams of terror somewhere. There¡¯s your sign that Nick¡¯s at work,¡± Joey replies darkly. She¡¯s already busily grabbing alchemical canisters, and loading them into the smaller metal and plastic canisters, and forcing them back into the hopper. ¡°Don¡¯t mind me while I make stuff to incinerate these creeps and break a few Geneva conventions.¡± ¡°No, do keep doing that,¡± Drenar quips. ¡°These guys have been utter monsters today¨Cthey shot at civilians in Mercadian Promenade, among other things. Setting them on fire brings me a dark satisfaction.¡± Julia tilts her head at him for a second while she¡¯s loading ammo into casings and looks like she¡¯s ready for a one-woman war with the Talons. ¡°I left you alone for five minutes with the crazy-eyed alchemist, and now you¡¯re getting savage. What¡¯s up with you today?¡± ¡°You like me being savage. Also, my pending mental breakdown is only being delayed so long as people are in danger. So, there¡¯s that,¡± he concedes. He¡¯s getting dangerously close to outright killing these men, and he¡¯s certain he does not want to go down that path for as long as he can. He instead focuses on the hopper that Joey keeps loading canisters in, and hears the whirl of meshing gears or a flywheel. ¡°Joey, that device, how¡¯s that thing work¨C¡± ¡°Taps into my psionics, it gets me the chemical I need, when I need it. It¡¯s super fast, and Kyle and I designed it. Long story,¡± she sums up. She¡¯s still loading chemicals, mixing a few, and her hands glow lightly as she mixes two of them after carefully measuring the amounts. ¡°Okay, here¡¯s the next plan. We¡¯re going mobile and we¡¯re locking the door behind us to this lab. Julia, how do you feel like doing some vent crawling?¡± Drenar asks with a grin. ¡°Why does that sound like it¡¯s going to be an easy job?¡± she rebuffs while packing every round of ammunition she can into a magazine. All the bolts are now glowing light blue and practically crackle with energy. ¡°And where are you going to be?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be drawing all their fire, while you go into the teleportal hub area, and blow it to pieces with Joey and Lavernius here.¡± This gets her attention and she smiles proudly. ¡°Oh, we¡¯re sharing my favorite cinnamon-flavored alchemist now?¡± ¡°Is it really that strong a smell, guys?¡± Joey protests. "It''s¡­noticeable," Drenar says hesitantly. But I don''t mind it, it''s a very calming scent, and makes me think of home, coziness, and weirdly enough, Malena''s home, and¨Coh no. He stops when he realizes she''s gone red in the face, and his face goes blank. "Psychic radio still on?" he asks meekly. "Still on," she replies in that amusingly quiet tone. Julia laughs boisterously at this exchange. Alex is trying to hide his laughter as well, which makes it even worse. "You two are a national treasure, you know that?" Julia finally manages between laughs--even as dire as the situation is, "What it smells like, is a bakery working overtime at Christmas," Angela chimes in. Joey groans lightly while still working. ¡°You try working for eight hours in an alchemy lab, and not smell like a chemical factory!¡± Julia practically giggles, and this makes Joey growl in frustration. ¡°You know what, you remind me of the Wendy''s girl, but with some bite to your words! I kinda like it!¡± Julia can¡¯t not press a button, Drenar sighs internally. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°I¡¯m not sassy.¡± ¡°She¡¯s sassy,¡± Kyle chimes in. ¡°I am mixing explosives and other deadly substances, Kyle, do you want to test this?!¡± ¡°I do!¡± Julia responds. Joey sighs defeatedly. ¡°You¡¯re just as crazy as Drenar. And strangely, I kinda like that.¡± Drenar tries not to laugh at this and focuses on Lavernius. ¡°Bernard, this is your area of expertise, yes? The teleportal? Can we destroy it?¡± He dares to ask the question he¡¯s been dreading, because Lavernius had indicated earlier that such an attempt would end badly. ¡°Drenar, you need to focus on protecting your own lives¨C¡± ¡°No, I think I¡¯m done with the pushback for one day.¡± He leers at Lavernius, and takes a menacing step closer. ¡°Your buddy King decided to play with our lives, and the lives of every personnel here in Asqualia. I thought you were a decent person. You were a fantastic father to Kelly. But then you work with the people who are running around, killing everything that moves.¡± ¡°Val does, not King or Crosomer,¡± Lavernius pushes back, even as he helps wire something together with Kyle. ¡°Drenar, the Conclave has to go. It has to die, for what they¡¯ve done. They framed Crosomer, forced him into a corner¨Cthe Talons were brought about to rebel against them, and this only fed further into the Conclave''s playbook!¡± ¡°No, you know what, not the time for it, Lavernius. Your opinion matters very little to me at the moment. Now, how do we destroy the teleportal?¡± He knows Lavernius must have something in his back pocket, some piece of information he¡¯s kept in reserve. Lavernius takes a deep breath as if dreading what he has to say next. ¡°We can load a canister of mana primer and bypass the regulator. Overloading the arcane circuits will cause an implosion of the next teleport out. So we need to cut the connection first,¡± he states calmly. ¡°It will devastate anything nearby, hence my initial hesitation to do this. You think you can do this?¡± ¡°Lavernius, let me let you in on a secret. I¡¯m not interested in hearing the odds. I hear a solution, and you¡¯ve got one to our current problems. I will do what I have to, to preserve lives. Understood?¡± He knows that so much is counting on flawless execution, and everyone will be put to their limits on this one. Lavernius looks grim, but a quick twist of a smile is all he needs to know he¡¯s on board. ¡°I¡¯ve already beaten the odds before. And we¡¯re going to do so again. Julia and Joey will go with you through the ducts, and make your way to the teleportal hub. Joey, Kyle, you¡¯re sure the Talons won''t think to check?¡± he says to them. Kyle finishes strapping on a heavier armor set that looks like it might be a primal version of an iron man suit, but not lacking in protection, and he puts on a pair of heavy gloves with armor plating on the back of the hand. ¡°No guarantees, but I don¡¯t think anyone¡¯s going to expect it the first time. That said, we¡¯re going to get this kind of sneak attack once. So let¡¯s make it count.¡± ¡°Good. You¡¯re with me and the rest, we¡¯re running a distraction team.¡± He gets on the arcanlink and relays the plan to Levine and Nick, who grimly acknowledge it¡¯s a risky plan, and several volunteers are already wounded. It¡¯s not a good position to be in, but there¡¯s no choice. Too many of the staff aren¡¯t trained in defending themselves. He gets ready, but Julia gets his attention with a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s with the sword, by the way?¡± ¡°It slices, it dices, It gives people vision quests. Things are getting really weird,¡± he replies when Julia''s grin disappears into a nervous smile. ¡°Angie? Did our alchemist break him?¡± ¡°To be fair, the warranty was already null and void on him,¡± Angela responds. She¡¯d had to transform back to her human form to get through the door, and doesn¡¯t look happy about it. Julia does fit a new armor vest onto her, and winces when she tightens it down. ¡°This feels like a gross under protection, considering mages can fire off freaking fireballs.¡± Kyle gives her a reassuring smirk. ¡°Most mages are level one newbies, if you¡¯ll forgive the analogy. But you can still arm a mage with an M4 carbine. Make sure the armor is tight, I''ve got it rated at 12.7 mil bolt protection and most high end caliber firearms, but it''s gonna hurt to get hit. The resin allows it to take multiple hits and turns viscous on a high speed impact, and it''ll ablate if hit by any fire projectiles,¡± Kyle explains to her. "What about that?" she points to a partially finished armor set. "Prototype. Not ready, and I wouldn''t trust my life on it." Kyle is busy tinkering with something from a sample vial that he pulled from the oven, and he¡¯s ecstatic. ¡°If we survive this, I¡¯ve made history,¡± he says as he examines a sample of green metal. ¡°What is that?¡± Angela asks. ¡°I swear I hear a ringing sound from it.¡± ¡°These are plans for the future.¡± He stuffs it into an armored pouch on his decidedly heavier armor, which almost looks like a primitive iron man armor set. ¡°I¡¯m not getting perforated again, this is a prototype power armor using mana crystals that I can rely on. I should be able to shrug off a few more hits, it keeps an active full body spell barrier. Stay behind me." ¡°Okay. let¡¯s get started then.¡± Joey has finished the mixing and has a few larger canisters that glow dimly red. ¡°Kyle, did you get the schematics for the vents?¡± Drenar asks. Kyle taps a few buttons, and nods. ¡°Oh, right. Guys, sending data.¡± Drenar taps at his holo bracer, and there¡¯s an incoming data packet. He taps a small glowing button, and a holographic projection comes out, which is more pronounced than the flat 2D image. It¡¯s almost like the touch screen display of a smartphone, but he can swipe through the air. He feels just the lightest resistance of static on his fingers, and he¡¯s mildly impressed. ¡°Drenar, I¡¯ve uploaded maps and schematics, and highlighted major ingress points and integrated it with the camera feeds from the golems that I¡¯ve been using. The same golems that kept you guys safe at the school.¡± ¡°Got it. Good to have eyes in the sky. James, are you reading me?¡± he relays into the radio. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m overwatch, I¡¯ve got your back, Drenar,¡± he relays, and there¡¯s the sound of gunfire in the background. ¡°You guys gotta hurry, they¡¯re trying to make a push to the armory, and there¡¯s two dragons making a beeline with a support squad of several of those heavily armored soldiers. It¡¯s two of those black, green and blue ones.¡± ¡°Nightwings. Good night vision, sensitive to high intensity light changes. If Zameren and Nick have flashbangs, use them. Their armor scales are strong in the front, but weak on the flanks, incendiary bolts will cut through them,¡± Joey relays. ¡°It¡¯s disturbing how off the cuff you are with that tactical assessment,¡± Angela comments. ¡°I¡¯d be a terrible draconic biology specialist if I didn¡¯t know their strengths and vulnerabilities,¡± Joey says proudly. ¡°Out of mild curiosity, what would you recommend against a Maridian?¡± Joey ponders this query for a second. ¡°Poisons are useless, so are plasma, fire, and some acids. And they¡¯ve got the strongest per-weight armor scales of any dragon species. Their telekinetics allow them to put up one massive threat removal. Honestly, an air strike sounds about right, but that¡¯s kinda ridiculous, the level of effort you have to put into it. Maridians are really tough to kill, but they can still bleed out. Normally they don¡¯t have overtly offensive abilities, so it sorta balances out.¡± She''s already belted on the remaining armor vest beyond just her jacket, and adjusted her hopper to not impede its motions. ¡°Kyle, the duct at the back of the room leads up and over the teleportal room, near the central air system. It¡¯s about five minutes. Wish us luck?¡± ¡°With Julia, you won¡¯t need luck,¡± Drenar replied proudly before giving a quick hug to Julia. ¡°Stay alive, alright? Radio when that platform is dust or we have a way out for the staff." ¡°You got it, Drenar.¡± Joey¡¯s already pried the panel open, and ushered Julia to follow. Drenar looks at them grimly, then glances back to Kyle. ¡°So, ready to become a bullet magnet?¡± ¡°They can try.¡± He loads an autobow with bolts that glow red. ¡°James, we¡¯re starting now. Keep your eyes on us, and make sure that we¡¯re the ones doing the ambushing.¡± ¡°Once more, unto the breach,¡± he sighs. Vol. 2, Ch. 102: Why Do Dragons Need Stealth Ranks?! ¡°Dear Gaia, I hate ducts.¡± It¡¯s the first few words Joey has spoken in a few minutes. "Are you¡­claustrophobic?" Julia isn''t quite sure how to lead the question, because she doesn''t seem claustrophobic. "Not really. I only like close spaces some of the time." "Uh¡­Is there something I should know about that, Joey?" She stays notably silent. "Okay, gonna guess this one has a story behind it. Hey, you keep saying that thing about Gaia, like there¡¯s real gods out there. Should I be worried about taking one¡¯s name in vain? Is there more than one?¡± ¡°Tell you what, I just saw the most terrifying thing imaginable to my incomprehensibly tiny existence about twenty minutes ago. So yeah, you should be careful what you say, Julia.¡± ¡°Seriously, what happened to you and Drenar in the archives?¡± Julia is busy crawling through ducts and wonders how this is the easy job that Drenar alluded to. Whatever Joey and Drenar saw, she plans to unpack later, because both of them look twitchy. Drenar isn¡¯t usually twitchy like that, and now this psionic seems to be tapped in, if by accident. Is that why she¡¯s twitchy? She dismisses the thought for later. Joey finally answers, in a slow, drawn-out way. ¡°Julia, can I be honest? I have no idea what we just saw. That pure unknown is sort of a slow-burn existential crisis brewing for later.¡± ¡°Too much to unpack, I get it. Cripes. Drenar¡¯s having a rough day. You¡¯re not catching him at his best, in all fairness,¡± Julia says. This girl needs reassurance, big-time. ¡°I never thought I¡¯d see the day where he vowed on someone''s death, but it was for someone who truly deserves it. Some hulking killer named Davos, who snapped a man¡¯s neck on live television.¡± ¡°Fates. The butcher of Cape Town.¡± There is palpable fear in Joey¡¯s voice. ¡°Do you know of him?¡± ¡°You could say that he¡¯s made a splash on the Arcanet with some of his more gruesome endeavors. That¡¯s a man who views war crimes and depravity as a means of keeping score.¡± There¡¯s a tension in her voice that Julia hasn¡¯t heard before¨Cthis man must have done something that personally was an affront to her. ¡°Julia, if we ever cross paths with that man, I am going to kill him, if Drenar doesn¡¯t first. There¡¯s no question in my mind. Not after the things I¡¯ve seen.¡± ¡°What did you see?¡± Joey stops behind her, and her eyes look dimmed. ¡°You don¡¯t want to know, Julia. Not right now.¡± ¡°Not gonna lie, how that man has so many enemies, and no one has killed him, is surprising,¡± Lavernius offers from the rear. ¡°I think he¡¯s a new addition to the roster. King was not happy about it, either.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s best if you don¡¯t mention that, Lavernius,¡± Joey growls from behind Julia. ¡°Tell me that King isn¡¯t as utterly depraved as the rest of these monsters.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not. King is a¡­he¡¯s a good man, who has been forced to do terrible things. That is, if I had to sum him up in a single sentence.¡± It sounds truthful, from what Julia knows of Kelly¡¯s father. ¡°But he keeps to his word?¡± Joey presses. Lavernius grunts. ¡°He does. But with Val tearing the place apart, I think plan ''A'' is now out the window. She¡¯s not going to stop now, even if we somehow got the journals to King¡¯s hands. Which means our continued survival is contingent on stopping this slaughter.¡± Even Lavernius sounds grim now. ¡°One problem at a time. We need to stop their reinforcements. Left here,¡± Joey directs at an intersection. The dim lighting coming from vent ports is barely enough to see¨Ceven with her enhanced vision. Mana sight also doesn¡¯t seem to help here, it doesn¡¯t allow her to penetrate the dark¨Cmaybe if there was mana nearby? She can see faint glimmers of it¨Cpresumably the brickwork, but she can¡¯t hold her focus for long. She is not okay with being scrunched down, and hoping the Talons soldiers don''t wake up and check the ducts. The thought of getting a bolt to the backside is as embarrassing as it sounds unpleasant. ¡°Since we¡¯ve got a minute, what happened in the archives?¡± Joey¡¯s answer is surprising. ¡°Well, we just found the fabled blade of Luminari that Alex also wielded about seven hundred years ago, and it responded to Drenar. Also, he sliced up a dragon while Angela was grappling with it. He''s got bravery, I''ll give him that.¡± Drenar finding and attuning to mythical artifacts is about on par for how wild this week¡¯s gotten. But when does she get a magical weapon? Does Matilda count? ¡°Damn. My boy is getting savage.¡± It¡¯s her gut reaction, one that fills her with immense pride. ¡°Is he yours, then?¡± Joey asks testily. Oh, is this an opportunity? Let¡¯s see what the psychic girl views him as, now that we¡¯ve got a couple of minutes. ¡°Uh, Julia, as a fair warning in case you¡¯re plotting something, would you mind not projecting your thoughts that loud? The hell is up with my psionics lately, they won¡¯t turn off,¡± Joey says heatedly behind her. So she is listening in. ¡°I¡¯m blaming Alex and Samarina. I meet two drakensouls, and things go screwy!¡± ¡°Nah, I think that¡¯s just Drenar. Weird stuff happens around him all the time.¡± It¡¯s just awful that some of those things involved tearing his whole life apart, even with some of the incredible things in between. ¡°So, going back to your question, it''s¡­complicated. Drenar and I have been friends since we were toddlers. Life long friend sort of thing.¡± ¡°I picked up on that. But, not always?¡± Julia winces. Those two years where they barely talked, after he¨Cshe shoves the thought from her mind. Joey doesn¡¯t need to see that. ¡°As you might have picked up, Drenar had his whole life turned upside down. Now we find out both our mothers are or were Valkyries. There¡¯s a lot of turmoil going on in that kid¡¯s head right now, and I¡¯m not sure what he needs anymore, or wants. Aside from thrusting himself into a battle to defend others, even at great risk to himself.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Fair enough. Right turn, here.¡± They duck down past a circulatory fan that is arrayed horizontally above them. They must be getting close. ¡°Lavernius, what do you need in the teleportal hub, anyway?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve left Kyle with a solution, but we¡¯re missing a piece. I need a console with an intact navigation system,¡± Lavernius interjects. Her and Joey both turn to face him. ¡°The one-time teleportal I had stashed, it''s the key. I think we can use it to get everyone out. Once the staff is out of harm''s way, we can get down to the vault and get the journals. My job is still not finished.¡± ¡°Listen, Lavernius, there¡¯s no deal here. King was only getting the journals, contingent on this place staying in one piece. The five dead people in the teleportal hub¨Cand likely more since then¨Cwould offer a stern rebuke,¡± Joey snarls. ¡°Those deaths are on your head, you know.¡± ¡°Save the arguing for later. Do you think King would go through all this trouble to preserve lives if he wasn¡¯t sincere? Much as I hate the guy, and so does Drenar¡­he was willing to set that aside to preserve lives.¡± Julia cuts off the argument before it can get heated. She can hear voices below, in the grill just ahead. A peek outside shows Talons soldiers on the move, and the distant sound of supersonic cracks. gunfire, or autobows¨Cit¡¯s hard for her to discern. All she knows is that there are several with injuries below, in the hallway. The fight has not been one-sided, and some of them are plasma burned. Badly. Oh. That was me. It smells nauseously like something acrid and bitter¨Cburnt meat. She can¡¯t even find the slightest bit of sympathy. March in here with guns drawn, opening fire indiscriminately. I hope I killed some of you evil bastards with that opening salvo. She points down and motions for silence to the two behind her. Joey, whisper quiet. Enemies down below. Joey takes note after Julia taps her head for emphasis. This is a superpower that is going to earn its keep, even if the rest of the mage world thinks it''s a danger. A few minutes later, Joey motions for them to stop. ¡°Access panel, just ahead. I think we¡¯re above the teleportal hub. Okay, game plan. Lavernius, we¡¯ll clear the room. You¡¯re the only one that knows what we need. But I need to know something,¡± Joey takes a deep breath, and looks back to him. ¡°If you care about the people of Asqualia, you do what it takes to preserve their lives. Are we clear?¡± ¡°That is my priority. I just hope that at the end¡­Mirabelle, and Kelly can forgive me for what has happened.¡± his head sinks further than his soul in that sentence, and Julia bites her lip to keep from saying something bitter. You should have thought of that a long time ago, Bernard. But, better late than never. ¡°Wait. Before we do this¡­¡± He takes a deep breath, blue eyes like cornflowers looking over her, taking in the fact that she¡¯s a far cry from the person she was only a week ago. ¡°Julia, there are things that you should know. Things that King told me.¡± ¡°Save it for when we''re far and away from here. I will drag your sorry ass home to Kelly, and I will fight my way through an army if I have to. Despite the awful people you work for, she still needs a dad,¡± Julia says forcibly. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we¡¯re up against.¡± ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s send our eyes out.¡± Joey hands her the last observer golem, which springs to life and sits gently in the palm of Julia¡¯s hand. She slowly pulls open the hatchway, and the golem clings effortlessly to the wall, and she closes it back up. They¡¯re both watching the golem from their new bracer display. They both monitor the motion below. The teleportal hub has been reinforced, and someone is tinkering with a panel in the back of the room. The portal is inactive¨Cmaybe they¡¯d run out of juice, or there had been sustained damage to the portal. Two men are fiddling with the console Drenar had damaged earlier. A powerful and imposing third man is practically breathing down their necks. ¡°How long before we can fix this thing? We¡¯re cut off from Val¡¯s base until this thing is up and running. As if I need to remind you much of an utter disaster this is,¡± he growls. ¡°Listen Jack, this console is confetti. We¡¯re lucky the backup residual program held for five minutes, and if we run anyone through the portal now, it¡¯ll be really bad. A power connection was damaged, if you try to light it again before we fix the damage, it¡¯ll implode and take out a good chunk of everything nearby. You might want to throw yourself into the blast radius if that happens. Because Val will do worse to you.¡± ¡°No, she¡¯ll do worse to you. I will feed you to that ravenous dragon myself, as the price of failure,¡± the officer growls. He grabs a cigarette off his helmet, and lights up with a puff of flame from his finger. A mage always has a lighter, Julia thinks grimly. ¡°I want it done in ten minutes. Ring the dinner bell, to the beats. Dragons get hungry, for the meats,¡± the man says with a leering smile as he sing-songs to the poor techs. They visibly shudder at this, and Julia curls her nails into her palms. These men are all psychos, and now they¡¯re all joining in on the chorus of that madwoman. The golem shows that they¡¯ve barricaded the door with an impromptu cover of temporary arcane barriers, projected by a small emitter. Cover in a pinch, she realizes. Joey spins the golem around via the armband, and nods. The soldier radios in ¡°Val, ten minutes till we¡¯re up and running.¡± ¡°Good. We¡¯re running into resistance, my inside man failed miserably¡­should¡¯ve known better than to trust a rat,¡± Valosterla growls through the radio. Joey grips the controls so tightly Julia is worried she¡¯ll break it. ¡°The rest of the layout is at least updated. We¡¯ll keep cutting through barricades. Orders are to kill everyone to the last, leave no witnesses. And make sure not to smash everything? This place might be a new summer retreat for me.¡± Joey pans the golem around afterwards, and is whispering numbers after they surveil the room. ¡°Four men, plus the officer. We need to take them all out at once. If they radio in, we¡¯re done. They must have dozens of men still inside¨Chundreds even, if they had that portal open for five minutes after Drenar smashed it.¡± ¡°Emergency contingency buffer, lucky it wasn¡¯t longer,¡± Lavernius murmurs. ¡°Alright. I¡¯m going to need a weapon.¡± Julia hands him the backup bolt pistol that she¡¯d acquired from Kyle¡¯s lab earlier¨Che had an impressive collection she wanted to explore later, though it wasn¡¯t as massive as Nick¡¯s. She still had her plasma for mid-range, anyway, and she knew it could be just as deadly. ¡°You only have one magazine. And that¡¯s loud.¡± ¡°Subsonic ammo. I have tranq rounds,¡± Joey says before pulling open an ammo pack, and taps one tipped bolt that has needle and plunger¨Cthe bolt itself is lighter and has significantly less mass. She hands them the magazines to Lavernius and Julia¡¯s respective weapons. ¡°Julia, take the two by the console. Lavernius, you take out the two by the far side. I¡¯ll make sure to bulls-eye that officer. Just remember that if you miss, they will likely shoot you and kill you.¡± ¡°Joey¡­the odds of surviving today are nonexistent.¡± Lavernius turns to Julia, his expression withdrawn. ¡°Julia, if I don¡¯t make it¨C¡± ¡°But you will, if I have anything to say about it,¡± she corrects. ¡°Julia¡­your mother is¨C¡± ¡°The least of my problems, Lavernius,¡± she growls. ¡°Save it for when we do this.¡± He lets out a deflated sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s get on with this, then.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 103: Paid In Full, Part One Julia is the first to jump down to the access catwalk overlooking the room, and the foes below them are oblivious to their presence. She hopes to keep this as quiet as possible. She signals to Joey with a tap on her head. Joey, you¡¯ll get the first shot on the officer, he¡¯s got the radio headset. I¡¯ll take the two other guys out, Lavernius has the other two. She nods firmly and sights in on the autobow before resting the frame of the weapon on the railing. At least mages have some safety standards. Lavernius gives a quick signal to get into position, all the while Julia leers at these hardened killers. She hops down to a decorative statue and lands with perfect precision. I wish Angela could see me now. There¡¯s no other need for reflection, only the deed. And if her plasma isn¡¯t enough, to knock them out, there¡¯s that compact staff that Joey had let her borrow, and she looks at the simple button to click it to full length. An emergency regen potion is in a vest pocket¨Cif she needs it. Hopefully, they won¡¯t. Because if this all goes well, this room is going to be a giant crater by the time they¡¯re done. She slinks to cover when one errantly glances her way, but there¡¯s no further motion. She glances over to her cover and nearly retches. There¡¯s a glassy-eyed corpse¨Ca woman with short brown hair and earrings, soft brown eyes, staring upward at the ceiling. She almost recoiled away from the horror of seeing the woman with her fingers wrapped around the lethal bolt that pierced her throat. She¡¯s got a lab coat on¨Cone of the personnel from Asqualia, blood pooled beneath her. She takes a sharp breath¨Cshe knew this was going to happen. As soon as the Talons opened fire, she knew there would be casualties. She looks up and sees Joey¡¯s solemn gaze, biting her lip so hard that she draws blood. Her hand trembles a little, and the weapon in her hand sways. Joey, I¡¯m so sorry. We did everything we could to prevent this. Her response is a slow nod, then a deathly glare down the scope of her autobow at the officer leading this atrocity. Take out the officer when I signal. He¡¯s the radio lead. We don¡¯t know how long before they check back. Joey responds by loading in the tranq round. Julia would suggest she just kill the bastard, but she wonders about their moral higher ground. She can see a few corpses piled up further out¨CTalon''s casualties. With distinct burns across their body. Plasma energy. Somehow, this sight doesn¡¯t bother her. My mom has likely caused a lot of deaths in her years. Great. I¡¯m not even of legal age, and I¡¯ve racked up a body count, too. I¡¯m gonna need to cry profusely later at the loss of innocence. She pads between areas of cover, toward a nearby decorative barrier where the techs are still working, swearing and getting frustrated. ¡°Barry. Barry! Watch where you put the repair torch, Or you''ll burn your arm like that idiot who left the regulator off,¡± one snaps, even as he offers a length of silvery wire. ¡°Can we repair it?¡± ¡°This is gonna be an ugly-as-shit repair job, but it¡¯ll work. The circuits aren''t damaged, just the wiring. Think Val will go eat Victor if we tell her that he got a bunch of soldiers killed?¡± the other jests. ¡°Does that make her a cannibal? I mean, dragons do take human form.¡± ¡°Yeah, kinda. Poor Rick and Billy. Those sods have had the displeasure of cleaning out bone piles from her lair every great now and then. The ones she hates, she takes the skeletons and puts them up like a macabre collection. I¡¯ve seen it. It¡¯s so creepy.¡± The first one lets out a deep-throated sound of disgust while reaching for a tool to crimp the wire. ¡°Yeah, you know what, eating any Kin makes you a cannibal, that¡¯s the way I see it.¡± ¡°What does a dragon taste like? I don¡¯t suppose it tastes like chicken, does it? Because of¡­ you know, the feathers?¡± the second one asks. Julia decides she doesn¡¯t need to know the answer, and there¡¯s a thrum of energy on her hands. Now! There¡¯s a soft thwack sound as a bolt sails through the air, hits the officer in the neck, and drops to the floor, out cold. Julia mantles over the barricade, grabs one, and delivers a massive shock that leaves him on the ground, incapacitated. The second gets a gasp of surprise before her thunderous kick also puts him out of commission¨Cand likely breaking a rib, judging by a wet snap. The officer is already down for the count, and Lavernius has already taken out his two. ¡°Police the weapons, quick! Lavernius, let¡¯s get to work¨C¡± Lavernius responds by loading the magazine and putting a bolt straight through the back of the two techs'' skulls, and she hears that wet crack of flesh being eviscerated. Before she can even respond, he puts two more into the ones on the far side like clockwork, and she¡¯s left in utter horror. Bernard is a stone-cold killer with the way he just nopes these men while they¡¯re unconscious and then puts two into the officer¡¯s skull. She feels sick to her stomach, and he calmly reloads the weapon and gives the primer lever a sharp tug, the weapon lowered as he scans the room. Joey is also stunned into silence. ¡°You just murdered them.¡± It''s the most Julia can muster from the shock. ¡°Enemy combatants. Val¡¯s men are almost to a fault, stone-cold killers. They stacked the staff here like cordwood.¡± He points grimly to a pile of bodies, and Julia dares to look in his direction, disgusted by it. Three of them are garbed in armor¨Cburnt, scorched by plasma, or impaled by those shiny bolts that were devastatingly effective against soft targets. ¡°Promise me you will never have to do the same, if you avoid it.¡± ¡°You just murdered¨C¡± she stops when she thinks about his grim logic. ¡°What were you before, Bernard?¡± ¡°King¡¯s right-hand man. I wasn¡¯t always on the good side of the law, Julia. Joey knows this, too.¡± Joey is notably silent while looking at glassy-eyed lost souls on the far side, like she can¡¯t look away. Lavernius pauses only briefly, a calm look on his face. ¡°I haven¡¯t been that man in a long time. But I have to be that man for one last night. For the sake of others.¡± ¡°That¡¯s rich, coming from you, the person who wanted to hand research records that could help Val become a new goddess,¡± Julia growls. ¡°To King, and to no one else. I trust him and Crosomer. I don¡¯t trust Val in the slightest,¡± he says calmly. ¡°No one should, given her capabilities.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I¡¯m not done discussing morality, Lavernius.¡± Julia grabs every bit of ordnance she can. The techs have bolt pistols, but the weapons aren¡¯t the same variant. Joey vaults over the railing and lands perfectly from¨Cfive meters high? Julia stares at the spectacle as she peers at her curiously. At this point, with Bernard executing five hostiles, this curiosity is not worth the effort of asking the question. ¡°Julia, can you¡­help me with something?¡± Joey finally asks in a quiet tone. It''s when her gaze drifts to where Julia had been a moment before that their moment of celebration is deadened by the deceased woman on the floor. The grim walk is no less dreadful than before. Julia dares to break the silence. ¡°Did you know her?¡± ¡°Betty? I know her. She works in the botany wing. I¡­would sometimes get reagents from her, for my lab. She has a cat at home, and¡­there was a guy here that she liked. She never said who, though.¡± Her lip trembles, and she kneels down to gently pull the bolt out, and give her some final composure in death. Julia helps move her to someplace further away from the inactive portal. Joey leans down, and closes her eyes. ¡°She didn¡¯t deserve this.¡± The anguish in her voice is one notch away from tears, and Julia wraps an arm around her back gently. She can feel that pain in her own heart, too, even though she¡¯s never known this person. What had their last thoughts been? Of their loved ones? Of their daily routine, cut tragically short? She doesn¡¯t have the answers for this one. ¡°Joey. We¡¯ll have time to mourn them later. Let¡¯s finish this, so we can get everyone we can home and in one piece.¡± ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s do that.¡± She pulls out a few canisters, systematically goes to the doorways, and seals them up¨Cthe metal glowing hot and fusing the metal doors to the frame. ¡°That¡¯ll bottleneck them, so they can only come at us from the hallway.¡± Indeed, the sound of distant combat is present¨Cshouts, gunshots, and the occasional detonation. She taps her ID badge. ¡°How are we doing with that distraction?¡± ¡°Even as dragons, we¡¯ve got our work cut out for us, Joey. Make that portal a slag heap so they can¡¯t bring in more of the endless murder army, please? Because you know, our lives kind of depend on it.¡± Drenar sounds remarkably calm, even when he¡¯s under fire, and she can¡¯t help but feel proud. ¡°Right. Let¡¯s get the nav board. It¡¯s part of the escape plan for the rest of the staff,¡± Lavernius grunts while he pulls the just spliced wires, and unscrews the bolting holding the board in place. He places the intact board in his bag and then hands it to her unexpectedly. ¡°Protect that with your life, Julia.¡± ¡°You¡¯re coming with us. That¡¯s not negotiable.¡± Trying to intimidate him, however, has run its course, and she can see that spark is gone in his eyes, and the weariness all edged into the creases of his wrinkled face. For a man not even pushing fifty, why did he look so old, so¡­defeated by life? He shakes his head, and his words come slowly, maybe reflecting on the choices that led him here? ¡°Julia, you¡¯re so young. You don¡¯t know what it¡¯s like to grow old¡­and know that you lost a long time ago, and are just living for others, so that they won¡¯t be alone.¡± He pulls out the arcanlink from his pocket and dials a number. ¡°King, you know we aren''t going to be able to deliver now. You know that, right?¡± ¡°Bernard, I made a promise. I intend to keep it.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t do that for this one.¡± King¡¯s soft exhale is barely perceptible. As if he knew this was coming. ¡°Val knows who I am, most likely.¡± Lavernius¡¯ uncanny calm is disturbing. ¡°You think I''ve got any room to hide? I am expendable. You are not.¡± ¡°Bernard, there are still options¨C¡± ¡°No, King. We are on our option of last resort now.¡± King waits for all of two seconds before the blue-tinged holographic displays from the emitter, and King looks at his long-time associate, weighing his response. ¡°Tell them, King. Or I will.¡± ¡°You know I couldn''t stop you. I don''t want to. Not this time.¡± King, ever the pinnacle of calm and grace, has a hint of remorse in his words, she notes. ¡°Julia, Josephine, there are bigger forces at work than just Asqualia. The Conclave has been preparing for this moment, for the insurrection to take hold, and then utterly crush it and finish putting the boot to the throat of all Kin. Val played right into their hands, or she just doesn''t care. She believes she has the upper hand, and will push to get results. No matter how many bodies it takes.¡± ¡°And what do you propose, King?¡± Julia demands. ¡°You broke Drenar''s world, you know that? Do you think I''ve forgiven you for that, just because you''re a more palatable evil than Val or Crosomer?¡± King stands there, stiffly and glances over to Lavernius. ¡°Say what you will about my methods, but my motivations are pure. There is an ancient battle being played here that is more than Val wanting power. It is bigger than Crosomer trying to undo an event that shattered the mage world, with the majority of the dragons disappearing in a heartbeat. This is a battle for the soul of the world, Julia DeVerdra. One I intend to see to the end. And the Luminaires are the key to winning it.¡± Every bit of will she has to tell this man to go screw himself fades in an instant, and she¡¯s at attention. ¡°That¡¯s the organization that Alexander Rashalda led, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t just him, Julia. There were six Luminaires in the beginning. Two of them are still alive. The rest¡­their souls endured in their kin. They are the light to guide the way¡­to a better tomorrow. For all of us. And the battle you must face will be the Conclave itself, because it is killing the planet.¡± ¡°King, you¡¯ve tried this already¨C¡± ¡°The Valkyries know the Conclave is rotten, and do nothing. Including their leader. Which is why they can¡¯t be counted on to win this battle.¡± King lowers his gaze for a moment. ¡°Tell her, Bernard.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no going back from this¨C¡± ¡°We¡¯re out of time,¡± King interjects. Almost as if he knew something was wrong, a radio crackles¨Cit¡¯s the commanding officer, and someone is asking for a status report. ¡°Is this another one of your stupid plays, King?¡± Joey demands, having gotten fed up with this charade, and Julia is curling her fingers into her palm. ¡°So far, I haven¡¯t gotten one clue whose side you are on, and my prevailing theory is that your goal is to be the one on top. Likely, by pitting all your enemies against each other!¡± ¡°Julia¡­if you won¡¯t believe King, believe me.¡± Lavernius takes a deep breath and stashes the bolt pistol away. ¡°We need people willing to change the world because there¡¯s no good ending if the Talons in their present form, or the Conclave are allowed to win in this coming battle. And the only people that could do it, choose neutrality over bettering the lives of all Kin. Including their leader, the Champion of the Valkyries.¡± ¡°What about her?¡± Julia has a sinking feeling she knows what he¡¯s going to say, and Joey knows it too when she draws close. ¡°Who is she, so we can go give a stern rebuke¨C¡± ¡°Julia¡­your mother is the leader of the Valkyries. She is the Champion.¡± Bernard states with the most restraint she''s heard in a long time... And just like that, she knew exactly what Drenar felt when his world was shattered. Vol. 2, Ch. 104: Paid In Full, Part Two There¡¯s no biting retort, no sarcastic reflex, no witty counter for her this time. Lavernius is telling the truth, and she knows it. The whole world seems to close around her a little bit, and she grapples with the fact that her mother is the biggest hypocrite in the world. The radio crackles again for the now-deceased officer to pick up. Everything else is two orders of magnitude smaller than this moment. She¡¯s the Champion? But, that would mean¨Cshe dares not think of how she got the title. She already knows that she inherited the title, most likely. Six years ago, in fact. And her mother has been so much more distant since that day. ¡°Julia, we can¡¯t dwell on this. I get it, it sucks having your life broken like this, but trust me when I say this, I know the feeling.¡± Joey¡¯s firm grasp on her shoulder shakes her out of her apathy, and Lavernius and King both have taken somber tones. ¡°King, why are the Valkyries so dead-set on neutrality? You¡¯re saying they¡¯re going to sit out this conflict?!¡± ¡°They will, unless drastic action is taken,¡± King says calmly with a tilt of his head, and he glances at Lavernius from the projection. ¡°I have made the calculations, the Conclave will win, and the Valkyries will sit on the sidelines and do nothing. A proud organization has been reduced to rusting inaction¨C¡± ¡°King, you are still the enemy,¡± Julia snarls with as much fervor as she can muster. ¡°You made your alignment with the Talons as clear as day, you work with Val. A sociopath and an utter monster. She¡¯s on a warpath to get powers I don¡¯t even dare fathom. I¡¯m not dealing with your bullshit anymore.¡± ¡°Val is a necessity to some steps of the¨C¡± she cuts him off again. She¡¯s tired of these men trying to justify reprehensible, irredeemable actions. She¡¯s tired of the lies, tired of the proper authorities being utterly worthless, or those who can do something are relegated to the bench. Nick and Levine are likely facing prison for their insubordination. She and Drenar¨Cassuming they even somehow make it out of this alive¨Cwill probably go to prison, too, or her mother will put them under lock and key. They won¡¯t have any freedom to do the right thing anymore. ¡°You know what King, you were right about one thing. Thanks for inspiring me, if Drenar hasn¡¯t already gotten the idea in his head by now. The Luminaires are coming back, and I think you should be the first to tell our enemies that we won¡¯t be deterred by sheer odds! When we¡¯re done beating that nightmare-level bitch into the pavement, don¡¯t think we won¡¯t forget your transgressions here. I¡¯m doing this because I want to, because I¡¯m tired of choosing bad option A, or bad option B. I¡¯m choosing our way.¡± Joey stands beside her, hand held firmly on her shoulder. ¡°Damn right, I¡¯ll get behind that. I¡¯m tired of forced binary choices that lead to bad outcomes either way. We¡¯re taking our third option King, and maybe that¡¯s what you want, but it won¡¯t end the way you think it will. You can rest assured of that.¡± ¡°Oh, would you look at that, the alchemist has all grown up. I¡¯m honored that I could be the one to help you realize that,¡± King says with a slight bow. It doesn¡¯t feel like a mocking gesture for once, and Julia glares at Lavernius. ¡°Your turn, Lavernius. Are you with us? This is your last shot to be on the right side of history. Don¡¯t do it for me, don¡¯t even do it for Kelly. Do it for yourself, if you truly believe we can pull this off. I know we can. And Drenar does, too, even if his stump speeches need a little work.¡± Lavernius sighs, in resignation. ¡°Your mother wouldn¡¯t have wanted you¨C¡± ¡°No, I suppose not, but she¡¯s part of the damn problem Lavernius, if the Valkyries haven¡¯t put Val under a gravestone by now. So she can just deal with her daughter having a burning desire to save the world from deplorable people.¡± ¡°Brock, pick up the damn radio, Val¡¯s getting pissed! Why the hell is the teleportal not up yet, she wants the place scrubbed and everyone in this place dead and buried!¡± That report over the radio is going to be a problem real soon, and she points to Lavernius. ¡°Well? Wanna go stick it to everyone Bernard, and have a prayer of Kelly chewing your ass out but good if we get home in one piece, by some miracle?¡± ¡°Julia? You''ve got a lot of guys coming your way,¡± James utters over the headset. ¡°Twenty soldiers, one guy clad in some heavy armor, might be an officer. They''re investigating the radio silence.¡± ¡°Stall them. I''ll set this thing up to blow sky high after we¡¯re clear,¡± Lavernius pries open a panel and starts pulling arcane conduits with precision, as if he knows what to do. ¡°I can overload this platform even without a navigation circuit, I can link it back to the last known ingress point. A backup in case of damage to the portal mechanism. It''ll also seriously damage anything on the far side. We need to not be here when it overloads. This is why I hesitated to do this.¡± ¡°Gonna kill more of your own guys? Savage, Lavernius. I might almost respect that,¡± Joey says with the emphasis of a thawing glacier. ¡°Val''s men, technically, and most of them are depraved killers. The world''s not gonna miss most of them.¡± He pulls out a circuit and points to the doorway. ¡°That resin won''t hold them, they''ll have breach charges.¡± ¡°Gonna burn a contingency,¡± James utters over the radio. ¡°Got a golem coming in via the vent, they''ll give you an eye on the hallway. Also, a dragon wizard gave me the keys to the place, check this out!¡± There''s a grinding of stone and a clank of metal as several of the decorative statues slowly come to life, light blue mana dancing across their skin. Their archaic polearms and crossbows are still functional, and they line up by the door in a staggered formation. ¡°Okay, Julia, I''ve marked you guys as friendlies, the golems won''t attack you, they''re focused on the black-clad bastards coming your way. You might want to switch to your dragon form¨C¡± ¡°No, too much heat for a single target, I need to be mobile.¡± She grabs the autobow and primes the bolts in the magazine with her plasma¨Cthese creeps are about to get an unwelcome surprise that they¡¯re not going to like in the slightest. She takes cover by the first row of safety barriers and Joey is busily flinging canisters that stick to the outer periphery of the wall that glow an ominous orange. ¡°Joey, those look like bombs.¡± ¡°They are,¡± she relays. ¡°Trigger runes will detonate on my activation, keep clear of them.¡± ¡°They¡¯re on the door in thirty seconds, they know something is up. Better get ready.¡± James has an ice-cold edge to his voice. He''s focused on this now. ¡°I need two minutes, and then we¡¯ll have one minute to get clear,¡± Lavernius relays, all while King looks on from the projection of the arcanlink. ¡°Roland¡­I don¡¯t need to say it but¡­it has been an honor working with you. For the good of all Kin.¡± ¡°Survive and tell Mirabelle that yourself, Bernard.¡± King¡¯s somber expression tells more than words can. He knows that this will not end well for his friend, before the arcanlink fades. Julia sidles up to cover and tests her field of fire. And her escape plan. Ten-to-one odds are bad, and she would normally be better served in her dragon form, but now, she needs to play tactically and buy space, and time. ¡°Soldiers at the door. Those statues are on standby. We¡¯ll get one shot at an ambush, I¡¯ll wait till they¡¯re past the doorway. Planting charges.¡± James has gone deathly calm instead of near panic like he should by now. ¡°Joey, they have heavy weapons in the rear, if you have anything in reserve to do something about that, you¡¯d better do it.¡± ¡°Magnesis canisters.¡± she flings a few of them close to the door, and they seemingly fade from view. Julia has no idea what they do, but it won¡¯t end well for the Talons. ¡°Fabric armor won¡¯t stop a mage steel bolt.¡± ¡°Good to know.¡± Julia tenses and positions her weapon on the edge of the wall and doesn¡¯t flinch when the explosive charge destroys the resin without much effort. Troops begin to walk in with rifles and autobows drawn, sweeping the room and pressing forward, past the statues that are motionless. James relays one last piece of information. ¡°Julia, last guy, heavy armor. He¡¯s got a machine gun, Looks like a freaking ma-deuce. I don¡¯t know how well mage barriers hold up against a .50 caliber weapon, but he''s the biggest threat." The men sweep towards the teleportal, not seeing Lavernius working on an access panel below the flooring from their angle. One of the soldiers lowers their rifle to look at the statues seemingly frozen in place, and scratches his head. ¡°Hey guys, were these things here earlier?¡± he asks, and all of them freeze up. Julia doesn¡¯t hesitate and fires at him first. The bolt pierces his arcane barrier and pins him square in the chest, and he goes down with a gurgle. Just like clockwork, the constructs all come to life, and ambush the soldiers with poleaxes, swords, and a few with crossbows. The carnage is immediate as three more join the fallen one. Julia would lament that she had killed yet another soldier, but the time for restraint is done as another one joins him on the floor, three bolts sticking out of his torso, and one through his lung. These mage barriers are no match for her plasma-tipped bolts, and now they open fire on her, after having gotten a fix on her position. Joey has the solution after her hand goes alight with mana, and the canisters go bright orange, like small suns. Julia ducks as the detonation wipes out a few more, and she hears the tumble of corpses thrown by the detonation. She dares not to see what¡¯s left of them and darts to the next bit of cover, falling back closer to the teleportal, firing as she goes. The magazine is empty and she reaches for the next one in her vest, slapping in the magazine and giving the puller a mighty tug, even as bolts ping off her barrier. It¡¯s dangerously deteriorated, and she hugs the wall as the heavy armor knight provides cover fire, peppering the area with deadly weaponry that chunks the golems, and the masonry. The absurdity isn¡¯t exactly lost on her, with a giant mook in heavy armor firing like he¡¯s a video game boss, and she dives behind more cover as he tries to track her movement, peppering heavy rounds that get dangerously close. Most of his comrades are down for the count, and how is this guy still firing?! How big is that box of ammo on his weapon, or why hasn¡¯t the weapon jammed from overheating? Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Julia, take him out!¡± Joey dives for cover after firing two canisters at the man with what almost looks like a miniature grenade launcher. A liquid detonates on his armored breastplate and starts smoking. He screams and grabs a vial off his belt and flings a white powdery substance over the liquid¨Ca caustic agent to counter the acid, perhaps? She doesn¡¯t wait to find out, and those hidden canisters activate in a blaze of energy and fling out silvery beams of light, locking onto the metal of his armor and pulling taut, pulling him backward and away from the center of the room. Julia sees her chance and summons energy to her core before flinging her like a tsundere rocket at him, landing a kick that sends him reeling. The closer he¡¯s pulled to the canisters still embedded in the ground, the stronger the pull, and he tries to swing his firearm like a massive hammer, and she gracefully ducks. Left, right, she dodges those hammer falls while he holds that massive .50 caliber beast like a primitive club. He¡¯s too slow for her as she sends out a surge of plasma, incapacitating him and allowing her to jump up and on him, smashing his helmeted face with repeated blows, and staggering him. Meanwhile, the canisters eventually pull him over and he topples, but she stays right on top of him and smashes that helmet off his face, seething in fury. How many people are dead because of these monsters? She grabs his unhelmeted face and sends a charge of plasma through him, until she can smell cooked meat, and those screams become shrill and inhuman. One last hammer blow finally puts the man out of commission, and the last of the damaged golems are barely functional. She grabs the heavy weapon and hustles back to the teleportal. Don¡¯t focus on the trauma you inflict. Focus on the lives you protect. Breathe deep Julia. You¡¯ve got this. Some stragglers try to force their way past the blown-out doorway, but she braces the gun against the corner wall and keeps the area denied. Her shoulder and body ache from overexertion, and she lets out a fierce roar. They will not take a step into this room, and she¡¯s going to make sure these monsters are answered in turn for every life they take, and every nightmare they inflict on the defenseless. The beating heart of a Luminaire resides in her, and no one can take that away from her, and now they¡¯re terrified of coming into the room. ¡°Julia, Joey, they¡¯re falling back, but I don¡¯t know why. Switching angles!¡± There¡¯s a brief pause, and there¡¯s a gasp of horror from him on the line. ¡°It¡¯s¡­oh shit¡­A woman in heavy plate armor is breaking off from Drenar¡¯s distraction, and she¡¯s bringing a contingent of heavy soldiers and she looks like she¡¯s planning on some murders. You need to finish up and get out of there, NOW! It¡¯s Val, and she¡¯s looking deadly!¡± ¡°Lavernius, how close are you?!¡± Julia roars over her shoulder. ¡°Almost done! Twenty seconds!¡± ¡°James, twenty seconds, is that enough time?¡± ¡°Barely, she¡¯s making her way through the halls¨CI¡¯ll stall them, but I can¡¯t stop them with these golems!¡± There¡¯s a distant clank and what sounds like a whoosh of flame, and screams. She sincerely hopes Val just friendly fired her troops. ¡°Julia, fall back now, the vents connect to the central office area! You can use them to get to Drenar and the rest! I¡¯m sending the waypoint to your armband!¡± ¡°Got it!¡± She grabs a smoke orb and flings it at the doorway to provide cover, even as intermittent fire comes through blindly. Lavernius has dumped a canister of glowing material into a feed system by the teleportal access panel, and there¡¯s a violent response from the machine. ¡°It¡¯s done! We need to be out of here in sixty seconds, or we¡¯ll be disincorporated!¡± She gazes upwards at the shimmer in the air as the teleportal activates, but this has a violent purple outline. Whatever is about to happen, she doubts her immunity to plasma will protect her from this. ¡°Joey, Julia, get moving!¡± ¡°Not without you!¡± she screams out. ¡°I am not leaving here for you to be a martyr, you are going home to see Kelly and Mirabelle, do you hear me?!¡± ¡°No, Julia. I won¡¯t. I need to make sure they don''t disarm this.¡± He grabs the heavy weapon and points it at the smoke-filled hallway, eyes focused with deadly intent. ¡°Live today, to see tomorrow. You¡¯ve got the heart of a warrior in you, Julia and Joey. I know why King does this. Despite your hatred of him¡­he¡¯s a good man forced to do terrible things. I pray you do not have to learn this lesson the same way we did.¡± ¡°Damn it, if I have to drag you into that vent¨C¡± Her words falter¨Cwhy is he willing to die for this? ¡°Think of Kelly. Think of your family, please!¡± ¡°I have. If they think I¡¯m dead¡­they won¡¯t have any reason to pursue them.¡± he pauses to hug her, in one final farewell. ¡°Keep Kelly safe. I know what she¡¯ll do when she learns of this. She¡¯ll try to avenge me. Keep her following in my path, Julia. Even though it¡¯s more than I can ask of anyone.¡± This is goodbye, isn¡¯t it? She knows it by the tone. He¡¯s determined to see this to the end, fighting for the staff of Asqualia. Even at the end, he¡¯d stayed true to his word, and that violet shimmering sphere sparks and arcs with a high-pitched hum, painting the chamber in scintillating shades. ¡°Lavernius¡­Maybe I was wrong to judge you and King. But what do we do?¡± Joey asks, trying to tug Julia to the duct. He breaks focus from his weapon long enough to look at them, and nods solemnly. Julia hands him her fire orbs, and he pulls a pin at the ready, the autobow supported on a railing. ¡°Do what the Luminaires did before. Stand for what¡¯s right. Defend the defenseless. Be a light to guide the way.¡± The fact that he knows these things, means that King had done his homework. ¡°Now go.¡± And for once, maybe he isn¡¯t being manipulative. Maybe he is interested in the long game to ensure neither the Conclave wins, nor Val gets her keys to godhood. Joey is still tugging at her, but she feels rooted to the spot. ¡°Julia, we have to run! I don¡¯t want to lose any more friends today!¡± Joey pleads, and shakes her out of it. She feels that connection, and can feel Joey¡¯s unwavering bravery, in the face of those who had stormed her home. I don¡¯t want you to lose a friend, either. They turn and dash over to the access vent, where she tears it away with brute force, and they scrunch inside, the bright violet light growing brighter and more ominous. They haven¡¯t gone far when a massive explosion blows apart the wall, and she can hear those slithering words of madness. ¡°Who comes for you, you mewling Kin? Just a dragon, come stomping in! You should all fear this final hour, for your limbs, too, I shall devour!¡± ¡°Go to hell, you musical school reject!¡± Lavernius screams out, and Julia dares not look back as the heavy machine gun goes off, and fire orbs detonate. This determined defense is met with maniacal laughter. She darts forward and practically drags Joey at speed through the vent, they have to get clear! ¡°Oh that tickles, you pathetic whelp! Let¡¯s try with¨Cow, that is unkind! Perhaps I¡¯ll peel you like an orange rind!¡± There¡¯s a scream¨Ca blood-curdling scream that sets Julia¡¯s teeth on edge even as they dart through the intersections, and Val¡¯s maniacal laughter in the background. There can¡¯t be more than fifteen seconds left. ¡°Joke¡¯s on you, bitch! Enjoy your courtesy prize vaporization!¡± Lavernius screams out in a mixture of pain and laughter. There¡¯s a scream of rage, then the scrabbling of claws and heavy metal boots as the soldiers flee the destruction. ¡°Keep moving!¡± Joey screams as they scrabble with another vent cover, and Julia kicks it with all her might. Joey times it and they both kick it in, the metal cover flying inwards, and she pulls her forward and past the wall. She covers Joey with her body and puts her arcane barrier up with as much power as she can muster. The shrill pitch of the portal breaks¨Cand then a booming wave of violet energy blasts out of the vent and there¡¯s a sound of carnage on the far side, and then a violent pull backward into the vent that nearly sucks her in. She holds firm against a heavy desk, her arcane barrier flaring and she feels burning pain all across her limbs, keeping Joey safe from the violent blast. The suction stops and the motes of violet energy float in the air¨Cit¡¯s a dead silence other than the sound of collapsing brick and distant metal twisting. She feels her strength give out, and she slumps to the floor. Kelly¡¯s father is dead. Val is hopefully dead. Their only chance at getting everyone out of here alive is gone. All her strength could do nothing to save him, and she looked at the bloody streaks on her limbs¨Cher arcane barrier had failed, and her skin is blistered in places on her arms and face. Reaction finally takes hold, and she holds her arms tight against her chest, and the tears come¡­not from pain, but from sorrow. Not for lives taken¡­but for lives lost. ¡°I couldn¡¯t save him.¡± It''s the only words she can manage to get out, and Joey is quick to wrap her arms around her tightly. All the strength in the world, and she couldn¡¯t save one damn person. ¡°How many more are we going to lose tonight?!¡± ¡°We¡¯re not losing anyone else, Julia. Not on my watch.¡± It¡¯s not just her imagination, she can feel the pain in Joey¡¯s heart, too-the conflict of seeing Lavernius as both enemy and friend. A man who had spent time on both sides of this conflict, and ultimately made the right choice in the end, at the cost of his own life. I¡¯m not losing any more friends tonight. She wraps her arms tightly around Joey¨Cand knows that there¡¯s someone else hurting just as much as her tonight. And they¡¯re all going to get through this, together. She ignores James and Drenar screaming into the radio, asking if she¡¯s alive. She ignores the sounds of gunfire. She needs this moment as her last moment of weakness before the impossible task at hand can be done. Vol. 2, Ch. 105: Dragons Dont Need Ammo! ¡°Julia and I are okay. We just¡­we need a second to get our bearings.¡± Angela feels a palpable sigh of relief when she hears Joey¡¯s voice, even though she¡¯s now sporting more than a few superficial wounds, and everyone is getting thoroughly beaten up and stretching their arcane barriers dangerously thin. Without Julia, they¡¯d made a tactical mistake of trying to take on too many of the Talons¡¯ soldiers. That¡¯s how she got claw wounds on her torso and cheek, and the scales are still parted where someone tried to claw her eyes out. She¡¯d bitten a deep chunk out of that drake¡¯s neck in response, who hadn¡¯t expected such a savage counter. Splitting the team had been a dangerous risk, but luckily they¡¯d met up with Levine and Nick, who had managed to sneak through the lines and reconvene with them. Levine¡¯s bloodied up with a wound on his arm hastily rectified with a field compress and regen potion, but she knows it takes time for full effect. These fiends fear their mistress more than they fear us. Samarina¡¯s words are now in crystal clarity in the focus of battle, and Kyle welds shut another door with an alchemical canister, trying to seal the Talons off. It won¡¯t hold though, not with a Valencian red trying to burn through doors with their fiery rays. The bulkhead doors are thinner in this area, and offer less protection. The golems had been a fortunate reprieve from James, who is frantically moving people around, spotting, and acting as the eyes in the sky with the golems he has sprinkled everywhere. And his tone has an ice-cold tone¨Ccalculating, methodical. He is enjoying wiping out the Talons, she realizes grimly. For him, this is his moment to shine by playing against hundreds of soldiers armed to the teeth, Valosterla, and several other heavily armed and armored ¡®knights¡¯ as he calls them. Drenar slouches against the wall, and reloads an autobow, panting. He¡¯s been putting both sword and melee into good use, and she laments the fact that even now, he is not fighting to kill. Because she knows the moment is going to break him, either way. She wishes she could say the same for Julia, who had gone full John Rambo on the interlopers, based on what Joey had said. No one is coming out of this with their innocence anymore. That¡¯s the price they¡¯re paying to defend the world against these monsters, and she looks at the blood still on her claws, and wipes them on the armor vest fitting across her silvered scales. It had protected against some of the damage, and the open wounds itch as they slowly stitch together, courtesy of her own regeneration. But it¡¯s much slower than a regen potion, she notices. ¡°Kyle? Where are we right now?¡± Nick asks when he finally takes in the surroundings. ¡°Second-floor office space. Ya know for this place being so huge, I don¡¯t know why only about two hundred staff are here at peak. You could fit a thousand here,¡± Kyle says, and rubs at the bruises on his face. His armored helmet from his set had saved him from getting his head caved in by a soldier with a warhammer that impacted like the fist of the north star¨Ceven on a dragon. Her fists made him fly further, and he did not like that. Kyle regards Nick before setting a trap on the door and rigging it with a rune. ¡°We need to cut through to the south side, meet Julia and Joey at the south end, and then scoot through the maintenance area past the plant to get to the armory. James, are those bulkheads still intact?¡± ¡°Volkir says yes, and also, someone owes me money if we live through this. A dragon wizard has been watching our movements,¡± James growls. ¡°Val''s on the prowl, that bitch managed to just get out of the blast radius of the teleportal array. By the way, I have a golem taking an assessment in there, and¨Cyeah, there¡¯s a giant gaping hole through the whole building now. It¡¯s not pretty.¡± ¡°Just stick to facts, James,¡± Levine sighs before pulling back the action on his rifle. ¡°You need to hurry up. Kyle, there¡¯s sufficient mana primer in the lab to make a teleportal big enough to get everyone out, right?¡± ¡°Lavernius had one canister of mana primer stashed away.¡± Julia''s voice still sounds choked up, and if even she is struggling to keep it together, it¡¯s bad on all fronts. ¡°We¡¯ll see you in a couple of minutes, stay alive, guys.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s move.¡± Drenar doesn¡¯t waste any preamble and takes point down the hallway, with Angela within reacting distance right next to him. The Talons soldiers hadn¡¯t gotten very far down this way, but they¡¯d run into stragglers holed up when their line was overrun, so he was checking every corner. ¡°Julia, we¡¯re closing by the central office area and secondary housing, We¡¯re at the bulkhead door.¡± ¡°Okay, good. I¡¯d hate to shoot anyone that doesn¡¯t require shooting.¡± She¡¯s still got her autobow raised when the door slides open with Kyle¡¯s ID badge getting them access, and Angela gasps slightly. Julia is in rough shape. Her skin is bloodied and she¡¯s limping slightly. She doesn¡¯t hesitate and grabs a vial of regen potion out of a vest pocket, and forces it into her hands. No one¡¯s going to argue with a dragon at least, not even Julia. She forces it back and grimaces as the injuries start to heal, panting heavily. ¡°Julia, I¨C¡± ¡°I don''t want to talk about it.¡± Her words are weary and that spark of brilliance in her eyes is faded right now. Lavernius had stayed behind to cover them when Val stormed into the room, and she could see his death etched in her face, and the tone in her voice. ¡°I¡¯ll talk about it after we get everyone out of here alive. I hope my mom brings the calvary once we get an outside line, because we¡¯re going to have our work cut out for us if she doesn¡¯t.¡± Even Drenar¨Cas unshakeable as he is at times, sees that Julia is hurting, but he can¡¯t do anything to heal this one at the moment. ¡°We stopped their reinforcements. It¡¯s an even game now¨C¡± There¡¯s a thud nearby, and panicked whispers. "Hey don''t shoot, we''re coming out!" someone shouts in a muffled manner from the supply closet. Angela has her claws tensed, but relaxes when she sees a few mages come out. The light blond man they''d seen earlier is there, along with two other female staff members. "How bad is it out there? We came here and hid, we didn''t have weapons, and our spell expertise is a little lacking." "Holy hell, Reeves, you guys hid there?" Kyle groans. "Great plan there genius, they''ve been shooting everything that moves, and they''re not taking prisoners." ¡°Guys, I¡¯m sorry, we hid here until we could figure out a plan¨Cwe¡¯re not you guys,¡± he says softly. ¡°Did Saul make it?¡± "Saul and Betty are dead, Reeves. They''re gone." Joey is the first to break the bitter news, and this looks like it hits Kyle hard, but Reeves looks devastated. "Who else?" Kyle talks in a hushed voice as if he''s at a funeral. "Winslow. And the new guy who started last month, who works in rune research. I think I only spoke to him once or twice." It''s like the light goes out of Joey''s eyes for a second as well, she''s ashamed she can''t remember his name. "That¡¯s Felix. I just played cards last weekend with him, along with Bitters and Snags. This was supposed to be his first big job after graduation." Even though she doesn''t know these people, Angela can feel the overwhelming grief in the room, and Kyle slams an armored gauntlet into the wall. His fist leaves a dent in the drywall, and his face is contorted in barely contained fury. "Fates, those two picked the luckiest week in the universe to go on vacation, and I¡¯m happy they¡¯re not here being shot at." "Kyle, if we don''t keep moving, they''ll take more people from us. And I am not about to let that happen," Drenar vows and places a gloved hand firmly on his shoulder. "We have a shot at getting everyone who can''t fight out of here, and get a signal for help. I need your help to do that." his words hit home, and Kyle looks at him, and gives him a slow nod after a few seconds. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "You got it." He ejects the magazine from his autobow and slams in one with blue electrical tape marking the side. "Reeves, Cassidy, Gloria, stay behind us. Angela, keep barriers up on them.¡± "Kyle, how''s the wound?" Joey asks. He grunts and rubs his side gently. "Stable enough that I''m gonna kill every last one of these black-clad mercs. Let''s go." Angela focuses her telekinetics on all three of the mages, but she finds it difficult to focus on three independent barriers, and her own. Kyle slams the ID reader but it flashes red. "Shit. The building fail-safes are locking out all the biometric IDs. This hallway connects us to the area adjacent to the armory and secure labs. I can bypass it, I need a minute." James pings on the radio, and he¡¯s freaking out, and not unduly so. ¡°Guys, we have a problem. Talon soldiers are throwing out metal panels that look like pieces of teleportal components in the storage area, and¨Coh shit. They''re bringing in more guys! How the hell do these monsters get unlimited reinforcements, and where do they get all these guys?¡± ¡°Killers for hire never run out,¡± Nick quips grimly. ¡°There¡¯s always someone willing to take a fat paycheck for industrial-scale murder.¡± ¡°Man, I liked it when you were less grim, Nick,¡± James grumbles. ¡°Expect more guys, soon. Val is stalking through the wreckage of the center area, going down to the first floor, along with her entourage. Don¡¯t even try to take her on, keep moving. We need a game plan for her, because she ate the business end of a .50 caliber heavy weapon and her barriers didn¡¯t even pop.¡± ¡°Lavernius tried.¡± It¡¯s all Julia manages to say, then perks up. Angela feels it too, a sense of danger, and so does Drenar. ¡°The hell is that¨C¡± ¡°Optic camo!¡± Drenar is a blur of motion and blinks three meters to his right just as a deafening blast goes off¨Clike someone had tried to level a shotgun at him point blank. Drenar slices horizontally through instinct, and there¡¯s an instant scream. A shimmer of bending light materializes and a soldier drops the shotgun that had been aimed at Drenar¡¯s head a second ago. He slashes again and puts the man down with a thrust that goes into the ribcage, and he shears viciously and blood sprays from the brutal injury. Angela can feel the danger and swipes her tail¨Cshe can feel the motions with her enhanced telekinetics, and Nick and Levine sight down their weapons and switch to mana sights. Her tail¡¯s strength bowls the man over and breaks his legs from the impact, and he screams, out of the fight. ¡°Four hostiles, at the far end!¡± Nick barks out and opens fire, same as Levine. Julia follows suit and Kyle does as well. Joey flings an alchemical cartridge and there¡¯s a blinding blast of light in the distance. Several staggering shapes of scintillating colors are trying to get their bearings from the flashbang, but they¡¯re out of cover and have been closing with shotguns and smaller carbines. The overwhelming firepower puts them down, and Angela looks grimly at the man whom she flung into the ceiling, and he¡¯s on the floor and crying. It¡¯s a strange reaction, seeing hardened killers feel pain. She grabs his weapon, flings it away, and leers at him with murderous intent. ¡°How many of you are left?¡± she snarls in his face. He¡¯s bloodied and his right arm¡¯s a limp mess, and she is done with restraint. It''s time they feared a dragon and what they¡¯d do to protect their friends. ¡°How many?!¡± ¡°T-Three hundred in reserve! You¡¯re never getting out of here alive!¡± he stammers. She tosses him to the side, and Nick zip-ties him in record time before conking him out with the butt of his rifle. ¡°Damn. Cloaks are getting better. They must have been shadowing through here,¡± Levine grumbles before reloading his rifle. He gingerly steps away from a bloodstain that is growing on the floor from one of the fallen foes. It¡¯s a small but grotesque moment she tries to bury down to the bottom of her psyche. ¡°C¡¯mon, keep moving!¡± Joey encourages them before giving a gentle tap on Kyle¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be better when we pull a Houdini on these creeps. I can build the portal in the secure lab and enhance the field of effect. Got the navigation circuit?¡± he asks before getting a firm nod from her. ¡°Lavernius gave me the idea. I just hope it¡¯s not a wasted effort.¡± ¡°He believed in you. So yes, you absolutely can do it, Kyle,¡± Julia says in a firmer voice. Her strength in her words has returned in the heat of battle, and she pushes forward. ¡°Keep moving, check your corners, Angela, sniff out any more of those creeps in the camo armor." Angela keeps to the middle of the formation and looks at Drenar, who has his gaze lowered at the floor, and his fist is tightened. He stares blankly at the man who¡¯d almost blown his head off with a shotgun. That man is now dead from his hand, and Drenar shakes his head--and trying to hide how his right hand shakes ever so slightly. He bites his lip while trying to look away from the carnage, but hesitates. He kneels, grabs the weapon, and chambers the next round, and nods to her. "I tried. Training took over." His is voice soft, but controlled--the voice of a person still coming to terms with the first grim deed by his own hand. ¡°I guess there really wasn¡¯t a choice, was there?¡± Angela shakes her head solemnly. If he hadn''t struck first, she''d have turned that man into slashed ribbons to protect the team. ¡°Don¡¯t regret the ones you can''t spare, Drenar. Focus on yourself, and those you protect. Focus on the survival of your team.¡± Nick¡¯s forced words carry and a firm hand on his shoulder carry a whole new meaning for her now, and Drenar is quick to pick up the pace before placing another casual canister by the doorway, and rigging it with a string. At least they¡¯ll have some warning if they get tailed, though the pounding at the previous bulkhead door is an indicator that it¡¯s about to get close quarters again. Sam...why do these terrible things keep happening to him? He tried. He tried so hard to not bring this darkness into his soul. Being a champion means great personal sacrifices, Angela. Sam...who were you? It''s the first time that Angela might feel the slightest bit at a loss when she feels that tingle of regret from Samarina. Someone who failed her task. I couldn''t protect them. And here I am, brought back to this world...maybe to make amends? I can only hope I--we do. Sorry...I forget that all I can grace you with, is the knowledge to avoid the tragedies of the past. Sam, when everyone is safe, we''ll talk about it. I promise. The next area is an office space with rows of desks, computers, and several arcane machines running samples. The dim glow of the wisp lights adds to the calm of the room during a night that is anything but calm. Kyle¡¯s at the bulkhead door and taps his radio anxiously. ¡°Zameren, we¡¯re at the bulkhead, west side. But the security is locked out again.¡± There¡¯s a distant detonation behind them past the bulkhead they¡¯d just sealed, and the barrier door to the north is a lighter security lock. ¡°Guys, keep moving! Val is coming in from the north, they just blasted through a barricade and she¡¯s fixing to murder you guys!¡± James calls out. ¡°They¡¯re closing on the bulkhead on the east side with breaching charges and¡­damn it, King is here, too!? I just spotted him with an observer golem by the botany wing. He must have come in by the temporary pads, and he¡¯s right pissed. Probably because the evil wannabe goddess jumped the dragon.¡± ¡°You know if our foes weren¡¯t such backbiters, they might succeed here,¡± Levine acknowledges grimly while Kyle taps at the console, autobow still pointed at the closest door. ¡°Barricade the north door, Angela, can you get to that?!¡± ¡°Done, just give me a¨C¡± ¡°They¡¯re breaching the east side, take cover!¡± Once again, her danger sense takes over, and she shields her teammates from the shape charge that blows the whole door into the lab, incendiary particles bouncing off her immense barrier, and the door banging into her outstretched arms, and the barrier cracks from the impact. That had some serious force to it! Angela is focused on the interlopers coming through the door as Levine and Nick rain down heavy fire while she pushes forward, bulldozing a path past the lab decorum and smashing soldiers down. Their autobow rounds and even the heavy rifles are puny, but her arcane barriers are about done and she feels the tingling numbness coming¨Cmana burn. These troops are fresh, while they¡¯ve been fighting for a good chunk of the night. They make short work of them, as if they didn¡¯t pay attention to the pile of bodies they¡¯d just left behind. She grimly acknowledges this is going to be the stuff of nightmares when she thinks about how many killers she¡¯s brutally injured today. ¡°Reeves, no! Don¡¯t open that door!¡± She turns to focus on a brewing problem. Reeves has broken off in a panic, and darts to the north side door. She¡¯s already in motion to try to stop him even as he slams down his ID badge on the reader, despite warnings from the others, and Drenar is in motion. The door opens, and Val is waiting for them, grinning from ear to ear as she draws a greatsword made of crimson metal, and there¡¯s nothing but death in her eyes. Reeves is dead where he stands when the blade slices horizontally. ¡°Candygram!¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 106: A Soul Of Unrivaled Bravery Only two things registered in those two seconds of sheer horror as Angela thrusts out her claw in a desperate attempt to grab Reeves from afar. The first, is that Valosterla is a monster made manifest, with an inhuman, feral grin on her face as the blade moves, and a manic gleam in her eyes. This is no sane woman. She has murder and carnage baked into her very soul. The second, is that no matter how much she wills her telekinetic grapple to pull Reeves away in time, it¡¯s not enough to keep him unharmed. There¡¯s the sickening slice of flesh and that manic laughter as Valosterla¡¯s blade hits home, and Reeves staggers backward to her¨Cand he¡¯s split across the abdomen, blood leaking profusely. Joey screams. Kyle fires his autobow, along with Levine and Nick. Drenar does that weird teleport thing and levels that shotgun he¡¯d picked up, his hands gleaming with silvery light. The shotgun blast knocks her backwards with the kinetic enhancement, but does no damage. He¡¯s already in motion and keeps pumping rounds to get distance, forcing her past the doorway. ¡°Bitch, you just couldn¡¯t --CRACK-- leave well enough --CRACK-- alone, could you?!¡± Drenar roars in between shotgun blasts. Val is still staggered and the armored knights close and try to engage him, but a kinetic blast from him knocks them all off their feet. He drops the shotgun and pulls Luminari to meet Val¡¯s downward clash. Angela puts pressure on Reeves¡¯ wound, trying to stop the bleeding. She puts out a low-level kinetic field, and blood pools but slows just beneath that magical barrier. Joey dashes over to her, regen potion in hand having broken past the instant horror. ¡°Oh what¡¯s this, is it someone new? You¡¯ll soon join my collection, too!¡± Val cackles in that manic talk, and Drenar blocks a series of hefty strikes through deft maneuvering. The crimson blade shears through the steel frame of the door and damages the wall with deep score marks. The next swipe is met with one in turn and he locks blades with her, straining to his breaking point, and a silvery sheath wraps around his body. But when she sees the sword, she gasps. ¡°Where did you get this¨C¡± He doesn¡¯t bother with a retort and grabs his dagger with a snap of his wrist, and it flies to his hand, already in a slicing motion. The blade lances into her thigh past a narrow gap in the armor and she staggers in pain. He uses the opportunity to blast her backward with a scream of telekinetic fury, and she¡¯s sent flying to the floor, metal scraping across polished marble. He ducks behind the open bulkhead and screams out, ¡°SEAL IT NOW!¡± A blast of violet energy is Val''s rebuttal attack that misses him and gets through the doorway. The globule breaks apart in a cloud of burning black and purple sparks, stinging her scales. She manages to shield Reeves from the attack with her body, but he''s still in danger. Drenar doesn''t waste another second before slamming the whole bulkhead door down with enough force from his kinetics that it buckles the metal on the floor. Kyle flings a canister of a yellow substance that splashes on the metal doorframe, and turns molten bright before rapidly dimming and cooling. The lock is now a fused mess, and there¡¯s a thunderous pounding sound on the other side. Drenar stows his weapons before dashing back to them, and Joey grabs medical supplies out of her bag and pours the regen potion over the deadly wound. Reeves is screaming for his life, and Angela holds him still with as much gentleness as she can. Drenar puts a compress on the wound, working in tandem with Joey. ¡°You¨Cneed¨Cto run!¡± Reeves gasps in a brief moment of clarity. That pounding sound at the door is getting insistent, and Joey motions to Angela to apply pressure to the wound with a field compress. She can see intestines damaged, a clean yet brutal slice, and blood flow slowing, but not stopping. This level of viscera¨Cit¡¯s not something she¡¯s seen in person before, and it leaves her insides roiling. Even as a dragon. ¡°Reeves, I am not running without you walking out of this room!¡± Kyle pleads, even as he empties the magazine and loads another into the autobow. ¡°Joey, how long do you need?!¡± ¡°He¡¯s hurt bad Kyle, regen potions don¡¯t scale for this level of trauma! I can get him patched up, but he needs a medical team, or he¡¯s going to die!¡± Joey¡¯s back in focus, trying to get him patched up and keep that blood flow contained. ¡°Angela, I¡¯ve got him, keep our backs covered!¡± ¡°Done!¡± She¡¯s a whirl of scales and deadliness, and the barricaded door on the south side is glowing bright yellow. Someone is burning through the door with intensity, and she taps the headset on her ear crest. ¡°James, I need a target assessment, how many are on the far side?!¡± ¡°Little problem, I lost the feed on that side, the golem got hit by gunfire or something! The camera feed is a bad angle, but at least ten guys, a Valencian Red is cutting through the door!¡± That part was pretty obvious given the rosy glow coming from the metal bulkhead, and she extends her claws, and Nick and Levine draw next to her by the cover, weapons drawn. She¡¯s ready for this, while Drenar keeps the door closed on the north side, and Julia is standing next to him, weapon trained on the door and plasma arcing off her skin. ¡°She killed Lavernius.¡± That¡¯s the only words Drenar needs, and he wipes his bloodstained hands on a spare rag he grabbed from a desk. Enemies are approaching from two directions, and they can¡¯t move. ¡°Everyone who isn¡¯t combat-effective, move to the next room!" she roars out. ¡°Zameren¡¯s almost at the bulkhead, he pulled a small team to cover you guys! You need to move!¡± James states with authority. A resounding thud from the north door indicates Val is not letting up, and those words¡­there is something utterly inhuman about her, with those words. ¡°Come to me, my fellow scaled kin! ¡®Tis your time to meet the reaper! Dare not miss this chance at mercy, Or worse, make this a three-peater!¡± ¡°Seriously, what in the name of Gaia is wrong with this woman?!¡± Julia screams out. Angela can¡¯t focus on that insane drivel, because the barrier door is finally melted through, blobs of molten slag dripping down and pooling on the polished floor tiles. A set of dusty red claws heaves away at the softened metal. Nick and Levine launch a volley of fire through the door, but it pings off arcane barriers. Several armored soldiers fire in blindly, while Kyle readies an autobow round with a glowing red tip. It kind of looks like he¡¯d¨C She wraps protectively over Nick and Levine¡¯s position and gets out of the way as he lines up the shot and fires the deadly round, just as the Valencian tries to fire a ray of fire into the room from an outstretched claw. The blast hits with full force against the dragon''s chest and he staggers backward, bleeding and wounded, even with the arcane barrier taking the full brunt of it. Levine flings a few fire orbs into the opening, and they detonate with a burst of intense heat that hits some of the stacked-up soldiers. It¡¯s as if they don¡¯t understand how grouping up in close quarters is a deadly bad idea. Nick has other plans and hefts out Matilda, and swerves to the side as the Valencian launches another fiery ray¨Cthis time Angela can deflect the attack with her barrier, setting the floor on fire but not causing immediate danger. It sears the scales on her palms even so, and she winces, and exhales a frosty blast as the Valencian barges forward, bearing the brunt of her freezing breath. Rime frost traces across his armor scales and coats his limbs, but it shatters at the motion. The attack does not slow him down completely. He launches after her and tries to pin her down, but she¡¯s not having it. She puts out a charge of kinetic energy to her claws, after having figured out how to direct her kinetic strikes to parts of her body the previous night. Careful experimentation that had allowed her to gouge concrete with no effort. She slices and cuts deep trenches across his abdomen while protecting herself, keeping those deadly talons on his legs from disemboweling her. Dragon claws are magical and seem to be less affected by the armor scales ability to resist physical blows. The Valencian snarls and tries to shed incendiary particles, burning her, but she holds on and redirects him, keeping him clear of hurting the others. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Nick takes aim and fires point-blank with Matilda. The barrier flares with several hits, and then bursts in a collapse of golden sparks. Two rounds go deep into the dragon¡¯s belly and it screams in pain. She takes the opportunity to open up several other gruesome wounds, unrelenting in her focus to make this monster bleed for the lives taken tonight, and to prevent further bloodshed. But now he¡¯s in a fight-or-flight throes of survival, overwhelming her strength and biting down dangerously close to her neck. She screams in pain and flings him off after a raking blow with her wing claw gets him in the eye, and he recoils, clutching the wound. Nick has already reloaded by this point, and fires the heavy rifle into the abdomen and chest of the dragon. Armor scales crack and are pierced, and it lurches from the impact, followed by focused fire from Levine¡¯s deadly marksman rifle. Whatever magical effect had been imbued on his rifle, the glowing blue tracers pierced into the softer scales, dealing more damage. She clutches at the raw wound of the bite on her shoulder¨Cany closer, and he¡¯d have taken a chunk of her neck. The wounds prove too much for her foe and he collapses, moaning from the pain. The fall of their dragon is enough to force the knights back into cover, with Kyle being merciless in his barrage of autobow bolts and Levine¡¯s deadly precision. Their draconic foe gurgles and is bleeding on the floor, dying. She dares a glance back at Joey, keeping Reeve''s stable with the help of one of the other female mages, locked in utter focus. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m all set, but we need to get him a medical team or this won¡¯t hold!¡± Joey barks out, fury etched in her eyes when she surveys the carnage. She looks at Angela and vaults over, a regen potion in hand and getting the worst of the bite wound sealed and protected, even as it itches and burns and she barely lets out more than a whimper. ¡°Angela¡­it¡¯s okay. You bought me enough time.¡± Heart of a warrior, this soul-touched. That¡¯s the second time that Samarina has said that in the last few hours, and she ponders its meaning. Her contemplation is short-lived as a wrenching sound of metal being sheared gets her attention. The bulkhead to the north is buckling from an onslaught of blows, and there¡¯s a maniacal cackle from the door. Val is back in fighting condition, and has transformed into her dragon form. ¡°Come out, come out, you little kin! It¡¯s just me, the big bad dragon! Wrap your souls in a deathly shroud, pour your blood into my flagon!¡± ¡°Drenar, get everyone out of here, I¡¯ll cover your retreat!¡± Angela shouts out and points to him with a bloodied claw. ¡°We need to keep giving ground, we need to stall for time!¡± ¡°Do not die here Angie, you fall back when we¡¯re clear! Nick, Levine, stay with her!¡± Drenar shouts out, and Kyle gets the bulkhead door to the west open, past the shredded remains of the lab and into another connecting hallway of bright white granite tiles and wisp lights, and decorative plants adorning in small alcoves. This place won¡¯t be untouched by violence and ugliness for long, she thinks grimly. ¡°Julia, get Reeves, help Joey carry him!¡± They manage to get Reeves onto an office chair and secure him with an extra set of bindings¨Cwith a lack of a stretcher, it¡¯s all they can do for now. A pair of black claws begin rending the metal of the door, and that manic mistress begins singing¨Can ugly song tinged with darkness. ¡°You all should have run, fore I woke! Your carcasses shall be my toy! Your death will bring me great pleasure, Shrill screams shall bring forth odes of joy!¡± I know her! The murderer! Angela winces at the full force of Samarina¡¯s might, locked away in her soul, and she feels a tremor through her body that comes from nowhere and everywhere at once. She is the one who hunted my children! She preyed upon and slaughtered them, she cannot be allowed to live! Angela doesn¡¯t know where this strength is hiding, but she shares in Samarina¡¯s righteous fury and tenses her claws, eager to put this would-be goddess in her place. The bulkhead bends and tears from her onslaught, and Nick calmly reloads Matilda¨Clikely his last magazine, and Levine has primed a few green-tinged orbs. They¡¯re ready to bolt if need be because Hellkite black fire will absolutely incinerate them, as they take cover by the corner. ¡°Hellkites have some of the strongest regenerative capabilities of all dragon species, Angela. It¡¯s either all or nothing against her,¡± he cautions her, even as he gives the weapon charging handle a mighty tug. ¡°Val also has immense barrier capabilities. Do not underestimate her, try to evade her energy attacks. Your scales will only resist her energy somewhat." Another set of claws rip through the door and tear it away, and Val is there, leering at them with a toothy grin on her draconic face. She¡¯s three meters tall of deadly beauty, with midnight blue scales, and that blood-red feather mane and accenting feathers on her wings and limbs. She regards her foes with a maw of sharpened teeth. ¡°Didn¡¯t like my singing? Not everyone does.¡± She glances at the pile of dying men and the dragon bleeding out on the floor, and grunts. ¡°Looks like the fight has not been as one-sided as I thought it would be.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a monster who brings ugliness and destruction everywhere you go, Val.¡± She stands to her full height and tenses her body like a living coil of steel. ¡°There is no beauty in who you are, or what you do.¡± She hears a gentle humming sound that she¡¯s heard before¨Ca shard of mana in a canister. It¡¯s the same one that Joey had shown them earlier as a sample taken near Drenar¡¯s home, and it¡¯s humming with power. She must have dropped it in her haste to stabilize Reeves. She can feel that vibration in her whole body, however faint. She reaches down, and grabs the canister. There¡¯s a trickle of power in this small piece. A whisper of something greater than herself, and she doesn¡¯t know what it means. All she knows is that it is calling to her, singing in a crystalline chime that no one else seems to notice. Val tilts her head and grips her horns gently before cracking her joints, looking amused at this standoff. ¡°You¡¯re just a child. You¡¯re not even fully grown, girl. Do you think you can take me on? Me? Do you have any idea how many of my kind I¡¯ve slaughtered over the past several hundred years?¡± ¡°Taking count of those you¡¯ve murdered isn¡¯t glorious. It¡¯s just sad how little you value life.¡± Angela takes a deep breath, and wonders what will happen if she touches this crystal. Something strange has been happening every time she gets close to a mana crystal, there¡¯s been a buzz of energy that surrounds her. Drenar¡¯s dagger. Luminari. Something is connecting her to all of them, and she has no idea what it means. ¡°There must have been a time when you could create something beautiful, before you decided to poison the arts with your own brand of death and destruction. What drove all the joy out of your life, Val?¡± The fact that she¡¯s got her talking, and not immediately going to the killing, is telling. Val frowns at her, peering closely at her with ruby-red eyes that almost seem to possess their own inner light of vile energy. ¡°Fates. You sound like that preachy dead goddess who was supposed to protect this world, according to all those pathetic mages and Kin. You even look like her, too. Well, minus the eyes.¡± She doesn¡¯t know what that means just yet. Val however, takes one step forward, claws tensed on the pristine tiling that brings bright light to the room. Her talons screech and rake across the polished surface in an eerie manner. ¡°Still, looking like a goddess, and being one, are two different things, girl. You¡¯re just a nobody worth remembering corpse in a long line of corpses I¡¯ve left in my wake, between where I am¡­and where I¡¯m going to get what I want,¡± she adds with a click of a forked tongue, and a sneer of her snout. You don''t stand a chance against her, Angela. Not as you are. Sam''s warning isn''t lost upon her. Then I guess it''s time to find out why these crystals are calling to us. She stands defiantly against this living nightmare, regarding her with a determined face, and she grips the canister tightly. She''s done with running from these monsters. ¡°My name is Angela Shalinde. And I want you to remember that name, because it¡¯s not going to be the last time you hear it.¡± She cracks the canister apart in her claw, and things get strange. Vol. 2, Ch. 107: Whats This?! Angelite Is Evolving! As soon as the canister breaks and the crystal touches her hand, a surge of energy shoots through her like she¡¯d been hit by Julia¡¯s plasma¨Cintense, unyielding, and immense power that she can¡¯t quite control. She holds her chest as the light from the crystal intensifies, and it¡¯s taking her all to hold onto it, vibrating with the intensity of an earthquake in her palm. She staggers back while Valosterla takes in this spectacle, and Nick and Levine wince from the overwhelming brightness. ¡°Angela, let go of it!¡± Nick bellows out, but dares not leave cover, not as a human against a Siberian hellkite¨Ceven as formidably armed as he is. But she can¡¯t. There¡¯s a compulsion to hold on as tight as she can muster, and she grimaces against that overwhelming power that could tear her apart from the inside out. She curls the core of her body, trying to will this untamed power, directing it. Forcing it to take form in a new way, that hum of life and vibrancy being guided by her will. She doesn¡¯t know how this works at all, only that a small whisper in her mind tells her that this is important to endure. Standing against the deadliest dragon on the planet as she was, even given her rapidly improving skills, would not be enough. This time it¡¯s going to take raw power, and she feels an itching and cracking sensation across her scales. Her scales aren¡¯t just darkening when they¡¯re charged, they¡¯re becoming iridescent¨Cgleaming with light. It¡¯s almost as if they turn slightly translucent, just like¨C ¨Clike the crystal now in her hand, transferring immense power into her. Valosterla tries to close, violet energy tinged with black motes in her claws and lashing out like a whip of infernal energy. Angela catches it on the armor scales of her forearm out of sheer reflex while holding onto that crystal that is vibrating in her hand. This infernal lash burns with an intensity she¡¯s never felt before, even as her scales reform against the damage, and she lets out a growl of pain. She readies her attack and sends out a kinetic blast, staggering Val backward. She looks at her forearm and the rapidly healing scales. They¡¯re not just healing, they¡¯re changing. She can feel a pulse of energy, deep within her own heart, that is resonating at the same frequency, a vibration of life itself that she is intimately in tune with. The crystal hums with a song only she can hear, a sound that transcends the physical. Her scales begin to hum too, and turn bright, and translucent. It¡¯s almost as if the scales on her body are reforming into small crystals of mana, and Valosterla stares at this spectacle. ¡°What are you, child? I have lived for twelve hundred years, and the last time I saw one of you brats wielding this power, I snuffed out her life without a second thought! She was the last!¡± she roars even as she lunges. Nick unloads armor-piercing rounds into Val when Angela turns the blow and grapples with her, those deadly black talons unable to pierce her new scales brimming with newfound strength. She doesn¡¯t know how long this will last, but she needs to buy time and space for Drenar and the others to get to safety and keep securing the facility, getting Kyle time to build an escape plan. She uses kinetics to match Val¡¯s raw strength, maneuvering her into Nick¡¯s line of fire while keeping herself out of it. Levine¡¯s rounds do minor damage to Valosterla¡¯s arcane barrier, while Nick¡¯s dragon-killer rifle leaves massive cracks in the violet barrier enveloping Valosterla¡¯s body. ¡°So this isn¡¯t the first time you¡¯ve fought someone like me,¡± Angela concludes with utter tranquility, her heart practically vibrating under this intense energy. She¡¯s never felt stronger in her life, and she isn''t going to let it go to waste. She flings Val into a wall and pummels her while she¡¯s off balance, kinetic-enhanced claws raking through the barrier and ripping open small but notable wounds. She won¡¯t win a fight like this, because Val¡¯s flesh and scales begin to heal in mere seconds after the initial injury, slowly closing. It takes about a full thirty seconds, but by that time, Angela has a strategy. She can slow her regen down by inflicting multiple narrow wounds, but the damage isn¡¯t one way. Val¡¯s talons do pierce through, drawing blood from a raking blow she can¡¯t avoid. The deadly dark energy surges off her arms and ripples across Angela¡¯s body, searing her from the outside in, but she holds on, keeping her claws raking to do as much damage as possible, tearing through this monster like she¡¯s tinfoil. ¡°Angela, fall back! Drenar and Kyle are almost done!¡± Nick screams out, even as he hefts a canister of burning particles and hits Val square in the back with the incendiary device. It barely phases her, and he has to duck for cover as Val¡¯s tail nearly sideswipes him. A deft roll avoids the impact, and he¡¯s darting for the doorway, giving cover for Levine by firing that dragon killer rifle that so far has lived up to its namesake. Val is no longer alone as the knights peek through the shattered bulkhead door, firing at Angela. They might as well be firing foam darts at her, because she barely registers the impact, but the pain is still present in the absence of physical injuries. She braces against a support column and kicks Val squarely in the chest, causing her to flinch. She uses her strength surge to blast Valosterla into one of the knights, and when she falls on top of him with her body, there¡¯s a crunch and a scream. Val looks unamused at this. Or the handful of feathers that float through the air like someone beat open an evil dragoness pillow. ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to break under my fall, you¡¯re supposed to break my fall, you useless, consumable henchmen!¡± she utters with all the drama a maniacal CEO at her apex can muster. Angela has taken the moment to grab the biggest, heaviest machine she lift and kinetically charges it, and fires it off like a small missile at Valosterla with a mighty kinetic lasso. Her aim strikes true and stumbles her backward. ¡°Maybe pay the hired help more? Oh wait that¡¯s right, you¡¯d be so poor! Evil dragons don¡¯t suit this place, I guess I¡¯ll smash your scaly face!¡± She felt proud of throwing an insult to Val in the form of prose, and flung another heavy metal support beam that had been knocked loose. Val catches it with a snap reflex, but it puts her in motion. Angela charges into her with her shoulder, smashing her into the wall and cracking it with immense force. Val rakes her claws off her scales, doing superficial damage. She knows her power is short-lived, because her scales are no longer glimmering with as much light as they did before. She figures it must be some kind of unusual ability tied to mana crystals, something that none of the dragon species are noted for. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Is she like Drenar and Julia? Does she have unique powers that no one else does? She has to survive here in order to find out, and that means putting this monster in her place for a spell. She slams her into the wall again, and it buckles¨Cthe magical infused masonry starts to crumble under the brawl of two absurdly powerful dragons engaging in a knock-out, drag-out fight. She¡¯d make a pun if she wasn¡¯t in the fight of her life. She blasts Val one more time and ducks under a ray of deadly purple energy, and it singes her feathers from the near miss, and those black particles radiate off from the burn. That stuff is helluva deadly, and she has no interest in taking another direct hit from it. She thrusts her claw out and heaves at the weakened bricks with all the force she can muster, screaming in fury as she brings the wall and part of the ceiling down on Valosterla and burying her under debris--one of the soldiers takes a chunk the size of a bathtub and there¡¯s and unpleasant squish sound as his body essentially¡­deflates from the violent impact. That one¡¯s going to be nightmare fuel later. One of the knights has grabbed a tubular object and she doesn¡¯t need a second thought to realize that firing rocket launchers inside an enclosed space at lethally close range, is a bad idea for everyone involved. She grabs the weapon with a massive kinetic grapple, and aims the deadly weapon against Valosterla, who is struggling to rise. Given what she¡¯s survived so far, including imploding a teleportal, Valosterla is either an actual literal goddess, or a looney tunes character, and she¡¯s not sure which of those is less outlandish. But she does know from video game memory what a firing trigger and safety disarm button is, and gets a claw on the trigger with a quick check of her surroundings. The rocket brings down more of the ceiling, and Val lets out a scream of frustration as masonry, debris, and now the fire suppression system all rain down on her. ¡°You¡¯re dead, you little bitch!¡± Val screams. ¡°I¡¯m going to make it my life goal that everyone you love will be dismembered by me, one at a time, and then, when they¡¯re down to a bloodied torso in agonizing, indescribable pain, I¡¯m going to make you watch me devour them, a bit at a time!¡± ¡°Val, my favorite psycho, You lack such great vision! Try your hand at drawing, heal your minds condition!¡± she sings out in yet another laser targeted moment of driving this utter madwoman berserk. She must get it from Drenar and Julia, for sure, because James can¡¯t sing to save his life. She scrabbles towards the barricade door, panting and out of breath. Bolts and rifle rounds ping off her scales, but the impacts barely register as she belly slides under the barrier in a scraping sound of crystal over stone¨Cits a truly loud sound, in retrospect. Several steely locks engage behind her as the door slams shut, and heavy metal bars reinforce the door in a series of mechanical thuds. Her strength finally gives out and she falls on one knee, out of breath. Drenar and Julia stare at her, and Joey is utterly fascinated by the appearance of her crystalline scales. Nick looks like this is the strangest day of his life, and Kyle¨CKyle is busy trying to not have an anxiety attack as he engages every lock this wing has from the console just adjacent to him. ¡°So¡­I might have¡­hah-hah¡­I might have pissed her off a bit,¡± Angela laughs, and she feels like she¡¯s suffering an utter crash as her scales itch and crackle again. The light fades from her armor scales, and they revert to their normal lustrous silver shades. Drenar and Julia stare at each other, then at her. ¡°You gonna say it?¡± Drenar finally states. ¡°Which part?¡± Whatever funk Julia had been in before is put on hold. ¡°You mean the part where Angela just held her own against the deadliest dragon of the realms, and¨Cyou had crystal scales? Girl, seriously, I¡¯m kinda jealous, it''s so pretty! But they¡¯re¡­gone?¡± ¡°Guess so.¡± She is saddened by that just a little bit, but it doesn¡¯t feel like there¡¯s any permanent harm. Except for some burns from Val¡¯s energy attack, which still burns mildly, and a few rapidly fading claw wounds. Nothing that would impact her effectiveness in protecting her friends--her team. ¡°Drenar, I hate saying it, but weird shit is no longer exclusive to you after we met the psionic and the engineer. Also, my bestie now officially has superpowers.¡± Julia has a faint grin on her face, and gives Angela a pat on a wing. ¡°Tell me you plucked that bitches¡¯ wings!¡± ¡°For now,¡± Angela says after rubbing gingerly on the wounds across her body. Joey is once more on the spot with the bandages and regen potion for the deeper wounds, her lavender eyes focused on the job at hand. ¡°They¡¯ll uh¡­be digging out of debris for a bit. So we should work on our next insane plan. You know, before the dancing, singing murder lizard comes back for round two. I¡¯m flat out of rhymes to battle her again.¡± She laughs triumphantly, even though she is exhausted to her breaking point. Joey looks like she could melt on the spot in admiration. ¡°You know what Angela, I take it back. You guys are cool. Weird, but strangely cool.¡± ¡°Awesome, Joey. I¡¯ll put you down for our next tabletop session for gaming. As soon as we save the world, first.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 108: A Moment Of Respite The mood is grim in the main secure lab where everyone has gathered, and Angela notes this place looks like a trauma center. Nick and Levine had done a fantastic rounding up survivors with the irregulars, but even they had faced overwhelming firepower before being forced to retreat. People are being treated with dwindling regen potions, and salves to alleviate burns and acid attacks that have left some with visceral wounds, only obscured by bandages and makeshift curtains. A few have serious injuries by shrapnel or debris fragmenting. The floor has spots of blood, empty wrappers of gauze packs, and people on makeshift cots for those unable to sit up. Seeing this is almost too much to bear. She¡¯s shifted back to her human form, and she should feel fatigued by now¨Ceven exhausted. But there¡¯s nothing but a tingle of energy in the tips of her fingers. She should have been horrendously mana-burned by now. She looks at her skin, noting the healing cuts from Val¡¯s razor-sharp talons in the tears of her shirt. Joey doesn¡¯t miss the examination and pulls back her sleeve before rolling gauze over the largest wound. ¡°Angela, you alright?¡± She can feel that tether of something again, she can feel Joey¡¯s concern not in her words, but in something intangible. A whisper beyond the space between them. ¡°I was going to ask you the same. You and Julia got shaken up pretty bad about Lavernius.¡± Julia is busy protesting as Drenar and Nick patch up her still-recovering wounds. For now, the Talons had wisened up after losing significant amounts of soldiers and were massing again at the bulkhead doors. The one closest to the connecting hallway to the teleportal chamber¨Cwhat¡¯s left of it¨Chad held. James is in the security office just next to them, cycling through the golem camera feeds, looking grim. This lab is the most secure in the facility, and Kyle is¡­building something with Levine¡¯s help. An exit plan. One they desperately need, and they¡¯re still not done. Volkir¡¯s journal is down in the depths of the archives, and they need a way down to it, fast, as soon as all the others are out of danger. ¡°Angela he was¡­I don¡¯t know what he was. I just know at the end¡­Lavernius stood with us and gave his life so that we would live. And King¡­I don¡¯t trust him, but I wonder if he¡¯s still manipulating us down this path.¡± She rubs at a grazing wound on her shoulder, where an autobow bolt had skimmed by and left a gash that is slowly fading. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Joey, this must be awful for you.¡± She doesn¡¯t resist further while Joey helps her, and she gazes at Reeves, conscious but in bad shape. ¡°How long do you think we¡¯ve got, before¨C¡± ¡°We need Kyle¡¯s plan to work, or Reeves won¡¯t make it,¡± Joey responds calmly. Her eyes are in sharp focus on the triage before her, and she can feel her burying down her inner turmoil. Why can she feel what she perceives as Joey¡¯s internal thoughts? Does this psionic connection go both ways now, or was it something she never knew she was capable of? She doesn¡¯t know if Joey is aware of it, either¨Cif anything, she¡¯s been afraid to use her abilities. She lets out a soft sigh, and calmly rests a hand on her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯m sounding dour, Angela. It is¡­difficult to be optimistic right now. Except for you putting a dent in Val¡¯s scaly hide. That was impressive. How did your scales become¡­well¡­¡± Angela shrugs. ¡°Your sample did that.¡± Joey¡¯s eyes widen slightly at that assertion, even as she rolls back her ruined shirt sleeve back over the bandaged injury. ¡°That crystal you grabbed by Drenar¡¯s house. It¡­ did something really weird to me. As soon as I touched it with my bare hand, it supercharged me. I can¡¯t even begin to unpack what it did to my body, Joey.¡± ¡°So, that¡¯s never happened before this?¡± Joey examines her arm, and nods satisfactorily. ¡°No. I¡¯ve never touched a mana crystal before this. But¡­Drenar¡¯s dagger¡­it hums when I hold it. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s tied to the fact that it¡¯s a Valkyrie artifact, or there¡¯s a shard of mana crystal embedded in it, but every time I¡¯m near these things¡­I feel some kind of pressure or vibration.¡± She rubs at her chest anxiously, there¡¯s still a residual charge that feels like it¡¯s radiating from her heart, even though her pulse is steady. She still has unanswered questions about what happened. ¡°Joey, some really weird stuff keeps happening to me¡­and I have zero explanations for it." Joey gives her a reassuring pat on the arm. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry about it. You¡¯re not the only one strange things are happening to. You wouldn¡¯t believe what I saw earlier tonight, and I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m ready for an answer on that one. Any other distress, burns, injuries?¡± ¡°No. I should have had a serious mana burn from that endeavor, but nothing happened. That¡¯s weird, too. So, I had a question about what a soul-touched is. What is that, by the way?¡± Joey leans back a bit, as if reluctant to answer. ¡°Joey, Sam knows something about you, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a bad thing, whatever it is. Maybe she knows it has to come from you?¡± I am still here, you know. I believe that I might have spoken out of turn, earlier. Sam''s reassuring words cause the creases in Joey''s expression to soften, just a little. ¡°Well, that is¡­quite kind of her, actually,¡± Joey sighs softly. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later, okay?¡± ¡°Guys. I need everyone here but Kyle, Levine, and Zameren. We have problems.¡± James calls for them from the safety of the security office. He motions for them to observe one of the golems overseeing the barricaded door. Angela recoils in horror. An armored knight has forced two of the staff to kneel in front of the door, and he leers at the camera and points to them. ¡°James, get audio,¡± Drenar instructs. He reluctantly pushes one of the buttons and zooms the camera closer. She has a dreaded idea of where this is going, and knows it¡¯s bad news. That soldier that stands tall over them pulls out a pistol and racks the slide before looking upwards at the camera. ¡°Hey, is this thing on? Open up, you stupid Conclave simps!¡± the man roars upwards. ¡°Tilt the camera if you can hear this!¡± ¡°James, don¡¯t move the camera,¡± Angela says forcibly. ¡°You know what they¡¯re about to do.¡± ¡°You mean shoot them in the back of the head if we don¡¯t open the door?¡± Joey¡¯s hand reflexes towards her alchemist hopper, fingers twitching in anticipation. ¡°That¡¯s David and Marcie, we can¡¯t let them die!¡± ¡°We can stall. Buy time,¡± James says calmly. ¡°If they think they can leverage us, they will press us at every opportunity. I also see King working his way to the barricaded door. Get this, his troops'' armor markings are different. Looks like they do have different response divisions.¡± ¡°James, tell me you have a plan, other than me somehow barging in there and rescuing hostages. You know, while the room is filled with men armed with fireballs and lawn dart launchers,¡± Drenar states anxiously. James gestures with the armband, and he sees the golem wave on the screen with a small canister of shock gel. Joey grimaces. ¡°You want to shock one guy. In a room filled with hostiles?! How¡¯s that gonna help?¡± ¡°Val¡¯s guys don¡¯t get along with King¡¯s guys, remember Lavernius and Curtis?¡± James says with a calm tone. ¡°These guys are disciplined within their divisions, but maybe I can spark a distraction.¡± ¡°That buys Marcie and Dave a few seconds of not being executed,¡± Joey growls. The soldier continues to speak to the camera and points the pistol at the view screen. ¡°Hey, I know you guys are gathering for the pay-per-view execution, but time is a little short here. Open these barricade doors, or I start cutting off fingers. When I run out of fingers, I¡¯ll slit their throats. Nolan, cut off one of her fingers now.¡± One of the soldiers holds her forcibly and she shrills in terror, while he gets to work with a knife and Angela forces herself to watch. The shriek sets her teeth on edge, and she clenches her nails into her palms so tightly she feels a trickle of blood. The man waves the finger in front of the camera in an even more grotesque display of barbarism, and the woman is sobbing and in agonizing pain. ¡°You¡¯ve got five minutes to open this door before I start cutting more fingers, one per minute. And if she doesn¡¯t convince you, we¡¯ll do worse to this unlucky sap next to her.¡± ¡°That guy just made my list,¡± Drenar growls, his arms crossed and looking like he¡¯s about to start brutalizing the entire Talons¡¯ army. ¡°James, we need to get them out of there. Now. We have two minutes to plan, how do we get them out alive?¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Give me five minutes, I¡¯ll get them out,¡± Nick says calmly while eyeballing a vent up on the wall, and strips most of his gear except for his dagger and a bolt pistol, and a few grenades of varying types. ¡°Drenar, I need you and Angela.¡± ¡°Got a plan?¡± ¡°Yeah, a bad one. Can you use your teleport on-demand?¡± Drenar regards him warily, but taps his fingers on his arm. ¡°In theory, yes. But it¡¯s been more by the gut reaction. I''ve also never teleported past a closed door, either." ¡°How far can you teleport?¡± ¡°Ten meters, I haven¡¯t been able to go further than that,¡± he answers quickly. "Angela, give me that marker." "What do you have in mind?" She grabs the marker, and he hastily draws a circle on the floor and puts a giant ''X'' in the middle. "Visual mapping? Good idea." He nods in concurrence. "We can try this once. I''m going to do this blind." He steps back several paces from the circle drawn by the door, and closes his eyes, and his body tenses like he''s about to leap. He blinks out of existence, and then pops up with his feet planted on the ''X''. He opens his eyes and gasps, and looks around, almost twitch-like. "Okay, I''ve teleported Julia and Angela when they grab hold of me, which means we can piece this together. But if this goes wrong, we might teleport into a wall, and that''ll probably be lethal. I haven''t exactly wanted to test this theory out." "Good enough. We need to hurry." Nick pulls at the vent cover, where a small utility shaft angles upwards, towards the top of the room. ¡°Uh, Nick, you want to go through the duct? That¡¯s a bad idea.¡± Angela points out. "We''ll get one chance at this. I can take out the men holding them. I need Angela to maximize her barriers, and I need Drenar for our egress. Memorize the spot on the bulkhead door. The hostages are just on the other side.¡± Drenar looks at the camera, and then the other side of the metal bulkhead, and gives a long look at the mark on the floor. ¡°I¡¯ll pop smoke, James runs the bot as a distraction and zaps out one of the Talon''s soldiers.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t waste this shot,¡± James says grimly. ¡°This is gonna work once, after that, they¡¯ll start punching holes in vents and every nook and cranny.¡± Angela regards her brother with cautious optimism. ¡°You¡¯ve never wasted an opportunity. You¡¯ve got this.¡± She wastes no time other than keeping the short sword, a bolt pistol, and resin grenades¨Cat the close range they¡¯ll be at, anything else will be a hindrance. Joey is quick to sprint over with a gas mask from a cabinet in the lab, and quickly fits it over her head, same with Drenar and Nick. ¡°These rebreathers should keep you from being harmed by the gas. Nick, these grenades aren¡¯t damaging, but they¡¯ll leave you incapacitated. Don¡¯t lose your mask, and if you do, hold your breath as long as possible.¡± ¡°Thank you, Joey,¡± Angela says with a muffled sound through the mask. it feels¡­mildly restrictive, but Nick is quick to ease the panel open, and they clamber inside. Drenar gives one last glance and nods to James. ¡°When we click our radio, that¡¯s your cue.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Without another word they crawl through the duct, past several meters of meandering pathways. It¡¯s a bit more of a squeeze than she thought, and is right behind Nick. ¡°Angela, remember to use a full field barrier. Project it as well as you can. There might be a lot of gunfire if this goes bad,¡± Nick says quietly. His voice is distorted by the mask, and he¡¯s breathing a little more heavily than he would normally. ¡°Drenar goes down last. Everyone grabs him, we hopefully don¡¯t get scrambled on this effort. You said you were able to teleport Julia?¡± ¡°Julia and Angela, at once. It took more effort. I uh¡­we tested it thoroughly, so I didn¡¯t end up inside a wall,¡± Drenar says with hesitance. ¡°You seem to have good control over it. You¡¯ve got this,¡± she assures him. ¡°I know. I¡¯ve got you guys,¡± he says with a wry smile, when she looks over her shoulder. Nick motions for silence, and puts up two fingers. Two minutes left. This is going to be cutting it close. He slows down as they crawl several meters more, and he points down at a vent panel, where voices are coming up. They¡¯re several meters past the bulkhead, and there¡¯s a sobbing cry, and one man threatening more violence for a lack of silence. The hostage whimpers and is heaving, mere seconds away from possible dismemberment or worse, and Nick eases up the panel. It¡¯s enough for them to hop down straight into the midst of their enemies, and he readies the grenade. He hand signals both of them, and waits for them to give an acknowledgment. ¡°They¡¯re not opening up,¡± one of them mutters. He sounds like smoky cigars and a man who is impatient. ¡°Skeeves, just cut another finger off. We know they¡¯re watching.¡± ¡°Hey, timeliness is godliness, doncha know? I make a promise, I keep it. Maybe these mages are that stupid, and they¡¯ll open the door.¡± It¡¯s the muffled sound of the lead soldier, who had been brandishing a pistol at the back of their skulls like he didn¡¯t have a care in the world for human life. She nudges past Nick¡¯s flank and peers down, noting the positioning. It¡¯s a few meters drop, and they¡¯re oblivious. Nick readies his canister and Drenar tenses, dagger in hand and gleaming blue at the edges. Nick likewise has a bolt pistol in hand and practices the toss. Nick nods to both of them and then clicks the radio. The armored soldier grabs a knife and stands up the hostage, who is pleading. ¡°You know what, let¡¯s have some fun with her this time, let¡¯s make a few more cuts before we snap it off this time, yeah?¡± ¡°Buddy, you¡¯re sick. I didn¡¯t sign up for flaying people or cutting off pieces of their body,¡± one grunts. ¡°All of you hold up this instant! King is pissed, what the hell are you doing, carving up hostages?¡± a newcomer demands. This is then followed by an electric zap, and there are shouts of surprise. Now. Nick tosses the grenade and it explodes in a cloud of billowing grey smoke, filling the area with obstruction. Nick swerves down and lands on the back of one of the soldiers, and there¡¯s the sound of a knife slicing through soft flesh. A panic fire nearly lands a bolt straight through her shoulder and misses by a few centimeters. She flares her barrier and drops down, short sword in hand, and slices at the first armored soldier, cutting through the body armor and leaving the man screaming¨Cand coughing¨Cfrom the fumes. She flares her barriers in a protective wall after knocking away the man closest to the hostages, and the hostages are coughing, and she gets her attention. ¡°Grab hold of us, we¡¯re getting out of her!¡± she screams out, and feels bullets ping off her arcane barrier that is now enveloping Nick and the two hostages. They grab hold of her, and an autobow bolt cracks the barrier. There¡¯s more than a spiderweb of blows on the barrier, and Drenar drops down and grabs hold of her hand tightly along with Nick. All he has time for is a quick nod and an expression of sheer determination. Wish me luck. The world blinks in a moment of sheer white, and her body¨Cand the world¨Cdisappear from her view. But there is something here. A crystalline calling. She can feel Drenar¡¯s hand still, even if she can¡¯t see in this overwhelming white light. But the crystalline chime¡­it¡¯s something different. A hauntingly beautiful note in this strange place. And¡­something else. She can see a shimmer of silver. A flash of green eyes. But it¡¯s not Drenar¡­he¡¯s off to her left, and the hostage''s hands are wrapped around her torso tightly. Those eyes blink, and she hears a hauntingly beautiful voice. It¡¯s not your time to be here, child¡­ The vision fades, and she¡¯s tumbling back to reality and a white tile floor, gasping for breath and her head feels like it¡¯s spinning. She collapses on the floor in a sprawl of limbs¨Chers, Drenar¡¯s Nicks, and the other mages. She blinks, and everyone is gathered around them in awe. ¡°Did we...did we make it? Or did we just isekai into another existence?¡± she gasps. Joey quickly attends to the former hostages, and Angela is hoisted up by an amazed James, who gives her a brotherly hug. ¡°No. You¡¯re home now.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 109: Never Question Your Engineer! "So we all agree that this is better than waiting to get overrun and slaughtered?" Drenar asks quietly. After their recent endeavor to incite a case of friendly fire to great effect, the Talons soldiers had quickly gotten organized. Valosterla had been utterly livid, and had pointed out that they could try the ducts. That attempt to do the same thing as they did ended badly, and Nick insisted on closing the ducts and welding them shut. Now Val¡¯s men were periodically shooting holes into the ductwork and walls on the off-chance they were about to be ambushed. It brought a grim smile to Kyle¡¯s face to know they¡¯d made them utterly paranoid. These scumbags have already murdered coworkers, and grievously wounded a friend, laying on a makeshift stretcher while he works on their escape plan. ¡°I want to stay and fight!¡± James protests. ¡°You are always throwing me away from harm, Drenar!¡± ¡°James, what we are about to attempt could very well end in your death, and the deaths of dozens. This is so unfathomably dangerous, that even I¡¯m hesitant about doing this.¡± Drenar is wearing that steadfast determination well¨Ceven though he thinks he¡¯s slightly crazy. Now that he¡¯s had a moment to analyze, they¡¯re all a few steps shy of utterly traumatized. Joey is still trying to bury her thoughts deep down, and he can hear small ¡®leaks¡¯ of worry from her. Her psionics are changing. He had suspected it for a while when he thought he caught her listening in a time or two, to gauge his reaction to some of her theories during work. And there¡¯s nothing he wants more than to assure her that change isn¡¯t bad. But she¡¯s dead set on getting this insane plan up and running as she takes a torch and burns a path of molten silvering material. The nascent rune will form the network to expand the teleportal field to get everyone not defending Asqualia to safety. James however, seems to think this idea could be lethal. He''s not wrong. Any major miscalculation will prove lethal. "Drenar, your batshit insane plan relies on jery rigging a one-time-use teleportal to transport grossly above its mass limit. And you leave it in the hands of two mad scientists!" He would be annoyed with James tacit assessment, but he''s too busy trying to make the math work. And he can make it work, barely. "Look man, not saying this is the worst plan, but couldn''t we hold out?" ¡°I can do this.¡± Kyle finds that moment to look up from careful calculations and tracing the silvering element in a hastily cleared-out section of the lab with concrete flooring. Joey is holding her hands dead-steady, with Zameren using a curing element behind her to stabilize the rune circle they¡¯re tracing out. ¡°One-time-teleports are almost the same technology as a primary hub, but the difference is scale and durability. One-time-pads burn out after use due to the intense energy burst. They also do an instant teleport and transport a pocket of fixed size. Major teleportal platforms open an aperture between two points and keep a stable connection. They also have an immense amount of safety built-in.¡± ¡°Safeties our foes seem to have gotten a good bead on,¡± Levine muses. He¡¯s checking the math on the mana primer he¡¯s measuring out, along with Joey. ¡°Kyle, this is going to take two full canisters. This could still kill anyone transporting¨C¡± ¡°We either get them out and they survive, or they die here. We are outnumbered and outgunned, even with dragons,¡± Kyle states with remarkable focus. The math is checking out, the diameter is correct, but his hands are shaking. His body is betraying what his mind is unwilling to do, breaking down in panic. James steadies his hand and pulls out a roll of twine someone had left on a desk, possibly for packaging. He ties it to a fixed point in the middle and tapes it down firmly ¡°Try that. Like an arc compass,¡± James says firmly. ¡°If I¡¯m not joining the others on a suicide mission, then I¡¯m ensuring I don¡¯t get disintegrated by a shaky hand.¡± Kyle takes a deep breath, and traces the marker along the radius, then uses his straight edge to trace the rest in record time. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Focus on the lives of everyone in this room, Kyle. They are counting on you. And Lavernius died with the belief you can do this. Say what you will about his prior actions, but he stood for the staff here in his last moments.¡± He hates hearing that calm logic of James, but it¡¯s what he needs to hear to keep going. Rational, careful calculations is the only way this is going to work. ¡°Joey, we need to speed up.¡± ¡°Going as fast as I can, James. We don¡¯t let this cure, it¡¯ll crack, and then the rune circle breaks under load. It needs to be right, or everyone dies.¡± She is a hundred percent right, they can''t rush this part. He gazes at the rest of his new strange allies. Nick is arming for war, as is Drenar, who looks even more beaten up than ever, and is preparing a bandolier of fire orbs that Joey had hastily put together using her alchemical skills. ¡°Uh, gotta ask, how¡¯s it feel, to uh¡­¡± he trails off. Drenar looks up briefly from loading up his autobow. ¡°Kyle, don¡¯t take it the wrong way, but I am trying to bury my actions as far down into my brain as I can. When the amount of enemies that aren¡¯t getting up catches up to me, I¡¯m done. I¡¯ll never be okay again.¡± There¡¯s an edge to his words that indicates this kid really needs a break right now, and one isn¡¯t coming anytime soon. Volkir¡¯s head is projecting off his armband while he loads another magazine¨Cammo is low now, and the sabotaged weapons didn¡¯t help the situation either. ¡°Volkir, I need a no-bullshit assessment, if Val gets this journal set of yours, how boned are we?¡± ¡°We¡¯re boned.¡± ¡°Great. Burn them¨C¡± ¡°Little problem. If they think the prize is damaged goods, they¡¯ll level the facility immediately, and there might be a way to turn this device off properly with the right rune sequence. Forever. Otherwise, we''re kicking a can down the road,¡± Volkir interjects. ¡°One of their engineers is tinkering with the power core, trying to bring it offline. He¡¯s good, but he¡¯s no Derek. Speaking of which, is he there with you?¡± ¡°Shot in the stomach. He¡¯s barely stable,¡± Zameren states. He grits his teeth and loads another magazine before handing it to Nick. ¡°How''s that¨Coh. They don¡¯t know about the enchantment that keeps the water above us retained. That could be¡­bad.¡± ¡°Them drowning themselves would be the best news I had all day, apart from causing a friendly fire incident,¡± Nick says with a grim smile. ¡°Angela, what¡¯s the feed showing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a little rusty on this, but¨Cah crap, King just brain-domed a golem. It¡¯s like that creep knows we¡¯re watching, even with the optic camo.¡± She points to the static of one of the monitors, and then another one that shows King walking up in a light armor set and furrowing his brow. He points a pistol at the golem and smiles. ¡°As if that trick would work twice.¡± He fires the pistol and the image goes to static, and Angela taps the console impatiently and rubs at her arm. ¡°Is there a reason he¡¯s playing this like he hasn¡¯t cut a deal?¡± Drenar growls. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Drenar¡­there¡¯s more going on.¡± It¡¯s Julia that gets his attention, and she¡¯s been notably silent for a bit, watching that man on camera. ¡°Lavernius died with the belief that the Luminaires are the answer. To the Talons, and the Conclave.¡± Kyle can¡¯t even wrap his head around this because he¡¯s too busy trying not to serial murder eighty-something survivors with a single bad input command. ¡°No matter what that creep''s intent is, I think King is some kind of psionic or clairvoyant. He¡¯s too uncanny with how he knows so much,¡± she states with fervor. He can¡¯t focus on it, because the primary rune is complete, and he pulls out the navigation board and plugs it into the access panel of the teleportal. Luckily the connection isn¡¯t an issue, and he rapidly accesses the command prompts and the BIOS settings. Reprogramming this thing to do something it¡¯s not meant to do, for a hacked-together expanded field, is risky. Using three dragons to act as biological capacitors, is even more risky. ¡°Drenar, Angela, Julia, gather up! I need to explain this. Joey, tell them why we need this, I need to keep coding.¡± ¡°Okay, simply put, we¡¯re using your body''s scales as superconductors to expand the field of effect of the teleportation. This is something we should never try again.¡± They all nod at each other practically in unison¨Chow did they seem so in sync, anyway? ¡°We¡¯re exceptionally lucky that you guys are from the right species because you can all channel elemental plasma¨Cthe typical energy you find powering arcane conduits and other magitech.¡± Joey gives a textbook assessment, like usual. ¡°This is¡­gonna hurt, isn¡¯t it?¡± Julia grimaces. ¡°Oh, a little¡­maybe?¡± She hands Julia a canister of mixed blue and green fluid, and she downs it without protest. She gags but toughs it out and swallows uncomfortably. ¡°It¡¯s like my cooking, but worse. Drenar, you¡¯re in charge of making Joey¡¯s alchemical concoctions more palatable, or I will never forgive you,¡± she warns him in a mocking tone, even as she almost looks like she¡¯s going to vomit. ¡°That¡¯s uh¡­got quite a kick, by the way.¡± ¡°Pick two: cost, taste, and effect,¡± Joey replies calmly. Drenar downs his and manages to keep it down, and cricks his neck. Kyle is not envious, Joey used to use him to taste test some of her alchemical potions, and he¡¯d¡­had to have his stomach pumped. Once. She made up for it later, at least. ¡°Now, I¡¯ve marked three spots for you guys to stand. Once we start, you cannot let go, and you have to remain immobile. This potion should keep you from cooking your insides.¡± ¡°Tastes like¡­a warhead dipped in a nine-volt battery,¡± Angela gags. ¡°It¡¯s awful.¡± ¡°I like my three new favorite dragons alive and breathing before attempting hare-brained, terrible ideas that no sane mage would ever attempt,¡± she says in an almost playful manner. Whatever keeps her focused, he supposes while deleting out safety protocols. Those will get in the way and shut it down before it hits peak charge. Along with the standard calculations for mass. ¡°Kyle, can we dump the primer in?¡± ¡°Do it. We¡¯re lucky that it¡¯s still near full charge, it¡¯s going to take every bit of juice we¡¯ve got,¡± Kyle states while focusing on numbers and calculations he makes on his armband. ¡°Joey, what¡¯s the count? I need everyone in the expanded field of effect. I need a rough mass estimate, and round up ten percent.¡± ¡°Eighty-two. Nick, you¡¯re sure your teleportal can hold this many?¡± she asked while he loaded up the last of his ammunition into a rifle. The autobow was now out, but he still had conventional firearms left, with a few magazines of magical munitions. ¡°It¡¯s going to make a hell of a mess, but the field of effect should push everything away to accommodate everyone. I prepped it in case I needed to transport heavy armor again. It¡¯s really just over-engineered.¡± Kyle stares at him. ¡°You transported a tank?¡± ¡°Once.¡± Kyle stops continues to stare at him. Does he have any idea what kind of gross overload capacity that is?! No of course not, this living action hero couldn''t possibly fathom the complexities of teleporting matter through sixth dimensional space and not scatter things to infinite oblivion. ¡°Holy shit. Joey wasn¡¯t kidding, you two did steal a tank!¡± Kyle accuses. Levine tries to hide a smile but fails. ¡°Okay forget that, it¡¯s got capacity. But we need to get Reeves to proper medical care or he¡¯s done for, along with two others.¡± ¡°You stole a tank? Nick, even from you, that sounds like a tall tale,¡± Claire states distantly, and she¡¯s got her eyes trained on the security feed while Angela prepares. She''s typing in commands and Kyle can see she¡¯s worried. ¡°They¡¯re burning through that secondary bulkhead. Guess they got tired of playing around. The alchemical torch will be through in a few minutes, then they¡¯re at the blast door, here. That creepy psycho with the red hair is there too, pacing around and¨Coh.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Drenar asks while walking over to the bank of consoles. There¡¯s a sound of a sickening slice, a scream, and then manic singing, and it torments Kyle¡¯s ears. Drenar visibly recoils. ¡°Dare I ask what just happened?¡± James asks while checking numbers over Kyle¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Dude if you do this in pounds, you will make people into an amorphous blob. Kilos, please.¡± He hastily corrects it¨CVal is distorting reality just by existing right about now. Drenar looks visibly shaken when he reports back. ¡°Val just noped one of her guys with her giant crimson sword. And¡­oh dear Fates¡­the human body is not meant to split in that direction. And she¡¯s gonna blunt her blade,¡± Drenar mutters. ¡°This animated movie musical villainess is crooning over the deed, too. She¡¯s on my list, yep. Never getting off of it.¡± ¡°Way to make small talk about our adversaries killing each other, Drenar,¡± Kyle snaps. There¡¯s a massive thud in the distance and an explosion. ¡°Claire, did they destroy the south bulkhead?!¡± ¡°Security to the south side, displace and hold them at the dorms!¡± Levine barks while grabbing his rifle and Nick transforms to his hinterland green form. All their available firepower is now being pulled to hold the line, along with the irregulars, and Claire stands by the console. ¡°The bulkhead breached. You know the phrase. ¡®The murders will continue until morale improves¡¯ or something creepy.¡± She grabs an autobow and points to Drenar and the others. ¡°We¡¯ll cover your backs, getting the civilians out is our number one priority, and keep yourselves alive. Piers, Zameren, with me!¡± ¡°Not alone you''re not! Angela, Julia, buy time, but we can¡¯t get killed! Give ground if we have to, there¡¯s one last barricade door we can pull, and that¡¯s it!¡± Drenar is in motion and reaching out for his dragon form, the same as the other two. Suddenly, Kyle feels like his impossible task is now relatively easy, compared to what the others have to do. Rewriting the code is easy, the math is easy. He¡¯s rock solid, he¡¯s a freaking quarter dwarf, built of tougher stuff than trembling hands and delayed nightmares. He¡¯s gonna save his friends. Vol. 2, Ch. 110: The Technomancer It''s not long before Kyle hears the sound of bolts impacting nearby, that sharp crack and metallic ting as they fragment on the stone and brick hallways. The radio chatter is encouraging. There are shouts. Screams. Luckily, it''s none of the newcomers. James is watching the battle, relaying key intelligence. "Drenar, four heavies moving up the corridor, they''ve got two mages providing reinforced barriers and they''re carrying a heavy machine gun, they''re at the intersection in ten seconds. Don''t let them get it set up!" There''s a roar, and several undoubtedly meaty thumps, and the high-pitched crack of rifle rounds. He can also hear the sizzle of fire bolts, and the crackle of plasma, like lightning booming indoors. And intermittently, the sharper crack of a high-powered rifle that came from Levine, who had been using a marksman variant SCAR-H with mana-coated rounds. Kyle supplied him with every round of high-velocity mana-coated munitions in 7.62 X 51mm he had, and he knew Levine would put it to good use. The veteran agent isn''t just well-rehearsed in intelligence. He has that patience and calculation of a weathered veteran who will extract a deadly price from those who try to hurt others. "Hostiles neutralized." The cold, impartial words from Levine doing what he does best speak to the frigid fury he''s wielding to keep people safe. The impact on armor is¡­effective. The impact on organic matter is likely overkill. Kyle traces the runes and is satisfied with the work, it¡¯s cured while he has a second between calculations. "Joey, we''re almost done. Get Reeves on the platform, everyone else mobile should get on last. Tell everyone we''ve got one shot at this, and safety is not guaranteed." This has to work. This is routine. Just finish the BIOS update next. You''ve done this before. Joey gets the attention of her peers. "Everyone, listen up! We are trying to reinforce a one-time teleport pad, but this is grossly beyond load capacity. Anyone who wants to stay behind, know that we''re in the fight of our lives, and our options are to egress by overland, which means we''re going to have to fight our way out. I need to know right now, who''s staying?" He can''t bear to look at those who are staying for a potential last stand. But this is home. He thinks about Joey''s words earlier in the day. How she would fight for her home. She¡¯s fought, and killed, to defend her home. So has he. Seeing that gruesome mess of Curtis in the aftermath¨Cafter he stabbed Joey through the shoulder, only broke him for a moment. He¡¯d never break again like that, not while she¡¯s in danger. Despite her slight obsessive tendencies when it came to cleanliness, process, and dumping him because of an irrational fear about his safety, she¡¯s the best friend he¡¯s ever had, and ever will have. And he¡¯ll have her back, no matter what. Even over a few days, he¡¯s seen her crack that shell of isolation she keeps around herself, just a little. Maybe even more so for Drenar. You never would have stuck it out if you hadn''t met that crazy bunch of misfits, Joey. You never would have had the courage to fight until today. He¡¯s focused on getting this done so that everyone can get out. But he, Drenar, and the others have one last task: get the journals from Volkir, and either burn them, or get them far and away from here. First, they have to put some egg on the Talons¡¯ face. He modifies command line after command line, overriding safety limits, and energy calculations are adjusted on the fly. His Arcanist mathematics and advanced studies in leylines are just enough to give him the confidence he needs to do something no other sane mage would try. He''d tried this exactly once to bring in that ridiculously large furnace into his lab, and Zameren had almost fired him for that stunt. Even if he was mildly impressed when he showed him the math later, he still got slapped with a probation period of a month. That had stopped his crazier ideas from coming out until he built back trust. "Joey, final count?" He relays back to her. "Eighty-two. Estimate seventy kilos apiece, and add a ten percent margin for error for the mana requirement. I can¡¯t fit any more mana primer in this thing, I loaded both cases.¡± "Okay, just enough. This is going to be close." He can still hear the firepower going strong, and he hopes his three dragon biological capacitors aren¡¯t dead or dying on the floor. "James, how are they doing out there?" "Drenar took a hit from a bolt. That armor vest you had kept it from penetrating. Angela is taking a beating but her arcane barriers are keeping the worst of it at bay. Julia is being outright savage." "What about Nick?" "Doing what he does best. Killing monsters." It''s good enough news that they''re buying time. "Drenar, Nick, they''ve got some kind of construct coming up the back hallway, and it''s got heavy weapons that could harpoon a dragon. Fall back, now." "How close are we, tell me we''re close!" Drenar barks back. Kyle hears that crackle from his supercharged plasma jolt, and the whump as he sends another soldier down for the count. "Kyle, we''re going to be down to sticks and rocks soon!" "I need three minutes!" "In three minutes, they''re going to be corpses, Kyle!" James shouts back. "Fall back right now, they''re bringing in the dragons and using overlapped barriers to advance! Val is on the back line and moving up. I guess she''s tired of her underlings failing her, so she''s doing it herself! And is that¡­ah crap, King''s right next to her. And¡­why is he¨C" There''s a gunshot on the tablet, and James swipes back and forth. "Kyle, I lost the feed, King¡¯s brain-doming the golems!" There are a few other gunshot reports, then silence. "Kyle, I''m blind. Drenar, get out of there now!" "We can hold a little longer!" "Drenar, they''re right at the door, don''t die over this, fall back!" James screams into the radio. Kyle''s gentle tapping becomes a clatter of keystrokes, sorting out calculations and overriding the last safety, and enters the encryption key to Nick''s portal. If the field is this big, he is likely about to need a remodel of his barn, but the people transported should be safe. "James, get the laboratory bulkhead door, Joey, get everyone on the platform and hurry!" Kyle instructs. Everyone moves to their roles in perfect cohesion, and Kyle takes a deep breath. He¡¯s barely a mage and he can''t hold an arcane barrier for more than a minute. But he knows his magitech from patient study and bringing his crafting to an art form. He¡¯s not about to fail now. "Zameren, make sure you give them a Gilas potion, to resist any plasma burn from this!" "Already done." Between giving instructions to the security team, Zameren is running triage and administering potions Joey had made in a hurry. They are down to the last few Regen potions. Kyle pulls the tether, he''s done and there''s nothing left to program. The mana reservoir is overfilled and glowing, and he''s hoping it is enough for a stable connection. He taps the control to bring the platform to a steady state, and sees the familiar lights on the metal plates. The new runes all glow from the sintered connections, and people line up, holding close and looking anxious. There''s palpable fear. If he''s wrong, he''s about to kill eighty people in the blink of an eye, people he knows and cares about. Deep breath, Kyle. You''ve got this. The runes fade from yellow to green, and the safety checks have passed. Drenar and the others stumble past the barrier door when he hears the rattle of the metal, and enemy fire still trails them. One round almost takes Julia''s head off and flares her arcane barrier. Nick and Levine slam the door shut once everyone''s in, they''re scorched and bleeding, but alive. "Fates, were you fighting a war out there?" James asks, looking aghast. "Yeah James, we were. And they were not using their A-team until they ran out of cannon fodder, and we ran almost out of ammo." She shows the empty autobow for emphasis. "Let''s just say a lot of them are gonna be on permanent Whiterun guard duty." James looks mortified at this statement. "Savage. You kneecapped all of them?¡± She looks reluctant to respond. ¡°No James, I was trying to spare you from the notion that I¡¯ve killed a few of these murderous bastards tonight. I don¡¯t have a single regret about it.¡± It¡¯s a rather grim moment for them¨Cforced to kill to defend others. He understands fully what that feels like now. ¡°Okay, hit us with whatever is going to make us not fry like¡­well, chicken, I suppose,¡± she grouses. Zemeren is quick to hand out the canisters of alchemical mixtures. Julia takes a sniff and recoils. ¡°Oh this one is gonna suck, isn¡¯t it?¡± "Do you want to suffer agonizing burns and cook your insides in this insane attempt?" Zameren says in an edged tone. No one puts up resistance, except for the three of them clinking the potion bottles together and downing them at once. All of them grimace and make their displeasure known. "Oh what were you expecting, pumpkin juice?!" he responds with annoyance. "I''d take a bunch of missing bones over drinking that again," Angela gags, but keeps it down. Everyone gives Drenar and Julia room to transform into their dragon bodies, and Kyle points to the masking tape marks. "Okay, you three are going to act as the conductors for this oversized platform. This is going to hurt like hell, but it shouldn''t cause any lasting damage. Take a stance, arms, and legs wide, lock your wings, and keep your tails rigid. Do not move." He takes a breath, and his heart is beating like he''s on the worst adrenaline high of his life. "We only have one shot at this. Zameren, get the hatchway to the vault unlocked, we''re scuttling the lab on a timer. Drenar''s team will infiltrate the vault to extract a highly valuable research tome that''s critical to the Talons, the remaining team has to hold up and defend the power plant, and we must hold it." "But¨Cthis is our home, Kyle!" a young brunette calls out. She''s bandaged on her arm and neck, and is terrified. "We can''t just give it up to these monsters!" "We''re not giving it up. Not today. Not ever." Joey stands firmly at her bench, reloading her alchemical hopper with every dangerous compound left in the lab. She forcibly places James on the teleportal platform, against his wishes, and he winces. "James, don''t take this as an offense. You have a job as critical as the rest of us, call for help. "Hear that, Drenar? The power of inspiration has become an epidemic!" Julia says proudly without breaking her stance. ¡°Joey, you guys should get out too, you and Kyle¨C¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°No. I¡¯m not going. I¡¯m staying to see this through.¡± She says it quietly enough that Kyle barely hears it. But he can feel that ember of determination flare up from her. He¡¯s done his reading. Not only are her psionics above par for what the average kitsune possesses, but hers are becoming something entirely different. His research on the matter, after experiencing that faint trace of a connection, told him one startling conclusion: She¡¯s an empath. An entirely different class of psionics. To be feared as great harbingers of doom, or heralds of hope for the world. He has to be wrong, right? Could it just be a coincidence? He flings the thoughts to the wayside. They have bigger things to worry about now. ¡°You gonna make me do this, Drenar?¡± James asks quietly when he meets him on the platform. Drenar nods quietly, and Kyle can see the regret on his face. ¡°James, Evan and Jackie are still at Nick¡¯s place, I need you there with them so they don¡¯t rush in after they get the word.¡± Drenar forces his phone into his hand. ¡°Call Kiera, as soon as you¡¯re clear of whatever is jamming everything except the arcanlinks. Tell her to send everything.¡± ¡°Drenar, do you realize who¨C¡± ¡°She is the champion.¡± Julia¡¯s quiet words get Levine¡¯s attention, and she turns to face him, and he¡¯s biting his lip tightly. Everyone looks at her in slight shock, including him. The champion of the Valkyries? This just hit peak crazy. ¡°But you know that, didn¡¯t you Levine? Just like all the other adults forced to lie to protect her mission, right? Even the Valkyries are paralyzed by inaction. Maybe King was right for once.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what he told you¨C¡± ¡°No, Levine, this wound is too raw to deal with right now. We¡¯re beat to hell, and we can¡¯t win this on our own, not without a miracle.¡± Even Julia¨Cthis zany, energetic woman who took out a chunk of the Talons, along with Lavernius and Joey¨Cis finally being worn down. ¡°Drenar, Angela, Julia¡­everyone¡­don¡¯t let this be a goodbye.¡± Stoic, calm-minded James, the little he knows of him, is shaking when Drenar gives him a brotherly hug. ¡°James, we will get through this. It¡¯s like I''ve always said. ''There''s no such thing as goodbyes, it''s just until we meet again¡¯.¡± Kyle doesn''t know why, but there''s something there in his words that made him realize that, stripping away all that bravery, was a kid who had been deeply hurt by something. What''s even stranger is that Joey glances at him, and looks like she wants to say something, but then thinks better of it. "Hey, living electrodes? Please don''t chatter when I light this thing up. Everyone who isn''t going, clear out right now." Joey gravitates to stand right next to Drenar. It''s a subtle move that Kyle picks up on. "Hey, we''ve got this, Joey. This will work," he says reassuringly before putting a claw gently on her shoulder. More surprisingly, she puts her hand over his and squeezes gently while still trying to look stoic. Kyle forgets the dire crisis unfolding around him because he¡¯s never seen her hold hands with anyone. Not Avani, her best friend. Not any number of jerks back at the academy who were trying to get into her pants and were painfully reminded that she wasn¡¯t one to be taken advantage of. Not even him. She¡¯d always been very protective of her personal space, and to see this in contrast to everything before this¨Csomething had changed for her. Why him, Joey? He''s crazier than even you. I already see the path you''re going down, and I don''t want you to get hurt. Kyle realizes with a heavy heart that this might be the one time where he shouldn''t intervene. Drenar might have a pile of baggage the size of Mount Everest and had some severe emotional trauma from something he couldn¡¯t put his finger on yet, but he¡¯s put his life on the line repeatedly to protect his friends, and the staff of Asqualia. At least he¡¯s got his heart in the right place. That¡¯s gotta count for something. The exchange only lasts a few seconds, and then it''s back to the peril as she grabs her alchemical hopper and stands away from the platform. "Kyle, they''re at the barrier door, they''ve got arcane torches," Zameren relays. The irregulars hold their fire lane on the door. "Maintenance hatch, back side of the room, it takes you down the hall, and puts you about fifty meters from the power reactor," Kyle instructs. It''s game time now, and he grabs his autobow and every other bit of equipment he needs down in the vault. "On three, I''m activating the charging sequence, everyone keeps their arms and legs inside the circle! And send me a text if this works! You know, so I can confirm my status as a goddamn wizard or a serial killer." "They jammed the phones, Kyle," someone mutters in nervous laughter. He places his one remaining observer golem on James¡¯ shoulder, who nods. At least this signal couldn''t be blocked, and he steps back, and mentally prepares himself for the best. "Three¡­two¡­" the pad lights up, awaiting the final trigger, and he can hear the sizzle of arcane torches starting to cut through the door. "One!" The electric charge builds and the mana primer is activated in a glow of blue fluid rushing through the conduits. Energy pulses across the platform radially outward and flows into the silvered runes, culminating at the three dragons holding a stance. He can see Angela, Drenar, and Julia shift uncomfortably, and the energy dances off their scales, and completes the loop. The charge builds in light, and people cling together anxiously. He can smell the molten metal and feel the heat of the torches cutting through, and he can feel the malice sinking into the air. The Talons were here, along with their leader. The charge intensifies, and Drenar grunts from the pain, as does Angela. The displays are all green. It''s working. But will it work fast enough? "Zameren, get the elevator to the vault working right now. They''re cutting through the door! We''ve got maybe two minutes." The charge is building to a peak, the panels turn bright white in the center, as do the silvered runes. He sees the handshake signal from Nick''s portal, and he crosses his fingers. It''s out of his hands now. "Peak charge in five seconds. See you on the other side guys!" he announces. The energy crackles and the room turns bright white, and he has to shield his eyes. The blast of air nearly knocks him down, and the room goes dark. Drenar, Julia, and Angela all collapse and groan on the floor. He squints because his vision is all messed up, but the runes are burnt, and the platform is empty. "Kyle, the feed? Did they make it?!" Joey shouts from the other side. He pulls out his controller, and activates the visual on the golem, and he taps his fingers nervously as the connection initiates. It''s the most tense five seconds of his life. The static gives way¨Cand he gasps! "They made it!¡± The golem is clinging to James¡¯ shoulder, who is dazed, as are the eighty-plus passengers who are now sitting in the thoroughly damaged barn, and as far as he can tell, everyone is alive and breathing. ¡°Holy crap, Nick is going to have a hell of a cleanup, but they''re alive!" He grabs Nick and gives him a bear hug, and he sees Joey grab onto Drenar for dear life, and he gives a weak thumbs up, still possibly in indescribable pain from their daring stunt. But, seeing the relief on everyone''s face is immense. "Yes! I am a goddamn wizard, bitches! Suck on that, you Talon scum!" he roars defiantly at the door currently being burnt through. "I am definitely getting my samples from you guys, that was incredible! It was insane!" Kyle has never seen Joey this elated, and this moment is desperately needed, given how badly the day has gone. "I smell roast chicken. And I''m pretty sure it''s from me," Angela groans and staggers onto her legs, and helps up Julia, who seemed to fare a little better. "That sucked." "Any muscle spasms? Heart palpitations? Blurred vision?" Joey asks and forgets she really doesn''t have the strength to help Drenar up. "None of the above. This is the start of a really unhealthy working relationship, Joey. Please be gentle with us, I have a hard limit of one medical experiment a day." He finally shifts back to human form and grabs his equipment, as does everyone else. "Don''t worry, I won''t cause lasting harm. Levine, is the detonator rune primed?" "We''ll give them a warm welcome, lass. Ladies and lads, celebration later! We need to move, now!" Levine wastes no time finishing a rune on the floor that should cover their retreat, and Zameren is waiting at the elevator. "You''re coming with us?" "No. My job now is to buy you an opening. We¡¯ll give them a running battle. The bulk of my people are safe, and I''m tackling the most dangerous job so that the rest have a prayer of survival. Piers, get into the maintenance hatch, go right now! We¡¯ll storm the power plant and buy us time, looks like they only left a skeleton crew." The volunteer nods, and everyone rushes to their positions. Kyle takes one last look at the door, and the bulkhead is almost cut through. You bastards can chase us down, but people survived here tonight, and that''s all that matters. He smiles grimly as everyone gathers and the lift slowly lowers into the vault entryway, and he primes his autobow. He regards Drenar who looks exhausted, and Julia is practically leaning on him and utterly spent. Joey has her arm around Angela and is trying to get her to take a potion to restore some endurance. "Kyle, let''s say it now, that was totally crazy, and we should never do that again if we can avoid it," Drenar says after a moment. Distantly, there''s the sound of wrenching metal and the sound of a detonation. The rush of air and dust pelts all of them, and Drenar looks nonplussed. "Think we¡¯re lucky enough that Val just took several pounds of alchemical explosives to the face?¡± ¡°We tapped out of luck when we transported eighty people on a platform meant for ten, tops,¡± Kyle replies. ¡°Let¡¯s check out the post-game carnage report,¡± he adds in a dark beat of humor. The observer golem feed that had been positioned outside the corridor is still intact, by some miracle. He shows the feed to everyone. ¡°Wow. That was savage.¡± The words don''t quite convey the carnage of Levine and Joey¡¯s last trap, because there are pieces of debris strewn all over the place. The fate of the interlopers closest to the barrier is far worse. They''re all badly hurt, and a few look like they''re not getting up. Except for that stoic bastard King, who leers at the golem, like he knows it''s been watching them the whole time. He brushes the dust off of his armor, more concerned with appearance than the shrapnel that narrowly missed him. "Oh, this guy is just built differently." He clicks the transmit button, so King can see the faces of everyone sharing a grim determination. "Hey, King. Did you like our housewarming party? Stick around, because we''ve got all night," Kyle utters with as much smugness as he can muster. "I presume the civilians are removed from the equation? That was an impressive teleportation field, by the way." Kyle pans the camera to Drenar. He''s wearing a hardened smile on his face, even while he''s still on the mend from a massive current of elemental plasma running roughshod over him. "Yeah. It''s just us now, so we don''t have to hold back anymore, King. Tell Val she''s got my undivided attention for slaughtering defenseless people, and if you don''t want to share in her fate, you better quit while you can." Drenar really has that soul-piercing glare down to an art form, and he''s known Joey for a hot five minutes. King gives them a grim smile and a nod of respect. ¡°Well, now. It appears that you young ones will provide a respectable challenge.¡± He aims his handgun at the golem, and the feed goes blank, just like the rest. All of Kyle¡¯s functional golems are now dust or scrap metal. But the look of annoyance on King¡¯s face was utterly priceless, and he grins wildly. ¡°I think we pissed him off, guys. That makes you all alright in my books.¡± "Dude, that was awesome. I thought the one-liners were reserved for the troublemaker twins," Angela says with warmth. Julia offers a firm handshake. ¡°Welcome to the Luminaires, Kyle. We¡¯re uh, borrowing the name until someone tries to stop us,¡± she adds with a smirk. ¡°The pay¡¯s nonexistent, the perils are numerous, and don¡¯t even ask about the benefits.¡± ¡°Sounds like my last internship,¡± he replies with a beat of humor. The elevator ride down into the vault will be short-lived, and when they get to the bottom¡­ ¡­That will be the start of the real challenge. Vol. 2, Ch. 111: A Serious Lack Of Loot Drops... Joey keeps hoping this day can¡¯t get any weirder or wilder, and she¡¯s been proven wrong time and time again. She¡¯s also restocked with every deadly chemical, magical booster, and utility equipment she could grab from the lab before it went out in a blaze of glory, and she hopes those bastards got cooked from the blast. After all, she knows her detonators quite well by now. I really don¡¯t want to think of the body count now, because I¡¯m a many-times-over serial killer by this point. Wait. Does it count if they¡¯re all trying their hardest to kill you? Yeah, you know what, Julia¡¯s right, as long as you aren¡¯t shooting first, it¡¯s fair game. Until it isn¡¯t. Great. The nightmare continues. ¡°Joey?¡± Drenar says softly, and subtly peers down. She''s gripping his hand very tightly, and she lets out a slight huff. ¡°I¡¯m good. We just need to be ready for anything. Let¡¯s go get our dragon wizard on the line.¡± The mesh doors of the lift iris open, and they¡¯re deep underground now in the bowels of Asqualia¨Cgray bricks, glowing green mold, and those obnoxious wisp lights that now come in ten different colors. These ones are an ominous poison green, and light up the atrium as appropriate. It makes for a grim mood, to put it mildly. She needs to focus on the task at hand. Even with Volkir¡¯s guidance, his insistence that the place was a little¡­unmanaged is not really something she wants to dwell on for too long. There could be any number of magical traps, monsters, or other nasty surprises even from the environment. ¡°Great, a dungeon crawl. I can cross this one off my bucket list,¡± Julia says with resignation. ¡°Give me mooks any day, but fighting through stone and steel corridors against things that are the stuff of nightmare fuel? No thanks.¡± ¡°Yeah, you probably don¡¯t want to be punching most of these monsters. Stick to autobows. Or the stick,¡± Joey adds as an afterthought to her compact staff. She grabs a few canisters off her belt and hands them to Drenar, Julia and Angela, who have taken the worst of the abuse tonight, by far. Angela gags at the flavor. ¡°Cinnamon?!¡± she says before forcing it down, with a reflexive cough. ¡°This is just noxious levels of cinnamon¨Coh Fates Julia, are you chugging that?!¡± Julia nods with a grin as she gulps it down, and makes an exaggerated sound like it was refreshing to her. ¡°Cinnamon flavored energy booster, from my favorite flavored alchemist!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that potent!¡± Joey protests angrily. Has she dabbed it on a little too strongly? Probably. She¡¯d hate for people to get a scent of kitsune, and if she goes more than a day or two without a shower she smells a little like¡­something her mother described as earthly. Like roots, with a bit of a scent that was unique and sharp. Kitsune biology is weird, and she is one. Four thousand years of subtle changes though, have at least taken the edge off the manic psionic powers. ¡°It¡¯s¡­pretty strong, but I get that you work with chemicals,¡± Drenar says uneasily. She has to keep reminding herself that despite his tactical acumen, he¡¯s still a teen. And almost charmingly awkward with his words at times. She peers at the stone doorway while Volkir flashes up on Drenar¡¯s armband. He regards him with warmth. ¡°You know kid, you¡¯re lucky you made it this far. I had ten to one odds¨C¡± ¡°Listen Volkir, I¡¯m pissed off at a lot of people right now, and you don¡¯t want to be on that list of people I owe a chewing out to,¡± Drenar states with remarkable restraint, even as he eases the door open, and an autobow is drawn. He keeps drifting his hand back to Luminari as if it¡¯s the more reassuring weapon to him. ¡°We need the fastest way down, right now, because Val is coming. We got everyone out, which means we don¡¯t need to hold back anymore.¡± ¡°Fates, you¡¯ve been holding back?¡± Angela, looks at him as if he¡¯d uttered something absurd. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I don¡¯t want to see you ever running full tilt in combat.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t. And neither do I. Volkir, is this as straightforward as navigating this maze?¡± Drenar taps the armband, and Volkir¡¯s head dips to the side, and he puts a claw to his snout. ¡°Yes. But uh¡­do mind the waste disposal area. You have to go through there, and the maintenance golems have been um¡­unresponsive of late. I got a bit behind on keeping them in tiptop shape. A couple of command code runes needed replacement.¡± ¡°What¡¯s in waste disposal?¡± They continue down the gray stone corridor, and come across several rusted metal doors¨Call locked, though one swings open and they¡¯re greeted by the vacant stare of a skeleton. One arm and one leg are missing, and it¡¯s left with an open scream in death. ¡°Hey Volkir, here¡¯s a tip. Do some spring cleaning sometime? This poor Dave here looks like he¡¯s uh¡­been here a while.¡± ¡°Stealing supplies,¡± Volkir growls. ¡°There was a plague going on. I made an example of him, because his actions killed many others through greed.¡± ¡°Great, capital punishment. Because that works so well.¡± Nick is on point and getting his own barbs in, while stepping gently over a tripwire that everyone deftly avoids. ¡°Volkir, explain this to me. Why have you been hiding for seven centuries?¡± ¡°Researching. Everything that has tied into the Kilnstar¡¯noth, started before the device was ever activated by us. I think there are stranger things than just fixing a few million dragons, having a collective case of absolute stupidity, and trying to jet off the planet.¡± He shakes his head in annoyance. ¡°Honestly, I could have told them it was going to go badly, and they didn¡¯t listen. Stupid Conclave probably wanted it to happen.¡± ¡°Damn it, have you been listening to King?¡± Joey hisses. Volkir tilts his head quizzically. ¡°Who is King, exactly?¡± ¡°A megalomaniac who likes making deals and screwing with people¡¯s lives. So you know, about par with what we¡¯ve expected from this giant fiasco,¡± Drenar states with a roll of his eyes, and keeps pressing forward. He stops, and cuts a tripwire at waist height¨Cthe tension releases and it snaps so fast the air lets out a crack. She¡¯s glad that didn¡¯t trip, because it would have cut a line right through him. ¡°Volkir, I have questions.¡± ¡°Ask them, young¨Cer, young alchemist,¡± he states. She swears he was about to say ¡®kitsune¡¯ in front of every single one of them, and Nick looked frozen in fear for a second. She¡¯s got a good enough read on Nick to know that if anything can startle him, for even a split second, is a surprise that he doesn¡¯t want to be telegraphed. Great Nick, do you know too? Out of this entire crew of misfits, I¡¯d figure you might be the one to know, and never say a damn word. She sincerely hopes she¡¯s not projecting these thoughts to others, because there had been more than a strange reaction from Julia and Angela from the past few hours. A tether of something connecting her to them, just like Drenar, though with him it was almost instant. She can¡¯t focus on it at the moment and presses on the more interesting question when they work past a steel clad door. The hinges creak in the dank air, and a wisp light flickers at the motion. ¡°Volkir, this device. It¡¯s dangerous. They¡¯re running it, and they reinvigorated a dead biozone. What else can this device do that you know of?¡± She holds Drenar back from another tripwire, and he gently cuts this one so the tension doesn¡¯t snap at someone. ¡°Also I¡¯m gonna be pissed if any of these traps kill us.¡± ¡°Oh those are just trip wires, nothing harmful.¡± ¡°Razor wires?¡± she asks menacingly. He whistles as if absolved of his short-sightedness. ¡°You dragons are all crazy, every last one of you.¡± ¡°I feel slightly offended by that, but I¡¯m only half,¡± Julia says with a breeze of words and takes point, and points to a sign on a door down the row marked with hazard symbols, and toxin warnings. ¡°This looks like a bad door, we should not go this way.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the only way that doesn¡¯t take hours,¡± Volkir snaps with a testy bristling of his copper and green feathers. He is quite a remarkable specimen¨Cdarn it, they¡¯re people, not science experiments, she keeps reminding herself! Experiments come later, when they¡¯re not in immediate danger, and they clean out this mess from Asqualia. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Hopefully, the Valkyries get here in time to put boot to backside against the Talons soldiers inevitably crawling behind them, and hopefully falling into the traps they¡¯d left intact behind them. Joey peers at the sign, and converts from draconic to English. ¡°Oh, this is a bad door, Volkir. Hydrothane pentazine? This stuff is bad news.¡± ¡°You try waste disposal with anything less potent!¡± he huffs. Julia scoffs at this, and a glint of amusement is in her eyes. ¡°Sure, upsell it, Volkir. We¡¯ve handled worse tonight. Actually, it¡¯s better if we don¡¯t talk about that stuff till later, because I¡¯ll probably need a therapist. And more guns. For the mooks. And not my personal collection.¡± ¡°Justifying guns pretty hard there, Tsundere,¡± Nick chuckles. ¡°Hey, your collection is absolutely divine, but I need one to respond to threats of all kinds! And something close-range. My fists don¡¯t do nearly enough damage. Dragons don¡¯t get monk class levels,¡± she mutters before easing the door, and freezes at what she sees, then slowly closes the door with a click. She looks nervously at Joey. ¡°How uh, how deadly is that chemical you mentioned?¡± ¡°Deadly,¡± Joey states gravely. ¡°Why?¡± Julia doesn¡¯t bother with the why part and opens the door again, and Joey peers inside, and groans. ¡°Oh, this is just fantastic.¡± She¡¯s staring at a catwalk and several maintenance platforms where waste is disposed of¨Cin a giant cavern, and at the bottom of which is a toxic blue liquid that seems to gleam with its own light. There are a few larger adjoining platforms where rusted constructs take various components, trash, and sort them on a conveyor belt, and the refuse goes down into the lake and¡­dissolves. In rapid order. Joey peers at the group behind her and ties her hair back. ¡°You touch this stuff, it¡¯ll burn a hole clean through you without protective gear. So don¡¯t fall in? Pool''s closed, folks, swim season is never.¡± ¡°Savage. You do sound like the Wendy¡¯s girl!¡± Drenar says with amusement. Does this kid not get horrified by anything? A lake of acid that could make him a liquid puddle in about three seconds definitely should, out of all things! She points down for emphasis and drops a bolt from her crossbow into it. Not only does it catch fire when it contacts, the silvery sheen of what is left of the metal is floating on top, before dissipating into the toxic material. ¡°Yeah, even your scales won¡¯t shrug this off. Luckily it¡¯s the pentane version. The hexene version is volatile and emits fumes unless kept under pressure.¡± She starts crossing the catwalk, which seems to wobble under her footing. She really should have not expected anything less than an utter death trap down here, given Volkir¡¯s inclinations as of the present. She just hopes she lives long enough to chew him out for his utter disregard for safety in any way, shape, or function. Even Kyle is quietly counting MOSHA violations. Those are like OSHA violations. But about ten times deadlier. Angela¡¯s right, most mages are insane to be handling these kinds of hazards and with such casual regard. Drenar is right beside her, steadying the platform with quick bursts of his kinetic field. Maybe to balance out the platform so it doesn¡¯t sway? It does seem she has firmer footing, even as a kitsune. ¡°We need to keep moving. Volkir, where does this connect?¡± ¡°Storage area with an access stairwell, and a lift. It¡¯s not on the main path, but it¡¯s still serviceable,¡± he grunts. ¡°I¡¯ve also been keen on checking that area out, but I¡¯ve been busy. Heard some rumbling and little scratchy sounds that kept me up late, some nights.¡± ¡°Scritchy sounds bad,¡± Levine mutters and nearly stumbles into the side guard of the platform before Nick steadies him. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Hey, age before beauty,¡± Nick says with a quick smirk. Levine scowls, but tries to hide a smile when he presses forward. Joey keeps them on point and avoids a damaged section¨Clikely eaten by a splash of acid. Would she catch fire or dissolve in this liquid? Both sound exceedingly painful. And unpleasant. She¡¯d only worked with it once, and the instructor had been giving the chemicals a wide berth in case anything happened. Because, melting a single undergraduate would have been merely a hand slap, and not immediate grounds for expulsion if one of the faculty died doing something really stupid. They make their way to one of the little islands, where the automatons are working without a break. She sees a pile of chicken bones that might have been from the small kitchen earlier in the week, various garbage, and¨Can old America Online CD?! Who still has those, anyway? The bots toss it in without a second thought, burning the physical existence of that era away. When she walks by, the automatons spot her, and their eyes flash. Volkir peers at them closely from the projection on Drenar¡¯s armband, and he adjusts the glasses on his horns. It¡¯s a very human gesture¨Cfor a dragon. ¡°Er, these fellas have been working without a break for years. Looks like I did the maintenance routine runes quite well.¡± ¡°You programmed these?¡± Kyle whispers. ¡°Look Volkir, I know you think you''re hot shit and all, but uh¨Cthere¡¯s a subtle art to avoid an automaton revolution scenario.¡± ¡°Refuse off the conveyor belt,¡± one says in a highly mechanized voice. Joey blinks, and realizes they¡¯re talking about them. The bots clank toward them, and Drenar draws his blade, while she gets her staff ready to knock some automaton heads off. ¡°You think I¡¯d get used to everything going wrong at once,¡± Joey sighs. ¡°Welcome to the last month of my life. And I want a frosty cone after this.¡± Even though that biting wit needs a dose of acid to neutralize, she can¡¯t hide a fox-like grin as they bash away the golems. Their sole existence now is trying to toss them into the sorter¨Cwhich really just breaks large things into very small things, then breaks those things into even smaller things. Drenar¡¯s sword does incredible work against the automatons, and Joey¡¯s staff has a force impact well and above its weight range. Still though, wasting stamina on these threats seems rather a poor use of time. They finish off the last bot, with Julia leaping and kicking the automaton¡¯s head off with her boot, and it goes splashing into the acid, It doesn¡¯t actually melt this time, the automatons seem to have a coating to prevent the instant chemical destruction normally afforded by this compound. Volkir stares at them, and grunts. ¡°You know, I have to replace those.¡± ¡°Great. Add it to my tab,¡± Drenar snipes before he and Joey press forward. They get no further than the connecting platform before the platform lifts upwards, and he hops up to grab it but misses. An alarm is going off, and she has a feeling that this slight against the facility is not being received well. There¡¯s a sliding of metal above them as a hatchway opens up, and Kyle has to stumble backward to avoid being smashed into the metal platform by a new automaton, roughly humanoid, with a boxy head, silver plating from head to foot, and¨C The four-foot-long claymores for arms are going to be a big problem, she grimaces as it whirls the blades in a deadly fashion. ¡°Death by Swiss army knife. Great. We¡¯re getting more and more exotic in our options for courting death,¡± Julia growls. Joey has other choice words to describe it while there¡¯s an audible groan from Volkir, who is putting a claw to his face. ¡°Totally forgot the security protocols. Who could have foreseen fledgling dragons and kits would be smashing my maintenance golems?¡± She¡¯s gonna kill that stuffy old dragon if anyone was paying attention to that last comment. Vol. 2, Ch. 112: Youre Gonna Need A Bigger Bag Of Damage Dice... They scatter as the golem leaps, and Joey flings her acidic alchemical cartridges at the golem while it tries to leap at Drenar first, swinging mightily, but slowly. The golem isn¡¯t doing a very good job of tracking his speed because he¡¯s almost a blur to the human eye. He¡¯s almost as mercurially fast as Angela, if she has to draw a comparison, and¨Cnope, that acid didn¡¯t work. Nor did that one, even though it¡¯s rated to chew through platinum series metals. It must be a different alloy, maybe one weak against caustics? ¡°Drenar, that armor plating is too tough for you, give ground, and don¡¯t get cut in half!¡± she barks out. ¡°We really need to mention to Volkir that there''s another bug with his golems! They are bad at friend-or-foe identification!¡± He¡¯s in motion and side-steps the slice of both blades and catches one on the backswing, chunking the armor plating but otherwise not disrupting its motion. ¡°This is made of tougher material, it''s got high hardness Joey! Any idea what could counter it? Color almost matches steel or some kind of steel blend!¡± ¡°Magicite steel! Use caustics!" She encourages Levine and Nick, who pull out their specialized elemental orbs for this. They¡¯d been well prepared for this vaunt, and kept a contingency of the various orbs handy against any situation. Even including a battle against an armor-clad monstrosity. The orbs smash and splash against the armor plating on the back, and begin sizzling and melting away the material from the rapid caustic attack. But there is so much of it, the activation and control wards are unharmed, deep in the core of the golem. Angela tries to make a swing of it, but a blade catches her on her arm, cutting a narrow path across it and she grimaces against the pain before pulling back, wincing at the blow. ¡°It¡¯s not working!¡± Drenar barks, and tries a kinetic blast. The force knocks the automaton away, but does nothing to stop it. ¡°Angela, I have an idea! Bulldoze the sucker off the platform!¡± ¡°If we even can!¡± she counters, and flings a rhythm with him of high and low-pitched kinetic blows, forcing the golem backward. But it quickly adapts against this strategy as a few new panels open up at the legs, and sharp spikes roll down the legging, digging into the platform like little talons. So much for that strategy. She thinks with enough time, caustics could burn a hole in the control rune. At least, she hopes that¡¯s not all the steps needed to pull this off. She does have a couple of ideas against constructs, and Kyle seizes on the idea first. ¡°Julia, focus fire on its back! Keep hitting it with plasma, the resistance of the metal will heat it up and cause it to melt! Charge Joey¡¯s staff, it¡¯s made of mage steel!¡± ¡°Done!¡± She throws a light lasso and Joey holds up the staff to receive the charge. There¡¯s a light tingle in her hands, but Julia is quite precise in channeling to the metal only. The staff surges with power, and Julia dodges gracefully as a pair of arms tries to bisect her. Drenar closes the distance and knocks a chunk of metal away with a sweep of Luminari, and does superficial damage. Angela takes a plasma charge from Julia, power surging across her partially emerged scales. They really do have a pattern of attack by instinct. She wants in on this one! Paneling folds away and opens up on the left arm of the golem. It looks like it¡¯s cycling a crystal into position behind a prismatic lens in a cylindrical apparatus, with rifling in the dark steel material barrel. The rim is scorched with blackened dust on the edge of the opening. There¡¯s a surge of blue light through the crystal¨C¡± ¡°Mana battery! Get out of the way!¡± Kyle screams. Drenar is already closing into range just as the golem blasts him with a searing blue-white beam¨Cexcept he phases out of reality and strikes at a joint on the heavily armored legs from the flank, having narrowly dodged the blast. It does nothing, and it swerves around to try to slice him with the free arm. ¡°Hey, that golem is going to bring the whole platform down, watch where it¡¯s shooting!¡± Volkir shouts from the armband, but they¡¯re already immensely occupied with not being sliced into dragon filets and kitsune kibbles, respectively. Angela manages to vault onto its back, and slams Drenars¡¯ dagger into it, slicing into the metal and shearing viciously. It has a notable effect as it staggers, shouting something about the creator in that garbled mechanical voice. This is why golems are heavily regulated, because when you can¡¯t turn off an automated killing machine, it causes problems like this. She flings another canister of concentrated plasma, arcing into the narrow hole that Angela had landed before she¡¯d had to kick away from another deadly slice, and staggers it for a second. The mana battery cycles another crystal into the firing position, and now it¡¯s¨Coh great, it¡¯s targeting her?! She dashes to the side just as it fires and she rolls to safety. It still singes her hair, and she feels burnt on her back. That was a seriously close call, but she¡¯s still in motion, uses her staff to vault over the back, and slams down with a satisfying crunch. Most people would look at kitsune and think they¡¯re, on average, fairly wiry. The truth of the matter is, that kitsune muscle density is through the roof, and she is exceptionally strong despite her slightly more slender appearance than the average kin. It would be more pronounced in her kitsune form, but that strength carries over somewhat. It¡¯s a muscle density approaching dragon strength, so her hit does damage. The plating crunches, and she tries to leverage it away by getting under the metal and prying upwards. She has to abandon her effort with a swerve to avoid a deadly blade coming too close for comfort. She tumbles to the ground, shouting in pain at the impact. ¡°Keep hitting it in the back!¡± Drenar draws its fire while Nick and Levine hammer in armor-piercing rounds at the soft spots. This earns the constructs¡¯ ire and it fires the cannon again, missing Nick but causing Levine¡¯s arcane barrier to flare, and he staggers to the ground. His clothes on his right flank are scorched, but he¡¯s still in the fight. Joey flings another plasma canister and staggers the construct¨Cthese charges are working, they¡¯re just only causing temporary overloads of the internal arcanist circuits that control the logic and operations! ¡°This isn¡¯t working, I think it¡¯s auto-repairing, look!¡± Kyle shouts. It¡¯s almost as if the metal is liquifying on the outer hull and sealing over the existing damage, much to her surprise. ¡°Running doesn''t look like a bad idea!¡± ¡°Go! Kyle, Nick, get Levine across and check his condition!¡± Drenar barks out, even as he hops to avoid a downward strike that cleaves into the platform and leaves a massive gouge in the paneling. This platform is shaking, and Joey looks up¨Cone of the support chains has been hit by a mana battery round, and she points it out. ¡°We have to move, that link isn¡¯t going to hold!¡± Julia casts out a plasma tether to try to reinforce the hoop and tries to pinch it shut, but the damage is already done. The construct lurches at her, trying to cut away and she hops, somersaults, and otherwise deftly avoids those deadly blades. She might have a competitor for gymnastics if they get out of this alive! Drenar doesn¡¯t waste the opportunity and thrusts into the golem¡¯s servo motors at the joint, and Luminari flares with light. Boiling yellow fluid bubbles out and splashes out of the damaged line, and the construct kicks at him¨Cthis time he¡¯s not fast enough, and his arcane barrier shatters. He¡¯s sent spinning, coming to a stop next to Joey. He groans and struggles to pick himself up. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Are you hurt?!¡± she shouts out. He shakes his head. ¡°Just my pride, and who puts giant freaking swords onto a golem, anyway?¡± He dares a glare at Volkir¡¯s face on the armband. ¡°Me. It¡¯s me. Just say it¡¯s me and try not to die.¡± This dragon is such a sarcastic jerk-ass, and she¡¯s going to have very unkind words for this supposedly dead dragon sage. Drenar¡¯s hit has finally done lasting damage, and Angela slides in and swipes at the other joint while Nick fires and Kyle helps Levine stagger to his feet and towards the far exit. The construct cycles another mana crystal, and Joey flings a canister of locking foam to try to disrupt its aim. It¡¯s just enough to freeze it in place while the foam cracks like glass, and it heaves with all its might. ¡°Joey, do that again, fling it when we knock it off-balance!¡± Angela insists. Drenarr and Angela both launch kinetic blasts at it, sending it reeling, and the damaged limbs can¡¯t withstand the impact and buckle backward. She flings two more canisters, pinning its arms to the catwalk and it heaves upward, the foam cracking from the sheer force. ¡°Glitzy finishing move!¡± Drenar roars with unrelenting fury and plunges the sword down with all his might into the guts of the machine, severing wiring and arcanist circuits in a blaze of sparks that sting his skin, and Joey takes her last plasma canister. She leaps into position and thrusts it into the opening when Drenar hops off to try and slice the golem¡¯s head plating, but it¡¯s thicker and more resistant there. She doesn¡¯t bother with a ridiculous quip and just thrusts the plasma canister that¡¯s attached to a detonator canister into the parted metal, and is flung away by the arm breaking loose and she gets hit by the blunt side of the cannon. She rolls to the ground, in pain and shouting in pain. Her arm feels like it¡¯s on fire, but she¡¯s sure it isn¡¯t broken. ¡°Drenar, run! Ten-second timer!¡± she screams out. Angela and Julia are already darting to try and get the others moving, and Drenar slices down, shattering the prism lens of the cannon. He sprints over to her, slides, and picks her up to her feet in one swift maneuver, and she fights through the pain and runs. Their foe isn¡¯t giving up that easily, and dashes toward them, closing the distance far too readily after it shatters the restraining foam. She¡¯s gasping for breath as they continue the climb up the catwalk to the upper tier, on their way to the hatchway. The platform is lurching side to side over that deadly blue lake and she bangs a rib into a safety railing, leaving her in reeling pain. ¡°Joey let¡¯s go, I¡¯ve gotcha!¡± he shouts out and gets her moving again. ¡°Take cover!¡± She grabs him and flares her barrier to maximum force, just as that little potent explosive detonates inside the golem, bursting outwards and a jet of flame nearly sears them. The construct lurches erratically, the metal is petalled outwards and it is unable to repair this time. Bubbling fluid is leaking out, and the lights on its sensors for targeting foes are dimming. ¡°Dave, where are you? Daaaaveyyyy,¡± it manages to utter before it slices at a support cable of the platform. The motion sends it listing dangerously to one side and she scrambles to hold onto a cable, and she hooks her arm around Drenar, who almost lost his footing. The golem tumbles over the railing and goes head-first into the pool of deadly acid, the spray barely missing them. The droplets splash against the metal of the railing and sizzle on impact. ¡°Uh, Drenar?¡± she says with a tinge of panic. ¡°We should run. Like now.¡± ¡°Oh, what primeval goddess did I piss off to end up with a day like this?!¡± he screams out in a decidedly unusual comment. He hoists her up to the platform¡¯s more level section, and she is sprinting for dear life and pulls her up with a boost of strength. They¡¯re both pumping limbs and hoping that those cables hold for just a second¨C The metal cable snaps and lets go like a supersonic whip, and the whole platform starts dipping, falling backward like someone lowered a drawbridge straight down into a moat. Drenar scrabbles for a grip, and she grabs hold for dear life on a nook and gets him with one hand, hoisting up with all her kitsune might. ¡°Pull up!¡± she screams out. Muscles burn and her rib still hurts something fierce, and it¡¯s taking every inch of her being to keep climbing on the increasingly vertical section of the platform, and Julia is waving to them from the safety by the doorway. ¡°C¡¯mon, hurry!¡± She¡¯s almost there, she pulls Drenar along, and then the support cables that are remaining snap from the gross overload. Freefall hits her stomach faster than her reflex that she¡¯s going to die. Drenar grabs her with one arm around her waist, and there¡¯s a surge of ethereal bright white light all around her. She blinks, and the next thing she sees is Julia thrusting out a cable of plasma energy, wrapping around her arm and wrenching it, with Drenar dangling on her before reaching the tether. Her arm feels like it¡¯s on fire, and this time she can¡¯t help but let out a seething gasp of pain. ¡°Pull!¡± Drenar screams, even as he helps hoist Joey up that short distance, with Julia being supported by Angela and heaving with all her might, muscles bulging on her arms and sweating bullets as she uses every bit of force she has. It¡¯s not until they¡¯re on level ground that she lets out the pain that she¡¯s been fighting for the last minute, and she grabs her arm, the plasma having lightly scorched her sleeve, and burns are present. But they¡¯re alive. By Gaia, they¡¯re alive. ¡°Julia,¡± she gasps, and points to her hopper kit with a feeble motion of her hand, ¡°burns. Spartifor extract. Green liquid.¡± She pulls Drenar closer, who is also clearly hurting from the endeavor, and his palms look burnt. ¡°Treat him¨C¡± ¡°No. Joey dear gods, I am so sorry!¡± Julia pleads, even as she grabs the canisters that pop out with a thought command. This device is the one application of her psionics she¡¯s proud to have made, and she scrunches up next to Drenar, in pain, and out of breath. She gazes at him and he nods weakly. ¡°You are really strong for your size, you know that?¡± ¡°Hey, what can I say? I¡¯m a gal of many talents.¡± She manages a laugh brought about by pain and exhaustion, and winces when Julia applies the salve to her arm. Meanwhile, she glances at Drenar and sees a faint smile. ¡°Besides, I need you. For uh, samples. And academic curiosity. And totally not for personal reasons.¡± ¡°That sounded¡­you know what, I¡¯m gonna unpack that one later.¡± He lets out a deep-felt laugh, and winces when he rubs his chest. ¡°Damn, that might be another bruised rib, ow. I¡¯m gonna need a punch card for these injuries.¡± ¡°Get nine rounds of triage, and the tenth one is free. On me,¡± Joey replies with a chuckle. She¡¯s in too much pain to mask her feelings¡­just this once. Angela looks like she wants to wilt, Julia has the biggest grin she¡¯s ever seen, and Kyle and Nick are too busy checking on Levine to really notice. This day is getting nothing but strange. After a few minutes of checking for any other injuries and several choice insults thrown at Volkir, who broods at all the shade thrown his way, Julia kicks the hatchway door open. ¡°Hey uh, think there''s any chance that Val and company will be able to follow us?¡± she points her thumb at the destroyed sets of platforms, where the splashing acid had melted a few more sections and left them listing dangerously. ¡°They have dragons. But there¡¯s no way they can fly through, too narrow. I wouldn''t chance it and dissolve my wings,¡± Drenar points out, and takes the lead with his autobow unslung down the corridor of stone tiling and small wisp lights adorning the area. There are several boxes of refuse stacked nearby, likely meant for disincorporation. Maintenance probably won¡¯t get to them for a while, Joey thinks with a foxlike grin. This danger level is almost dangerously addictive. Or is it because of the company she¡¯s with? Joey, you are one weird, wild kitsune, aren¡¯t you?
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 113: Dragons Dont Fear Spiders--Oh Wait, Everyone Does, Part One It was too good to be true to think they were in the home stretch, and Joey took point with Drenar to sniff out anything unusual. Literally, in this case, and beyond her normal scent capacity as a kitsune. Of course, the others don¡¯t know that, and just buy into the ¡®trained alchemist¡¯ bit. It¡¯s only padding it a little bit, to be honest. She gave a withering glare at Volkir¡¯s projection when she removed a chemical trap that would have melted their skin in a particularly gruesome way to die, had they triggered it. ¡°Volkir? Do you get your kicks out of watching us almost die?¡± she says after her patience hits its boiling point. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have found us an easier way through here? No, you just had to send us down a deadly, trap-infested dungeon!¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s the old section! I upgraded to better security which was more sensitive to friend-or-foe identifications.¡± She¡¯s not buying it. ¡°This place is worth zero, Volkir! It¡¯s all mothballed, broken, and you¡¯re suffering from Lair Syndrome!¡± she hisses at him. He adjusts his spectacles on his horns at that accusation. ¡°I do not.¡± ¡°When¡¯s the last time you touched grass?¡± He doesn¡¯t answer, and a frown emerges on his snout. ¡°Point taken, Miss Pyromist.¡± ¡°Does my bedroom count as a lair?¡± Drenar asks casually. She almost chuckles at this. ¡°No, it¡¯s just a thing that some dragons have. They get¡­attached to things. Sometimes a little obsessively, like they can¡¯t let things go of objects, or lairs that they make.¡± ¡°Joey, that¡¯s called hoarding. It¡¯s an actual problem,¡± Julia comments with a bit of wit. ¡°And yet, I have no desire for gold, building giant dungeons, or burning towns and feasting on livestock! So, that¡¯s cool.¡± ¡°Dragons are weird, and I am one,¡± Angela adds wryly. Joey can still sense some hushed whispers between her and Sam, but she can¡¯t quite make it out. At least they can remain upbeat after the carnage upstairs. Some of those visuals still stick with her. Curtis, and Reeves. Reeves still could die from complications due to the severe wound. Him, trying feebly to hold his guts in¨C She shakes her head vigorously. There¡¯s no time to focus on that. He¡¯s still alive. She''s more focused on the smooth worn corridors that seem like a veritable maze of storage, mothballed experiments, and stacks of old papers lining various rooms. Some of it looks like dormitories for kin. Even a set of classrooms on one floor? It almost feels like a liminal space, and she''s seen enough creepy viral videos to know nothing good comes of them. ¡°Okay, there¡¯s a cargo lift back to the top floor that¡¯s sealed off to your right. Might be serviceable, don¡¯t know for sure. You build a lair, and when it gets big enough, you start losing interest in doing renovations after a while,¡± Volkir states from the armband. Drenar works his way past another door that is unlatched. ¡°Hey, before we were rudely interrupted by life and deathly encounters, I had questions,¡± Joey states with remarkable restraint. ¡°Why did the dragons all kill themselves?¡± strangely, Volkir doesn''t hesitate to answer. ¡°Someone convinced them that escaping from a doomed world was preferable? I don''t know, I¡¯m not a very good representative of my species,¡± he grumbles. ¡°I also spent most of the last seven hundred years in stasis, on and off.¡± ¡°Why would anyone do that?¡± Kyle asks with a prolonged eye roll. ¡°Because when you¡¯ve got thousands of years to burn, you get bored waiting for civilization to catch up. Also, we torched our empire, remember?¡± Volkir is giving off this vibe as a know-it-all, and it''s slightly grating. ¡°At any rate, the device was networked to an array of mana crystals tied to the then-nascent teleportal network. The theory was that we could use it to jumpstart an astral gate¨Cuh, like a gate off-planet. The dragons did make colonies on other worlds where the seams of reality folded close enough together.¡± ¡°And then you found outsiders and smashed them,¡± Levine concludes. ¡°So, what went wrong?¡± ¡°I think someone activated the wrong runes on purpose. They shattered the dragon''s bodies to dust. They were trapped in the aether. That''s been my theory." ¡°Uh, is anything else in the aether?¡± Drenar asks anxiously even as he edges down a stairwell, keeping his autobow trained on the sight line. ¡°I''ve uh¡­seen it. I think.¡± ¡°What do you mean you''ve seen it? You can''t go there! It''s a place where reality doesn''t exist!¡± Volkir scolds. ¡°I mean in theory. We''ve had to infer some of this by calculations.¡± ¡°I''ve been there twice now. The second time, Luminari drew me in. The first time, my connection with Alex drew me in,¡± he responds. "If what I saw was the aether, there''s weird stuff going on in there. the dragons are indeed trapped--I saw thousands upon thousands of them. And some kind of...gate. It''s trippy to the max, and I''m not sure all of it was real." ¡°If he''s seen it, I''ve seen it,¡± Joey chimes in calmly. She doesn''t elaborate that she might have seen the avatar of an actual goddess--could Gaia exist? And if she does, why is she speaking through Drenar''s sword? She''s almost certain that the sword is a conduit to something else. Her arcanist knowledge is getting rapidly shredded by this whole ordeal. ¡°Uhm, if that''s the case, I saw it, too. When Drenar does that blink thingy,¡± Angela adds. ¡°It''s obnoxiously white. It''s like a blank canvas, waiting to be brushed with life and logic.¡± ¡°Poetic. But disturbing,¡± Volkir states. The stairs of stone slabs are undisturbed and a fine film of dust is present. ¡°What else did you see there?¡± Angela goes notably silent, and Joey thinks she must have seen something. ¡°Volkir? We saw things that make us question existence.¡± Joey interjects. They have too much on their plate as it is, and Angela radiates a mental nudge of relief. ¡°This device is bridging the gap between our world, and the aether, in some tangible way. A dead biozone came back to life. People are entering the aether, or getting visions of it? This is¡­beyond my pay grade.¡± ¡°Aye, young k¨Cer, um, young alchemist,¡± he stammers, and she glares at him menacingly. Drenar gives her a curious glance, but says nothing else, and if Volkir wants to keep breathing, he shouldn¡¯t. ¡°I would try to meet you halfway, but, little problem. The security locks were enabled when a certain alchemist set off bombs in the facility." She turns to give that upstart dragon a soul-piercing stare. ¡°Listen, you overgrown parrot with scales, let me make one thing clear. I¡¯m grateful you were able to do something to keep the staff alive with some of the security fail safes. But don¡¯t piss me off, because I¡¯m the deadliest alchemist you¡¯ve ever seen.¡± Volkir doesn¡¯t flinch at that comment¨Cwhat does it take to intimidate these dragons, anyway? ¡°Touchy much?¡± Volkir states dryly. She says nothing more in the exchange, after having made her point. She is more concerned with the spiderwebs that are draped all over the place. And more worrying, the size of them. These are significantly larger than what she would have expected from this location, could they possibly be fed by a biomatter converter? A base of fungi, basic proteins, or maybe natural monsters hiding in the vault? The possibilities are there, and she puts a hand up out of caution. ¡°Problem?¡± Drenar asks. ¡°How comfortable are you with killing monsters?¡± ¡°More comfortable than I am killing monsters with human faces,¡± he quips darkly. She glances at him and winces¨Che probably doesn¡¯t need any more reminders of this awful day, and she points to the webs adorning the slab walls. The corridor leads up to an open set of double doors, rusted with age. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asks a moment later when she puts a hand up to halt everyone. ¡°Howler spiders.¡± She points to one crawling slowly on the web, and it¡¯s about an inch in diameter. It could be easily mistaken for a wolf spider that is native to the US, except this one can get a lot bigger, and has deadlier venom. Luckily for them, this one is content with just crawling along, and decides they aren¡¯t worth the trouble. Drenar grimaces. ¡°Why are there always spiders? What happened to the square-cube law about limb cross-section to volume, and how insects would collapse under their weight if they got big enough?¡± She nods respectfully. ¡°Well, you¡¯d normally be right, but uh¡­magic kinda breaks a lot of physics, you know? I mean, being dragons and all, you¡¯d at least entertain it, right?¡± "Joey, even as a dragon, I don''t like spiders. They''ve been around longer than dragons have, and probably will be here long after we''re gone." He shudders as the spider crawls away at at its leisure pace. ¡°Joey, this is a subspecies. The carapace is thicker." Nick takes a hunting dagger and points at the little crawler, but does not otherwise disturb it. ¡°Bigger ones are problematic. They¡¯re fire resistant.¡± ¡°Bolts still work. And my boots,¡± Julia growls. Kyle looks pale, as he should. She has a sinking feeling that whatever is in here, probably is a lot bigger than the stray one wandering around. Levine checks his magazine, and then puts in a full one. Drenar takes this as his cue to the seriousness of the threat. ¡°Yep. There¡¯s my sign. If they¡¯re big enough you need a magic enhanced battle rifle to kill one, there¡¯s going to be problems,¡± Drenar states with resignation. He grabs Luminari, and she hears a crystalline ringing sound. It¡¯s so strange how it seems to resonate so strongly with him. ¡°Volkir, if I have to start clearing out infestations, you break open your dragon hoard to my perusal for every weapon, piece of equipment, and edge we can get." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "Dragons don''t keep hoards of gold!" Volkir states with vitriol. "Where did you hear that one from? That crappy pulp fiction that has invaded every library in the past hundred years that you all read for entertainment?! Or maybe a more recent source, like a thousand different manga or web serials?!" Drenar glances at Joey, and shrugs. "Reality is now stranger than fiction, isn''t it?" she quips with a smirk. "This is still gonna involve killing giant bugs, by my guess. Hardly glamourous." The runes glow with a touch of his fingers to the flat of the blade, and he eases the door open and then peeks his head back, and motions for Joey. She looks in, and growls instinctively. ¡°Yeah. Fun times.¡± The entire storage room¨Ceasily six meters high and a few hundred meters across, is chock full of storage crates, shelves, and various other sealed casks and boxes. She can¡¯t count how many there are. It¡¯s too awkward for a dragon with their bulk to easily navigate the crates. There must be tens of thousands, here. The entire room is strewn with cobwebs, some of them big enough to envelop a single humanoid, and entrap them completely if they were caught up in them. ¡°I would say we should burn them, but¡­¡± "Burning could cause problems." Nick pokes a boot at a crate of fire orbs that are cracked open, and he pockets a few. There are more of them, along with various chemicals. "Fire hazard, guys. No flames." She eyes the nightshade acetate after a second of hesitation and dances around the cobwebs. Even so, she feels the sticky pull of a strand that is now adhered to her hand. ¡°Oh, this is a nice find! Fully sealed, intact nightshade acetate! What a lovely alchemical booster!¡± she beams. ¡°This room is filled with chemical preamble and artifacts of doom. If any of you smoke, I suggest you don¡¯t.¡± The warning signs on the side of the wall indicate that doing such dumb things is likely to end badly, including a one way isekai trip to a land of even worse nightmares. ¡°No one smokes anymore, Joey,¡± Levine says with a chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s just such a bad habit.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯ll be a deadly habit in here, so we can¡¯t light the webs on fire. Just avoid them,¡± she insists and takes point, her staff in hand. At least that would be sufficient to crush through their carapace. She holds it at the ready, while Levine and Nick keep ranged weapons on their front and back. They move through the rows, while Volkir glances around from the armband projection. ¡°Huh. Looks like I need to tidy up here. This wasn¡¯t like this last decade.¡± ¡°You know Volkir, you should try to be less of a hermit. Help solve some world problems, meet people outside or something. Because this place is infested,¡± Julia says with vitriol. ¡°Yep, not feeling the love for spiders,¡± Angela adds while they work through the veritable maze. Some of the crates have toppled and the contents of various vials, sundries, and a few rusted weapons lie strewn about. ¡°Howlers are about a meter across, and their venom is deadly. I have an alchemical counter for it, or something chemically similar enough to it that should be enough for one dose. So, don¡¯t get bitten?" She has two doses, but doesn''t want anyone to underestimate the threat of these things. ¡°Any other tips?¡± Drenar is just to her right, away from her staff hand, and eases his boot over broken chairs. ¡°Don¡¯t use fire. We can¡¯t risk blowing ourselves up in here. A single stab through their head or body carapace should be enough to do them in, they have a hard outer carapace. They also attack in groups." Everyone quickly gives their acknowledgment. ¡°It¡¯s kinda¡­dead quiet, and my dragon danger sense is tingling,¡± Angela whispers. ¡°Where are they hiding? What do they eat down here?¡± ¡°Unruly teenagers,¡± Nick quips. Angela elbows him in the ribs gently, and he chuckles despite the rebuke. ¡°Make sure the damage you do is thorough.¡± Her ears light up with a warning. A skittering sound, just off to their left and right, past the other aisles of shelving that form a labyrinth of discarded equipment. The wisp lights adorning the wood and metal frames do little to alleviate her mood, and she can hear that chittering sound nearby. And there is more than one. ¡°We need to clear this room. Volkir, how close are we?" she asks. ¡°You¡¯re coming up on a service tunnel. It connects to the caverns below Asqualia, I put my little retreat a little ways off to¡­you know, avoid cross traffic. I don¡¯t see any security active in the area¡­wonder if some gilded rats chewed through the arcanist circuits again,¡± he mutters while shaking his head and tapping a claw to his earcrest. ¡°They shouldn¡¯t be this big, either.¡± ¡°How big is¨C¡± Drenar doesn¡¯t finish his sentence because that chittering becomes a screech, and a spider the size of a dog, with green compound eyes, deadly fangs, and eight hairy legs tries to pounce on him from above, and its color mottling almost blends in with the wood and stone floor. It had practically vaulted over the adjacent shelving. He responds in turn by sidestepping and slicing upwards, shearing three legs and part of its abdomen away. It screeches in that completely alien, maddening chatter before he drives the sword through several of its eyes, killing it instantly. The remaining legs curl inward, and it lets out a single nerve-wracking shriek that echoes in the dank, still air. ¡°Dragons. Men with rocket launchers. A nightmare-level bitch who sings as she¡¯s slaughtering. Golems. And now, spiders. Tell James I just got a bingo,¡± Drenar growls as he stabs the thing again for good measure and everyone prepares as that skittering, scratchy sound is more than just a few spiders, and he points the way forward. ¡°Let¡¯s move before they box us in!¡± Everyone springs forth, and the spiders are skittering around, and above them. One more tries to leap down, but she sees the deadly monster sailing through the air. She times her strike and knocks it aside before crushing its softer underbelly, and a dribble of green-blue ichor coats the staff end. Several more try to ambush from above, and they¡¯re met by Julia¡¯s plasma which burns them on contact, and several bolts from Nick. Levine calmly levels his rifle at one that leapt through the air, and a single round goes through its head and keeps going. The gasping shriek of an alien sound echoes through the warehouse before it tumbles across the ground in a sprawled heap of limbs and viscous goo. ¡°Left side, over there!¡± Kyle points out between the rows of boxes a doorway, on the far end that looks like it''s been knocked off its hinges, and he slams an armored fist into a spider that tries to latch into him through a gap in the shelf. The massive blow caves the head in, and there¡¯s a drip of ichor off his hand. She shoves the rest of the twitching carapace away with a swipe of her staff, and she splits the abdomen of one open that tries to get him from the back. It squeals and goes flat on its belly, the legs unable to function. ¡°This is a kill zone! We need to move!¡± Drenar barks out. Julia is busy bringing a whole new meaning to pest control and uses her plasma grapple to make these bugs into mincemeat. Or, more grossly, viscous puddles that are slowly drenching the ground and spattering on her clothing. She clambers over the top of the shelving with a graceful mantle and directs everyone to a toppled shelf. ¡°Up and over, let¡¯s go!¡± she shouts out and helps Levine, who isn¡¯t quite as spry as the rest of the dragons who are now performing superhuman feats of endurance and strength. Joey hops from the top of the shelving to the next, and the whole unit wobbles unsteadily. She wags her hands to keep balance. If she had her tail right now, she¡¯d be using that to balance out, too! Seriously, I am holding back and I¡¯m going to get them killed if this keeps up! But, secrets! Ugh! Brain, let me see logic! She doesn¡¯t wait for logic to keep up as Drenar and Angela blast the spiders away with overlapping kinetic fields to make space. Kyle also manages to get over the shelving even with the heavy armor he¡¯s wearing. He¡¯s deceptively strong, she thinks in retrospect. They manage to find another broken shelving unit, the spilled contents of packing shreds, and broken vials strewn across the slab stone floor. Levine keeps firing to cover the rear, as does Nick, but a spider knocks him down with a swipe of its legs. He is back in action in an instantt and thrusts his dagger straight through the mandibles of one spider, and then a follow-up strike that shears through a few eyes and kills it. Relief can¡¯t come soon enough as they hustle inside, and Joey peers around at the glass and arcane barriers enabled units that are in here¨Cthis is a higher step of security compared to what has been observed earlier and she glances at the mass of spiderwebs all around them. It¡¯s almost a¨Coh no. ¡°Kyle, don¡¯t¨C¡± Kyle slams the door closed, throws a heavy bar across the handles, and leans against it, the door being slammed by the spiders on the other side. ¡°Uh, Joey, what were you going to say?¡± Everyone is panting, covered in viscera, and Drenar looks waywardly around the room, then he looks up when he sees her gaze. ¡°Oh we¡¯re in trouble, aren¡¯t we?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± She grabs a canister out of her hopper, thinking of the deadliest pyrophoric compound she has on her right now. Her danger sense is going off like an alarm bell before her eyes gaze upward and wishes she had more explosives. ¡°Big momma spider?¡± Drenar asks anxiously when they both see the glimmer of compound eyes in the dark, perched on an intricate basket of cobwebs that sprawl over the room. This is not going to be an easy battle. ¡°Yep. We should probably run now.¡±
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 114: Dragons Dont Fear Spiders--Oh Wait, Everyone Does, Part Two Everyone looks up at the five-meter wide spider with legs that end practically in sharp spikes, green-gray carapace, and mandibles that drip with deadly toxins. It leers at them with hostile intent¨Cif such a thing with eyes that can see every direction can. The way the eyes flex in directions that just don¡¯t have any vertebrate equivalent is disturbing. ¡°You might want to start fishing for crits on this one," Drenar utters grimly. ¡°My bad, I¡¯ll call an exterminator next time,¡± the ancient dragon sage mutters from Drenar¡¯s armband. This night is just continuing to go downhill as the giant monstrosity screams at them in rage. Coming into this room was a terrible mistake that they are all regretting. ¡°This one spits digestive enzymes, if you see it rear back, don¡¯t be there,¡± Joey warns them just as Kyle unbolts the door. She¡¯s already in motion and dives under the first swipe of a deadly leg to impale a target, and she slams an alchemical cartridge into the leg¨Can acidic one that should dissolve through the carapace. It shrieks and tries to land several more impaling motions, and it barely misses her. She swerves and runs through a set of legs while the others open fire, and she looks for a way out of here that isn¡¯t going to lead back through the warehouse. The far side door behind the spider is¨C Duck! She hears the screech and knows what is coming just as she throws herself to the ground. A straw-colored liquid sprays from its mouth and starts dissolving a crate that had been just where she was standing a few seconds ago. She responds in turn by flinging another alchemical canister of acid¨Cshe¡¯s running out of those, she should have packed more! In the meantime, Kyle has gotten the door open while combat lights up the room, and he smashes a spider aside with a weapon buttstock and then follows up with a smash to its head, and ichor drips off the weapon. Everyone is now reversing course and leaping over the assembled spiders, who don¡¯t seem phased by the prospect of being murdered by the humans and humanoids that just wiped out dozens of their kin a mere minute ago, and are undeterred by a sunk cost fallacy. These monsters are hungry, and they will not stop until their bellies are full. She has an idea and grabs an empty canister and a fire orb off Nick¡¯s belt while he¡¯s next to her. ¡°Nick, were there any bottles of sparifor by the entry? Did you see any?!¡± ¡°I grabbed one!¡± He hands it to her in an instant. ¡°Perfect!¡± She knows her detonator compounds, and this is one of them in a liquified form of sheer deadliness. ¡°Drenar, Angela, keep it at bay until I can get something cooked up! We¡¯re going monster hunting!¡± ¡°You¡¯re crazier than Nick, and I kinda like it!¡± Julia beams before throwing a grapple that allows her to slam a spider into a railing with immense force. The impact leaves a trail of fluorescent ichor smeared on the metal. It somehow smells even worse than how it looks, and nearly causes her to retch. So much of it is soaking in everywhere, and that smell is just nasty. Volkir can send them the cleaning bill never for this one. She begins mixing the ingredients, and takes a moment to measure them out with precision into one of her graduated cylinders. She does a few calculations, and concludes she has just enough for the job at hand. They need a massive concussive blast that should shred that monster part, and not risk incinerating the room by mistake. Drenar lands on top of its back with a quick jump and starts slicing, but the problem is this specimen is already healing damage done to it, and the carapace wounds seem to be closing. The injuries Drenar is landing are too severe for it to heal quickly, but it tries to throw itself on its back to crush him. He doesn¡¯t fall for it and rolls to safety, wincing as his beaten-up body takes another round of punishment. She¡¯s still too focused in a shady spot that Levine and Nick keep covered, and they are not letting these little monsters set foot into this room. She has¡­oh, she needs a fuse! She grabs some detonator fuse off Nick¡¯s belt, and grabs a small utility dagger from her hopper system, and cuts it to length. It should be approximately a thirty-second fuse, More than enough time to get to safety and put this thing out to pasture. ¡°Joey, are you ready yet?!" Drenar shouts out when it rears its head and spits acid once more, and the corrosive substance dissolves the rust-spotted shelving in one location. The shelving starts buckling under the immense weight of what is stacked above it, and Angela tries to get a field of effect around it. She shunts the debris to the side with a massive kinetic blast, keeping them safe. ¡°Patience, young dragon-wan! Never rush the arsonist¨Calchemist! Never rush the alchemist!¡± she shouts over the sound of combat. Those skittering spiders are not helping with her focus, if she gets the measurements wrong, this bomb will be a dud, or detonate on her right then and there. ¡°Great, this is how I¡¯m going to die! Alex was right, I¡¯m gonna get set on fire by you!¡± he shrills. ¡°He knew it, you¡¯re a total firebug!¡± ¡°Oh is that absurd! I just happen to like to use the greatest means of entropy to deal with my recent problems, since it¡¯s so efficient!¡± It¡¯s like they think she''s running around, torching everything in sight! She¡¯s only torching the immediate threats. ¡°You make bombs, Joey! Too frequently for any sane human!¡± Kyle belts out before he smashes a spider in the face and then puts a bolt through its carapace at point-blank range. ¡°They are not bombs! They are alchemically exothermic reactions wrapped inside a hard outer container intended to fragment and scatter high velocity shrapnel!¡± ¡°That is the definition of a bomb!¡± he screams out. He can¡¯t appreciate the delicate science of exothermic reactions, the transformation of ingredients, and the release of energy in an uncontained format¨C Uh, I¡¯m not an arsonist, am I? More spiders get splatted by Julia nearby, who has plasma whips lashing out and shredding these monstrosities¨Cshe has to stop and stare for a second at that spectacle, because she is utterly brutalizing these seemingly endless monsters, all while Drenar, Kyle, and Angela take turns trying to distract the giant brood spider. Julia roars like a dragon and seems to be utterly embracing the dance of doom she¡¯s caught in, keeping them clear of threats and smashing these crawly nightmares to chunky goo. Finally, Joey is done, and the reagents are active in the larger canister. She shouts out to Drenar to get his attention. ¡°Make a big wound! Angela, use your telekinetics to slow it!¡± ¡°Got it!¡± they both shout in synch. She waits poised with the deadly explosive, and prepares the fuse. Thirty seconds should be enough, if she¡¯s got the fuse length correct. These shelves are a deadly place to be caught in if the brood spider traps them and¨C This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Angela is a bit slow and is knocked aside by one sweeping leg, rolling and dodging away from those piercing blows. Joey dashes forward and flings out her locking foam at the body, to inhibit its movement for even just a few seconds. Angela manages to slice into the bulbous abdomen of this monstrosity, and dodges another lancing blow. It''s now or never! She lights the fuse with a charge of mana, and it starts smoking. It''ll keep burning even if doused in liquid, and she quickly clicks her staff to its compact size and gets it in the holster. She slides between the legs of this chitinous horror and thrusts the canister deep into the wound! Ew, spider viscera, gross, need to run and clean off! And not be blown into little chunky fox bits! She grabs Angela off the floor while Drenar blasts the spider with a kinetic shot that staggers it backward, and he hollers for them to follow him to the doorway. Running from a giant spider with a bomb in its gut is not how she figured this day was going to go. She hears a hissing inhale, grabs Angela, and ducks into the cover of a heavy statue wrapped in dusty brown cloth. The blast of acid starts melting the statue in a sizzle of decomposing soft clay, and Angela grabs her arm¨Ca tiny droplet has burned through her shirt sleeve, and she screams. Joey has the answer in a second and her hopper whirls and gets her the relief she needs. A small canister of gray powder that she opens and throws a handful at the burn, neutralizing the acid, but Angela is still in pain. ¡°Keep running!¡± Joey shouts out before running at full tilt. Of all the targets this thing goes after, it''s her and Angela, and ignores the brave teen trying to jump onto its back and slice away. It buys them a second of space before Drenar gets flung, hitting a shelving wall and groaning as his spell barrier bursts. ¡°Up and over!¡± Angela points out another collapsed section of shelving and they scrabble upwards. The spider swipes laterally and misses them just as they get to the top and sprint along, hopping from gap to gap. The spider decides it''s done playing around and knocks an entire unit down in a sound of shattering glass, twisting metal, and crackling wood. Joey dares a glance at the collapse behind them, panic setting in. There''s a big gap ahead, and she and Angela leap, stumbling on the landing just as the collapse brings down a chunk of the storage row. There''s a hissing exhale and acid splashes on the support structure, and it begins to collapse underneath them. Angela manages to hang on for a split second before tumbling and hitting the floor along with Joey. She looks back in panic, seeing this deadly monstrosity chittering hungrily. Why hasn''t this bomb blown up yet, did she get the fuse length wrong? What a stupid way to die, she thinks as Angela grabs her and tries to hoist her out of the debris. That¡¯s when Julia¨Cpartially into her dragon form despite the close quarters, throws a massive lasso of plasma energy around their foe and heaves with all her might, pulling it back and disrupting its aim. The acid splashes and sizzles dangerously close, and she flings the neutralizer compound before it can cause further damage and drip onto her. The spider turns around, legs trying to swipe at them, and Drenar climbs up on the top of the shelves and leaps down, plunging Luminari deep into the brain of the creature, slicing viciously. Except most of the brain is protected by that viscous goop that forms its blood and acts as a hydraulic fluid for its fast limb motions, and he leaps off before a swipe of one leg can impale him. ¡°Joey, why hasn¡¯t that fuse gone off yet?!¡± Angela screams even as she hoists her out. ¡°It should have by now¨C¡± Somewhere, in another universe, Joey realizes that she¡¯d just miscalculated the fuse length by about fifteen seconds. That isn¡¯t the universe she¡¯s dwelling in, because that moment of panic is followed by a massive detonation that splits the spider in half, and bits of spider rain down in every direction. On the litany of rows of mothballed artifacts, all over Julia, Drenar gets drenched in blue-green goo, and more than a splatter hits her and Angela. The halves of the monstrosity twitch exactly once more before it finally realizes it¡¯s dead, and the remnants of it scrunch inward. Joey stares at the burning, disintegrating mass, down at herself, and then Angela, who is wearing colors of liquid that really aren¡¯t attractive all over her face. Angela still looks like she¡¯s in light shock¨Cfor a second. ¡°Joey I¡¯m gonna be real with you, that was both awesome and nightmare-inducing.¡± Angela wipes a splatter of green off her face, and gags. ¡°Oh, fates. This is so revolting.¡± ¡°Yeah. I feel that. I think I added a little too much nightshade acetate.¡± Julia is busy laughing even though her gold scales are spattered with green and blue ichor, and Nick is grimacing at the mess, as he hasn¡¯t been spared a fresh coat of crimes against fashion, either. Levine fires his rifle one more time at a spider that had been too bold and refused to run like the rest of them. ¡°Joey, leave the explosives to me next time,¡± Nick sighs even as he hoists both her and Angela up. Drenar is in a funk and trying to wipe all the grossness off himself. It¡¯s all over him, and he¡¯s trying not to dry heave. ¡°Drenar, that is quite a lovely color by the way! It suits you!¡± ¡°Well I¡¯ve been blessed with my first monster kill assist, so there¡¯s that, I guess¨Cblech.¡± he spits a bit of ichor that had been on his lip, and he just sighs and wipes his hands on his jeans. He points to Joey. ¡°You are teaching me alchemy.¡± ¡°Oh no. You don¡¯t want me teaching you alchemy.¡± She secretly wants to teach him alchemy. ¡°Oh yes I do,¡± he grins, despite looking like he just escaped from a horror film. ¡°Because it¡¯s the alchemist that just saved our scales¨Cuh, skin, again? Damn, I¡¯m having trouble delineating what I am these days,¡± he mutters as an aside before smiling at her warmly. ¡°Besides, I¡¯m not going to be able to solve all my problems with brute force.¡± ¡°No Drenar, you¡¯re good with stump speeches and beating up giant monsters! Play to your strengths!¡± Julia adds with a toothy grin. She¡¯s not even bothered by the disgusting mess, and shifts back to her human form a few seconds later. ¡°Also, James totally owes you his prized beta Shivan Dragon. Congrats on predicting we¡¯d run into gargantuan monsters!¡± He lets out a contented sigh. ¡°This is not the bingo card I wanted to fill out for the occasion. I still wanted to meet a magical fox girl.¡± You already have, Joey thinks with a heartfelt smile. Angela gives her a quizzical look and then her eyes widen. And then, she sends out a private thought that she and Samarina can hear. Joey, your mic is stuck on with me. If you really want to keep that one quiet from him for a bit, you might want to fix your psionics, fast. Her leering smile turns into the most anxious smile she¡¯s ever had. Also, sorry. I knew Sam was playing coy about something. Please don¡¯t freak out, I can feel you freaking out, and you really don¡¯t need to. Well, that fox is out of the bag now. She does her best to not break out in panic and after a moment of cleaning off, she helps Drenar with a basic cleaner spell¨Ca utility spell that most mages know to be rid of stains and unsightly messes. It gets most of the ichor off, and she tries to focus on the task. Then it hits her. Her thoughts projected outward. That shouldn''t have happened! She glances nervously at Angela, and dares to try something to confirm her dread. Uh...testing? Is the biological radio still working? She dips her head in response. I uh...might owe some explanations on that one... Joey¡­don¡¯t be afraid of what you are. You have stood against monsters and madwomen when so many others would have run. Who you are, matters so much more. She dares a glance over her shoulder, and Angela nods silently with a warm smile. Samarina does have that calming grace, the same as her host. And that¡¯s all the reassurance she needs.
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 115: Run And Gun! The crystals in this cavern are singing again. Joey doesn¡¯t know what that means, only that there are very strange things going on with this place that she has no answers for. There¡¯s a skittering of small creatures in crevices of the natural chasm, and up above them, spanning a hundred meters or more, are massive spires of blue mana crystals¨Ceven a few of the rarer purple ones that are the prize of the mage world for its unrivaled potency in mana. But here, all Joey can appreciate is their natural beauty. ¡°Monster slaying is disgusting work.¡± Drenar tries to wipe off the remaining spider guts from his armor vest, disgusted by the smell and the displeasure of knowing they¡¯d blown up a monstrosity and gotten showered with viscera. She tries not to laugh, and he scowls at her. ¡°This is your fault, you know.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I know, but it¡¯s too priceless to know that Nick has never looked more fashionable,¡± she says with a sly smirk to him, and he¡¯s trying not to look disgusted at the clean-off. They¡¯re climbing a natural path up the cavern pathway, where it meanders around a river below. The span of the cavern is immense, and the lighting is provided by most of the crystals, and a wisp light provided by Levine, looking as professional as ever with a wary glance around every nook and cranny. He¡¯s still cautious enough to leave trip mines behind them¨Cthe last of their ordnance, in case the Talons got clever and found a way past the hazards they¡¯d left behind. That mess of spider guts is going to be a fun find for them, she thinks grimly. And hopefully, enough of those murderous spiders survived to give them a hard time, too. Angela keeps peeking around and is utterly fascinated by the scene. ¡°You¡¯re acting like you¡¯ve never seen this before,¡± Joey says with a wry smile. Angela beams even as she shakes her head. ¡°Never. I wish our parents hadn¡¯t had to hide this. The wonders of our world. It would have been so much better for us if a few secrets were laid bare. You know? And the um¡­the other thing.¡± Angela still strays close to her. Joey, why do you have to hide? Nick¡­gave me some indication that Kitsune had a raw deal that I don¡¯t know the full details of. Soul-touched, they were called once. Powerful. Given a gift of chance, and nearly exterminated due to the whims of power-hungry dragons. She can hear the sorrow in Samarina¡¯s voice. Those dark days stain our history, Angela. Terrible things happened that shouldn¡¯t have. Angela exhales softly¨CJoey can feel her anxiety in the face of these uncomfortable facts. Angela, can hear me now? Joey finally stops holding it in, and just lets those tendrils of connections out. She can still feel a stray connection to Drenar¨Ca faint whisper¨Cand Julia as well. Julia is mostly thinking of guns, optimal ammunition, and ways to tear Valosterla to pieces. Drenar is wary of corners, and that their pursuers should have caught up by now. Angela tips her chin and keeps moving forward, weapon ready. She¡¯s very good at being subtle. I can hear you, Joey. Psychic radio is crazy. But now, it¡¯s two ways. This is new to you, isn¡¯t it? Very much so. Angela, I can¡¯t explain how things are changing for me. It started a few days ago, after Luminari began calling out to me. Could it be tied to Drenar¡¯s sword? No. I think something else is going on. The crystals¡­can you hear the chimes? I do. All around us. It¡¯s the most calming thing I¡¯ve ever heard, Angela responds in silence. This is one of the few moments she feels she can trust someone besides Kyle, and it feels hard-earned. I honestly don¡¯t know anymore Angela, the last week has shattered every notion I had about magic, and then some. I¡¯ve got no business as a small kit getting thrust into this craziness. Joey, you saved our lives, you are unwavering in the face of adversity. We¡¯ve known you for a total of three days. That¡¯s saying a lot about yourself, you know? She nods quietly, eyes peeled for threats in the cavern. Angela really does radiate warmth, in a way. Besides, I need someone with less crazy ideas to balance out Drenar and Julia. Those two can lean into the crazy a bit too comfortably of late. You might be a little disappointed to find out I do have some crazy ideas. And dangerous ones, but she doesn''t send out that particular thought. Also I might have been contacted by a literal goddess tonight, or I''m going insane. That gets Angela''s attention. That would not be the craziest thing I would have anticipated. Joey, when I used that blink thing with Drenar to rescue those people, I think we jumped into the aether. I saw someone there, and-- ¡°Guys, I think I see it.¡± Drenar points ahead and breaks up the private conversation. ¡°Let¡¯s keep to pace, Volkir, I think I see some kind of stone bridge just up ahead, it looks like it leads to some bunker building set into the cavern wall. Is this your summer retreat?¡± Angela gives her a tilt of her head. Guess we better stay focused, then. I feel my sense of danger going off. Joey notices it too, but she can¡¯t pinpoint the source. It¡¯s also possible to be driven to paranoia by it, so she only tunes into it when it starts getting more urgent. No one is quite sure how dragons and kitsune have such a threat detection, even with numerous studies performed on the subject matter. Drenar in the meantime, is still conversing with their dragon sage. Volkir grunts. ¡°It¡¯s been a home for a long time, hatchling. Though I have neglected its tending for a time or two, I admit. Those mana crystals are hundreds of thousands of years old. I resettled the whole facility in this natural cavern area¡­it just¡­took a long time, you know?¡± ¡°So you packed up the whole facility?¡± ¡°I formed a stone seed. It compacted the facility down, and I was able to transport it across the ocean from the original point. Dragons do have some secrets to keep about teleportation and matter transformation, you know,¡± he says proudly. ¡°The process is a little slow though. It took a dozen years to unfurl and uncompress, plus some manual patching. It wasn¡¯t an easy task. Zameren only knew the bare minimum of what was below the surface. He¡¯s a good man, you know. If a bit lacking in common sense at times.¡± ¡°Sounds like him, alright,¡± Levine says with a tsk sound, then stops, and puts a hand up. ¡°I heard something. Sounded like a tremor.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t¨Cwait.¡± Joey wishes she could reach out to her kitsune form right now because her hearing is unmatched when she''s in her true form. But she can hear a low rumbling sound, and a few rocks patter down. It came from above them. But, from what? ¡°Volkir, do you have any eyes on what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°A Valencian red is boring through the ground rock using their burrow ability, they¡¯re parting the earth at scale, making a dig shaft. They seem to have a general fix on where it¡¯s going to end up. Pick up the pace, they¡¯re going to destabilize that mana crystal if they keep shaking it to pieces like that up there! No regard to anything, these black-clad bastards. I¡¯m also preparing our exfiltration plan. There''s a teleportal functional by the end of my little fortress that comes out right by the power plant, on a separate, hard-coded network. I know it¡¯s a bit of a loop, but I couldn¡¯t risk them getting down here first. As it were, its access is restricted as an emergency escape.¡± ¡°Man, you could have just come up that way and just brought the damn journal!¡± Drenar snaps angrily. ¡°And come out in the middle of the Talon''s army? They¡¯ve been staging in that area, from what I¡¯ve seen through the few functional arcanist lenses upstairs. You need to keep moving! I¡¯ll also get some goodies to go, you all look like you¡¯re in rough shape.¡± Joey picks up the pace and they hustle together, working their way past the rough terrain and outcroppings of mana crystal. It¡¯s humming again, and she swears the pitch gets higher the closer she gets to it. Or is that due to Angela, next to her? There¡¯s a¨C ¡°Angela, did you know you have a shard of mana in your heart?¡± Joey asks suddenly. Angela whirls around, looking surprised. ¡°How¡¯d you know that?¡± ¡°I saw it on the golem two nights ago, one of the alternate vision modes allows it to see mana traces. Did you know about it too?¡± ¡°Not until yesterday, no. That¡¯s uh¡­a very weird discovery. Along with what that other crystal did to me.¡± She taps a crystal and it sounds like someone struck a chime at an almost deafening volume. Julia grimaces and pulls Angela away. ¡°Girl, superpowers are cool and all, but hulking out in here might be a bad idea, you know?¡± ¡°Eh, yeah, good point. I don''t want to become a shard of crystal and be a paperweight. Or something else rather ridiculous,¡± she laughs nervously. A cracking above them, and the splitting of earth, get all their attention. A shower of rocks comes tumbling down, and the mana crystals are shaking in place, in the background, there is an awful tremor. Joey clicks open her staff to full length and she knows bad things are about to happen. ¡°What''d they do, bring a whole mining team or something?!¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°If Curtis got them info on the layout, they might have just said to hell with going through that dungeon. Also, we should start running!¡± Drenar calls out as he starts moving at speed. Giant stalactites of rock and mana crack and fall away from the ceiling, and the sound of shattering crystal is deafening. Pieces rain down and bounce off her arcane barrier with relentless impact. Angela puts a barrier up above their heads after grabbing a crystal shard and her skin is slowly glowing blue, patchwork bits of crystal tracing up her arm and she grimaces under the pain while keeping their heads covered. ¡°Keep moving, don¡¯t stop!¡± she screams out, and they book it as fast as they can. A dragon emerges from the newly bored tunnel, and flings a fiery ray at them. It bounces off Angela¡¯s barrier, but she still staggers from the impact. Joey grabs her to keep her moving, and they¡¯re getting closer to the bridge, a few hundred meters through the stone warren, and deadly rainfall of razor-sharp crystals. And gunfire now. Talon''s soldiers are rappelling down while trying to fire autobow bolts and rifles from an immense distance, and a bolt sticks up from the ground where her leg had been a split second ago. They¡¯re in a full-tilt run, with Nick and Levine aiming to snipe at the deplorable bastards. One loses their grip on the lines and plummets down, screaming. ¡°Volkir, they¡¯re already here! Roll out the welcome mat, fast!¡± Drenar barks out while diving out of the way of a chunk of debris the size of a refrigerator. The shrapnel pings off his arcane barrier, flaring it but not stopping him. He fires upwards and pins another bastard with a bolt to the gut, and he just hangs there from the harness, dangling feebly in the cavern. Meanwhile, the dragon is scrabbling to pull itself out of the new opening, and grips onto one of the mana crystals. Joey has an idea about that and grabs Kyle¡¯s autobow off his back, and loads his one last explosive bolt. She coats it with an alchemical booster and hopes that it¡¯s enough to do what she hopes it does to the purple crystal. She aims high to account for the drop due to gravity and fires. ¡°Angela, max barrier NOW! Take cover!¡± She swerves behind a rocky outcropping as soon as the bolt is in motion, and everyone follows suit. The bolt bounces off the crystal and hovers in the air for a split second before it detonates in a fiery roar. But this is enough to destabilize the crystal as giant cracks fissure away from the impact site. The dragon gripping it and preparing to launch off with their wings is stumbled by the explosion, but it looks on in horror as that crystal continues to spiderweb crack, and then the entire thing explodes outwards in every direction. A rain of purple shards of incredibly deadly shrapnel radiates in every direction, and the dragon next to it is perforated with the shards, and flaps weakly with badly damaged wings, screaming as it''s unable to defy gravity. A few of the Talons'' soldiers fare even more poorly, and she¡¯s glad they¡¯re far enough away so that she can¡¯t see what that detonation did. ¡°It¡¯s raining freaking razor glass!¡± Julia screams, and a piece skims her arm and she flinches, a trickle of blood visible. ¡°Does all mana do that?!¡± ¡°The purple stuff is a lot less stable! You don¡¯t want to mess with it unless you know what you¡¯re doing, it grows way faster than normal crystals, hence the chemical structure is weaker!¡± Kyle relays, just as a shard pings off the metal armor. ¡°We need to go!¡± Their relief is short-lived as heavy soldiers rappel down, and some of them don¡¯t even bother with ropes. They¡¯re using¨Coh dear, pyromethanine tanks?! They¡¯re either insane or weighing the risks of the equivalent of a jet pack, and thrusters slow their ascent, firing and missing by wide margins. That is until she sees one hefting tubing that looks like¨C ¡°RPG!¡± She screams out just as the man fires, and they dart forward just as the explosive washes behind them, blowing out chunks of rock and debris. Her barrier flares from a ping of shrapnel, and she feels the impact on her back and stumbles. Drenar grabs her and keeps her running, firing bolts with impunity at the mobile foes. ¡°This is getting nuts! We¡¯re getting shot at by rocket launchers!¡± Julia roars as she fires a spray of bolts, one of which hits home on one of the thruster tanks. It ruptures the thinner wall metal, ignites the errant jet of combustible, and sends the man screaming in a spiraling path, where he impacts with little fanfare into a cavern wall. The muted detonation a split second later confirms his grim fate. They¡¯re almost at the bridge, scrabbling across with a rain of heavy fire dogging their heels. Nick and Levine are first at the door, taking what little cover they can by rocky outcroppings by the giant double doors made of gleaming metal, covering the rest of them. ¡°Volkir, open the door right now, we¡¯re coming in hot!¡± Drenar screams into the armband next to her, and she unloads a few more bolts at the soldiers who manage to touch down on the ground, missing but forcing them to take cover. She is a very good shot from her forays into the MBPS, but this whole nonstop battle is leaving her with a dangerous desire to continue reveling in the danger. She glances at Julia¨Cis her influence bleeding into her psyche? Because that¡¯s the oddest thing she¡¯s felt, and it¡¯s only countered by Drenar¡¯s steadfast calm under fire, the same as Angela. If they live through this, her psionics are getting a full suite of tests. Because she¡¯s never heard of anything like this. ¡°Volkir, open up the damn door, or you¡¯re gonna be fighting the nameless killer army yourself!¡± Drenar shouts to his armband. The dragon sage grumbles and there¡¯s a rattle at the door. But before they can cross the bridge, a dragon emerges from the excavated tunnel and dive bombs down¨Ca Nightwing. It lobs down a massive satchel charge in a diving bomb run right in the middle of the bridge, and she sees it click a remote. She pulls Drenar away, but it¡¯s too late. The charge detonates and pulls a big chunk of the bridge downwards, and it causes a chain of collapse. They¡¯re split off from Nick, Levine, Kyle and Angela! ¡°It¡¯s falling down, MOVE!¡± she screams at Julia, who stows her weapon before they scrabble to outrun the collapse. The ground however is unforgiving, and stonework and steel collapse underneath their feet, and she screams. Drenar grabs her and Julia is dangling from a piece that is going to snap off at any second. Drenar is straining to hold on, but he¡¯s been fighting a running battle against fatigue, and when the stone crumbles, he doesn¡¯t have enough strength to get them to safety this time, not into the line of fire of the advancing Talons soldiers The only way is down, and she screams in terror, feeling the rush of air past her. Drenar and Julia try to shapeshift and they grab onto her, nascent wings emerging from their backs, but Drenar has been pushing himself too hard. He¡¯s barely able to, and he does the next best thing he can. He grabs both of them as the water down below comes up to meet them, and she prays that their death will at least be a quick one. Drenar¡¯s barrier flares to life with one last immense burst, pushing everything to the limit, and she puts hers out in tandem, hoping to reinforce it with just that little extra bit. She sees the fear in his eyes¨Cnot for himself, but for her and Julia. The impact is less intense than it should have been for reaching near-terminal velocity. The barrier absorbs the sheer majority of it, but the rush of freezing water around her nearly tears her away from Drenar and Julia. She tries to hold onto him¨Cbut he¡¯s swept away by the current, mouthing something in desperation under the water. She holds her breath and Julia lets go of her to dive after Drenar. Her lungs are burning, she has to get to the surface, it¡¯s just a few meters away! Her head breaks the water line and she gasps with all her might, her body aching all over, the icy chill of the water seeping into her bones, and she coughs up a small amount of water. She looks around frantically, seeing where Drenar and Julia went. ¡°Drenar! Julia!¡± she screams out. There¡¯s still gunfire going on far above them with muted echoes through the cavern of silver and tan stone, and she dives under the water, desperate to find them. She swims with all her might, looking to see where they are¨Cthey couldn¡¯t have gotten far! She sees motion and light¨CJulia is lighting plasma across her half-formed scales, and she¡¯s got Drenar, and is pulling him to the surface! His eyes are closed and he¡¯s not¨C She grabs him and heaves upwards with all her might, breaking the surface and sputtering. She points to a small outcropping just out of sight of the collapsed bridge, and they haul Drenar out of the water, panting. ¡°Joey! He¡¯s not breathing!¡± Julia screams out, and she hauls him out and starts doing chest compressions. A trickle of water comes past his hips, but he¡¯s still unresponsive. Joey fumbles for a syringe and an adrenal booster and feels for a pulse. There¡¯s none present, and she feels a trickle of existential dread. ¡°Joey, do something!¡± Julia screams out, still doing chest compressions even though she is on the verge of passing out. She leans down and keeps going, swearing. ¡°Breathe, you stoic bastard! C¡¯mon Drenar, breathe god damn it!¡± Joey can see the desperation in her eyes. He hadn¡¯t been underwater long, and a trickle of water was still coming past his lips. She turns him on his side lightly, moves Julia aside, and takes over, doing compressions as steadily as she can. He has to make it. He has to. There is no way she is letting him die after he had fought and bled to defend her home, and the people in it. ¡°Julia, syringe, 2 CCs of adrenaline, and inject it slowly!¡± Julia is fumbling, but she eventually gets it lined up and slowly gives him the shot. Nothing happens, but it might take a minute to get it circulated. Had he pushed himself too hard? What if this doesn¡¯t work?! She can feel that dread building the longer she¡¯s at it, with no response. ¡°Joey¨C¡± ¡°It has to work!¡± she screams out. ¡°C¡¯mon Drenar, I can¡¯t fight this on my own! We need you here!¡± I need you here¡­ It has been a full minute and a half. If they don¡¯t get him revived in time, there could be possible oxygen starvation in the brain. She feels a trickle of tears blurring her vision even as she remains focused on the job, hoping¨Cpraying¨Cthat Drenar makes it. Because if he doesn¡¯t, she doesn¡¯t know what she¡¯s going to do. That adrenaline shot should have worked! Did he suffer mana burn? All she can focus on is what works, she''s out of time , and anything else she tries would take far too long¨Cthen the idea comes to her. Maridian silver biocurrents. He just needs a small charge! ¡°Julia, zap him.¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°He''s a Maridian silver, bioelectric currents! A trickle charge might be enough to jump-start his heart!¡± If this were any other circumstances, Drenar would have no hope right now, but Julia, at the brink of collapse, summons plasma to her hand, weakly flickering. ¡°Here and here, keep the charge as low as possible!¡± She doesn''t hesitate other than a split second, terror in her eyes as her fingers hover over his chest. But she commits and his body jerks reflexively. Julia collapses from the effort, panting, and Joey checks for his pulse, hoping this is enough and she didn''t cook his insides. To her amazement, there is a weak pulse. Then, she feels it. That mental connection is back. And she hears it¨Csomeone else''s voice. And what she hears is¡­impossible¡­ Mom, I can''t say goodbye yet¡­ There¡¯s no such thing as goodbyes, Drenar¡­it¡¯s just until we meet again. He gasps a desperate breath of life.
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 116: Back From The Brink Drenar feels the jolt that breaks up a tender conversation, and his eyes open. The first thing he sees is Julia and Joey, soaked, shaking, Joey in tears, and¨C Oh right, he drowned, didn''t he, because his lungs spasm and he retches up an extremely unhealthy amount of water right next to them. His lungs burn and he gasps at welcoming air. ¡°Breathe, Drenar, breathe!¡± Julia shouts, even though he is very much trying to do that already. More water gets retched up, and on top of that, it feels like someone zapped him with plasma again, and his whole body hurts something awful. And he feels like he strained his wings, which are halfway out in an attempt to try and cushion the fall. All he does remember after the impact is clinging to consciousness, water going into his lungs, and then¡­his mother''s last words to him. A promise to see him again. A promise she would have seen through, even in death. And the feel of drowning, that sheer panic¨Cthat slow fade to black. He coughs until his lungs are clear, holding his ribs, and Julia is forcibly patting him on the back. This has to be the worst he¡¯s ever felt, and tears of pain are welling up in his eyes. But he has enough strength to slowly turn around and hug Julia, sobbing. The last time he¡¯d been on the verge like this, it had been an almost fatal mistake. This time, he¡¯s eternally happy to see Julia¨Cand Joey now¨Cin one piece. Even though he¡¯s chilled to the bone, she radiates a warmth that he doesn¡¯t have words for, like little sparks across his skin. What¡¯s even stranger is that Joey is forcing back tears, and Julia sees the moment and pulls her in for a group hug. The only sounds he can hear are the shuddering, shaky breaths of Julia and Joey, and the occasional sob. ¡°How close did I¡­¡± he trails off from a coughing fit, like he can¡¯t get all the water out, and it hurts just to breathe. But he is breathing, and shaking like a leaf. All this strength feels like it¡¯s been knocked out of him, and his head hurts as well. The phrase ¡®like death warmed over¡¯ comes to mind, in a moment of respite. I¡¯m here too, Drenar. I felt you fading for a second. Alex chimes in with a somber tone, and he sees Joey nod softly. He¡¯d cut it far too close. ¡°We almost lost you.¡± Julia is the first to break the silence after several seconds, and he looks up at the collapsed bridge. At least his vision isn¡¯t impaired. ¡°We fell, you took the brunt of the impact, we¡¯re lucky our barriers held. That was¡­¡± She lets out a slow breath. ¡°A really big fall.¡± ¡°I think I heard mom again. That¡¯s how close it was.¡± The words hurt to form, and there¡¯s a radiating pain in his ribs that can¡¯t be ignored and he slouches back, groaning. He puts a hand to his ribs, and a searing pain lights up¨Cdefinitely broken something there, that''s just great. ¡°Sorry. The thing they don¡¯t tell you about CPR, is that you can break the sternum.¡± Joey lets go, her lavender eyes awash in relief. She¡¯s already in motion to give him a canister of a vibrant green fluid, and practically forces it down his throat. ¡°That should accelerate the healing and take the edge off the pain. It¡¯s a more targeted regenerative effect, so it allows you to focus on a specific injury.¡± He tried not to gag on the overwhelming wintergreen flavor¨Cwhy are all these potions just like he got an overload of spices, anyway? He wouldn¡¯t mind cinnamon again. It seems to be a favorite spice of¨C Joey narrows her eyes at this, and he winces. ¡°Sorry. Forgot.¡± ¡°Really? No, I should keep listening, and see what else you¡¯re interested in.¡± She says that just as he feels a splitting pain and he drops the empty vial, it feels like someone is stitching something together in his chest, a burning pain right by his sternum. It feels like the worst case of acid reflux on the planet, and he grits his teeth. After a few seconds, the feeling fades. ¡°That should also clear out your lungs.¡± ¡°All business with you, isn¡¯t it?¡± He doesn¡¯t mention the fact that he¡¯s pretty sure she was the one who revived him, because Julia still looks like she¡¯s on the verge of collapse. ¡°Joey, we uh¡­did the others make it?¡± She taps the armband and puts a hand to it, veins glowing slightly red in the dim light, and all the water seems to evaporate off the surface. ¡°Try now. Julia, booster mixture, and spoilers, it¡¯s not an energy drink.¡± ¡°Joey¡­you¡¯re amazing, you know that?¡± she says weakly after Joey hands her another canister from her hopper¨Cit apparently stayed sealed, even during the fall. Drenar glances over his shoulder, his equipment is all here¨Cand Luminari is gleaming brightly, which is odd. He taps the armband to get a connection, and the display lights up. ¡°Nick¡­Levine? Are you guys alive up there?¡± he manages to get out weakly. There¡¯s a palpable sound of relief from more than one person on the line. ¡°Drenar, you are one tough bastard, you know that?¡± Nick says in equal parts disbelief and admiration. ¡°Joey and Julia, are they¨C¡± ¡°We¡¯re here. We¡¯re alive for the moment,¡± Joey says after a second and wrings the water out of her hair. ¡°Are you guys alive?¡± ¡°Scuffed up, but alive. Kyle took a piece of brickwork to the shoulder, and got a fracture by my guess. Luckily, it wasn¡¯t his head,¡± he adds dryly. ¡°I¡¯m just happy you guys are alive, Joey. We¡¯re with Volkir. The Talons are falling back, and quite pissed off. Volkir says there''s a hatchway he just disabled the lock on down there, on the side. You should get moving. before they think to check for survivors.¡± Julia heaves Drenar to his feet, and he admittedly is a little unsteady. Joey is right beside him and points to a hatchway in the stone wall that appears almost like a seam in the material itself. ¡°Volkir, when we¡¯re through in a few seconds, seal it up again,¡± she states, and Volkir dips his feathered head lightly. ¡°We¡¯ll meet you up here in a few minutes. Mind the mess, I haven¡¯t had much time to tidy up for newfound guests.¡± It takes all his effort to get moving, and Julia still feels shaky. ¡°Julia, I¨C¡± ¡°Drenar, I thought I was going to lose you.¡± She grips him tighter. ¡°I couldn¡¯t do that again.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to lose me.¡± They climb through the opening with her arm slung around his back, and Joey quickly closes the hatch and engages the lock behind them. The polished tile floor in a checkerboard pattern beneath his now soaked boots, and the decorum suggests a European castle, in a way, and the room they¡¯ve entered looked like a pantry stocked with canned goods, and a walk-in freezer. He can feel the chill emanating from the massive steel door that¡¯s almost big enough for¨Cwell, a dragon, he figures. He peers inside and sees whole slabs of beef and pork hanging. A large recipe book is stacked in a modern kitchen sized for a dragon just about. He feels like he¡¯s dwarfed in size. ¡°Well, this is¡­surprisingly cozy,¡± Joey comments after a few seconds and looks at the slightly oversized equipment. There are some more human-sized apparatus here. Maybe Volkir shifted between forms out of habit? ¡°I¡¯m moving in, Volkir. Your kitchen is a dream,¡± she adds after a few seconds of silence. She grabs an alchemical canister and puts a charge of mana through her hands, and then there¡¯s a light blast of heat as she holds it close to them. Drenar feels dryer¨Cand also almost like he got steam-blasted. Julia¡¯s hair is a bit of a mess, Joey¡¯s wavy hair is now frazzled, and she grunts. ¡°That one isn¡¯t perfect yet. I had that one in the field when I was with Amaranth. Nothing worse than camping when it¡¯s soaking wet outside.¡± ¡°Great. As soon as we deal with the murder army outside, you can make it a private retreat Josephine,¡± Volkir states smugly. She glares at the armband. ¡°How do you know who we are?¡± ¡°What, you think I¡¯m blind? The second Drenar and Julia found the book upstairs a week and change ago, I had eyes on them. I still have friends topside, and I¡¯m not a complete hermit.¡± They all stare at him, dumbfounded. ¡°What, don¡¯t give me that look. You think you¡¯d have gotten in if I didn¡¯t want you in?¡± He cracks his knuckles so hard it¡¯s audible throughout the room. ¡°You could have cut out this death trap route, you know, Volkir. That would have been nice.¡± ¡°You know, you look pretty feisty for someone who was half-dead a few minutes ago,¡± Volkir comments with a dip of his glasses, and then looks off-screen. ¡°Yes, they¡¯re in one piece, and don¡¯t touch that, DeShandrea. That¡¯s a classic.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°It¡¯s a classic that I¡¯m using to kill myself the biggest diva on the planet, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°I do mind, that''s meant to kill tanks.¡± ¡°Perfect, then it should be good at killing murderous divas, then.¡± Drenar can¡¯t help but smile a little. Nick knows his weapons. He sees a small pad of glowing light and what looks like an elevator shaft, but there''s no door to open and close. That pad of light also has soft glowing notes of silver and blue floating around. Like flittering butterflies, even. ¡°Volkir, I see a¡­thing? Is that a lift?¡± He does not like the idea of that thing being a constantly active teleport, given what happened earlier. ¡°It''s a transport lift. Just call out which floor you''re on. The kitchen and my pantry are on the bottom floor, we¡¯re up here on the laboratory floor, two levels up. Mind your head, though.¡± ¡°Seems simple enough.¡± Julia stops holding onto him for dear life and they all step onto the platform. He feels like he''s stepping on nothing, because there''s no resistance on his boots. Then there''s a light pull as they''re brought upwards, floating in those motes of light, but they seemingly bounce away just when it would seem they would crash into them. The ascent takes quite a while, and they seem to be moving at speed. ¡°Uh, Joey, why were you, uh¡­¡± he stops and coughs again, how is it that he''s partially from a semi-aquatic dragon species, and they still can''t breathe water? He needs to figure out how to do that air bubble thing that looks straight out of Riven, because drowning as an occupational hazard isn''t something he plans on doing twice. ¡°No, what were you going to say?¡± She responds. He could ask her why she was tear-struck in his first waking moment, but then again, it''s been one rough day that is pushing them all to their limits. Maybe it''s better if they get out of here first before unloading that question. She tilts her head, and her expression warms up. ¡°I was going to say, you seemed to be¡­spot on with getting me revived.¡± ¡°I had to resuscitate someone once. Someone I knew almost drowned in a lake.¡± She doesn¡¯t elaborate further on it. "That was a bad day." ¡°Oh.¡± It''s like his sternum still feels like crushed glass, and he rubs at it uneasily. ¡°I uh¡­thank you, for saving my life. I didn''t say it earlier¨C¡± ¡°Drenar, without you, I¡¯d be dead and buried right now. Along with everyone in Asqualia. You¡¯ll never have to thank me, it¡¯s what¡­friends do for each other?¡± She smiled faintly, and Julia clears her throat loudly. ¡°Oh, and your twin soul. Do you guys really call each other that?¡± she asks with a sly smile. ¡°Wait, when did we say that?¡± It¡¯s not ringing a bell to him. ¡°Oh, Angela said something earlier to that extent.¡± He feels more than a hint of an internal chuckle¨Cis he hearing things brought about by a near-death experience, or is she¡­projecting thoughts to him? Does it work both ways, Alex? Maybe. Our psionic on our team was¡­gifted, Drenar. In so many ways. Also, she was the one who tried to repeatedly set me on fire. It''s like she forgot that Maridians are almost immune to regular fire! Except lava. Lava is just a problem for everyone. Joey stares at him and taps his temple. ¡°I can''t help but notice a trend, Alex.¡± His heart skips, and she still is tied to him. Near-death encounters apparently don''t break that. She does, however, brush his hand with hers after she¡¯s done pointing at him. ¡°Anyway, I think we¡¯re at the point now that this¡­may be a thing for us, beyond just tonight. You know?¡± ¡°Yeah. I think we¡¯d all like that, Joey. You and Kyle,¡± he replies warmly. It does feel a little exciting, even in the face of danger, to make new friends. Their ascent is slowing, and there is arguing distantly from two familiar voices¨CLevine and Nick. ¡°Seriously, you should take the Boyes rifle.¡± ¡°Do I want to shatter my shoulder firing the damn thing with a single shot? No. You¡¯re being ridiculous Nick, this won¡¯t kill her. You plan on lugging around this cumbersome weapon?" ¡°Magical enhanced munitions, Levine. There¡¯s a chance.¡± ¡°Tactical nuclear strikes also have a chance, but we don¡¯t have any of those. Those barriers of hers just ate rounds from Matilda.'''' "Matilda needs an upgrade, Nick. That monster has the strongest arcane barriers I''ve ever seen that isn''t a barrier generator tied to a power plant," Kyle interjects. "I can build her better." "Great. You''re hired. Also, are we all naming weapons now?" The lift arrives level with a massive laboratory, and Levine is hefting a Boyes rifle that looks like it has received significant magical upgrades. Drenar stumbles out of the lift after forgetting what ground feels like, and everyone turns to look. Including the three-meter-tall, copper-scaled dragon with dull green feathers and the glasses propped up on his spiraled horns that accent his amber eyes and low profile snout. Angela and Kyle rush forward to hug Julia and Joey respectively, and Drenar feels awkwardly close to too many people in this huddle of feels at the moment. Julia takes the initiative and pulls him in again. She seems to keep doing that. ¡°Holy hell I thought you were goners,¡± Kyle says and is practically in tears. ¡°I knew you¡¯d be alright,¡± Angela also says to Julia, her smile radiating through. ¡°A mere fall wasn¡¯t going to kill you.¡± ¡°Water almost did,¡± Drenar says, and he coughs hard enough it aches. ¡°How¡¯s it looking outside?¡± ¡°Kinda bad. You know, like usual,¡± Angela responds after everyone eventually focuses on the looming task. ¡°Drenar, Volkir Menrayas. Ancient dragon sage, the kid who is almost unkillable.¡± His still-aching lungs protest violently at this assertion. Volkir hands him a small green bottle and he downs it¨Cand the urge to cough significantly decreases. ¡°Miss Pyromist, your alchemical skills are divine, but his lungs still needed work. You could have upped the dosage with more rebin extract.¡± Volkir has a throaty, deeply baritone voice, and he moves with precision, despite his larger size. A few scars are visible on his wings and tail, and a deep-seated scar on his left claw. ¡°I could have. Or I could have put him in adrenal shock after he overexerted and almost mana burned himself for the past few hours,¡± Joey responds with a little bite to her words. ¡°We¡¯re a little short on time, Volkir. We need the journals, and we need to get them far away from here. The Talon''s army is still outside, and Valosterla is likely on her way. She can burn a hole through any obstacle you have.¡± ¡°Yeah, about that, the Talons took some losses. We''ve been been firing off mana batteries at those scumbags to keep them at bay. For now, they¡¯ve fallen back, but it won¡¯t last.¡± Volkir grunts and folds his arms and his flowing robes ripple across his draconic body, and he leans down to peer at Drenar intensely. It¡¯s just a hair intimidating, but then he reminds himself he is a dragon, too. He stands unruffled by this examination. ¡°Alex, you in there? I see you¡¯re stuck with this kid until we can find a means of extracting you out.¡± Drenar stares at this dragon sage, and Joey¡¯s mouth is slightly agape for a split second. ¡°Ah, there we go. Lenses didn¡¯t pick up the outline for a second. So Drenar, ready to hear some crazy things?¡± He sighs as if this is going to get even worse than it already is. ¡°Lay it on me, Volkir. And maybe start with how you divined that there¡¯s a drakensoul with me.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy. I can see it. The glasses are a custom job, dragons don¡¯t always see and know just everything on instinct,¡± he adds with a toothy smile and a ruffling of his olive-colored feathers. ¡°I think we¡¯d better work fast. Let¡¯s get you geared up and a bit more in fighting shape while we¡¯re talking.¡±
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 117: Luminaires Never Say Die! The mood has been tense for most of the last several minutes while everyone gathers around a holographic image of Asqualia, with Volkir prying away what data he has of the facility. Large sections are blanks due to the damage inflicted on sensors and wiring, and there are still a few mages hiding in the dorms, much to Drenar¡¯s grim outlook. The Talons have been sweeping everywhere they can, but they¡¯ve been held off at the power core. It¡¯s the last significant foothold that the security forces hold, and Zameren¡¯s team has taken a beating but they¡¯re all still alive for the moment. The Talons soldiers couldn¡¯t say the same, judging by the strewn bodies, and Drenar grimly notes their casualties are approaching absurd. ¡°Does Val just not get that she¡¯s going to keep losing soldiers?¡± he asks aloud. He¡¯s more disturbed that these men are willing to die for her¨Cthey¡¯re loyalists to a fault, which means they can¡¯t be reasoned with. ¡°I don¡¯t think that murder lizard cares,¡± Volkir responds. He holds out a weathered journal he¡¯d pulled out of a glass and steel cabinet a few minutes ago, claws resting gently on the hide-bound material. It¡¯s unlike anything Drenar has ever seen before, and looks almost like it¡¯s lightly scaled. ¡°Val is an insidious fiend. I knew her back before she became the aspiring heir of the Talons. I thought she was dead for a long time until she showed up with a little snip-snip of cosmetic surgery, and slowly taking over Magitech Industries when I read about it last month.¡± ¡°What do you mean the ¡®heir¡¯ of it? She inherited the mercenary company?¡± Angela asks, fingers tensed on the display. ¡°Self styled goddess, more like it,¡± Volkir snorts. ¡°She¡¯s still staging soldiers for another assault on the front door. I don¡¯t think she realizes that we¡¯ll be out of here in a few minutes.¡± ¡°Remind me. What is our plan here?¡± Kyle asks uneasily. ¡°Best bet I¡¯ve got, reconvene with Zameren¡¯s team, lure them to the plant, set off a major plasma discharge once they¡¯re all boxed inside, and turn it into a turkey shoot. Then hope we can blow through the rest of them.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯ll get us killed. We¡¯re stalling for time.¡± Joey grabs Kyle¡¯s remote for his golem, and has scattered feed from James¨Cthe golem had been damaged in the transit, so they couldn¡¯t talk, but James has been trying to piece it together with the help of one of the other mages, based on the scrabbled feeds. ¡°I think he¡¯s saying that the Valkyries are on the way. And that we¡¯re all toast, when Kiera catches up to us.¡± ¡°Fantastic. Mom thinks she¡¯s going to come out on top on this one?¡± Julia laughs bitterly at that assessment. ¡°Boy, we¡¯re going to have a story to tell her. And probably a record-breaking childhood trauma session later, by the sound of it. So, what do we do? We can¡¯t possibly get past that many soldiers towards the library entrance, they¡¯re firmly entrenched in there, and they keep bringing in reinforcements. Sunk investment cost, indeed.¡± ¡°How are they able to get in?¡± Angela asks. Kyle furrows his brow. ¡°Big teleportals typically have a big null field to prevent any cross-travel, as a matter of safety. With the primary hub obliterated, that safety no longer works. And there was at least one incident where the teleport¡­scrambled the occupants.¡± He doesn¡¯t bother to show the feed from his armband, because his face is scrunched, and he¡¯s gritting his teeth at the presumptive carnage on screen. ¡°Sucks to suck, Talon scum.¡± ¡°Kyle, they may be deplorable people, but that''s pretty horrible¨C¡± Kyle cuts off Joey. ¡°Reeves is dead, Joey. I saw it. They tried. They tried so goddamn hard to save him. SAF paramedics arrived too late.¡± His muted response, in the face of so much other loss, only leaves that stone in the pit of Drenar¡¯s stomach. ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill Val for this if I ever get my hands on that scaly bitch,¡± he says bitterly. ¡°The rest of those black-clad fiends can join her in a mass grave, if they¡¯re so willing to fight us.¡± ¡°Kyle, focus on saving others, first. We have to keep Zameren and the others alive. Volkir, you know the facility best. Is the plant the best option to land a crippling blow on their operational force? Hole up and buy time for the Valkyries?¡± ¡°It¡¯s risky. You¡¯re going to bet everything on this one, aren¡¯t you Drenar? Then again, I¡¯m not surprised. You¡¯re just like Lyssa and Alex, in a way." The way his scales crease on his face suggests great sorrow, coming from him. ¡°Volkir, I don¡¯t have half a clue of the full story. Neither does Alex, because his memory is still full of holes. What¡¯s your deal, why are you willing to throw your hand into this battle?¡± He gets the feeling that this answer isn¡¯t going to be pleasant, based on the way Volkir¡¯s gaze lowers to the floor. ¡°Because Crosomer was my student, and I thought I trained him better than this. Everything that followed is my fault, Drenar. The war, the aftermath, the Ascension events. It¡¯s not a surprise people branded my name with such hatred. I earned it. I had a hand in my own species'' annihilation. Ninety-five percent of dragons were gone in three days. Three days and an entire species nearly died. And Alex¡­he was a terrible student too, but he was a good friend later.¡± ¡°You guys were close, huh?¡± He chastised me a lot about being a bad student. But, Volkir, from what I remember, could be trusted with the bigger picture. Alex¡¯s holes in his memories seem to be fading, but its enough reassurance for now. Volkir nods. ¡°Alex, I¡¯m not even sure how you became a drakensoul. You were dead before the Ascension events.¡± ¡°That seems to be a mystery he hasn¡¯t remembered yet,¡± Drenar answers reluctantly. ¡°Look, we need to sort out the story later, we have pressing matters. One thing I know, out of all of this, is that you¡¯re committed. It¡¯s about what you feel you owe to Alex.¡± It does build his trust in Volkir on this, just a little. ¡°Well, to the best I can. Julia, how are those gauntlets fitted?¡± She flexes her newfound bracers that had seemed simple enough when she put them on, until metal plating unfolded from simply nowhere and clad her hands in green tinge plate gauntlets. The material had also wrapped up to her elbow, and she cracks her knuckles. Angela has also likewise gotten an upgrade with a silvery longsword¨Citems that had not been collecting dust and seemed to be in unusually pristine condition. Kyle had loaded up more autobow bolts and had prepared as many of them for customized effects¨Cto destroy personal barriers, or to take out grouped targets. His dedication is admirable, considering the little actual combat he¡¯s been in before this. His weapons training as part of his role as an armorer certainly helped. ¡°I feel like I could beat up some more bad guys. Levine, Nick, we¡¯re reloaded on ammo the best we can, Joey¡¯s alchemical ingredients are topped off, and Drenar¡¯s sword is¡­glowing. Again. Volkir, what¡¯s the story with that one?¡± Julia points it out, and Volkir grunts. ¡°Lyssa¡¯s sword? That would take a while to explain, and it¡¯s time we don¡¯t have. They¡¯re massing something by the doorway and¨C¡± there¡¯s a massive explosion, and the feed goes dead. The building shakes, and Volkir frowns. ¡°Damn. Looks like they hit it with something out of range of the mana batteries. These fiends do learn eventually. Unfortunately.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°What about this antique?¡± Levine points out, and Nick pulls back the charging handle on the massive anti-material rifle. ¡°It might be enough to destroy Val¡¯s barrier, but I don''t feel like testing it unless we need it. Meantime, we¡¯re armed with everything deadly that we can scrape from this room.¡± Nick stows the weapon in his dimensional armory, now somewhat replenished, but Drenar thinks it could be better stocked. Levine is down to a few magazines of his marksman rifle, and magic only has so much ¡®ammo¡¯ before burn sets in. Everyone is decked in whatever repaired armor they can scrounge up. ¡°This is the plan, and it has to work. Because I¡¯ll burn the whole reactor rather than hand that book to Val,¡± Drenar states defiantly. ¡°Anyone who doesn¡¯t like the plan, show of hands right now. Because this could be a one-way trip guys. More than usual.¡± ¡°Oh, hell no. We¡¯re gonna stand for what¡¯s right, Drenar. I don¡¯t think anyone in the room is going to object,¡± Angela states proudly. Everyone is in better fighting form after Joey and Volkir rapidly mix up a series of alchemical reagents to fix any building mana burn, and Drenar finally feels slightly refreshed compared to earlier in the night. He knows though, that the hard part is still before them. A battle with a fiend who he has vowed to kill, if at all possible, and a task made more difficult because she¡¯s surrounded by a small army. ¡°They¡¯re advancing.¡± Volkir gazes at each of them in turn, and shakes his head. ¡°You¡¯re all so young. How did this fall to you?¡± ¡°The same way it always does. When the people who are supposed to keep the world safe turn the other way, or they just drop the ball against the threats unseen and unanticipated,¡± Drenar states slowly. Everyone turns to look at him now. What everyone needs right now, is hope to see another day, and a battle they have to win. Not just for themselves, but for all those who have been hurt by the Talons, past and present. ¡°Look guys, I¡¯ll keep the speech short. We¡¯ve had a wild couple of weeks. Maybe we jumped in headfirst and headstrong early on, but we had our hearts set on doing the right thing. Maybe I just wanted to know what the Talons were up to, if only to keep the people at home safe.¡± He lets out a breath that no one in the room hears. ¡°But that¡¯s not where it ended. It¡¯s just where it started. The writing has been on the wall for us for a long time, because we were lied to, kept blind, and otherwise led to believe that these safeties were ¡®for our own good.¡¯ Meanwhile, an army of crazed killers is stomping across the world, killing people indiscriminately. The best and brightest of SAF, the people who should be responsible for mitigating this rolling disaster, are in this room right now. The rest of us are just scared teens and young adults who have seen and been subject to truly strange things over the last few days. I can¡¯t even unpack what some of it means just yet. But, I do know one thing.¡± He brings his gaze up, looking at his friends in turn, some he has known since they were young, others who have made an impression on him in a handful of days. ¡°I know why I¡¯m in the fight now. I¡¯m in this now, not because of just Crosomer, or Val, or King, or even the fate of my mother. It¡¯s about standing for what¡¯s right. It¡¯s about being a light to guide the way, and to carry a beacon to better tomorrow. This is the motto of the Luminaires. This is what we stand for. And that is something those murderers for hire can never understand, and it¡¯s why we will stand, and fight, and win today!¡± he states defiantly. Luminari feels like it¡¯s shaking on his back, there¡¯s a tension in his body that he feels could be alleviated¡­if only he were to draw the weapon. Curiosity takes the better of him, and he slowly pulls it from the scabbard. The etched runes on the flat of the blade glow a light blue, and the metal itself hums in the air of the arcane laboratory of neatly arranged potions, burners, chemicals, and now-empty ammunition cases. The sword sings in a single crystalline note, and the gem gleams with an inner light. There¡¯s a current, a charge in the air, that he did not feel a few seconds ago. Another voice is written over his when he speaks¨Ca presence that doesn¡¯t direct, but guides. It almost sounds like Alex¡¯s voice, but at the same time¡­it sounds like someone else. ¡°Defend the defenseless. Bring tranquility to those struck by terror. There were six Luminaires upon their inception. Alex and Lyssa Rashalda. Hanna and Gerard Celestine. Robespierre Crosomer, before his fall. Valen. Each was commemorated for their bravery and sacrifices in the service of others. Each chose this path for no other reason than to be a guiding example, to light a path for others to follow. We shall do the same!¡± ¡°Yeah! I like this!¡± Julia roars triumphantly. ¡°Let¡¯s put this in some less poetic words, who¡¯s ready to go put these monsters in their place, and put a stop to this home invasion, here and abroad?!¡± Everyone salutes in sync. Even the new arrivals, Joey and Kyle, are a hundred percent behind them, and Julia points to the teleportal that Volkir had hit a remote on. ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s go do this dance! We know the plan, We make a beeline for the power core, put up a good fight, and drag this out as long as we can! I don¡¯t doubt Mom is gonna ground my ass but good after this, but she¡¯s gonna do it knowing we did something that no one else could! Watch each other''s backs, and we¡¯ll get through this!¡± Drenar smiles lightly, and sheathes Luminari for the moment. It does feel comfortable in his hand, like he was always meant to wield it, and even now, he wonders just what it means for the future as they all gather on the platform, ready for a fight the second they get off. He tests the new bracer that Volkir had provided him¨Ca deployable shield that would use a super-focused burst of his telekinetics to repel immense blows. Something he¡¯s going to need to avoid Val from fracturing his arms if she hits like a truck, and it still allows him to grab his autobow or dagger without encumbrance. Joey is handing out alchemical boosters as the portal charges, saying it will help with reflexes, no matter what they port out to. Even Volkir steps out onto the platform, wielding a dragon-sized staff. ¡°So, how¡¯s it feel to be part of the team again?¡± Drenar asks, as much for himself, as for Alex, who gives a distinct ¡®nod¡¯ in his headspace somewhere. Volkir grunts and taps a claw on the metal staff, taloned feet tensed¨Cit¡¯s a little bit of a squeeze for him on this platform. ¡°A bunch of reckless youth saving the world? This seems familiar. But not unwelcome,¡± he adds with a sharpened smile. That high-pitched hum grows louder, and he keeps his options ready. They¡¯re making a blind jump to the hidden exit near the power core, and anything could be waiting for them. But this time, they¡¯re bringing the fight to these foes. It''s time to put them on notice that their rampant violence is about to stop, and the Luminaires will make sure it stops with force, if need be. The world flashes with white light, and he feels himself floating through space. It¡¯s that place again, for a fraction of a fraction of a second, he sees that blank canvas between worlds, and can feel Joey¡¯s presence next to him, anxiety and fear all held bundled by an unwavering bravery to defend something important to her. He has this feeling that might include him, too, now. Vol. 2, Ch. 118: Crashing The Party Crashers Dizziness awaits Drenar when the world comes back out of that intense white bright light, and he snaps to alert, looking for threats in every direction. The wall had been pulled back to reveal a cozy alcove where the portal had been hidden in the brickwork, and it seemingly distorts reality¨Clike the space is bigger viewing outwards than it should have any business being. It¡¯s that strange folded space enchantment that he¡¯d seen in the chimney, compressed space that fits within tighter bounds of reality than his brain is capable of making sense of. Just how do they do that? How do you fold reality like that? All he does know is that he doesn¡¯t see any immediate threats. Not living ones, anyway. The corpse of a Talons soldier turned into paste by the now-shattered animated statue gave an indication the fight had not been one-sided in this area, and there are more Talons soldiers shot with autobow bolts¨Cthree of them, with deadly groupings. Someone had been a formidable shot, and shouts of outrage were audible down the hall. ¡°Priorities. Volkir, there are people still trapped in the dorms, I need you to run and get them some backup. The rest of us are going to barnstorm the plant, get Zameren relief, and then I¡¯m going to send out a threat to Val.¡± ¡°Yeah? What¡¯s that plan of yours, young master?¡± Volkir asks edgily. Drenar responds by tapping a fire orb on a strap, and Volkir grimaces. ¡°Before you go incinerating our only leverage¨C¡± ¡°Took care of it,¡± Levine says after handing him a phone in a heavily armored case. ¡°I took backup scans while we were getting ready. This information is too valuable to destroy, so do not let it fall to them, burn it if you must. But we have the master copy.¡± ¡°You really want to know how to shut that device down, don¡¯t you?¡± Volkir muses. ¡°I really just want to give fake translations to Val, so when she activates it, it nukes her and her entire army,¡± he says with a grim smile. ¡°But. that might be too much to wish for.¡± ¡°No, that''s totally what we should wish for! Karmic justice!¡± Julia grins with an evil smile. She does enjoy it when their roles reverse on occasion, he notes. ¡°Okay, the coast is clear, should we go to dragon forms?¡± ¡°Angela only, because she has the best defensive barriers. The rest of us, we¡¯re conserving strength.¡± She gives a quiet smile before taking on her silver-scaled form, and reaches for the longsword¨Cdid that weapon grow with her? Even she¡¯s surprised and taps at the hilt with one claw. Volkir looks smug. ¡°You like that surprise? It''s a little trick I learned. Some weapons are reshaped to match size, in particular for dragons. When even the dragon gets a melee weapon, you know the danger level is high,¡± he says with more than a sharpened smile. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the civilians, most of the working sensors indicate they¡¯re bulking their forces on a sector-by-sector search. And some of them did attempt to enter the vault. It did not go well for them.¡± ¡°Pits of acid should never be something I¡¯m hopeful for again,¡± Drenar grumbles, and motions everyone to hustle. Angela has to slow her stride as the rest of them hurry along, the hallway clear of threats. Joey and Kyle motion to the corner, and Kyle sends out a golem he¡¯d had sitting in a satchel to go around the corner. He shows the screen to Drenar, who nods grimly. ¡°Lot of resistance to get through.¡± There¡¯s a Nightwing trying to burn through the door with little success, and he¡¯s heaving at the far end of the hall, past a series of makeshift barricades that had been abandoned. Drenar grits his teeth when he sees the light-colored militia armor that the personnel of Asqualia had been wearing, and Joey puts a hand to her mouth, fighting the urge to scream out. ¡°That¡¯s Claire.¡± She¡¯s being forcibly hauled to the doorway, bloodied but still fighting angrily. Drenar can see one bolt sticking gruesomely out of her leg, but the bleeding doesn¡¯t look bad. Someone had broken her nose and bruised her face. She¡¯s forced to a kneeling position by the door while the Nightwing heaves, out of alchemical breath and roars that he needs a few minutes. The heavily armored soldier and several others tap on the intact intercom button, and then a radio report is heard in the hallway. ¡°Citizens of Asqualia, this fight is over. We hold all key points of the facility, you are throwing your lives away for nothing. Open the door in the next two minutes, or your militia member is going to be torn in half by my friend here. I¡¯ll let him pick which direction he tears her in as his preference.¡± Drenar taps Luminari reassuringly, and knows this man has already killed before. And without mercy, either. A murderer and a sadist, through and through. Wait. What the hell? How do I know that? He glances curiously at his sword, and can just feel that something emanating from that man. He can¡¯t see it with his eyes, but he feels it, in the same way he can feel the fields of force when Angela uses her telekinetics, and that distortion around mages when a spell barrier is active. This man has done wrong. He''s been a butcher. Of people. ¡°Drenar, there¡¯s too many of them. We can¡¯t pick them off before they kill her.¡± Angela leans in, eyes narrowed. ¡°What if we did what we did last time?¡± ¡°They¡¯ll expect that. Do you see how they¡¯re spaced out? I think they learned from the last time. I also seem to be unable to use that blink ability for several seconds, it¡¯s like my body doesn¡¯t want me to push it.¡± He¡¯s racking his brain, thinking of how they get Claire to safety, and then there¡¯s a roar of frustration. ¡°Screw this! Let¡¯s just cut the bitch to pieces now, You see the little bloody chunks of Gary and Steve?! Or Anton eating an explosive to the face, or what happened to Barry and Rodriguez?!¡± One soldier gets fed up and grabs her away from the handler, a pistol sidearm in his hand and a crazed look on his face. ¡°Maybe we feed her to Val! I hear she loves it when we bring her little treats like this thing here!¡± He fights the urge to grab his autobow and shoot the bastard in the face when he licks Claire''s face, and makes a gleeful sound. ¡°Kinda tasty, too!¡± ¡°Drenar, if we go now, she won¡¯t survive,¡± Levine warns. ¡°Got a better idea?¡± ¡°Six men, half a squad. They¡¯re under-strength and below combat effectiveness, and their morale is breaking. But that maintenance area is right adjacent to it, and Nick and I can get a fire line on them.¡± Drenar gives a quick peek down the hall with the golem, then smiles. ¡°I want to go talk with the big bad dragon who rhymes worse than an eight-year-old.¡± ¡°Excuse me, say what?" Joey groans. ¡°If I didn¡¯t know better, I¡¯d say you have a death wish!¡± "He does," Angela sighs. ¡°Just get into position. Joey, how well does this booster work?¡± It feels like he drank ten cups of coffee over the past few minutes, and his head is almost buzzing. ¡°Your results may vary, but some individuals have reported a distortion of perception of time. Nerve latency speed is vastly accelerated and reaction speed drops to near-zero. Why?¡± ¡°I¡¯m gambling on the evil bitch wanting to come and kill me herself, which means no one will fire in my direction.¡± ¡°Sometimes, Drenar, I still wonder if you¡¯ve got a legitimate death wish,¡± Julia sighs, and readies her autobow. Nick has grabbed a perennial favorite, an HK416, and the bullets glow blue in the transparent magazine. Mana-coated munitions that can shred barriers, similar to Julia¡¯s plasma powers. They open the adjoining hatchway and quickly go inside, with Angela ducking in and scraping by. Mages at least had the courtesy to design most of their facilities with dragon physiology in mind, so that¡¯s a plus. He takes a deep breath, and rounds the corner calmly, and no one even notices. Are they that blind? Nah, they can¡¯t be. The Nightwing whips his head around after hearing his footsteps and points him out with a claw. ¡°Hey! Militia kid! Surrender! Or I get to make human confetti!¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not gonna do that. I came here to parley.¡± The dragon arches an eye crest, citrus eyes narrowed and focused on him. ¡°I came to negotiate a surrender.¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s the kid that can teleport. Shoot him!¡± one shouts out. ¡°No, don¡¯t shoot him. Val wants that one alive,¡± the heavily armored knight says behind a mirrored magitech visor. He points a heavy rifle at him. "Drop your weapons." ¡°No, assholes, this isn¡¯t my surrender, it¡¯s yours.¡± There¡¯s about a two-second pause before all the Talons scumbags are laughing at this, and the Nightwing looks at them, facepalming in frustration. ¡°Look dumbasses, he¡¯s not alone, he¡¯s bait!¡± ¡°Nah he¡¯s not, he made sashimi in the south wing! He killed Fred! I didn¡¯t like the guy, but he owed me money!¡± one complains, rifle trained in his direction. Luminari is vibrating on his back, as if daring to draw it. He¡¯s going to have to wait, though¨Cthe closer they get to him, the more danger they¡¯re in. ¡°Where are your friends?¡± ¡°Well, they ran when I told them to, so they¡¯re safe.¡± If it weren''t for the fact that he¡¯s able to tell a bald-faced lie and have it stick for once in his life, he¡¯d be terrified. Instead, he¡¯s strangely confident. Is that Alex¡¯s influence? Because even Alex is chuckling in the background of his brain. They really are this dumb. Yeah, but remember, the more dumb ones we kill or put on Whiterun guard duty, that leaves the smarter ones to fight. It¡¯s a moment of grim logic as two of the soldiers close with weapons drawn, motioning for him to drop his. He willingly surrenders his autobow, and the bandolier of grenades. It¡¯s not like he can¡¯t grab them back with his telekinetics. ¡°And the sword,¡± one says with a motion of a rifle at his face. Drenar smirks back at him. ¡°Uh, it won¡¯t let me.¡± ¡°What? What do you mean ''it won¡¯t let you''? Is this kid cracked in the head?!¡± ¡°Do we need to take him alive?¡± the other one sighs, and the dragon runs his claws against the wall. It¡¯s worse than nails on a chalkboard, and even his own guys cringe at the sound. ¡°Val just needs most of him in one piece to have her way with him. No one cuts up Val and lives, him and the silver dragon who grew freaky crystal scales? Doubly so. Thing is¡­how¡¯d they get up here, when they were down below?¡± This dragon knows something is up, is his danger sense going off, or is he a little bit sharper than the rest? ¡°You know what, just grab the sword, he¡¯s not going anywhere.¡± ¡°Seriously, please, don¡¯t touch the sword. It won¡¯t end well for you.¡± It probably won¡¯t if they¡¯re stupid enough to grab him, and the three others are distracted by this commotion, with Claire giving him a pleading look, shaking her head like she knows he¡¯s about to pull a bold stunt. And she¡¯s right. The soldier on his right tries to grab Luminari, and the sword doesn¡¯t like that. There¡¯s a blinding white light and the man screams, holding a glove that¡¯s burnt through, and his hand is blackened. The first gunshot rings out, but it¡¯s the high-pitched crack of Levine¡¯s rifle. He¡¯s already in motion and kicks the staggered soldier away, moving at a superhuman speed when Luminari leaps into his hand, slashing with a hum. He severs the outstretched rifle cleanly through the barrel and destroys the upper receiver. Joey wasn¡¯t kidding when she said time perception might be screwy, because it feels like the world is in slow-motion. The gun chunk is still in the air when he sees the Nightwing rear back for a point-blank flaming, except he uses his teleport and lands squarely on its back, grabbing a wing for leverage and plunging Luminari as deep as he can through the softer scales where the wings meet. The dragon¡¯s instant incineration that had enveloped one of the unlucky soldiers veers off-course, setting fire to the tapestries, the other unlucky soldier, and he reaches a clawed hand to his back to grab Drenar with deadly talons, but he swipes laterally¨Cthe spinal cord is damaged and the dragon collapses to the ground, the flames had stopped. Rifle rounds ping off his barriers, but the return fire stops when he leaps off his massive foe, and he stares in disbelief. The remaining soldiers are down. Claire grabs a fallen rifle and mercilessly beats one armored knight in the helmet until there¡¯s nothing but reflex twitches. If he wasn¡¯t dead from that amount of blunt trauma, he likely had a cracked skull or a concussion. Nick, Levine and the others have policed the bodies, and Kyle bangs on the door with an armored glove, wincing at the still-hot metal. ¡°We¡¯re coming in hot, be ready to close the bulkhead, we¡¯ve got Claire with us!" Joey helps Claire limp into the room, while Drenar grabs his fallen weapons and bandolier and the dragon leers at him, rearing its head. He throws a resin grenade and it explodes over its snout, enveloping it in foam that leaves the dragon bug-eyed as it tries to claw it off. That damage to the spine must have not been as bad as he thought, because it¡¯s already trying to pick itself up off the floor. Angela has a solution for that, and slams a clawed foot down, and Drenar winces when he hears the slice of talons through scales, leaving the brute wounded and unable to pursue. They scramble just as enemy fire comes from down the hall, a bullet pings off his arcane barrier, then two more¨Che can feel the impact of them, and Angela shields him with her own more durable barriers while they fall back through the door. He grabs a fallen radio off a foe before falling back through the sliding door, and Kyle slams it closed behind them. ¡°Holy shit. Did you take out a dragon as a human?¡± Julia asks in amazement. He grimly nods. ¡°Well, I messed up his day but good. I doubt he¡¯s going to be back to fighting form for a while, after sticking a sword into his back.¡± He forces his eyes closed and takes deep breaths, this combat is finally catching up to him with the visceral and brutal nature, and it¡¯s not pleasant. This is the first time he¡¯s gotten to see an arcane power plant aside from the small-scale one at Mount Syren. What he¡¯s looking at is¡­wonderous, in so many ways. It¡¯s a room that towers over him in height and breadth, easily twenty meters high, and fifty meters on a side. In the center of the chamber is a crystalline tree sitting within a transparent containment vessel of steel cladding and that filament traced glass, similar to the smaller scale mana batteries he¡¯s witnessed before. Fluid in transparent plexiglass tubing from the side flow amounts of a clear blue liquid. The pipes continue to flow the faint blue fluid around the core of the mana crystal, picking up arcane energy and whisking it away to several other boxy apparatus that are connected to the circulation loop. Most of it is suspended with girding, and protective steel lines the framework, and catwalks are suspended up above that allow for easy access. Lights blink intermittently on consoles throughout the room, and the militia hunker down behind barricades. Joey is tending to Claire, who shouts that she¡¯s alright. Zameren gives a firm hug to Levine in greetings in a brief moment, and Julia and Angela look at the scene, both of them in wonder. This truly is a special place, and sets in stone the amazing things arcanists have been able to build, and he hears a ringing sound¨Ca crystalline chime in the distance. He sheathes Luminari, but is puzzled¨Cwhere is the blood that should be on it? There is only a faint black powder that dissolves to nothing when he peers at it again. It¡¯s a little unsettling that gruesome stains simply dissipate to black dust. Well old girl, you got us this far. Let¡¯s hope I¡¯ve got the strength to see this through. For all of us. A single sharp metallic chime is his affirmative answer as he gives out rapid instructions, based on the urgent hostile enemy radio chatter. Valosterla is coming. And she intends to give this troublesome group her undivided attention when she snarls at her underlings to stop underestimating them. It¡¯s good advice that comes far too late into the night. Vol. 2, Ch. 119: She Who Brings The Rain Of Ruin, Part One Even with everything ready, Drenar is nervous. This plan could go badly in any number of ways. Kiera could be delayed. The Talons could bring in a trickle of reinforcements at a time and wear them down. Val could just decide to slaughter all of them with overwhelming firepower. But he¡¯s still got the leverage when he clicks the hostile arcanlink. Most everyone and the survivors are gathered by the safety barricades and hardened arcane barrier generators that Claire had managed to get through the ducts. She¡¯s still feisty for being beaten to hell, and now he understands why Joey is insistent on getting her as patched up as she can. He¡¯s about to launch a gambit of dangerous proportions. Inviting the enemy in for a negotiation to get them all grouped up. It doesn¡¯t bother him that this may result in a lot of enemy casualties. His goal now, is the safety of everyone in the room, first and foremost. ¡°Attention invading jackasses, this is your friendly neighborhood battle dragon, looking to speak to your leadership,¡± he announces into the arcanlink. ¡°We want a ceasefire for negotiation of terms. Specifically, you take your dead and wounded out of Asqualia, leave, and don¡¯t ever come back, and we promise not to follow you to the ends of the earth to kill every single last one of you for the lives you¡¯ve taken tonight.¡± ¡°You think this will work?¡± Angela asks anxiously while adjusting the autobow. ¡°Also this room makes my body vibrate, and I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s a good thing or a bad thing.¡± ¡°Seriously Angela? After watching you go Super Saiyan after touching one small crystal, I¡¯m pretty sure Val¡¯s off-the-cuff comment about looking like a goddess may not be in jest,¡± Nick says while glancing at the giant mana crystal in the center of the chamber. ¡°So like, don¡¯t touch any more of those.¡± Drenar still can¡¯t process that one. Angela? Relatively normal Angela, had grown crystal scales in the heat of a crisis. And he thought he was having issues tonight. No, scratch that, they¡¯re all going to be walking basketcases by the morning, assuming he lives past this stunt. The Talons have been notably silent after his taunting call, so maybe they¡¯re ignoring it? Well, that works too, the Valkyries should be on the way soon enough, in a much-needed moment of reinforcements. Kiera is probably going to murder him after this. Angela¡¯s parents are next in line. Diane might be a distant third. A crackle of static on the arcanlink breaks his grim outlook on the demise of freedom. ¡°Drenar Rashalda. So that is who you are. The descendant of the Luminaires I¡¯ve killed.¡± That poisoned honey voice practically drips out of the arcanlink, and he grips it tightly. ¡°You know you¡¯ve made some inconveniences for me over the last week. It¡¯s¡­bold when someone so young can show this much promise.¡± ¡°Oh let me lay into the bitch, Drenar¨C¡± Julia starts to say with a deadly look on her face, teeth clenched and eyes with the focus of an apex predator. He motions for calm in the room, and takes a second. ¡°Oh, you know my name, that¡¯s cool. Now what little birdy told you that one?¡± It¡¯s possible that King finally spilled the secrets, but given how he doesn¡¯t know King''s true end-game yet, he¡¯s not sold on that theory. It could have been Jonaleth, or maybe even Crosomer. Where is Crosomer, anyway? Probably dead or being held hostage by Val''s men, he figures. Even he wouldn''t have wanted this level of violence. ¡°No. I just recognized you from your dragon form. You looked like someone I¡¯ve killed. Someone quite memorable." He can almost picture that menacing sneer on her face. ¡°Oh, let me guess. Lyssa and Alex. You killed at least one of them, I¡¯m all but sure of that.¡± He feels that shift of Alex through his consciousness, and tension builds in his body. Alex¡¯s growl of anger is followed by a fleeting image. A helmeted knight, wielding a crimson greatsword, bloodied, staggers to the open maw of a teleportal. Alex dives down from the heavens, and a badly injured woman is on the ground, dressed in silver and brass armor, the metal is blood-stained. Hers, likely. That is also true for the foe limping away with the helmet, and those blood-red eyes behind it, look at him with contempt. He tries to reach them, but they flicker away in the shimmering light of the active teleportal. The only thing left is Lyssa, battered, stabbed, and bleeding to death despite her draconic might. Screams of a battle are still ongoing in the wooded vale, where Crosomer¡¯s soldiers had outnumbered the Luminaires and the Valkyries, ten to one. And still lost. But that victory is utterly hollow as Alex holds her in his arms, trying to administer aid, and she asks him just to hold her close, for a few more seconds. She utters her last words. ¡°Alex, may we all meet again, under the skies of Valhalla¡­¡± It¡¯s five seconds of revelation for him. It¡¯s a blink of an eye to everyone in the room. It¡¯s Alex who breaks the silence. She has to die for what she¡¯s done. It¡¯s the same sword. Drenar clenches his jaw--Val had sent Lyssa to her grave? That makes this personal now, and he squeezes the radio tightly. He can''t rush into this in a blind rage. That will get him, and everyone else killed. Fantastic. Super creepy sword that feels like spiders on my soul? It¡¯s icky and I debate whether it¡¯s crimson by design, or she never cleans it and leaves all sorts of blood and viscera on it. He clicks the radio again after this really awful revelation. ¡°But Val, let¡¯s be clear here, I¡¯m interested in one thing. The preservation of kinship lives. Come to the power core. We¡¯ll negotiate.¡± ¡°Nah, I think I¡¯ll just storm in and take what I want,¡± she says with a malicious laugh. ¡°Seeing as you interrupted the slaughter earlier, I consider it a very poor sport.¡± ¡°Uh, which time was that? Considering the many times that could apply from the past week, please remind me.¡± Julia grins wildly, Angela sighs, Joey looks at him like he¡¯s crazy, and Nick just puts a gloved hand to his face and shakes his head in resignation. There¡¯s a rather awkward pause. ¡°Val, I have something you want. And it took me fighting over a pit of acid, a room filled with venomous spiders, and deadly traps to get to.¡± He taps the [PROJECT] button and there¡¯s a flicker of an intense beam of light over his body as the device scans his image, then fades. He pulls out Volkir¡¯s journal and grins at the maniacal dragon bitch he¡¯d like to test his new sword on. If only she¡¯ll give him the opportunity, with the right persuasion on his part. ¡°I have something really cool to show you! Why, it¡¯s a runic translation matrix! Cobbled together over hundreds of years with painstaking research. It would be a shame if someone¡­you know¡­tossed it into the core of a mana reactor to disintegrate it.¡± ¡°Seriously, you have a death wish Drenar, and I¡¯m convinced you''re crazy,¡± Kyle protests. ¡°That ship sailed a long time ago before we met you, Kyle,¡± Julia beams. He ignores the chatter in the background and the light flickers on the arcanlink and a hologram emerges from the top of the device in a blur of blue particles that coalesce into the figure of a woman as deadly as she is¨Cno, beauty doesn¡¯t apply here, she¡¯s got murder laced in her soul. No pretty face can ever get that image out of his head with the way she hacked apart one of her own men with a manic grin on her face. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°You really think that¡¯s a good idea, Rashalda?¡± she asks with deadly intent. ¡°Irritating me?¡± ¡°Nah, have you been paying attention? This is your chance to cut your losses. You let the people of Asqualia leave, alive. Your men collect your dead and wounded, and as soon as the last psychopath is on a teleportal out of here, I¡¯ll give you the book.¡± ¡°And you think I¡¯ll not just kill you the second you open that door? I can do this the hard way, Rashalda.¡± ¡°Val, baby, seriously, you¡¯re killing me here. I¡¯ll give you the keys to godhood! It¡¯s what you, and your nefarious advisor, wanted from the beginning! All it¡¯s going to cost you is a handful of people who are not even worth the trouble of chasing down.¡± He puts on that sardonic smirk to try and sell the deal, while Julia cracks her knuckles. It¡¯s very distinct with those gauntlets on. Val looks like she¡¯s doing the math on this one. ¡°Your call. You have two minutes to make a decision, or this opportunity goes away forever. Why stall, my dear dragon? It¡¯s a deal all too sweet! You¡¯ll be granted your crown, the world knelt at your feet!¡± ARE YOU SERIOUS?! Alex screams loudly and even Joey winces from the volume. Julia is in titters of laughter, and Angela tries to stifle a laugh. You¡¯re just gonna fling rhymes at her now? Did you take some brain damage from the near-drowning, or do you have a death wish?! You realize this plan only works if the murder lizard commits to this bait. And even then, there¡¯s no guarantee this is going to work. With the room prepped and every conceivable contingency in place with their armaments, he has to get her to commit. But he gets the response in the dim sparkle of little blue particles that lead to a creased smile on her projection image. ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll entertain this. Given how you¡¯ve fought admirably, perhaps there is a way to revolve this where I get what I want.¡± She smiles that deadly smile¨Cseriously, how dumb does she think he is? He¡¯s annoyed that she¡¯s not even trying to hide her intentions. ¡°Show me the journal.¡± ¡°Fine. One journal of a really uptight sage. You don¡¯t want to know what it took to get to it." He shows her the volume, and even briefly feathers through the pages to show her it¡¯s intact, and not a fake or damaged, and she grins¨Cwhy are there so many teeth? That is not a normal smile. He would say she¡¯s part demon, but as far as he knows, the only things remotely resembling demons in this messed up fantasy nightmare he¡¯s living have been dead, gone, and buried for four thousand years. ¡°Convinced yet?¡± ¡°I want you to meet me in the middle of the room, no weapons.¡± ¡°No. I get to keep my sword, at a minimum.¡± her eyes narrow at this. ¡°Just like you can keep that great big butcher sword of yours.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s hardly an accurate depiction. It has history! It¡¯s called Palach. That¡¯s Russian for ¡®executioner¡¯ if you didn¡¯t know,¡± she says with a twist of an accent. Her English is flawless enough he hasn¡¯t been able to pick up the origin until just now. ¡°And yours looks¡­awfully familiar, you know that?¡± ¡°It should. After all, you had this sword lodged in your gut once, and you somehow managed to stagger away alive,¡± he says with remarkable restraint. Lyssa had struck one last blow even mortally wounded, a testament to her steadfastness even in the face of her pending death. One final blow to destroy the monster. And the next time I get a chance, it¡¯s going right smack dab through your skull, if this is anything resembling a just world, to stop your malicious plans that have killed family and people I know. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s probably the mirror opposite of your twisted blade of ¡®justice.¡¯ Mine¡¯s cooler.¡± Where is this urge to be sardonically witty coming from, is it Joey? Or is it just a deep-seated coping mechanism going into overdrive from the beyond-perilous situation he finds himself in? It¡¯s probably the latter, sadly. ¡°Your men stay by the entryway, we¡¯ll have to do the same. There¡¯s a few conduits that will mark out the line in the proverbial sand.¡± ¡°Fine. Not that it¡¯ll do you much good, anyway. Just remember, we outnumber you. Any funny business would be¡­ ill-advised.¡± ¡°Likewise, your royal dragoness,¡± he adds with a mocking bow. She lets out a sound of disgust before snapping her fingers at someone off-screen. ¡°They¡¯re opening up. Don¡¯t start shooting, I don¡¯t want the goods damaged.¡± She peers at him, with those deadly ruby eyes. It takes all of his will to remind himself that her face is simply a mask for the monster beneath. ¡°See you soon, then.¡± The arcanlink clicks off and those motes of blue light dissipate into the room''s heavy, brightly lit air, and the flicker of arcane conduits flicker across the forms of his friends and new allies. He nods to each of them. ¡°Get to the position. You guys know what to do.¡± He¡¯s ready for this now. Luminari chimes on his back, and Joey nods quietly. ¡°Joey, what we saw earlier¡­you think it means something?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what it means, Drenar, but it¡¯s nice to not be alone in the fight. And you need me next to you¡­why, exactly? Rather than the unbreakable tsundere dragon?¡± ¡°I just need a tip-off on when Val intends to start committing murders. Then dump everything we¡¯ve got on her." He strips off his grenades, the autobow gets taped carefully to a console out of sight, and he dashes across the metal and plexiglass catwalk, placing several alchemical flash-bangs with a sticky adhesive at key locations. Nick and James are up above at an elevated firing position, Levine is commanding the irregulars along with Zameren, Julia, Angela and Kyle are secured near good cover from the heavy mechanical consoles. Joey hands him the devices from her bag. He puts out a wisp of a tether of telekinetic energy, and feels it looped around his hand. He gives the gentlest tug, and feels the arming lever jiggle¨Cthose pins are the smallest amount of force away from pulling and triggering the trap. ¡°Hey, there¡¯s something I should probably tell you, considering we are¨C¡± ¡°Joey, we¡¯re not going to die. You have my word on that.¡± He tethers another area trap, and another. ¡°We¡¯ll get through this. Together.¡± ¡°But¨C¡± ¡°Joey, it might surprise you, but I have been to the brink more than once.¡± His wrist trembles slightly at that subtle mention, and he tries to shake it away by getting this plan rolling. The bulkhead door is slowly unlocking, as agreed to, and he hurries back to a position behind a heavily shielded console, along with her. ¡°Okay. Just wanted you to know, on the off-chance we die¨C¡± ¡°Joey, if you''re trying to tell me something really important, I get it, the odds aren''t great. But there will be a tomorrow. I promise that.¡± She looks stunned at his conviction and smiles faintly. ¡°Alright, deal. I think there are a couple of things you and I need to talk about tomorrow, then. Now, let''s go give that looney tunes dragoness an unfriendly welcome.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 120: She Who Brings The Rain Of Ruin, Part Two Joey is quick to give Drenar one last alchemical booster¨Cthis one tastes like the most bitter licorice he''s ever tasted, and he gags before tossing the canister aside, just as the bulkhead door opens. They''re by the heavy console nearest to the center, and several Talons walk calmly into the room, about twenty-five of them. Six more of them file into the room and take up positions by the cabinets of maintenance equipment, humming electronics, and regulators for the blue fluid conducting around the crystal array in the center. It''s not unlike a steam turbine setup, essentially. They all look around anxiously, guns lowered, but they''re itchy. He can feel the tug of multiple kinetic strings, and hopes enough of those flashbangs go off as intended. Kyle relays quietly into his headset. ¡°James is saying Kiera is making like a bat out of hell to the library. I can''t transmit voice, something got damaged on the teleport, but we need to hold tight.¡± He''s whisper-quiet, and Drenar taps the button to send out a burst of static to acknowledge it. Assuming they had reached the library, they had to slide down the access shaft, dash through the caverns, and onto the grounds, in about ten minutes. He needs to stall this for ten minutes. That should be easy enough. He¡¯ll just let the diva do the talking. And there she is¨Cwearing what he presumes is black armor covered in droplets of blood, staining the white enamel silhouette of a dragon clutching a lily. How appropriate¨Csuch beauty, draped in reprehensible violence, the way she is all smooth pale skin, ruby red hair, and eyes that seem almost alight in malice when she walks past the bulkhead. Two heavily armored knights close the bulkhead behind her. And that sword on her back, it''s close to a meter and a half long, and the metal is crimson color, the grip inlaid with gold. There is a small skull embedded in the hilt. How fitting. How does she even wield that thing in combat, apart from draconic strength? ¡°Hey Val, welcome to the party, truly. It only took us wiping out a third of your force to bring you to the negotiation table,¡± he says with measured restraint. ¡°How have you been? Get a tour of the woods of late? Or the teleportal hub? Maybe you had to dig yourself out of a couple of debris piles, first.¡± ¡°Hah. You truly do sound like that rogue, at least from what I heard of him in passing. It''s been a while, Alex,¡± she grins. There''s a cold dread that drips down his spine, how does she know this? Your guess is as good as mine, but Volkir could see something of me with those glasses. Whose to say that fancy tiara on her head doesn''t do the same? He doesn''t let it shake him, and he tilts his head to the side. ¡°It''s Drenar, actually¨C¡± ¡°No. I''m talking to the wayward dragon soul trapped in you. I recognize the mannerisms, the way Crosomer described him. And you do look like him, to a small extent. But much more like Lyssa. You''re the one running around causing me problems. You and the mewling girl next to you. Curtis mentioned someone had tipped him off about Lavernius, but didn¡¯t mention a name, just rosy-colored hair, and purple eyes. Where is he, by the way?¡± ¡°Oh, you mean the traitor? We blew him up. It was kinda gruesome. And you cut one of my friends in half,¡± Joey says in an unnaturally calm tone. He knows otherwise because that pathway between them¨Cwhatever it is¨Cis tinged with pent-up fury, little burning sparks down his spine. She¡¯s got a vested interest in killing this monster, too. ¡°Useless chattel, anyway. Now then, where were we? Having a chat with the son¨Cno, probably grandson or great-grandson of the person I murdered,¡± she adds while flexing lightly on the platform. Drenar dares a glance at the expanse below, it¡¯s a deep maintenance area of tubing and mechanical turbines, and some of it is dangerously exposed. Falling over the safety banister would probably prove fatal. She points to him, and smiles. ¡°You know, it¡¯s kind of some trick of Fate that would bring you here. You, Alex, back from the grave, after I put Lyssa into the grave. You broke out of whatever hellscape your soul was trapped in to come after me one last time, and you took the first outlet you could find.¡± I saw this coming. He had a sinking feeling that he knew that Crosomer never would have had the courage to kill his friend, even as far gone as he was, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to kill someone he treated as a brother¨Cas a found family. And he knows she¡¯s trying to bait him, and he tightens his fist. ¡°So why don¡¯t you tell me how Alex died then. Guessing it was you?¡± Surprisingly, she shakes her head. ¡°Oh, I can''t take credit for this one, even as much as that would be poison in the wound. No, what happened from what I heard later is that Alex beat Crosomer halfway to death after killing most of the rest of his inner circle¨Cwell, mostly my guys, because they kept Crosomer in check¨Cand would have put him in the grave. "Thing is, Alex hesitated and broke down, screaming that he couldn''t do it. Those two still cared for each other, even after all the hell they put each other through and burned half the continent. Alex got stabbed in the back when he was distracted by some lowly foot soldier, Crosomer obliterates him then and there, and then¡­Crosomer finishes the job. Meaning, he tried to fiddle desperately with the Kilnstar¡¯noth afterward in a desperate gambit to save him. Never quite sure what he saw in Alex, but he tried to save him! Futilely,¡± she adds with a malicious grin. Well, that''s an ignoble way to go. I was disintegrated by a magical experiment, after getting stabbed? Crosomer cared, even at the end. Joey winces visibly. All this time, he''d thought Val had killed him, and it was just some random foot soldier who had gotten instant karma for landing the killing blow on a hero. Val doesn¡¯t bother to pause. ¡°Still, though, that¡¯s old history. You¡¯re here, now. And with limitless potential.¡± ¡°How about we just stick to business?¡± he taps the old, weathered journal that¡¯s now secured in a pocket on his vest. Even though he would like nothing better than to kill this woman himself. No one has ever managed to make him want to kill others until he met this woman, and it feels¡­wrong. Unnatural. But he¡¯s also killed at least one person tonight. The man who had leveled a shotgun at his head, and triggered his danger sense at the last second. Killing that man out of reflex¨Celiminating a deadly threat to himself, and his team¨Cthat had been a snap decision he could live with. This? This felt wrong. And she knows it by the way her body coils and she grins at him. ¡°You think you could take me on? You¡¯re carrying a very fancy toy that doesn¡¯t belong to you.¡± ¡°Val, seriously, it¡¯s all a fight for you, isn¡¯t it? You don¡¯t have an off switch. Crosomer and King are right about you, you just can¡¯t help yourself, can you? Violence is just this thing you have to surround yourself in constantly, just to feel alive.¡± He¡¯s not falling for this ruse, It¡¯s clear what her intentions are. ¡°What if we just fought for the book? I¡¯ll let everyone go, and it¡¯ll be just you and me,¡± she purrs, and taps that crimson sword strapped to her waist. There¡¯s something wrong in the air when she does, like something seared his soul, and he tries not to react. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I expect you¡¯d last thirty seconds. You¡¯re good, probably the best I¡¯ve seen for your age. Maybe a little longer. ¡°Or, we can go our separate ways. My terms: You withdraw your forces. Take your dead and wounded. You retain a small team. I hand you the book, then you leave. Zero violence.¡± He¡¯s not going to take a chance taking on this trained killer in any way other than having a home field advantage. ¡°You get what you want, Val. My concern is for the people of Asqualia and cessation of hostilities.¡± ¡°Are you absolutely sure you don''t want to avenge dear old grandma?¡± that grin of sharpened teeth is just utterly inhuman, no normal human just grins like that¨Cit¡¯s distinctly creepy. ¡°You could take your shot, right now. I¡¯ll even throw in a free ¡®get out of jail¡¯ card. A teleportal pad out of here for your friends.¡± ¡°Do you just not get the idea I¡¯m giving you what you want?¡± He¡¯s finally hit his patience limit, and glances over to Joey, but something is wrong. Joeys¡¯ eyes are struck in fear. He can feel it with a trickle of dread. ¡°Nah. I have other people to think about, other than my own desire to make you a corpse. Especially for the litany of violence you¡¯ve inflicted on the world. I doubt you could ever say the same. Would anyone grieve for you if you died? Would the lackeys stick around out of respect? Or as soon as the last check cleared, they¡¯d move on to better and brighter things?¡± He points out a soldier who had nodded almost imperceptibly. ¡°Hey asshole, your loyalty is lacking, I saw that!¡± Stir the pot more? Alex groans. If they¡¯re killing each other, they aren¡¯t killing me, he responds back with a silent smile. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. There are more than a few uncomfortable shifts in stance as Valosterla glances at the corners of her vision for anyone having second thoughts. ¡°Lots of people would miss me. No one would miss you.¡± "I would. And everyone in this room who''s been saved by his quick thinking." It''s Joey''s turn to take a step forward. "Take this deal and get out of our house, Val. You''ve done enough harm tonight." "Oh? Better put your pet on a leash, Rashalda," Vals laughs. "After all, it''s where the vermin belong." New plan. Bury my sword through her heart, kill every merc in the room. That comment pisses him off for some reason he can''t put his finger on, and Alex lets out a loud protest. And he hears Joey''s less than pleasant comment under her breath. Drenar if we don¡¯t commit to this, this whole plan could end up getting us killed! Alex¡¯s urgent whisper isn¡¯t lost on Joey either, who coughs loudly in a subtle nudge. ¡°Right, let¡¯s just get this done. Your guys don¡¯t shoot me, my guys don¡¯t shoot you.¡± He¡¯s also feeling the fatigue going from maintaining now six telekinetic ¡®holds¡¯ on those alchemical flashbangs, and it¡¯s starting to sap his strength a bit trying to multitask. He pulls out the journal and hopes that this goes well. It probably won¡¯t, and they cross the distance. She¡¯s tall¨Cit¡¯s only now that he notices how she seems to tower almost a good twenty to thirty centimeters above him, and just leers at him with those piercing eyes of hers. They¡¯re only two meters away, and she fortunately has her hand off her weapon¨Cas does he. If there¡¯s any small comfort, he knows he can draw faster. ¡°Val, I have one last question for you. Before I hand this over.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± she tilts her head in curiosity and the play of the flash of mana nearby dances light and shadow across her face. ¡°There¡¯s one thing that has bothered me since King made his introduction a few nights ago. He said that there was a certain someone who ordered a hit on a big target. He didn¡¯t say who made the call, but I think it was you.¡± ¡°Really, now?¡± This catches her attention. ¡°And who was this special target?¡± ¡°A Valkyrie.¡± He leaves the critical part out, and she frowns. ¡°No one would willingly chase down a Valkyrie without an immense amount of firepower, planning, and overwhelming numbers, even I''m not that bold to get that kind of attention. I barely held my own when I killed a Champion. That scar, that final rebuke she gave me? That ringing sound hasn''t ever gone away.¡± She taps at her chest, presumably where a deadly blade had pierced through. Luminari lets out a sharp, angry chime, and Joey tilts her head--did she hear it, too? ¡°Nothing like having one lung punctured and your body is trying to heal it. Missed the heart, though,¡± she grins. ¡°But, no. I haven¡¯t killed any Valkyries of late. It has been a long time.¡± ¡°Bullshit. I know only you could pull off killing a Valkyrie.¡± Was King lying after all? But why? She narrows her eyes, and looks confused. ¡°You seem fixated on this. I can''t claim credit for this one, even as much as the sight of a dead Valkyrie with her wings plucked would bring a smile to my face.¡± ¡°Really? Six years ago not ringing any bells?!¡± She has to be lying. ¡°Come to think of it...Six years ago? It rings a bell.¡± She glances at her associates for a split second, then back at him, ruby eyes gleaming. ¡°Someone was busy starting fights in public that shouldn¡¯t have been public. I heard a rumor that about sixty mercs were killed in a brutal battle not that far from here. I don¡¯t know who was doing the fighting, or what one of the offending parties did, because the next thing I heard, SAF and the Valkyries were busy sweeping up body parts and tearing up terrain to conceal a massive mage battle. It was so quiet, that even I don¡¯t know the details. Only that everyone involved died. You¡¯re telling me someone else killed a Valkyrie? I owe them some immense respect for the boldness that would entail.¡± She¡¯s not boasting about it. She would be completely boasting about it, if she was behind it. This is another mystery unsolved. One Kiera likely is hiding the secret to¨Csomething so dangerous, she couldn¡¯t risk telling her kids. Alex. What does this mean? It means there¡¯s a third party responsible for your mother¡¯s death, or mercs were paid for their silence¨CVal¡¯s, or someone else''s. You live in an era of private military corporations, there could be any number of people looking to kill a Valkyrie. Alex still sounds like grinding teeth. You still need to kill her, Drenar. If you can¡¯t do it for me, do it in the defense of those you care about. She will never stop. She won''t stop until you''re dead. Val frowns and gestures to him. ¡°You have your answer. Now, hand over the book.¡± ¡°Men first,¡± he counters. ¡°I have the position of strength here.¡± It sounds like a growl more than words. ¡°Men. First. I keep to my word.¡± Something is setting his danger sense off, and he¡¯s wondering if it¡¯s more optical camouflage uniforms. He doesn¡¯t see the shimmer, and he can¡¯t feel the deflection of air currents their movement would now reveal. The danger threat is still there. But from where? He can feel a motion just¡­above him. A soft clink of metal? He dares a glance out of the corner of his eye, but can see nothing. ¡°Val, c¡¯mon, this isn¡¯t amateur hour. A gesture of goodwill goes a long way.¡± He knows it when he sees her men all flexing, casually leaning into cover like this is rehearsed, on how this is going to go. Joey confirms it with a single sharp resounding ¡®nod¡¯ in that strange connection between them. Val smiles that poisonous smile, and taps that sword hilt. He¡¯s not quite within range to quick draw, but he has other priorities and sends Joey his thoughts. Looks like she''s worn out the subtlety. Disable the immediate threats, the suppressive gunners. Joey, target count of about thirty, expect more to rush in from the bulkhead, make sure Kyle locks it down for as long as he can, before they burn through it. Val takes a small step forward. ¡°We can do this one of two ways. Painfully. Or brutally. You get to choose.¡± Instead, Drenar smiles. ¡°Nah Val, I have to take my third option: unlikely victory.¡± She laughs at this, and he¡¯s tempted to take a swipe at her right now, but with that many gunmen nearby, he needs to thin their numbers, first. ¡°See, when you confirmed for me that Lyssa Rashalda¨Cthe Champion of the Valkyries, my great-grandmother, died by your hand, you did something I never thought you could. You¡¯ve done the one thing you should never do against someone with the drive and the will to fight for what is right.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that, exactly?¡± Gone is the hesitation to kill. Gone is the fear of his friend''s safety. There is only justice, for righting old wrongs. ¡°You¡¯ve created a champion out of your litany of countless victims.¡± He taps Luminari, and the crystalline sound is almost deafening. Val rubs uneasily at her chest. She''s felt the bite of this blade before. "Maybe you have the numbers. Maybe you have the firepower. Maybe your men manage to kill us. But what you can''t kill is the spirit of the warriors that came before me. But you are not getting your victory here tonight, Val, because I''ll finish the job that the Valkyries started: killing the monsters that plague our world." She laughs at this mockingly, and points to him. "You? Haha, you couldn''t--" He mentally lets go of his pending trap, and half a dozen alchemical grenades all drop from their hiding spots, onto the floor and the metallic ping of safety latches coming out is audible. Panic ensues, someone prematurely fires by mistake, and Val looks at him, malice incarnate, looming over the imminent battle. Her arcane barrier flares to life with black and violet sparks of rage. ¡°Let''s see how well do against someone who can fight back." ¡°Then prove it. Champion.¡± Luminari shakes and shudders and they both draw their blades. Dazzling bright light flares the room, deadly traps are triggered, and the room devolves into chaos around them, and the clang of the two mighty weapons resounds louder than all of that. Let''s do this, Alex. For Lyssa.
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 121: A Beacon To A Better Tomorrow... If there is a higher power in this universe, Drenar realizes someone must be looking out for him. His telekinetics are the perfect counter to this manic dragoness in one profound way: they''re keeping Valosterla from fracturing his arms when those blades connect, and he dodges out of the way of many more swings while bullets sail, autobow bolts zip by, and various deadly spells dart through the air. He''s lucky that no one dares to aim in his direction, and invoke the wrath of Val. The reactor overcharging and sending arcing plasma into the now-sabotaged conduits by where they anticipated their foes is just icing on the cake, and they fry under the burden of an overwhelming amount of magical energy. Kyle might be cackling, or screaming--he really can''t tell which, because he''s dodging swings that could cut a steel girder in half. This is a deadly duel that he can''t afford to lose, and he''s buying time for the Valkyries to show up. The bulkhead door slams down by the entryway, and a bright orange bolt melts the metal at the seams. Val''s reinforcements are cut off, temporarily, but that doesn''t do much good when he''s fighting her. She snarls with all the rage of her form and cleaves down. He swerves to the side and that crimson blade still shears through the platform. He tries to get in an attack with Luminari, but she pulls the weapon through the plating and blocks. He''s not going to win this fight straight up, he needs to get distance and time. Val lashes out with her free hand a whip of violet, crackling energy. Great. Julia''s going to be pissed that she doesn''t have the monopoly on a magical grappling beam. He rolls to the side to avoid that deadly lasso, and grabs the autobow taped to the underside of the console, a concussive tipped bolt already loaded. He fires out of reflex. It sends her flying backward when it connects, and she bowls into one soldier, who is sent flying down the catwalk in a scream. He supposes accidental environmental hazards really shouldn''t count for a body count, in a moment of grim recognition. He''s going to have to thank Kyle for those powered-up shots. Val doesn''t like this slight and charges a globule of crackling violet energy in her hand and blasts it in his direction. He dives for the next bit of cover while bolts and bullets ping nearby, and one hit flares his barrier¨Cdamn it, bolts still hurt so much, even when they don''t pierce through flesh. The blast took out a console and errant sparks sting his skin. Meanwhile, he takes a frantic assessment of the situation. Joey is with Angela, holding the stairwell to the second-floor accessway and launching deadly grenade canisters with impunity from her compact launcher. The results leave a few Talons soldiers wishing for death, based on how it sets them on fire. Julia has been roaring like a fierce dragoness and suppressing movement from the second floor with a barrage of autobow fire, ducking intermittently to cover. More than a few Talons soldiers have tightly grouped bolts through the chest and torso after their barriers failed. Levine and Nick are picking off soldiers who are down for the count, and they are merciless¨Cthis is kill or be killed. Kyle covers them from afar, and Claire uses Kyle for protection, because his armor keeps a formidable arcane barrier up and running. He needs to keep the murderous diva away from the team. She launches another volley of shimmering violet energy, aimed at Angela and Joey''s position, even as she charges at him. ¡°Joey incoming!¡± He screams out. She manages to dive out of the way and Angela rolls to the side, but the blast impacts the steel girding and brings several support pillars down. He sees one land dangerously close to Joey, and she screams. Debris is piled around her, and he feels a spike of pain in his own body. But she''s still alive. He can still feel that connection between them, but she''s clinging to consciousness. Val screams as she cleaves down and he flicks out that new shield bracer at the right moment, knocking that deadly sword aside and causing her whole body to swerve from the massive deflection, putting her body out of alignment. He doesn''t wait and slices laterally while her guard is down, and Luminari doesn''t disappoint when the blade flares green and the runes light up. The blow shears through the armor plating, slicing into her torso, just barely. She screams in rage, and he watches her footing for that split second and prepares to deflect again while having his backup plan in mind. The blow still leaves agonizing pain in his arm, but allows him to slash again in that opening, cutting a narrow path on her arm, but it''s superficial damage. The armor plating just barely gives, it''s tougher than the Talon''s standard armor. She summons a spark of violet and black energy and tries to connect with a grapple, and even a glancing hit shatters his barrier when he''s a split second too slow. The sear of heat on his torso burns, but he keeps free of her deadly grasp. He lunges while she''s off balance. This hit scores across armor and slashes through the weaker plating on her flank, and he swerves to the right to dodge the riposte. He roars in triumph, it feels good to give this trained killer a dose of justice for everything she¡¯s done so far. Given how much of a beating he''s been taking all night, the fact that he can finally put himself on equal footing with her is enough to build confidence. He almost doesn''t get the arcane bracer up in time and blocks the majority of the blow of violet energy that detonates on it, and sends him skidding backward, banging into a railing. Pain is his existence, and he hears Julia shout out as Val advances, grinning with pointy teeth. He''s struggling to rise as she utters her twisted lyrics. ¡°Little dragon, you think you''re strong? A piece of advice, for the doomed. I''ve slain champions and heroes, and you as well shall be entombed!¡± He manages to roll to the side and avoid that deadly blade, and it bites deep into the metal of the platform. She kicks and catches him in the torso, and it''s only his kinetic barrier that softens the blow and sends him spinning backward, denting a console filled with buzzing equipment. That hurt, and he groans in pain. ¡°Shit, the Valkyries are here! Valosterla, we can¡¯t hold this position, they¡¯re cutting through us and we can¡¯t slow them down!¡± Val is distracted by a radio chatter that sounds urgent, and gives him hope¨Cback-up is on the way, finally! He just needs to survive long enough and distract the deadliest dragoness in the room. He has to survive. He¡¯s less worried about his friends, and the radio reports are still sounding encouraging. ¡°Stand and fight until they¡¯re dead! I want that damn journal, throw bodies at the problem until I tell you to!¡± she roars into the radio. It¡¯s enough of a pause for him to get his bearings, and Luminari trickles with power in his palm. Surviving this long was already a long shot, but now there¡¯s a chance that they could end her, if they can keep picking off her soldiers. It¡¯s not looking great for them, though he saw in the corner of his eyes the defenders had taken a few losses Look Drenar, don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but she¡¯s above your level, and you know it! You aren¡¯t going to solo her! Alex¡¯s less-than-flattering assessment is met with trying to create more space, trying to figure an angle that¨C He sees his opportunity when she slices open an arcane conduit and bubbling fluid sprays out, and she has to avoid it and temporarily gets him a second of space. He reaches out to the fluid and feels a charge of energy run through his body¨Canyone else would have been fried by it, anyone but Angela, himself and Julia, and when Val commits to the attack after dodging around the bubbling conduit gel, he times his teleport so that the blow just misses him. He grabs her armor and lets loose every bit of stored energy he¡¯s got, roaring in fury. She feels it that time as her barrier shatters in an instant and she screams in pain. He uses a full-blast kinetic strike when she manages to deflect his sword strike, despite the pain, and flings her back through the arcing fluid. Unfortunately, it¡¯s a trickle now, having either sealed off or run out of the reservoir, and it doesn¡¯t hurt her as badly. ¡°Hits different, huh bitch?!¡± This feels like a small victory, and she grins. ¡°Gonna have to try a lot harder than that, Rashalda.¡± She launches a dark energy lasso that burns around his armband, burning even with the protection, and yanks him forward, to the waiting sweep of that deathly crimson sword¨C ¡°Tsunderebolt!¡± There¡¯s a sonic boom and a blast of white-blue light that splits the distance and there¡¯s a crack as Julia soars through the air while Val is winding up and hits her full in the torso, sending her staggering backward a few meters. Julia lands from the impact in a crouch, heaving heavily and a bolt had traced a rough cut across her cheek¨Cbarely a miss, and she¡¯s got her autobow pointed and she pins Val with several rounds¨Cthey all bounce off the armor and her barriers in the follow-up barrage. ¡°Welcome to a night of unforced errors, Val!¡± ¡°Hey, Julia. Get tired of shooting stormtroopers?¡± he comments while readying his weapon, and she glances at him with her charismatic grin. She gives him a charge of plasma with a quick grip on his arm ¡°Plugged a lot of them full of bolts. There¡¯s a lot less, but they''re burning through that door. So expect more cannon fodder soon,¡± she points out to the blast door that is turning bright red¨Cdragons or alchemical torches burning through it. Val leers at her, and snarls in that primal voice of hers¨Clike her dragon form is bleeding through, in small increments. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re the other brash little bitch who shot me with that infernally overpowered magical weapon,¡± Val sneers, having already picked herself up and advances. Energy dances off her arms as she sweeps forward, cutting through support girding that causes the platform above to list dangerously. ¡°Let¡¯s see how you handle up close!¡± ¡°Your funeral!¡± Julia tosses her weapon aside and blocks the diagonal strike with her newfound gauntlets, and there¡¯s a deafening ringing sound as the metal contacts, and the bracers glow bright green at the moment of impact. Val is staggered from the recoil force and Drenar lunges in, landing a superficial hit, but not penetrating through the armor. Her armor is looking more and more compromised, even as tough as it is, it is taking damage. And more than a few wounds are bleeding on her, but she¡¯s not even phased by it. She clicks a button on her wrist and a blue mist emanates on a few ports across her armor¨Cregen potion, widely distributed? He¡¯s going to have to take that as a grim note that she¡¯s got backup heals, unless he can land a deadly blow. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Which means compromising the armor is now his priority. ¡°Oh, you thought it would be that easy?¡± she says with oozing glee. ¡°Well, I could just keep poking you with holes until you finally overdose on regen potion. Or I go the highlander route and take your damn head off Val, and keep it as a trophy.¡± Julia cackles even as Valosterla swings mightily, she¡¯s moving faster, but then again, so is he. It isn¡¯t his imagination, his reaction time is down to next to nothing, and he is moving faster. A pulse of energy is coming from Luminari and into him, allowing him to move with grace and dodge those deadly swings, and evade that violet energy that Val keeps emanating outwards to try to harm him. The sword blocks her strikes effectively enough, and even negates the sheer momentum, but now she¡¯s putting up a well-thought-out defense, in between her barrage of attacks. But she¡¯s now fighting two on one. Julia ducks and dodges between her swings, and when Val gets a lucky grab on her armor vest, Julia zaps her with a blast of elemental plasma that fries something on her armor. She screams and bashes Valosterla in the face hard enough that she¡¯s sent reeling, nearly dropping her blade and crashing into a railing. Drenar sees the opening and swipes carefully at the armor ports. It¡¯s tougher in the back, but there¡¯s a spray of that glowing red fluid that seems to be powering her armor. The fluid starts leaking profusely before another port sprays a foam that rapidly hardens and cordons off the damage. They¡¯re getting there, and she swings laterally, trying to cut him in half. Julia is there to grab her from behind, and he tries to plunge Luminari through her chest, the blade awash in light. Val manages to break her grip and sidesteps the blow, and Drenar almost overcommits and meets a face full of crimson blade. It nicks past his face and it sears with pain, but it¡¯s not painful enough that he can¡¯t ignore it. Julia is sent tumbling with a heavy blow that connects against her bracers and she hits the ground, shouting in pain but is still otherwise alert. He finally sees his opportunity, blinks to point-blank range, and lances into her thigh. She screams in pain, and swerves her body to try and cleave him in half. He powers up his telekinetics and draws power from Luminari and blasts her backward, heaving at the exertion, and she stumbles over the debris of a fallen console, and damage from the structure up above. ¡°Hey, stop softening her up for me Drenar! You think I can¡¯t beat this woman into a pudding on my own?¡± Julia protests, and dodges when return fire finally finds its way in their direction¨Cthough muted. The number of offenders seems to be way less than it was before, much to his relief. The center area and that crystal spire are all heavily shielded and covered by heavy consoles and other equipment. ¡°Julia, only you could say that, when we¡¯re seconds from possible death.¡± Valosterla recovers, and he looks behind her at an imminent problem. The access bulkhead is almost melted through¨Cthey¡¯re going to have trouble on their doorstep very soon. ¡°Leave the upstart youths to me! Anyone who kills them, who isn¡¯t me, will die screaming!¡± Valosterla roars. She¡¯s instantly rebuked by the crack of autobow bolts and gunfire from up above and to the left¨Cand several of her remaining soldiers are now down for the count, or seriously wounded. Drenar advances with Luminari in hand. This might be his only chance to end it. Levine gives a grim ultimatum to Val, even as the door stops glowing, and cools¨Cwhy had the Talons stopped trying to cut through it? Did something happen outside? All he does know is that he dares a glance at his gathering friends, and the irregulars are still screaming at the Talons to drop their weapons and surrender. Kyle screams about needing medical help¨Cpossibly for others, he sounds tense, but not in pain. But the moment that brings him immense relief is when Angela and Joey hop over some of the debris, past twisted supports, broken mana crystals, and now discharged elemental gel. Angela is in decent shape and holding her longsword that has assuredly seen use, Joey looks bloodied but alert, and he feels an immense relief to see her in one piece. ¡°Wanna see if she''s gonna surrender?¡± He''d prefer to stake this woman through the heart with the sword, but it''s not just his call. Joey is the first to stand alongside him besides Julia and Angela, and she answers the question by leveling her autobow at Valosterla. This would-be goddess looks thoroughly beaten up, and leers at all of them. ¡°You know what? It¡¯s better if we don¡¯t take this genocidal dragoness alive. Just throwing that idea out there. She¡¯s the kind that takes advantage of the mercy of the mighty.¡± Joey''s on-point with her rationale, and she''s dead-steady with her weapon now aimed. He''s inclined to agree. She''s murdered family members. Innocent people. Her own men even, in fits of sheer psychosis. ¡°Hear that, Val? I think one of our team¡¯s got your plan figured out, and I¡¯m inclined to agree. But we¡¯re better than you. You need to answer for what you¡¯ve done here tonight. For Reeves. Claire. Betty. Saul. And too many others. You have to answer to the call of justice.¡± Her response is to laugh maniacally and¨Cyep, he tunes out her insane rant while he figures how much time is left. The Valkyries must be on their way, they can deal with her. Or maybe they can''t? She''s the last woman standing or not surrendered now. Luminari seems to have a particular hatred of this woman, based on the spike of energy that shoots through his arm. It feels almost pleasant, unlike when Julia zaps him on a routine basis. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy! We¡¯re the Radiant Delvers!¡± Julia quips and interrupts his thought, and Angela groans. ¡°That title was so five minutes ago. We have got to come up with a new one!¡± Angela looks like even she is ready to murder this wanna-be goddess. But her declaration also spurs his memory. ¡°We already have one.¡± Drenar smiles faintly when the idea pops up. ¡°And I think it¡¯s gonna stick, Val.¡± The words come without resistance. He''s known them for a long time. They''ve been with him since the beginning, six years ago. His mother knew about the heroes she descended from, and carried on their legacy...in her own way. Even though she never wanted this for him and Evan...she had the forethought to realize that he,too, could carry on the will of those that came before--the legend that was spun around them, and their daring victories in the face of impossible odds. ¡°We¡¯re the Luminaires. The light to shine the way. A beacon to a better tomorrow.¡± This doesn''t get him the reaction he expects, and there''s a darkness that seems to permeate the air. There''s a trickle of dread, but not from him. It''s distant, and, is that¡­Joey''s emotions are coming through again? There is more to this psionic link than she either knows about or has training on, of that he''s certain. Val¡¯s expression turns malevolent, tinged with hatred. She gnashes her teeth and her piercing red eyes bear down on him, and his friends. She must have something left up her sleeve, or she''s determined to fight this to the end. ¡°No, Rashalda. The Luminaires are gone. They¡¯re dead and buried, and they¡¯re never coming back! Crosomer never had the will or the strength to do what was necessary, just like you don¡¯t have the strength to do what is necessary here! I just want you to know, it¡¯s been fun tonight, truly. But now, it¡¯s time for you and your upstart friends to die.¡± That malicious, inhuman grin fills her face, more dragon than human. He can feel it, his danger sense going into overdrive. The threat is here somewhere, but where? Detonator on the strut! His eyes go wide as he realizes the threat, and sees it out of the corner of his eye. An innocent-looking white device stuck with adhesive on a strut, dangerously close to the core of the mana reactor. He doesn¡¯t think, he reacts and swerves at a superhuman pace, a kinetic grapple latching onto the device. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Joey eyeing it¨Cshe knew, and had sent him a silent warning. This psionic connection does go both ways. He has no idea what it means between the two of them, but her frantic warning buys him just the time he needs to grab the device, and pulls the book off his vest, and bind the residual adhesive to the tome. He narrows his eyes at Valosterla, already grabbing a detonator and hitting a button before anyone can react. She¡¯s fast. But not as fast as him. And he¡¯s about to put this dragoness in the grave, or barring that, soften her up to finish the job. He blasts the amalgamated journal of deadly secrets, and that explosive that is now primed, back at the dragoness who had ruined their lives, sent them on a path of having to fight battles to protect others, and answer a call to things he couldn¡¯t possibly comprehend right now. Angela gets her barrier up out of instinct and shields the gathered team. Val is wide-eyed and realizes her fatal error. He swerves to protect Joey in a snap reaction and flares his arcane barrier with whatever strength he¡¯s got left as the explosive sears light at its seams. All he knows is one thing: He has to ensure they all survive tonight, because their meeting doesn¡¯t feel like a chance anymore, even as the world becomes fire around him. He braces against the destruction wrought by the malevolent would-be goddess that¡¯s hopefully triggered her own cremation. He hears one last thing from Joey before the world goes dark. Don¡¯t die on me now¡­ Vol. 2, Ch. 122: Rise Of A Champion Silence. Silence lingered. But that silence soon faded to the sounds of a fiery inferno, and Angela gasps, eyes flying open and she sits up from her prone position, gasping for breath. Her arms feel burnt, and her clothing and armor is singed. Her skin is raw and red on her palms, and she feels the searing heat of a nearby fire. Her head is pounding, and she checks to see if anything else is badly hurt. She coughs on the noxious fumes that linger in the air, and looks around frantically, looking for answers on what just happened. She remembers Val pulling one last sadistic trick, an attempt to destabilize the whole reactor and bring it crashing down on them. Drenar somehow had reacted in time and flung the offending detonator at Val. She¡¯d gotten her barrier up in time to protect the team. She hears shouts, screams, people encouraging others to get up, but the sound is all muffled¨Clike cotton in her ears. The detonation didn¡¯t rupture her eardrums, but she still hurts all over, and bears the pain as she looks around, and sees Drenar and Joey propped against a damaged console, patches of fire are everywhere. Joey¡¯s trying to get him up, but he¡¯s burnt and groaning in pain. If he wasn''t a Maridian silver like her, he''d have been literal toast. Julia is helping up Nick, and Levine is dashing to pull one unfortunate Talons soldier away from the fire that threatened to burn him alive. The man doesn¡¯t exactly protest at this unlikely help¨Cin fact, there seems to be an unhealthy amount of burning going on everywhere. She focuses on the priority. ¡°Joey, is Drenar alright?!¡± she shouts out, and can barely hear her own voice. Joey looks in her direction, but shakes her head. Angela taps the side of her head for emphasis. Joey, how bad is he hit?! It¡¯s not bad, he¡¯s a little cooked, but nothing I can¡¯t fix! Joey grabs a canister and gets Drenar to drink it, and tosses one to Angela. Regen potion, those burns look bad, I think you took the brunt of that! Believe me, you did, Samarina says with a grunt. Angela gulps the alchemical healing agent, and feels recharged and her hearing sounds less muffled. But there¡¯s a commotion at the far end of the room: a massive thud, and the sound of scraping metal. There¡¯s a dread of knowing that familiar manic talk could only come from one source. ¡°Foolish heroes, why must you fight? You all shall die, ¡®fore you take flight!¡± She¡¯s up in an instant, and everyone else is still recovering. Levine opens fire with his rifle, but Val''s energy lash flares through the smoke, grabs the weapon and sears his arm, and flings him backward into a heap by a steel girder. He shouts in pain, and is slow to rise. The smoke dissipates just enough for Angela to look on in horror. She reaches for the weapon that isn''t there¨Cher autobow is gone, as is her sword. That manic dragoness is burnt, her armor slagged, wounds drip blood and her face¨Cthe skin is burnt on one side of her face, revealing muscle and tissue dripping. Much to her horror, the wound heals over the damaged tissue, and she''s grinning like a primeval demon, and there are too many teeth to fit into a human mouth. There is no sanity left in this monster now, and she''d just taken a point-blank explosive and walked it off. Julia swerves to grab her, but Val is quick to counter and flings her to the side with inhuman strength, and continuously drags that infernal sword. She''s wounded for sure, and Nick tries his best to fire off his rifle, but a blast of that violet energy knocks him backward, leaving him reeling in pain and secured to the floor, where the coils of energy writhe and keep him pinned. Joey turns and grabs her staff off her belt, all the intensity of the night etched on her face. Angela spots Luminari by the edge of the platform, teetering precariously, and in danger of falling to the machinery below, which is still somehow going. Val keeps advancing towards Drenar, murder draped on her half-healed face. ¡°How the hell are you still alive, you murderous diva?¡± Joey screams in outrage. Val responds by throwing a globule of energy at her, and the blast is barely parried by her staff. The mage steel glows, but isn''t burnt. Joey grabs a potion off her belt and gulps it down, and Angela reaches past burning debris, searing her arm while Val knocks Joey aside where she bangs into a railing. Val is determined to address her. She¡¯s slower, but she¡¯s still dangerous. She has to get Luminari. Because with no weapon, she''s got no chance against this monster. Val sees this motion and springs over the short distance, cleaving down towards her. She won¡¯t dodge in time. A gunshot rings out that is utterly deafening, and Valosterla is knocked off trajectory with her spell barrier flaring. The blade cleaves down by momentum alone and barely misses her, embedding into the concrete pad of the floor and tears a trench in the process. Angela turns to see the source, and it¡¯s Nick, holding the massive anti-material rifle and cycling the bolt. That antique of a rifle is powerful enough to send Valosterla skidding back three meters, where she glowers at the man who dared to interrupt her fun. ¡°Where¡¯d you get that thing, it looks older than you¨C¡± Nick cuts off her response by cycling the bolt back, and the weapon bucks against his shoulder. He grimaces from the massive recoil and the round sends Valosterla backward. Her barrier deteriorates further, but it''s still intact! He rises to a braced position, gritting his teeth. ¡°Angela, get the blade, Drenar is still hurt, hurry!¡± He only has so many of those rounds in the magazine, and Angela sees the blade teeter off the platform. She reaches out with her telekinetics, and the blade halts its drop into the precipice below. Not only does the blade seem to have a magnetic pull, it comes to her outstretched hand by instinct¨Cmore complete control than she¡¯s ever had over her telekinetics, and a surge of energy shoots up her arm. The sword practically hums in her hand, and the runes of the blade glow a muted grey-blue color. She surveils the room¨CDrenar is still down for the count, groaning, while Joey tries to get him back up to fighting shape. Levine is down, and reaching for his sidearm. Kyle is trying to get everyone moving and return fire against the few Talons soldiers still standing. The damage to this chamber is catastrophic. *CRACK* Nick just fired off his third round from his staggered position with the energy bindings trying to pull him back, but he still manages to strike true with his aim, and Valosterla is sent reeling. But her arcane barrier holds. Julia rises up and lassos Angela with plasma energy from the short distance, giving her every bit of effort. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this.¡± If this is their only way to stop this monster, then it¡¯s up to them, and she charges into the fray and Luminari feels vibrant and alive in her hands, and power surges from the edges of the blade. Is this what Drenar feels when he¡¯s holding it? This immense surge of strength, and an unwavering resolve to stop the monsters of their world? Her blade strikes true just as the fourth round staggers Valosterla, and Nick gasps as the coils tighten. Valosterla snarls at this interruption in her slaughter, and is too slow to stop Angela from skidding past that deathly swing of her infernal sword. Luminari flares with light and skims her torso, parting metal and shearing through flesh with equal ease, and bypasses the arcane barrier entirely. Valosterla screams and throws a coil of that purple energy at her, but she¡¯s moving far faster than she has any right to. Her limbs feel like coiled steel and she dances and dodges past Val''s swings. Nick fires off his last round, and shatters the arcane barrier in a shower of golden sparks, where she¡¯s laid out against a heavily damaged console, smashing the metal inwards and buckling the plating of her armor. She wheezes from the impact, but the round still didn¡¯t get through! ¡°You think I can¡¯t kill all of you?¡± she snarls, even as she creates distance and taps her wrist¨Ca trickle of regen potion splashes out of the ports but she glares at the damaged armor. She¡¯s still bleeding lightly and slashes mightily at Angela. She¡¯s too fast for this monster now, and she throws her another swipe, parting metal but not deep enough to damage her. The conduits of red liquid rupture on the armor, and Valosterla grunts. She launches a point-blank energy blast, but she deflects it with her sword, and the blast impacts the ceiling, raining chunks of debris that fall dangerously close by. Julia manages to lasso Val with her energy and holds her in position just long enough for Angela to thrust with her blade, right at an open section, and land a brutal blow at Val¡¯s abdomen, driving deep. She grasps the sword blade with her gauntleted hand and leers at her, grimacing against the pain, and smiles evilly. ¡°You¡¯re still just a little girl trying to be a hero, Shalinde. I¡¯ve shaken off worse against better foes than you.¡± She manages to extract the blade and throws Angela backward with a wave of purple sparks that emanate off her body, throwing everyone backward and leaving her skin in stinging pain all over. Val splashes a canister in the brief moment of safety for her, and clutches her abdomen. Those sparks solidify and entangle everyone, even Julia, who writhes in pain from the energy burning across her. But the bindings don¡¯t wrap around her. She throws herself back onto her feet, sword poised and ready. She''s always kept steely focus in every fight, and this is no exception. ¡°Do you know why you¡¯ll lose, Val? Because you don¡¯t have people at home waiting for you to come back safely, or friends to protect.¡± The words come from her, but she feels more than a fleeting influence from Samarina, and strafes silently, footsteps clanking against the concrete floor. All she needs is one good shot through that armor, and she can end this nightmare. ¡°You can''t ever fight against that and hope to win.¡± Val springs forward and cleaves mightily, and they''re locked in a fast-paced duel. Angela dodges and swerves beyond the reach of that deadly blade. But this monster is fighting for keeps. The mighty blade of Luminari sings with a crystalline calling, swerving through the air with lethal grace, each blow turned away or inflicting minor damage on her towering foe. Val keeps shrugging off this damage as if it doesn''t bother her. She continually surges that vile dark energy, trying to zap Angela, but she just keeps missing! That''s when she notices Luminari is glowing brighter and brighter, absorbing the blows. Is it charging from these repeated attacks? She swerves to avoid a particularly close strike, and Val roars in frustration. ¡°I''ve met Valkyries easier to kill than you lot, where does this strength come from?!¡± The fight continues to dance across the ruins of the plant, past dying foes and burning consoles, all the while the people of Asqualia grab each other and attempt to seek cover from the deadly spectacle of two apex warriors. Angela is grace and daring, dodging swings with no margin for error, while her foe is getting increasingly frustrated. What she needs to watch out for is that deadly dark energy--luckily Val has been telegraphing it quite plainly. Luminari continues to tear away at the armor--parting the plating, severing conduits, and each time she blocks that sword, the energy builds. She''s going to keep doing that! ¡°What''s the matter, my fellow kin? Having a not-so-winning night? You should go throw in the towel, limp back home, quit this silly fight!¡± she taunts in song. The energy stored in the blade is reaching a peak, and it''s practically vibrating in her hand. But how to release it¨C Val finally shoulders her and gets past Luminari, and slams Angela into a console. That gauntleted fist smashes into her, and her kinetics soften the blow. She cries out in pain, trying to push back another hit. She reels from the hit, from radiating pain that is threatening to overwhelm her. She has to put up a defense, or she''s done! There''s a charge of energy going from Luminari to her arm, down into her core, and she feels it. That shard of mana thrums with power inside her, and she grits her teeth, keeping Val''s deadly blade from cleaving down against her. She braces Luminari in a cross of blades, and she tries to drive the blade aside by brute strength, but she holds firm. Val tries to bear down and smash her again, but she grabs Val''s outstretched arm, and holds her in position. She uses her telekinetic field to hold her in place, and strains every muscle in her body against the might of this monstrosity. She''s got a maybe a few seconds before her strength gives out! You''ve got this, Angela. Power surges through her body, and gleaming crystalline scales start to emerge over her body. Fiery might fills her being, and she screams out in fury. Bright blue-white light surges from her scales, and the energy blast hits Valosterla at point-blank range and sends her flying. She impacts into the far wall, where she groans. Energy still pulses through her fingers, and Val gets up. She¡¯s still got more left, but how¨C The answer comes in the form of swinging Luminari as an extension of her will, and a beam of bright white-blue light surges from the tip of the blade and slams into Valosterla, who screams and is blown backward from the impact. She impacts the chamber wall puts a crater into the concrete. The crimson sword partially blocks the blow this time, but she¡¯s hurt, and moving slower. Angela takes a determined step forward, utterly focused on ending this threat once and for all. That power still present in the scales crawls up her arms, and she feels the presence of wings emerging from her back, involuntarily. This power that courses through her, is unparalleled. And she¡¯s only using it for one thing¨Cto end this nightmare. She advances with resolve. ¡°Valosterla Roshanikov, you desecrate our world with your violence, you tear apart families and loved ones with your cruelty. The blade of the Valkyries has judged you, and found you a blight upon the world. This is no redemption for what you''ve done, or the terrors you''ve inflicted on your victims." Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Oh, enough of this farce!¡± Valosterla rises from the now cracked and broken floor, looking particularly incensed at the situation, and everyone is up and aiming their weapons at her¨CAngela included, and a globule of that bright energy sits poised on the tip of the blade, waiting to be unleashed. ¡°You all think this changes anything? You¡¯re a stupid little girl playing a hero. That¡¯s all you¡¯ll ever be, you and the rest of your pathetic friends. I have killed Champions and goddesses before, and killing you? It¡¯ll be less effort than those. And you, Rashalda? For this slight, you, everyone you¡¯ve ever loved, and everyone you¡¯ve ever known is going to die, one at a time!¡± It¡¯s at this point that Drenar rises unsteadily, looking a little less crispy, and draws his dagger. The blade resonates with power in an audible chime, while he holds his autobow with the dagger aligned with the forward grip, and stands beside Angela, along with Joey and Julia, now free of the bindings. They look like they¡¯re fighting the pain of those burns, and he still manages to smile grimly. ¡°Val, seriously, you act like this party is over. Nah, it¡¯s just getting started. You¡¯ve just managed to piss off everyone in this room beyond belief, and it¡¯s not just me you should be worried about.¡± Val summons another globule of shimmering violet energy, and there¡¯s murder in her eyes by the way she leers at each of them in turn¨Cand Angela in particular. "And you...I can hear that ringing sound, it''s killed my song!" she accuses. ¡°Aiming to please, psycho!" She would bow mockingly, but this dragoness needs a whole lot of killing to make the world a safer place. "So how about it, Val? You claim to have killed gods and Champions, and yet, we¡¯re still standing!" ¡°I¡¯m not done hurting you yet!¡± Her words are a poisonous spell upon the air, and she glances down at her injuries, slow to fade this time. ¡°I just want you to have a glimmer of hope before I crush every one¨C¡± Angela fires off another beam of pure energy at that monologuing bitch with just enough force to obliterate the wall again, and Drenar stares at her, while she glares with righteous fury at this madwoman. She''s got plenty of energy left to turn this walking war crime into a pile of ashes, as she should. ¡°Damn, Angie, you could at least wait for her to finish the monologue!¡± She takes her focus off of Valosterla for a split second to glare into his soul. ¡°I think this experience has made you an adrenaline junkie, Drenar Tiberus Rashalda!¡± He looks mortified at this statement. ¡°Fates. You sound like my mom. And not in a good way, when you say it like that. So, uh, beam swords¡­how do I do that?¡± She focuses back on Valosterla, who still needs to be dealt with, permanently. ¡°Hell if I know. I¡¯m figuring this out as I go. Joey was right, we''re not letting her get out of this room alive." She would say that she didn¡¯t miss it, but there¡¯s a massive blast as the barricaded door to the power plant blasts inwards. The four-inch thick blast door misses Valosterla by a handful of centimeters¨Cthe fates are still being too kind to this bitch. Before they can react, several smoke grenades go off, obscuring their vision. She doesn''t hesitate and charges towards Valosterla, determined to end this threat once and for all. Drenar is sprinting with her and Julia is already firing, and Joey flings an alchemical canister that detonates in a controlled blast, dissipating the smoke. She dashes through the smoke and slashes with pent-up fury at the translucent barrier that has now separated her from the monsters. King is standing there in his armor with a small contingent of armored knights, weapons readied but not firing. The barrier doesn''t yield, but it does crack. King peers at them in turn, his hand on a remote, and nods slowly. ¡°This battle is at an end, Shalinde. Consider yourselves the victors.¡± Valosterla rises unsteadily from her staggered position, and leers at him angrily. ¡°Where have you been?!¡± Val snarls, and hefts that blade of hers in a decidedly threatening way at her partner in crime. Maybe they¡¯ll kill each other. That would be fitting, Samarina suggests. No. This monster has to die by our hands, Sam. We can''t bank on that. She murdered your children. That''s what you said, right? She slaughtered those under my care. I was too weak to stop her, Angela. It is the regret I have carried ever since I came back into this world, once I recognized her. She tenses and tries to slash at the barrier again, and it cracks further. King responds by clicking another button, and the shield flares with intensity. With deadpan calm, even! ¡°I¡¯ve been holding off the Valkyries, Val. If you insist on engaging further, you will be overwhelmed and killed to a man. We are withdrawing. The outcome of this battle has been decided, and it is not in our favor.¡± Valosterla almost brings the sword in for a slash, but hesitates. King regards all of them with a slight bow. ¡°Well done, heroes. But this is a small tactical loss on a bigger playing field. I still have contingencies." ¡°King, let the barrier down. I will slaughter them all!¡± Val screams. He tilts his head and sighs. ¡°Do not make the mistake of choosing a hill to die on, Val. Focus on the bigger picture.¡± Angela narrows her eyes at this fiend, should she play to the chaos? King has some other game he''s playing, and Julia had been vague in her recollection of what had happened at the teleportal chamber. There is more to this man than his immediate actions. ¡°Just gonna slink away, nurse your wounds, and come back and kill us later?¡± Angela growls. She swings again at the barrier and Luminari flares with light, cracking it again. King adjusts his disheveled armor vest. Even now, this man has time for composure? She''d almost applaud his bravery against the half-dragon, supercharged teenager she''s become--and that''s a sentence she never thought would ever enter her mind. ¡°Like we''re letting that happen,¡± Drenar chimes in, weapon held ready and aimed at King. ¡°I told you what would happen if you defended her, King. You decided to ignore my warning.¡± ¡°Everyone still has a role to play, Rashalda. Even Val.¡± Val responds to this indignity by growling at her savior, and he drops down a tri-folded plating set, as does one of the armored knights. ¡°Don¡¯t judge too harshly. After all, the broken men you''ve left in your wake in the past week would say that you indeed, are the monster.¡± ¡°King, we¡¯re sacrificing men to exfiltrate you and the VIP while you chit-chat, it''s time to go!¡± One of the knights barks, and rips off his helmet to reveal a man with close-cropped blond hair, a scar on his nose, and soft blue eyes, and he''s incensed at the delay. King acknowledges him with a soft sigh. ¡°King, we¡¯re gonna have a flock of very pissed-off Valkyries in our face in about thirty seconds! We need to go!¡± ¡°I''m not done here King, I''ll slaughter them¨C¡± Val is finally silenced by that stony gaze of disapproval from King, and she''s more than guided onto the charged one-time-use teleportal pad where she disappears, along with three of the other heavily armored soldiers. King breathes a sigh of relief. ¡°Thank you for the candor. I will be cleaning up her mess for a while, but I still need her alive.¡± His words are more than restrained, Angela notices, and he clenches his jaw tightly. ¡°You already have another right-hand man? I guess Lavernius didn''t mean anything to you,¡± Julia snipes after pointing to the unhelmeted knight, and King turns to her, a somber look in his eyes. It''s the closest thing Angela''s seen in him that resembles remorse. ¡°You and Val have something to chat about, later.¡± ¡°I already know.¡± The defeat in his voice is almost palpable. ¡°And I will never forgive her for it.¡± ¡°Sucks, doesn''t it? Losing someone you care about hurts in places you can¡¯t reach. Now you know what that feels like, King.¡± It''s the most vicious thing she''s ever heard Drenar utter. He''s tensed and ready to jump in to kill these fiends, if that barrier wasn''t in the way. King says nothing to the venomous question. ¡°You keep playing this game, King, you will always lose. Always. The only winner in her mind is herself. And she will kill everyone on her path to power.¡± ¡°Roland! Ten seconds!¡± his associate screams out and has the teleportal primed and ready. King reluctantly steps onto the platform as shouts and the sound of heavy bootstraps approach the smoke-filled doorway. King takes one last look at them, and nods. ¡°One parting piece of advice, Champions. By the time you realize the truth¡­it''ll be too late. I would say farewell, but¡­it''s just until we meet again.¡± King disappears in a flash of light, and Angela slumps, all the energy, all the fight suddenly going out of her. Drenar looks like he''s finally run out of steam, but still has enough to grab her before a bout of dizziness sends her to the floor. Julia is leaning on Joey, and she doesn''t look too steady either. There''s a deep gash in her leg that she hasn''t addressed. Angela looks down at herself ¨Csmall wounds cover her from a night of nonstop battle, and it feels like Val had possibly bruised a rib and burned her torso, just a little. The crystalline scales are gone, as are her emergent wings. That one, is still beyond her. But she''s alive. They''re all alive. And it''s all she ever could have asked for. ¡°Is¡­is everyone alright?¡± Nick looks like he has significant energy burns on his arms and one across his neck, and he rubs at it gingerly before tossing the cumbersome rifle aside, and grabbing his sidearm to address the incoming traffic. His left arm is limp, and he grimaces when he touches it. ¡°Levine was right. Broke my damn shoulder firing that thing.¡± ¡°Told ya¡­the math wasn''t in your favor.¡± Levine rises past the debris and looks unsteady, and Kyle skidded down from the debris pile to address a wound on his head. Angela can hear one last lingering note from Luminari, a calming note that lets her know the danger is finally, finally over. She more than gently wraps her arm around Drenar, and lets out a soft sigh. ¡°Did we win here?¡± He runs his free hand through his messy hair, and all that fury is gone from his eyes. He spends more than a second contemplating her question. ¡°If by winning, you mean, not dying by the end of the week, Angie, and ensuring a lot of people get home safely to their loved ones? Then yeah. This feels like a win. And we really needed one.¡± ¡°Guys¡­no one won tonight.¡± Joey''s somber assessment while she stands by Angela¡¯s side feels like she''s losing her composure, and she hands Luminari to Drenar before putting a reassuring arm at Joey''s back. She''s trembling slightly, and she needs reassurance more than anyone else in the room besides maybe Kyle. Internally¡­it''s taking her all not to fall apart, the way she keeps herself just shy of sobbing. ¡°No. But what we did here Joey¡­by all rights, no one should have walked away alive on our side. It''s a small miracle.¡± A flash of silver and brass through the smoke, armor glowing with illuminated golden runes on their greaves and armlets, and their seamless dispersal into the room, lets Angela know the real heroes are here finally. The Valkyries sweep into the room, grace and daring rolled into one. They wear a combination of a soft shell outer armor like the modern military, with rigging, and straps keeping their equipment secured. Heavy brass and silver breastplates protect their core and hips, and their wing-tipped helmets that are a dusty bronze color are their signature amongst the haze of the room. The armor flows with their movements effortlessly and without encumbrance. The Valkyries almost seem too surreal for her brain to register, and they move with ethereal grace, stopping to help the wounded, and shout with focused fury at the fallen foes to lay down their arms or meet a swift and deadly fate. Their motions are flawless, their training unmatched in how they move in perfect unison. And the one that closes to meet them, standing tall and ripping off her helmet, and almost breaking down in tears, is the one she''d expected. She has all too familiar matted black hair and shimmering blue eyes, and she looks at all of them, out of words for what she is witnessing, and her lip trembles. Julia smiles faintly, while still being supported by Joey. ¡°Hi, mom. I think we¡¯re all in deep shit when we get home, but¡­I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here now.¡± Kiera closes and gives her daughter a tight hug amidst the commotion in the room. More Valkyries arrive and secure the room. She motions for all of them to gather, and grabs Drenar and Julia at once. There are a few soft words between them that Angela can''t make out¡­and maybe that small moment should stay between them. Even she isn''t spared a vice-like hug of love and affection by the mighty warrior, coated in grime, dirt, dust, and blood. Kiera hasn''t had an easy time in their hasty rescue mission. ¡°We''re here now, kids. We''re going home.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 123: Yes, Even Dragons Need Triage... Well, this is just a really awful day, and I hurt all over. Julia taps gently on the cushioned seat in the impromptu triage unit, while Valkyries and SAF medics gently look them over. Drenar is being seen for his various injuries, along with Angela. Kyle¡¯s wound had also gotten a look over, and they concluded that their emergency care had been adequate. Meanwhile, one of the Valkyries had pulled her to a separate room to check her bruised and beaten body. Joey had steadfastly refused to leave Angela¡¯s side, so they were in a private room. Even with her focused draconic hearing, she couldn¡¯t make it out quite fully, but Angela seemed to be in a modicum of pain. At least, the prognosis was positive. Meanwhile, she¡¯s relieved to be receiving much-needed medical care from the woman in lighter armor who has been meticulous with checking her wounds. She has soft brown hair and light brown eyes hidden behind her visor. Even when they''re doing this kind of work, it surprises her how tightly they guarded their appearance. ¡°Turn, please.¡± Gentle hands check on the various bruises, and those annoying energy burns that are angry red on her torso and creep up past her right breast. Her mother has at least given her privacy for a moment, while the woman helps apply a salve to take the edge off the pain, and help with the wounds. Cracked and blistered skin is going to ruin her beach days, she thinks with a soft sigh when she looks down at herself. Her whole body is a tapestry of hurts, and it still doesn¡¯t hurt worse than the sterile smell of antiseptic, the bland decorum of this small medical room, or the fact that her life is about to enter a whole new layer of trouble. Julia sets all that aside and just looks down at the various wounds. ¡°How does it look?¡± It¡¯s the first few words she has uttered in a few minutes, and the cramping, painful feeling in her arms holding up her shirt reminds her that this pain she¡¯s endured, was done so others wouldn¡¯t have to. ¡°Do you uh¡­have a name?¡± ¡°Thormir. The name is sort of a love fusion between my Nordic father, and my mother from Russia,¡± the woman says lightly, and probes at her rib. She winces and sucks in her breath from the sharp spike of pain. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s a bruised rib, but not broken. The energy burns will fade quickly, you¡¯re lucky as an Auran Goldback that you have substantial resistance against this kind of damage.¡± "But not complete immunity. Ow." Every movement is painful, and the thing that Joey is gently reminding her and the others about regen potions is rather obnoxious. They don¡¯t heal every single injury, and certainly not all at once. The associated pain suppression that she¡¯d attributed to the magical concoction, while dulled, made her aware that she''d been burnt, shot, sliced, bruised, beaten, and fallen into a chilly underground river. She groans at the onslaught of pain in her aching limbs¨Cthis is almost as bad as the mental anguish she¡¯s facing, along with the others. Gauze gets wrapped around the wounds. Thormir is very graceful, and there¡¯s only mild discomfort as the last of the wraps go around. She won¡¯t be wearing a bikini for a while¨Cthen again, who¡¯s she trying to impress? Drenar? She glances out at the room across the commons area where she can see him getting treated. He looks beat to hell all over, almost as bad as she does. Or worse. She looks down, and puts a hand to her chest. She¡¯s not small per se, but¡­physical attraction has never been a thing between the two of them. It¡¯s something different. An emotional bond. We¡¯re more like a brother and sister, than friends who grew up together. She lets out a soft sigh that doesn¡¯t go unnoticed, and Thormir follows her gaze out the window. It¡¯s not hard to tell who she was thinking about. ¡°Boy trouble? He¡¯s okay, you know, he¡¯s in good hands.¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s not that.¡± Putting it in words¡­putting her feelings into some form that the world could hear, would mean the end. She¡¯s always entertained the idea that Drenar and her might come together at some point. And they almost did. Right before that day. The day that had derailed everything. He needed someone who understood what he felt. Even more than her. Someone who could snap him out of that far-away gaze he had sometimes, trying desperately to put that day in the back of his mind as best he could. That haunted look. And she has a feeling she knows who that is¨Cthat cinnamon-flavored alchemist who is a respectable badass in her own way. Her gaze looks past the bruised and bloodied reflection, hair still covered in spider viscera, and toward where her twin soul is recovering. He¡¯s grimacing against someone checking his ribs. She licks her lips before the words come to her. ¡°He''s¡­had an unfathomably rough time, Thormir. And I might have pushed him too hard. I don''t want to think about what we had to do, to come out of that disaster alive¨C¡± ¡°What you did, along with your friends, would have been a tall order. Even for a Valkyrie,¡± Thormir says softly, and pulls off the latex gloves with a soft snap. ¡°The fact that you were there for each other, speaks volumes. You, the SAF fellas, and the staff of Asqualia.¡± ¡°Then why doesn''t it feel like a win?¡± she asks bitterly. All she wants to do is curl up next to him, and tell him that things are going to be okay. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m not trying to be bitchy, but I have no idea how long I can keep my head held high.¡± Thormir nods and glances out the pane of glass. Her mother is out there, too, coordinating Valkyries, and even some of the senior SAF personnel. She¡¯s never seen her mother looking so worn down. She must have unfathomable stamina to be a warrior of legend, and still have the energy to raise a teenage daughter alone. She winces, and her head lowers. Dad, you must have known. But you never tried to dissuade me from training, trying to be like you. Thormir¡¯s presence gets her attention, before she steps back from the glass. ¡°I know it looks bad. I saw the promenade earlier in the week, and it was beautiful, in these early fall days. Now¡­now it is bloodstained, tainted by those monsters. I¡¯m glad the Valkyries are not the only ones who can stop these killers from inflicting their horrific violence on others.¡± Julia stretches and gasps¨Cwounds protest at the motion, and she rubs at the bindings gently. That had been a rather silly move that she normally does, when she¡¯s thinking. ¡°Yeah, we were, um, stopping the Talons all week.¡± She says the words she¡¯s been dreading, because she knows she can¡¯t go back to any semblance of normal life after the past few weeks. ¡°I killed some of them. I don¡¯t feel a single shred of remorse for them. I did what my dad would have done in my place, and put them down for the monsters they were, and for what they¡¯ve done, for the lives they stole from everyone.¡± Her hands are still as steady as when she¡¯d shot the first Talons soldier in the teleportal room¨Cbruised fingers, but still flat calm. ¡°Tell me that¡¯s not normal. To not have any lasting shame or regret about neutralizing foes.¡± Thormir looks at her and kneels for a moment. She thought she was just swabbing at her bruised knuckles. She holds her hand steady, her gaze soft and assuring. ¡°It¡¯s¡­not always easy for everyone. For some, they have the fortitude to look at their actions, and measure in lives saved, lives protected. And not view success as the number of foes fallen.¡± There¡¯s no judging from Thormir, at least, not that she can tell, and she puts a hand firmly on her shoulder. There¡¯s a warm smile hinted at behind her visor. ¡°You should stay close to your friends, Julia. I think you all will need to be there for each other in the coming days. The realization won¡¯t hit you for a day, maybe two. But when it does, It¡¯ll be like the world bearing down on you.¡± She lets out a soft breath behind her magitech visor. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid to find a shoulder to cry on, dear. Because you will need it. Now, I¡¯ve taken care of most of your injuries, your wrist is also possibly sprained¨C¡± ¡°Nope, I¡¯ll be alright. I¡¯m not wearing a sling,¡± she states, before softens her expression. ¡°But¡­thank you. I just don¡¯t ever want to turn into an utter psychopath like Val.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t. Just remember the lives saved, and those who no longer face terrors in their sleep, and you¡¯ll be alright.¡± Thormir''s resolve filles with confidence that it¡¯s not all dour. She hastily puts on a rather plain-looking jacket to ward off the cool interior air, and she zips it up to hide the bandages over her battered body. Those gauntlets of hers¨Cthey¡¯d given her enough strength to stand toe to toe with Val, and deflect that deadly blade. They¡¯re now subtly disguised as a pair of faint green bracelets on her arms. At least she¡¯ll always have them close by. Her boots are intact too, and she scruffs at the nondescript commercial carpet. She looks back to Thormir. ¡°Am I good to go? I want to go check up on my friends.¡± Thormir nods and gestures to the main room. ¡°Alright, you¡¯re already close to the maximum for regen potions¨Cyour alchemist friend knows her stuff, for the record. She did a really good job.¡± She sees Joey sitting next to James in the commons, along with Evan and Jackie. There¡¯s a strange mix of bedfellows out there. That had been the other commotion. James, Evan, and Jackie beeline to them at the medical center. Thankfully, Kelly was still with her family. She doesn¡¯t want to have to face that today, she doesn¡¯t want to be the one to tell her that her father is dead. She fiddles with the bracelet¨Cif only she¡¯d been a little stronger. Maybe she could have convinced Lavernius to run. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. But she¡¯ll never know now. He chose to sacrifice his life for the lives of his coworkers¨Cfor her and Joey. Even with his prior actions and the way he mercilessly executed men as a means of neutralizing a danger, she can¡¯t hate him. Because in the end¡­he¡¯d been focused on saving lives, in his own way. The hard question is¡­should Kelly know his final moments? I¡¯ll tell her. Even though it¡¯s going to be hard. She wipes away a hint of moisture at the corner of her eye before she pushes the glass door open and walks out of the makeshift triage room. Her boots scuff against the carpet¨Cshe feels like her limbs are lead weights. James sees her, and runs up to her to hug her¨Ca decidedly affectionate move for a teen who normally has the emotional drive of a slab of wood. She grunts as the motion flares up half her wounds, but she still puts her hands gently around him. Of all of them, he¡¯s still steadfast in the face of truly insurmountable odds. But Joey had made the right call¨Che would have died in that firefight, for sure. ¡°Don¡¯t you guys ever leave me out of the fight again.¡± Those are the first words she''s heard him say since they were all reunited at the medical center. She just doesn¡¯t have the heart to push back this time, and leans on him for a moment. ¡°James, you missed one hell of a spectacle. We put that scaly bitch in her place.¡± ¡°Of course you did. I wouldn¡¯t have expected anything less when it comes to you. Drenar should be out in a bit¡­but, what about Angela?¡± ¡°James, she¡¯ll be okay. You have my word on that.¡± Julia¡¯s quiet tone manages to break through the general ambient commotion of doctors, paramedics, and Valkyries still administering aid to the wounded. Some were from the attack earlier in the day. Others were those transported from Nick¡¯s barn, where they brought the staff of Asqualia to safety. ¡°She¡¯s just exhausted, and in a lot of pain.¡± ¡°Joey was saying some¡­weird stuff happened.¡± She peeks over James¡¯ shoulder to see Joey peering at her, hands held up and wavering up and down. She¡¯s got no way to explain this one to him this time. ¡°And, the sword¨Cit worked for her, too?¡± ¡°It did. Angela held that monster at bay while we were all incapacitated. She did something truly impossible, James. I wish you could have seen it. She put Val in her place that even Drenar couldn¡¯t.¡± She spends a few minutes recapping everything that happened after he was ported out to safety, and then he fills her in on the goings-on. Kiera had been livid with him, to put it mildly. Many colorful deaths had been promised for her, Drenar, Evan, and pretty much everyone involved. Her mother is still tied up talking logistics with several officers and hasn¡¯t noticed she¡¯s out and about. She¡¯d rather not rush this one, because that cut that she doesn¡¯t remember getting is painful on her right leg. James finally guides her down, and she doesn¡¯t feel like protesting this time. The bench is worn, and feels scratchy on her hands¨Cguess mages don''t have any place to order furniture from other than office overstock. ¡°So uh¡­anyone got a fix on just what happens next?¡± ¡°We get grounded for eternity, and the Talons hunt us until we''re dead?¡± Evan suggests. He''s holding hands with Jackie¨Cseriously, the bitch made him into filets a couple of weeks ago, and they''re holding hands? She''s got no idea what happened between the time they went into Asqualia, and she doesn''t have the mental fortitude to unpack this one. She just rolls her eyes in response. ¡°You look like you took on the army, Tsundere.¡± ¡°I did.¡± She could mention she''d shot several men, fried a bunch more, fired a fifty caliber heavy machine gun in a moment of utter badassery, had a hand in plasma wrestling with a massive spider, and fought Valosterla in a close-quarters brawl, but that might be too much. ¡°It takes a lot more than an army to kill me.¡± ¡°How you can look at this with any levity, is beyond me.¡± Jackie sighs and rubs a cut across her arm¨Cresidual damage from the firefight early in the day, and her face is bruised. ¡°You know, you two might have just saved Jonaleth''s life? Because, if you hadn''t done what you did and gotten him locked up with SAF, he''d have gone lockstep down into Asqualia with the rest of the killers probably.¡± ¡°I''d have killed him if he did, Jackie. Too many good people died down there.¡± She wants to just curl up on the bench and do nothing other than huddle next to her friends right now¨Cor the strange frenemy now sharing the seating. ¡°I think there''s been enough of that for one day. I''m gonna go check on Drenar, mind if you give me a few minutes?¡± Joey asks before rising from the seat. She waves a hand carefree. ¡°Just promise me you''re not gonna harvest his organs if he''s beyond repair,¡± Julia responds gruffly. Joey chuckles softly. ¡°I prefer living subjects, Julia. Besides, every pint of his blood yields about six regen potions.¡± She raises an eyebrow in response. ¡°He¡¯s not a blood bank.¡± She might have to set some limits to dragon science, because even Drenar has his limits. A mobile blood bank might be pushing it. ¡°Hey, I know a baker that can supply cookies and juice for extra donations. I¡¯ll give you a cut of the proceeds, ten percent, to convince him?¡± Joey grins evilly at this suggestion. Julia bursts out laughing at this¨Cthis sassy alchemist has bite! ¡°Twenty-five,¡± she counters as she leans into this idea, and James groans while Joey¡¯s eyes light up. She really wants to know what the deal is with those lavender eyes, and why James only saw blue! ¡°Oh dear Fates, are we negotiating Drenar as a medical life-saving donor factory? I have objections to this lapse in ethics, and you are more terrifying than Tsundere!¡± James accuses Joey, who smiles coyly. ¡°Besides, who do you know who''s a baker?¡± A new voice breaks up the discussion. ¡°Hey uh, guys¡­what are you all fixated on?¡± Julia glances over, and Drenar is coming out of the room, bandages and bruises, but stoic in the face of injury. Even smiling faintly. She walks over to him and even despite the aching pain in her body, gives him a reassuring hug. ¡°Ah, nothing you need to worry about for a couple of days.¡± His protest of mild pain is followed by a heartfelt sigh. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s take a day off. You know, before the nightmares and screaming matches kick in. Let''s not make this a thing again anytime soon, yeah?¡± He peers around the room, as if taking count. ¡°Where are Nick and Levine?¡± he asks. ¡°You know, before we need to start explaining ourselves to the Valkyries?¡± ¡°Nick broke his shoulder on the last round of that monster weapon of his. Volkir was helping him and Levine, they''re down the hall,¡± James explains, and his expression softens. ¡°Are you still carrying that thing?¡± He points to the hilt of Luminari peeking over his shoulder. ¡°I will keep my equipment from now on. Hey Tsundere, I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re still standing.¡± She smiles faintly at this. ¡°Like I''d let you be the last one standing, Drenar.'''' She has a feeling that if even he can keep upbeat, after a night of untold horrors, then there is hope. There is a tomorrow for so many others, because of their daring, bravery¡­and maybe a little recklessness thrown in. ¡°Don''t mind me not calling you champion or anything. You fought like a damn Colosseum warrior.¡± ¡°Likewise. Now we''ve got the hard part ahead. Dealing with¡­well, everything that happened. And probably an unfathomably large pile of paperwork.¡± James lets out a soft huff. ¡°That¡¯s the hard part of heroics. Unfathomable, hellish paperwork." ¡°Screw them. They can wait a day. I think we''ve all earned that at a minimum," she responds back to him. Everyone else chimes in quietly--they''d need an army to separate them. ¡°No matter what they say¡­we stick together, alright?¡± ¡°Like I''d let them ever split us up.¡± That warm smile of his, is all the assurance she needs from him to know they''ve got this. This night isn''t the end. It''s the start of something new. Bold. Daring. And right. Even the wayward glance she sees over Drenar''s shoulder of her mother, and a slight nod and a light smile, tells her that¡­despite the danger¡­ ¡­She''s proud of them. Vol. 2, Ch. 124: "Theres No Such Thing As Goodbyes..." We survived. So did that monster. Drenar is staring at a drop tile ceiling, and taking a much needed moment to just breathe. His body is one stitched together existence of pain, and mentally processing this is hard enough. King walked right in, and let that fiend get away alive. Even after she killed Lavernius. Either he¡¯s a die-hard believer in whatever endgame he¡¯s got cooking up, or we¡¯re worried about the wrong foe, Alex. Sleep isn''t coming to him, and he knows it. Small flashbacks to the entirety of the night kept creeping into the corners of his mind. That first man he knew died by his hand. The glistening of blood on the blade as that man looked right at him and knew there was no hope for him when he sliced through a ribcage. Falling to the floor with a meaty thud. That feeling, knowing his life ended, bleeding out on the floor. But at least it had been a swift death. A small consolation, in his mind. And that wasn¡¯t even the worst of it. That cold, creeping feeling of the water from the fall. Drowning. One final conversation with his mother before his brain would shut down¡­and his only reaction is to stare at the ceiling, where the lights have been dimmed for those of them in the medical center. That feeling in his chest¡­he rubs uneasily at the bindings under the long-sleeved shirt someone had lent him. His clothes from the day had been utterly ruined, and his armor set had also taken a beating. Bruises, cuts, burns¡­it¡¯s been only the second hardest day of his life. Drenar? I¡¯m here, Alex. He sits up wordlessly, and tries to ignore all the aches and pains¨Cand Julia pinning him down on the cot. Angela is on another cot nearby, along with the rest of them. Everyone is beyond their exhaustion point. But, Joey is sitting there silently, talking to James, of all people at a table a short distance away. They both have a cup of coffee, and she turns to stroke Kyle¡¯s hair¨Che¡¯s a mess of injuries, too, even with the armor he¡¯d worn. I¡¯m just still taking it in. The things I saw. The things I did. It can consume you if you let it. Focus on the important part: you saved lives, Drenar. You put others'' safety as a priority. That is the only thing you need to hold onto for the day. He could see everything going on replay inside his head, and understood exactly what bothered him the most. We didn''t kill Val. The danger isn''t over. The rest...I can live with. He clenched his hand gently, all bruises and aches. We¡¯ll get Val someday. If you¡¯d tried to take her down now, as you are, you might have died. Everyone might have died. But you proved one thing to her: you can stand on equal footing with her, and survive. Something even Lyssa would be proud of. Alex¡¯s firm words bring a modicum of relief. But¡­there¡¯s still so much of the day he doesn¡¯t want cropping up. Home isn''t safe now, so the medical center is now their place of temporary sanctuary. Kiera had rolled in everything for the survivors and those needing treatment, and she is still talking to others in one of the conference rooms in the adjacent office, fortunately, undisturbed by the previous mage battle in the day. She¡¯s furious. Possibly at SAF, possibly at the lack of intervention, or the fact that some SAF members might have looked the other way during the attack? He only catches snippets of the conversation. She¡¯s focused on making sure those injured survive their wounds, and finding every Talon soldier responsible for the atrocities of the day. Eventually, people filter out. Now, Kiera is talking quietly to someone. He can''t hear it too well, but it might be Levine. He catches a few snippets, but...they sound a lot closer than people who had only a few fleeting crossing of paths. He''s really going to have to dig into that one, later. But Levine has nerves of steel under fire, of that, there''s no doubt. He manages to shift Julia over a little bit, and she mumbles in her sleep, trying to hold onto him, but she does relent a little when he lets out a reassuring whisper. ¡°I¡¯m just going to walk around for a bit. I won¡¯t be long.¡± He doesn¡¯t know where he¡¯s going, and James waves to him over at the table on the far side, where he and Joey are still having a cup of coffee. The smell of cinnamon is prevalent¨Cand he¡¯s pretty sure it might be from her, and not just the hot liquid sitting at the table. ¡°Hey, you guys holding up okay?¡± ¡°Just¡­processing a lot of things.¡± James is almost hunched over the table, cradling a mug gently and looking like he¡¯s aged visibility over the past few weeks. ¡°How are you not comatose right now, Drenar? After everything you went through?¡± He''s still at a loss how he''s still functioning, too. ¡°Too much to unpack. Do you guys mind if I¡ª¡± ¡°Here, grab a seat.¡± Joey almost commandingly pulls him next to her on the impromptu bench, and he sees her face has lit up a little in his presence. She reaches out to his face, as if to examine him. ¡°Damn, that villainess did a number on you. The bruising is starting to show up.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind not looking glamorous. All I care about is that we all made it out in one piece. And we saved as many people as we could.¡± He glances over to Kyle, who is mumbling something in unwelcoming sleep. ¡°How¡¯s he taking it? Reeves was a friend of his?¡± ¡°They were mates at the academy. Kyle got the job here, because of Reeves. And now he¡¯s gone.¡± Joey winces and turns briefly to look at Kyle, the dim lighting illuminating her messy hair, bruises, and her still mostly intact armored jacket. though he can see a silvery mesh metal insert at a place or two where the fabric outer shell is torn. ¡°He¡¯s not going to be okay. Not for a long time.¡± ¡°Joey, we¡¯ll get that monster someday. You have my promise on that,¡± Drenar vows with determination. After a few seconds, she nods, all her focus on the cup of coffee in her hand. ¡°I know we will, Drenar. But we can¡¯t be consumed by hatred. It''s like you said, we need to bring tranquility to the terrorized. And to defend the defenseless.¡± She cups her mug and takes a light slip, and that dazzle persists in her lavender eyes. ¡°I guess you might be rubbing off on me a little bit, in a good way. James was telling me that before this, you were about as plainly vanilla as you can get.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± He glances sideways at James, who nods, though his glasses are missing¨Ca likely casualty of being smashed, or lost along the way. ¡°Telling tall tales about me?¡± ¡°Sheesh. Like I would ever need to embellish anything about you.¡± He points to the medical center across the street, past the trees glowing lightly with blue lines across the bark and fiery leaves, past the colorful trimmed hedges, somehow untouched by the violence earlier in the day. ¡°What about your friend, Claire?¡± Joey taps her coffee mug calmly, before the faintest glimmer of a smile comes through. ¡°She¡¯ll be okay. Took a bolt to the gut and kept going. She¡¯s tenacious, I give her that,¡± Joey says firmly, head tilted curiously at Drenar. ¡°You know, she¡¯s alive because you were daring enough to face down a dragon on foot. That was so reckless.¡± He shrugs softly¨Codds never mattered much to him anyway. They were just numbers to keep people from trying to do and achieve the impossible and improbable. ¡°Joey, I can assure you, reckless isn¡¯t in my nature. Despite what Julia will say,¡± he adds with a chuckle that causes a rib to protest. He rubs at it gingerly below his thin shirt. ¡°You guys can¡¯t sleep, either?¡± ¡°Nah. I¡¯m worried about what happens when I close my eyes. I smashed people into pudding with golems, Drenar. Set a few people on fire, too. Among other things,¡± James says glumly. His hair is a disheveled mess and there''s a gloom in his expression that tells him that James is barely holding it together. He glances over his shoulder, where Angela is leaning next to Julia, stirring slightly in her sleep¨Cthose silver scales are gone, but their impact isn''t. ¡°Now we¡¯re all killers, Drenar. What have we become?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not killers. We defended others when the people who were supposed to protect them, didn''t. They were betrayed, or the proper authorities dropped the ball through sheer incompetence,¡± he states. It feels right to say those words and believe them. ¡°Joey, I see that look, too. I know you said that Curtis betrayed you, and you should never feel ashamed when we¡¯re protecting others who can¡¯t fight back, or defending our own lives.¡± ¡°I know you mean that, Drenar. I know you certainly believe in it. But I know that when I close my eyes, I¡¯m going to see the tattered remains of Curtis, a dragon perforated with razor-sharp mana shards, and an unhealthy amount of spiders. Well, I guess killing monsters doesn¡¯t count, since you really can¡¯t reason with something that views you as food.¡± It¡¯s a small lightening of her mood. ¡°I think I¡¯ll be okay, in time¡­I¡¯ve faced monsters before, Drenar. I¡¯ve killed some. Nick could tell you more.¡± Nick is currently resting on a cot, arm in a sling, looking just about as beat up as the rest of them. His burns were significant enough that Joey was a little worried before medics had treated him. ¡°Killing Kin¡­that¡¯s never going to sit well with me." She seems to curl up a little at that, and her eyes look down at the table. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t sit well with anyone. We didn¡¯t make this situation Joey, we did what we thought was right. The burden is purely on those who marched in here with guns drawn.¡± She doesn¡¯t say anything for a second, and rubs her hand uneasily on the coffee mug. ¡°I know you lost people, Joey. I can¡¯t imagine what this is like, other than my loss six years ago.¡± ¡°Kyle¡­lost Reeves. There were a few other people I knew, but¡­not as well as Claire or Reeves.¡± She points to one of the far rooms, where Levine had been recovering from the wound to the head, possibly concussed, more than it was safe to use regen potion for. ¡°Zameren isn¡¯t taking this well. I caught a glimpse where he was talking to Levine. Bawling his eyes out. He kept it in as long as he could, once everyone was out of danger.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± She lets out a soft sigh, and reaches for his hand on the table, and runs her fingers along his bandaged hand. ¡°Joey, I know you¡¯ve got some turmoil going on upstairs, too.¡± James clears his throat softly. ¡°Hey, um¡­I¡¯m gonna go try to get some sleep, okay? I¡¯m gonna go grab a cot.¡± Drenar nods. ¡°Yeah, if you can, man.¡± James heads over a short distance, to a room hastily set aside for people to rest. They''re alone¨Cfor the moment. Her posture slumps a little¨Chas she just been trying to put on a brave face for the others? ¡°I¡¯m still processing what this all means. And it¡¯s just too much for any one person to handle at once.¡± She sets her mug down and traces her fingers errantly on the grain of the wooden table. ¡°How do you do it?¡± She focuses on him, eyes alight with that strangely beautiful eye color. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Keep the brave face going, when everything is falling apart. Because it''s been the hardest thing I''ve ever had to do.¡± She¡¯s weary, overtired, and injured. Luckily her head wound hadn¡¯t been bad, and she winces when she puts a hand to it. ¡°I keep a brave face, because¡­¡± he trails off, and the words don¡¯t come for him easily this time. But they do come after he draws on his limitless wellspring of willpower. ¡°Because I don¡¯t know if anyone else will if I don¡¯t. I don¡¯t know why everyone started listening to me. I certainly don¡¯t know when Nick and Levine started taking pointers from the kid without a clue. I was thrown into the deep end of the mage world without a life preserver. But, I guess¡­I don¡¯t mind it. I do this, so others don¡¯t have to. I don¡¯t know if anyone else would have the will to stop the Talons, or their agents. I had¡­a good role model on that account.¡± He glances down at his wrist, and it¡¯s steady for once. The trembling has stopped. The faintest hint of relief washes over her face. ¡°Well, even though you¡¯re a little reckless, at least you have the willpower for it. Imagine what you could pull off with some extra training, and a little more equipment. Or, you know, the alchemist who can buff the party." ¡°Buffing the party? I think you¡¯re just looking for free clinical trials for your potions,¡± he suggests with a coy smile, and she nods with a smirk. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what I need for the task ahead. I don¡¯t even know if we''ll have a chance to. Kiera is likely to put us all on lockdown for eternity. She won¡¯t dare, though. Not for the secrets she¡¯s kept from us.¡± ¡°Well¡­for what it''s worth¡­I''d like to stick around.¡± She glances his way, and their eyes meet. She does have pretty eyes, he notes, and not even the eye color. It''s the way she''s always studying the room, assessing a situation, looking for details¡­maybe even examining him, out of more than curiosity? ¡°After what we''ve been through, I''d like to get to know you. And, um, Julia, and James, and Angela, and your other friends. They seem alright.¡± ¡°Just alright?¡± He tries to play it lightly with a smile. ¡°You broke my sternum resuscitating me, convinced Julia to give up on a lost cause, and Angela seems attached to you. I''d say it goes a bit further than that.¡± She lets out a soft laugh. ¡°Okay, I''ve been called out. You guys are really interesting. And not as arcanist subjects. Though, I reserve the right to call for samples, purely in the name of science. And not for my curiosity¨Coh dear fates.¡± She groans, and tries to bury her head on the table. ¡°Why did I just say that?!¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°You''re exhausted, mental limiting barriers are broken, psionic attachment?¡± he suggests. He can feel that wriggle of anxiety from that faint connection between them. She groans louder, and looks at him with a sullen face. ¡°You do that so well. You know how to get people to open up, even when they don''t want to!¡± she accuses playfully. ¡°Stop doing that!¡± ¡°Hey, I learned it from Julia. It''s a good skill. Hell, I probably would be unforgivably boring, if I didn''t let her open my mind to more creative endeavors.¡± It does brighten her mood, just a little. They''re going to need that, for what comes next, and¡­seeing her a little happier brings a sense of joy to him, as well. You starstruck teen, you. Never fall in love with a redhead, you''re gonna get burned! Alex makes his comment loud and clear, and Joey laughs softly at this. Oh, I know you''re still latched in, lass, there''s like¡­a bridge between you two. Or something. Hanna had a term for it, oh what was it? ¡°It''s called being friends, Alex, no psionics required for that one,¡± she declares, even as she gently taps his nose. ¡°Hey, that''s Julia''s move.¡± He doesn''t even really protest. ¡°Nope, I''m borrowing it! I just want to pester the dragon cooped up in your skull!¡± she says with a playful grin. ¡°Well, maybe in a bit. Zameren was saying the survivors and everyone else are going home, or barring that, going to be relocated to Brentson Mage Academy. I''d want to spend a little time with them first, because I know a lot of them are going to need a familiar face to get through this. It wouldn''t be for long, though. Knowing you, you''ll run haphazardly against an army. Again. You might have a shot of winning. That is, if tonight is any indication.¡± He relaxes in his seat, with a hard earned smile. ¡°Yeah, I get that. I know some of them will need a lot of help. But, I''m sure Julia and Angela would love to have you with us, as soon as we figure out what the next step is. It''s just like I always say. There''s no such thing as goodbyes, Josephine, it''s¨C¡± ¡°--It''s just until we meet again.¡± Drenar blinks reflexively when he and Joey finish the sentence together. They both look at each other, puzzled. That had been spooky and weird. ¡°Uh, that was uncanny,¡± he says after a short pause. ¡°It¡¯s just until we meet again.¡± Her eyes dart back and forth, lips moving with silent words, as if she''s trying to remember something. ¡°What was he trying to say?¡± she whispers. ¡°Joey?¡± She''s still locked in focus, her finger tapping the handle of her mug. ¡°It''s just until we meet again.¡± She says it again like she''s trying to grasp something crucial. Something is dawning on Joey, and he feels a strange sense of recognition. It¡¯s from her, he can feel it. That spark of discovery, the genesis of a crucial recollection. She''s regained her focus, and she sidles the seat, very closely to him. ¡°Drenar, that''s not the first time I''ve heard that phrase. You said the same thing, before we teleported everyone out.¡± There''s resolution in her voice now. ¡°But, where did you hear that phrase from, for it to be so ingrained?¡± Lad, there¡¯s something weird going on here. Go on. Even Alex is tuned in now. He speaks slowly now. ¡°It''s¡­something my mom would say, when she had to travel for work. She¡¯d always say that, like it was some kind of mantra. Like saying goodbye has some kind of bitter finality. So, she always said it like goodbye isn¡¯t forever. I always thought it was catchy, so maybe it just stuck. I guess now that we know the truth about her¡­she said it, because there was always a chance she wasn¡¯t coming home.¡± The memory is still bittersweet. She¡¯d held on long enough to try to give him and Evan hope. ¡°It was the last words she ever said to you, wasn¡¯t it? It¡¯s why you remember it vividly,¡± Joey says in a calm, quiet voice. He takes a second, and nods slowly. Every time he said it, his thoughts went back to her. She places both hands on his shoulders gently, and has gone calm. The kind of calm someone keeps when they know things are as serious as they get. ¡°Drenar. What did your mother look like?¡± ¡°She looked a lot like me, actually. She had verdant eyes, always seeming to have a life of their own. She had fair-weather skin and light freckles on her face and arms. She also had long dark brown hair, she liked to braid it herself, every day. She was taller than me, about one-eighty-five centimeters. She was built like a Viking, too, like living steel.¡± It isn¡¯t his imagination, he can feel something of a feeling that isn¡¯t from him. An emotional signal. He felt a radiating sense of discovery, from someone who might have just discovered the most important thing in her life. ¡°There''s one thing I need to know¡­when they brought her in from the accident, you said she was hurt badly. Did they¡­¡± she trails off. ¡°Did they perform an amputation on her left arm? At the elbow?¡± His pulse is racing. This impossibility can''t be happening. He was at her funeral. They¡¯d buried her. It was over. ¡°How do you know that?¡± Her expression has gone somber. ¡°She had a beautiful voice. Deep and earthly, in tune with the rhythm of the world. She was always playful in her mannerisms, too. Like she was hiding a truth in front of you with a small laugh, or a slight smile. If you blinked, you might miss it. She had a way of conveying kindness to others when they needed it. She had that radiant warmth of a soul, like you could trust the world with her, and¡­and everything would turn out alright.¡± Even her voice is tense now. He feels that trickle of heartache again. She couldn''t know these things. Yet she did. ¡°Joey, she''s been¡­gone¡­for six years. Whatever you thought you saw in that weird vision, it wasn¡¯t her.¡± She doesn¡¯t wait for him to finish and leans her head against his chest, breath calm, her grip firm, and her eyes closed. ¡°I need to show you something, Drenar. Because I don''t think words are enough for this.¡± He looks down, and nods quietly. ¡°When I finish¡­tell me, yes or no.¡± Then show me as I showed you before. The thought comes without resistance. Something clicks in the back of his mind. He can see what Joey¡¯s thinking. Not a string of thoughts, or images in her head. A memory. It¡¯s a bright day under the lake in Asqualia archives, and an armored and helmeted Valkyrie is standing stiffly in Joey¡¯s lab, with Kyle sitting in his beaten-up chair, taking measurements on a sword with a scope of some kind. His sword. The Valkyrie is tall¨Cvery much so, and he sees through Joey''s perspective that she catches a glimpse of verdant eyes, and dark hair traced over her brow. They talk idly for a while. The Valkyrie challenges her to pull the blade from the scabbard in a playful manner, and Joey politely declines, saying that the odds of anything happening are nonexistent. The Valkyrie responds that the odds are irrelevant. Things happen, or they don¡¯t. And sometimes, the right things happen at just the right time. They talk more. The Valkyrie mentions having two sons. She hopes that one day, she can tell them of her role in the world. The helmet and magitech visor distort the voice, but he can hear a ringing familiarity. Joey notes the golem arm, and the Valkyrie responds that it was a battle scar earned in the defense of her family and a serviceable replacement. She had no regrets, Joey notes silently. More time goes by. Kyle complains the blade isn¡¯t being cooperative and sighs in resignation before saying they¡¯ll need more time. The Valkyrie flexes almost cat-like, before she points to Joey. She¡¯s not sure what to think when the Valkyrie tells her that she¡¯ll be the guardian of the blade''s future, because that tall woman in armor chuckles softly a few seconds later, saying she has a bad habit of being too serious at times. A short duration later, they¡¯re at the teleportal hub. It¡¯s intact like it was never destroyed, and it''s late afternoon outside. Zameren is there, offering a warm farewell to their esteemed visitor. Joey offers the noble knight a handshake, but she gets an unexpected hug in return, green eyes glimmering behind the visor. She says one last thing before she disappears into the active teleportal¡­ ¡­Words that Drenar knows by heart. ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as goodbyes, Josephine. It¡¯s just until we meet again.¡± Drenar blinks, and reality comes back into focus. He¡¯s still sitting there, back in the medical center. The memory is over, and Joey is still there in the seat next to him. She¡¯s looking right at him, eyes alight with a revelation that dawns on him at the same time, and everything changes for them forever. ¡°Joey¡­that was her.¡± He is completely unprepared when she hugs him tightly, and she''s fighting back a soft sob. He wraps his arms around her gently... And the deepest aching he''s ever felt is back in his heart. Joey isn''t far behind him when she whispers out the words at the breaking point of her composure. ¡°She gave me Luminari.¡± His mother is the Champion of the Valkyries. His mother is alive. He feels something break loose inside his mind. All those awful thoughts, of seeing her for the last time as she was rushed to surgery, bloodied, her arm severed at the forearm, yet still able to speak a few last words to him and Evan. The tragic news, a half-hour later. The funeral. Blurred faces, people he doesn''t remember, all those embraces, and feeling numb inside. The bite of Remari, his name for his dagger, as he swerves and accidentally sliced it across his wrist when Julia walked into the room. Looking down, realizing his almost fatal error, and the horror of what he''d done in front of her, and he tries to hold on, hoping he¡¯d make it, so that he could tell her it was an accident. A stupid accident that he¡¯d set himself up for. Two years in therapy. Julia would barely talk to him. Angela and James pushing him on. Diane and Dave tell him things are getting better. That slow transition back to normal. Growing close to Angela. Talking to Julia again, back to the point things were¡­almost back to normal. And then, his Awakening. And everything else that had followed. And all this had led him to the one woman who knew what he was feeling in that small moment, and told him the most miraculous thing he¡¯s heard in his life. Someone who had saved his life, and he¡¯d done the same for her. Someone he feels a connection to in a way that is different from his connection with James, Julia, or even Angela. That dam inside his heart burst, and he can''t hold it in anymore. He hasn''t cried since that last day in the hospital, after his recovery. But now, he''s shuddering, unable to keep his voice firm, and that lump of both great sorrow, and overwhelming joy, is lodged in his throat. He can feel her overwhelming emotion, too¨Cit¡¯s different, like it¡¯s layered on top of his, and she¡¯s shaking, still on the verge of tears and she creases her fingers at his back¡­and he realizes, they need this moment to utterly let go, and let those feelings out. He can¡¯t talk, he''s got nothing but choked-up words, and just rests his head on Joey¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Drenar¡­she was there a year ago. Full of life and vigor. I wish I''d known sooner.¡± It¡¯s the single most emotional thing he¡¯s heard from her. For some reason¡­he feels like he¡¯s known her a lot longer than just a few days. ¡°My mother¡¯s alive. We have to find her.¡± He barely can get the words out, mixed between joy and tears, but it still hurts so good to know there¡¯s hope. Her response is near-instant, barely above a whisper. But the determination in her words is resolute. ¡°We¡¯ll find her together. No matter what it takes. No matter what monsters we have to face. You won¡¯t be alone in the journey ahead.¡± Vol. 2, Ch. 125: A Promise Made, A Promise Kept Tap. Tap. Tap. Kiera¡¯s plated gauntlet taps the display of her tablet in between the various messengers and couriers coming in and out of the medical and office center, where Kiera has deployed her fellow sisters in a field operations camp. She¡¯s exhausted, bruised, bloodied, still in her armor, and still unable to comprehend what she has witnessed in the last few days alone. The Talons have become a formidable force. Not only are they fielding competent mercenaries, but some are ex-SAF. They are well trained and well armed, and they had been giving her a tough time in their field operations where she had explicitly taken ¡®vacation¡¯ from her cover job to take care of herself. Then, while she had a breather in the field, she¡¯d gotten a frantic call from James, who spilled the beans that not only had Julia ignored her¨Cand Levine as well¨Cbut that they were in the fight of their lives in the Asqualia Research Center, and that the coordinated attacks at no less than five other teleportal platforms across the world had been a diversion to give cover to that one assault. That there is vital information stored in the archives that could change the world. She had brought everyone she could spare, and probably a few she couldn¡¯t, and beelined it home, tore through the closed library, and laid waste to every Talons mercenary who didn¡¯t immediately surrender to the Valkyries on their ingress in. Many had chosen the hard way and joined their fellow mercenaries in the grave. That sight, of seeing her daughter bloodstained, out of breath, surrounded by her friends, holding off an army, proved too much for her. Her daughter was never supposed to follow in her footsteps. She was never meant for this, but yet, she was so much like her, drawn to a higher calling beyond being a warrior. A defender of good. A Luminaire, as she¡¯d called it. ¡°Kiera, keep tapping that tablet that hard, and you¡¯ll put a hole right through it.¡± She grumbles audibly; emotion and fatigue have taken their toll on her mood, and she turns to look at Levine, also thoroughly beaten up and with numerous bandages on his cheek, nose, and both arms. He¡¯s not exactly in a laughing mood, either. ¡°I told you I¡¯d look after her. I looked after all of them.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have been there, Levine,¡± she says warily, all while scrolling through what little data they had on the attack. Even with the hit to the head, Levine is refusing to stand down and has been barking orders to what SAF personnel he has confidence in. ¡°You should have called us. You should have called me.¡± ¡°We did. The Talons had a competent jammer enchantment as soon as they entered the facility. Curtis also disabled the wireless communications in the hours preceding the attack and timed it so no one would know until it was too late.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not talking about why you were unable to call us during. I¡¯m talking about before. When the Talons hit town earlier, you should have called then and there. I would have barnstormed home to stop Julia¨C¡± Levine laughs softly and winces at the motion. She glares at him, his gray-streaked hair is filthy from¡­some deplorable monster¡¯s innards? It¡¯s repulsive. Plus everything else he¡¯d been showered in, from blood, to debris. ¡°You find this funny?¡± ¡°No, Kiera, I don¡¯t. I find it very unfunny that you told her not a damn thing about what you do, like you couldn¡¯t trust your daughter.¡± He rubs the grime off his face with a clean cloth, as if it¡¯s not been something worth bothering with until now. ¡°I even said it earlier yesterday. How we need to be honest with our children with our work. I always let Mystra know what it is I do, and the risks I took. She never tried to dissuade me. She always would respond, ¡®My daddy is a super soldier, who¡¯s saving lives with his wits behind a desk.¡¯ At least, it was a truth I knew that she and my wife could live with.¡± His eyes glance down when he throws the rag away, and he pulls out a picture from his wallet. A picture of his wife, and Mystra¨Cbouncing brown hair, both of them. Becky, his former wife has brown eyes, while little Mystra, with the chipped smile and a missing tooth from the tender age of seven, has hazel eyes, like him. He spends more than a good long moment, looking at that precious memento, and lets out a soft exhale. ¡°Kiera, as much as we try¡­sometimes, our kids want to be just like us. Even though we want a better life for them, compared to the ones we lived.¡± She glances down, eyes narrowed, and tenses her finger on the tablet. More reports come in from the team at Asqualia¨Cmore survivors had been holed up in the labs, and a few had managed to hide in the caves when the fighting started that had been recovered. But the casualties¡­are high. The Talons¡­are extreme. And she cannot focus on this at all. ¡°What you did was put my daughter at grave risk," she says in a stern tone. ¡°Just like you lied to her, and put her at grave risk? You knew this day was coming. I warned you about it. I pleaded with you to tell her the truth. Are you surprised she¡¯s a little resentful, a little pissed off?¡± She turns to glance at him, while he rubs at his wrist. Plentiful bruises cover his milano skin, and he grunts. ¡°Kiera¡­she¡¯s just like her father. I can see that, plain as day. And she¡¯s just like Drenar. Those two held off monsters and madmen. They killed. They bled. They almost died protecting the lives of a hundred personnel of ARC. We dropped the ball as adults, and they had to fight a fight that they should never have had to.¡± She closes her eyes and shakes her head. Levine is always logical, and he¡¯s not wrong. She just wants him to be wrong on this particular one. ¡°They¡¯re not doing anything after this¨C¡± ¡°You still presume that it¡¯s in your hands? That she can¡¯t make decisions for herself? Well, she did. She, James, Drenar, Angela, and the others. They faced down an army, and won. I know where her heart is taking her. And I know it¡¯s someplace you don¡¯t want her to go. But, we as parents need to know when to protect them¡­and when to prepare them for the world ahead. The latter of those two¡­can be such a bitter pill to swallow.¡± A timer goes off on his wristwatch, and he reaches into a vest pocket on his now weathered armor, and grabs a dermal injector made out of cold steel cladding and plastic molding, and a glass canister filled with a clear liquid attached. He makes a fist as he injects it and the solution goes to work, and he lets out a soft gasp. After a moment, he winces and uncurls his fist, flexing it gently. ¡°You didn¡¯t take it earlier, did you?¡± He¡¯s slow to respond, and shakes his head, a far away gaze conveniently aimed out at the commons room, before he turns to her. ¡°Twenty-five years. I¡¯ve taken this stuff for twenty-five years. I¡¯ve kept it at bay. It took five minutes to make a mistake, once. I won¡¯t ever do that again.¡± He rubs at the swelling of an angry injury on his arm¨Ca bolt had skimmed dangerously close by, and he checks the field dressing. It¡¯s almost healed, she notes¨Cand not by regen potion, either. ¡°I¡¯ve prepared Mystra for the world ahead, because she will have a tough time, beyond high school. Beyond the academy. Every day will be a struggle. But, I¡¯ve done my best to make sure that she doesn¡¯t give up.¡± She considers his words, and notes his hair has taken on a darker, shaggier coloration for a spell, before reverting to his normal cracked salt and pepper appearance. ¡°You think I haven¡¯t prepared her?¡± ¡°Training¡¯s one thing, Kiera. Preparing them for a hostile mage world¡­that¡¯s something else altogether.¡± He leans back in his chair. Everyone else is either sleeping or running mission-critical tasks. For the moment, they¡¯re alone in the room. ¡°You¡¯ve seen it. The Conclave, there¡¯s something wrong with it. I don¡¯t know if those kids have opened my eyes, or if I was ignoring it my whole life. The delayed reactions of SAF today, or worse, betrayal in the ranks, is devastating. Curtis Dullahan, an Ex-SAF officer, was able to be approached, and fed information to the Talons for months. There should have been better safeguards. I¡¯m still grappling with that one." He pauses and for a moment, hesitating to say what comes next. "Kiera, You can¡¯t protect her if you¡¯re just going to lock her out of the decision-making.¡± ¡°You think I don¡¯t know that? I made promises to people that I would not involve them in this aspect of my life. At all costs.¡± At any cost, she thinks with an internal sigh. ¡°That cost could have been her life. Even you need to realize that. You¡¯re a Valkyrie, but you¡¯re also still a human.¡± ¡°Dragon,¡± she corrects testily. He grunts at this rebuke. ¡°Alright, a prideful, overprotective Kin, then.¡± She''s nonplussed at the retort. But, Dillenger is one of a few people she truly trusts in SAF, and as a person. ¡°Kiera, there''s something really wrong about this whole thing, and I have a notion of what started this. What happened, six years ago? Who killed Drenar¡¯s mum? You haven''t said one word about her, and that silence is telling.¡± She stops short of saying it. She can¡¯t. This secret is too important to protect. ¡°We still don''t know. A splinter of the Talons, we think. The evidence was scant, all the money trails burned up, ID''s got us nowhere. Trisha killed every single one of them before she fell. Except for one.¡± Her gaze lingers towards the commons area, where her daughter and the others are staying, and she can keep a close eye on them. Home is too risky now, especially with that murderous dragoness still on the loose. She has a team headed to Magitech Industries to take her in¨Ca fully decked-out team. And Nick had appraised her that Diane was on her way home¨Cthe Valkyries would be waiting to make sure they made it here, safely. She¡¯s glad that Drenar could cut that monster down to size a little, same as Angela, because she won¡¯t be as gentle if she ever gets her claws on Valosterla. There won¡¯t be pieces big enough for forensic science to identify, by the time she¡¯s done. And Julia had also taken a chunk out of her, along with this¡­newcomer? Josephine? The fiery red-haired girl? Given her skills, she¡¯d be a prime candidate for the Valkyries. Levine clears his throat to get her attention. ¡°Look Levine, there are secrets here that even you can¡¯t be a part of¨C¡± ¡°Is Trisha really dead?¡± The way he asks stops her dead in her tracks, and she whirls to face him, eyes narrowed. ¡°How dare you even ask that, Levine.¡± ¡°Really? Then just answer it. Simple yes or no.¡± ¡°I buried my best friend that day, Dillenger. Whoever landed the last blow, I will follow them to the ends of the earth to enact justice upon them.¡± She hears a few sobs, outside the room, and she steps to the window overlooking the commons. There are discarded bandage packs, ointments, regen potions, and other magical wares still scattered on the table by the window. But when she looks out, she sees Drenar crying tears of joy, and holding onto the new girl¨CJosephine? She looks familiar. Then, it hits her. Trisha¡¯s last candidate for the Valkyries, before her last standing order. She remembers that Josephine is one of the brightest students to come out of the London Academy of the Arcane. A lovely woman, who has desperately tried to hide her identity as a kitsune, out of fear of what people would say if they knew who she was. Mostly, because people can¡¯t be trusted to be decent Kin to each other¨Cmuch to her lamentation. Then, she hears the words that she been dreading. ¡°We¡¯ll find her, together.¡± And just like that, Kiera knows with a heavy heart who they¡¯re talking about, and her hand goes limply by her side. Levine is there as silent as a specter, and he looks solemnly out the window, while she¡¯s fighting the inevitable tear. They figured it out. Trish, I warned you not to go out¡­but you said this task was for no one else to bear the burden of. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°How did you know?¡± She doesn''t turn to face Levine, but sees his reserved expression in the reflection of the window. ¡°I didn¡¯t. But Val claimed boldly that she didn''t take part in a very loud event in town about six years ago. An event even SAF doesn¡¯t have on the record books, either. Or it was so secret, that even I was kept out of it.¡± She turns to face him, trying to keep a stony face. ¡°Kiera, we need to lay all the cards on the table, right now. Because I need to know if my deepest fears are true.¡± ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± he glances to look at Drenar and Joey, still holding onto each other and talking in hushed whispers, before leaning in, talking in a low tone. ¡°I think the Conclave tried to kill her. And that you had to ensure that they saw a corpse. Valosterla is an intricate threat with the backing of an army, but the Conclave? Don''t think I haven''t had my fears confirmed more than once. But I need to know if I''m fighting for the right cause." Levine straightened in his chair, eyes alight in revelation. "That''s why you don''t have the sword. Trisha is the Champion. Still is. I''ve read the legends." She doesn¡¯t wait for him to conclude his painstaking process. He''ll figure out the rest and hate her for trying to obscure this one. "I''m not the one who should be leading the Valkyries, Levine. I''m the fill-in they had left, because I knew Trisha best, and what she would have wanted." "She was elevated to Champion? When? The last known Champion was Lyssa." "Thirty years ago. When the Menazarri were becoming problematic. But the new threat that we don''t know how to deal with, is far worse." She draws close, and puts a hand up for as if to speak in hushed whispers. "Kiera, if you ask me, I will take this secret to my grave. You have my word on that," he utters without hesitation. ¡°They came after her, Levine. She found something. Something no one was supposed to find. And they tried to wipe her out, and killed Drenar''s father in the process. He was the cryptanalyst trying to unbury that secret. What I lack is proof, and connections.¡± There¡¯s a twinge of her lip, and she tries to keep him from seeing her hand trembling. His eyes widen slightly at the implication. ¡°SAF cannot be trusted. Ex-members were involved. Black ops soldiers under orders from the highest levels, if what I fear is true. Well and above you.¡± ¡°Fates. Tell me the rot doesn¡¯t go all the way up. No one would dare try to take on a Valkyrie¨C¡± ¡°Davos Renshrak led the charge. Six years ago. He is the only one that managed to walk away alive. That man stood toe-to-toe with a Champion, and pushed her to her bleeding limits." There¡¯s a growl of recognition from Levine. ¡°You know him, too, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve tried to bury the bastard twice, between me and Nick. He was involved?!¡± Her shoulders slump. To have to burden him with this secret¡­it¡¯s too much to ask of anyone. But he wants to know, because he has never been one to back from impossible challenges. ¡°She fought a small army defending her husband on the road, then on foot. Tore apart a good chunk of Gilford Ravine, not that far from here. She left a healthy trail of bodies behind her, which is what I would expect of her defending her family. But Eddard¡­they were cornered. He overexerted. He mana burned himself to death, defending her. And Davos just tanked everything she could throw at him, and took her arm off with that giant fucking axe of his. Seconds before we could get there.¡± The shock is palpable on his face, when she turns to him. ¡°She almost didn''t make it. She spent two years in a coma from her injuries, and the dragon-specific toxin coated on his axe. The secret of her survival was limited to me, Malena¡­and Gale.¡± ¡°And now me.¡± The weight of this unfathomable series of circumstances weighs on him, from his haggard face, and how he glances down at the floor, unable to process this. ¡°Davos is on the Talon''s payroll. I saw it, Kiera. That hulking fiend was part of the assault at another site today. Where do the Talons stop, and the Conclave begins?¡± ¡°That is something we are going to have to collectively answer.¡± She glances back at the two who have settled down, talking quietly, and she forces back misty eyes. ¡°I put Drenar and Julia, and the rest of them through hell to keep her safe, to keep the guise that Trisha Rashalda was dead. Drenar almost¡­they won¡¯t understand why I had to protect the secret of her survival. I will never forgive myself for what I had to do, to protect her, Levine. And they will never trust me again after this.¡± She doesn¡¯t dare mention what Drenar had done. She doesn¡¯t say anything for a few moments. All she can do is look at the trauma in the other room, and the occasional motion of one of the medics on the far side, attending to someone sobbing, or in pain. The only thought going through her head is, what good are the Valkyries, if they can¡¯t protect the people that matter the most? The people back at home waiting for them, while they take grave risks to their own well-being? Her hand drifts over to Levine, who has been following her gaze for a spell, and she runs her hand over his. Tough, calloused hands¨Cnot the hands of an office worker. The hands of an agent who has seen much action in the intervening years. He has seen much hardship of his own, for a myriad of reasons. She lets out a soft breath and squeezes gently. ¡°Kiera, I have a notion of what he went through. Drenar''s left-handed...and there''s a deep, clean scar on his right wrist that he keeps covered with a watch." He doesn''t state it aloud, and he notes her posture slumps. "You blame yourself." "It was my fault, Levine. I made a bad call, and I should have been able to trust our kids with this secret, and I didn''t. I almost lost him. Julia almost lost him." Being able to say that, almost broke her. She clenches her fingers on the table. "That''s how fucked up this is. Drenar almost killed himself because we lied to all of them." "Kiera, the threat was, and still is real, if what you''re telling me is correct. This tragedy isn''t on you, it''s on the people that went after Trisha and Eddard. I can''t be one to judge you for that. But, we need to start laying cards on the table, no matter how painful it''s going to be." He takes a measured breath, and gazes at the room filled with people who''ve just had the worst day of their lives. "The child he was, is vastly different from the young man I witnessed over the past few days. Just like your daughter, he has grown up a lot in a very short time. If it¡¯s any consolation. If we ever get the chance to bring Trisha home¡­she¡¯ll know that her son has done right by her.¡± ¡°Trisha is still in danger. She¡¯s had to keep to the shadows. Even with the best medical care, she was weakened for a long time. Someone is still hunting her. And she, in turn, is hunting them. Whether it''s the Conclave, the Talons, or this infernal Uroboros where the two are the same, I don¡¯t know yet.¡± She does relent, after a moment. It feels¡­nice, to have someone to talk to in confidence again. Levine has always been a calm voice in the room for the years she¡¯s known him, though those had been little more than brief meetings during his rising years in SAF. She lets out a soft sigh, and dreads what she will say next. ¡°You know¡­if we ever do make this a thing, Levine? If I allow my daughter to do this¡­I won¡¯t always be there to protect her. The burden of my command isn¡¯t something I can just cast aside to the next person. I don¡¯t know if there are any as good as she was¨Cis.'''' The correction is forcible, and she regrets the word by biting her lip gently. He nods almost imperceptibly beside her, and laces his fingers across her gauntleted hand. ¡°Kiera¡­if you¡¯re asking me to be her mentor and guardian in what may come¡­then you can be damn well assured of one thing. She will be trained and disciplined by the best. Myself, Nick, and others I trust without hesitation, and no one else. If everything you¡¯ve told me is true¡­We don¡¯t have just the Talons to worry about anymore. And they may come after me, if they think I¡¯m onto them. We¡¯ll be fighting the world.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that what we always do?¡± she asks, with a palpable sense of relief. A man focused on the greater good, despite all odds. ¡°Fight the whole world, giant monsters, eldritch gods¡­and win? We are not called living legends for no reason. And I know for a fact that the Luminaires sit entrenched in legends as well for their tenacity, daring, and bravery in the face of impossible odds. They took the first step tonight, even if I didn¡¯t want them to. I don¡¯t know if I could have ever asked more of any of them.¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to have to start small. And it¡¯s going to be painful. You need to tell them. Soon. Because they need to be armed with knowledge, if they¡¯re to be prepared for the fight ahead.¡± He rubs uneasily at the ring on his left finger, a memento of a loving relationship broken by unfortunate circumstances. ¡°Drenar needs to know the most. Because I know him and Josephine are in this to the end. So are Angela and Julia. I¡¯ll also need a favor.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± she looks at him, surprised. ¡°What could you possibly need that you can¡¯t improvise, Dillenger?¡± ¡°Valhalla, your best techs, and Valkyrian steel for our young upstart technomancer. Because they¡¯re going to need it.¡± She lets out a slight gasp. ¡°Not going to be gentle, are you? Cutting right to the chase?¡± He manages to hide half a smirk. ¡°They don¡¯t call me gray wolf in the office for nothing, Kiera. I¡¯m a hunter of secrets and monsters, and I aim to find both.¡± He lets out a low grunt. ¡°I guess I don¡¯t mind the nickname, in retrospect.¡± She lets out a faint smile that she allows him to see. Briefly. ¡°You do remind me of my husband a little bit. Steadfast to a fault.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have to tell me about him someday. I get this feeling that we¡¯ll have a bit of time in the trials ahead.¡± He glances at the time on his wristwatch and grunts in irritation. ¡°I suppose some things can wait till morning. Paperwork, screaming adolescents, and administrators wanting my head.¡± ¡°Aye, Dillenger. You¡¯re not the only one running on fumes. I¡¯ve been up for two and a half days.¡± She realizes she''s exhausted now. The murmur of voices fades in the waning hours of the night, and Kiera eventually sets down after talking to one of her fellow sisters and informing them that she needs a few hours rest. The spritely young woman nods and talks to the others briefly. By the time Kiera sets her head down on the scratchy cot made of sub-par linens, she¡¯s out like a light in thirty seconds. Takoshi¡­please forgive me for what I have to do. I know neither of us wanted our daughter to live our life¡­but the fight has come to her, first.
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 126: Damage Assessment, Part One Joey is slow to wake up to the murmur of activity around her, and she forces her eyes open even with the grogginess of a deep sleep. She¡¯s in the medical office area, on a cot¨Cand¨Cshe¡¯s resting her head on Drenar¡¯s chest?! Oh right. We fell asleep. I¡¯m not going anywhere for a while. She thought she¡¯d face night terrors, corpses, eviscerated foes, or worse the second she closed her eyes the night, after their discovery. They¡¯d talked quietly for a long time, until exhaustion eventually overtook them. But¡­Drenar hadn¡¯t protested when she was about to make her way to an open cot. He¡¯d asked her to stay. He¡¯s still dozing, his chest rising up and down slowly and radiating warmth. I wonder if he realizes his core temperature is a toasty 41 Celsius, now? I like this. She feels a slight shock. Wait. Am I into him? I can''t be. I am such a hot mess right now, and I just brought down an orbital impact weapon on his psyche. She decides that staying there is probably her best course of action while she stews on this pending anxiety attack. People I know died last night, and I''m focused on him. This just feels so wrong. Joey, everyone needs room to grieve. Alex speaking up surprises her. Are you still there? I can''t see because Drenar''s got the lights out, still. Alex speaks up with a slight yawn. But he can''t possibly be tired, it''s for attention. She looks at Drenar, still bandaged and looking like an utter wreck, the same as her. The burns on her arm are better, at least. Julia hadn''t meant to do that, but at least the angry red skin shows it''s healing. You can hear me? she dares to send a private message to Alex. Still can. Drenar''s still asleep I think, so I guess you''ll have to settle for me. She is strangely okay with this, and lets out a nervous chuckle. Joey, I won''t say it to Drenar, but¡­you''re more than a human, aren''t you? Is everyone figuring that out?! She tries not to stir or jump away, she just listens in. Cinnamon. What''s that? Why is everyone commenting on it lately? It''s not that strong a scent. It reminds her of Malena¡¯s house, too! Hanna used cinnamon all the time. She uh¡­was a friend of mine. And I know she used it when we weren''t anywhere close to a place to freshen up, and I know Kitsune by scent. Her heart sinks when he makes the connection. Lass, I can feel the anxiety rolling off of you, I won''t say anything to Drenar. But you might want to clue him in. And not because he has an odd curiosity about magical fox girls. I think it started as, erm, what''s the word for this¨C A fetish? She would glare a hole through that dragon, if she could do so now. I am human, you know. Technically, all kin are-- Ah, no. It stems from curiosity, driven by the fact that he knows staggeringly little about Kin. She breathes a sigh of relief. Just don''t set him on fire, alright? He''s got a lot he''s sorting out right now, and I know he cares about you. Great. There goes my secret. She can''t even freak out about this, because everyone is figuring it out. You realize why I have to live out my life as a human, right? I understand it far better than you might think, Joey. Hanna never revealed her true form, except by accident. While preparing a batch of alchemical silver, she spilled some on herself one evening. I was the only person besides Gerard and Crosomer to know. This dragon has regrets, she notes when he lets out a soft sigh. I don''t know how things have changed since I''ve been gone, Joey. But you remind me of Hanna closely with your attitude, skills, and bravery. Look, I don''t know if I can keep this secret forever, and Drenar''s coming to. Keep him close, alright? He¡¯s so¡­young. Is that the only reason she wants to say no? He might be young, but he''s had to grow up fast. Look, let''s figure out another way to talk privately, your psionics are potent enough that you and I need to talk more. Alex cuts out and she can hear Drenar stirring. She settles back down, her thoughts in disarray. Is this dragon seriously being a wingman¨Cpun intended¨Cfor Drenar? Or because he cares? She forces the thought aside. Because today, today is going to suck. Today''s the day she finds out the damages from the Talons. And everything and everyone she has lost. ¡°Uh¡­you look cozy.¡± She gasps and pulls herself upright to meet Angela''s curious examination. She smiles faintly, even past the bruising her whole body had taken against Valosterla. ¡°Relax, Joey, I get it. We''ve¡­had a rough few days. I understand if you¡¯re still trying to figure out some feelings.¡± ¡°Uh, I swear I am not that kind of girl¨C¡± She sighs and realizes that Angela isn¡¯t judging her at all. ¡°There¡¯s¡­some things we realized last night.¡± ¡°You mean how Drenar¡¯s mom is alive? I heard. I don¡¯t doubt it. When I held Luminari¡­I got a flash of several people. Previous wielders, I think. I think one of them was her¡­but it was like a phantom, not fully formed. I think¡­only those who have passed, can ever truly be seen by those who wield it.¡± She takes a deep breath and exhales. "That''s...going to be a really uncomfortable question we''ll have to ask Julia''s mother." Drenar lets out a huff, and his eyes flutter open. He looks at Joey, then Angela, and freezes. ¡°This¡­isn¡¯t what it looks like.¡± It¡¯s probably the worst deflection in his life, Joey notes with amusement. ¡°Uh, you bonding with the psionic? Nah, never could''ve seen that one coming,¡± Angela comments with a grin. ¡°Look, Drenar, I heard you guys talking¨Cdon¡¯t try to assault Kiera just yet, please? I¡¯m furious with her too, and I can think of how you¡¯ll react. Don¡¯t? We are in no shape to start pissing contests.¡± He eventually agrees after a few seconds of hesitation, and then he glances at her. ¡°You uh¡­like cozy, don¡¯t you?¡± she feels a heated flush on her cheeks and sits up. ¡°No, um¡­well, not usually.¡± Great, she¡¯s a genius alchemist who can¡¯t lie to save her life¨Capparently, that¡¯s one thing she and this awkward teen have in common, much to her annoyance. Angela tries to hold back a laugh, and Drenar goes quiet, then smirks softly. ¡°So, just some of the time?" he proposes. Oh, now he gets flirty? ¡°Shut up, you starstruck teen,¡± she growls and Drenar chuckles. ¡°I pick up on people pretty quick, just so you know.¡± ¡°Great. The sass of Wendy''s girl, the biting wit of my rival. I¡¯m doomed. Forget Valosterla, you guys will be the death of me first.¡± Maybe she had helped him, by giving him hope? She has no idea where his mother is but, she¡¯s alive, somewhere. ¡°Um, that distinction might still go to Julia¡¯s mother,¡± Joey offers while pointing to her, where she still looks ragged¨Cthey aren¡¯t the only ones who have suffered a rough night of sleep. ¡°You guys know that we¡¯re not going anywhere for a while, right?¡± ¡°Figures. I¡¯ll save my screaming fit for the end. I¡¯ll try to be civil.¡± He rubs uneasily at his wrist¨Cthe one with a scar. She saw something when they were both out of sorts last night, but¡­maybe this one doesn¡¯t need to be asked about right away. It must be something deeply personal. That¡¯s when she notices Julia grinning from ear to ear, sitting up cross-legged from her cot. ¡°Oh you two are adorable, just so you know.¡± ¡°Uh¡­was everyone listening in last night?¡± Joey asked anxiously. This just gets worse and worse, and she knows Julia is clued in because she¡¯s acting like she won the lottery. ¡°I might have heard a little something. You guys were pretty quiet¡­all circumstances considered. So, who wants to chew out my mom first?!¡± ¡°Tsundere, we can¡¯t pick fights. We still need to debrief, and we need to take it easy. We are all still exhausted,¡± Angela points out, and waves dramatically around the room. ¡°Let¡¯s just¡­go with the flow on this one, alright guys? Joey found herself agreeing with Angela on this one¨Cthe voice of calm and reason, and the more time she listened in, the more she realized she was something of a bridge between Drenar and Julia. Not in a literal sense, so much as a personality amalgamate. She could be very calm like Drenar, but also could embrace the silly when she needed to, like Julia. Almost as if on cue, Kiera, two other Valkyries, and several black and blue-clad SAF officers enter the room, and look at them. ¡°Everyone? If you¡¯re able, we need a full accounting of the events of Asqualia. Before, and during. I understand you¡¯re all still exhausted, but we are working on a highly sensitive timetable,¡± Kiera announces. Levine, still looking thoroughly beaten up, strays closely to her¨Care they in some kind of relationship? That can¡¯t be right, she thinks quietly. ¡°Kiera, we have questions¡­and you owe us answers.¡± Drenar rises from his seat, and takes a deep breath as if trying to keep his emotions from boiling over. ¡°I expect you have some things you want to tell us, too. But Kiera, don¡¯t lie to us. We can''t take that anymore.¡± ¡°Then I will speak in the strictest confidence that I can Drenar, but be mindful of the room when we do.¡± It¡¯s a subtle hint that she knows what the topic is going to be about, and Julia peers at her mother, torn between exasperation, and anger. ¡°Seriously Mom, you couldn¡¯t give us a day¨C¡± ¡°If I wasn¡¯t here, I would be hunting down that monster who murdered numerous people last night, Julia, and tearing her to pieces. I chose to be here where I am needed most,¡± she answers in a soft rebuke. ¡°Julia, I know you want answers. I know you more than deserve them. But we need a full recount. Levine and Nick have given me some of the details.¡± ¡°Yeah. More or less,¡± Nick grunts. His arm is in a sling still, and he has never looked less fashionable than at this particular moment. Her favorite feathered iguana with wings has never quite taken a beating like this in a long time, and he¡¯s not enjoying it. Kiera quickly sets the pace for the meeting, and goes over the timeline of events, starting with the cabin meeting. Everyone chimes in, but Joey can¡¯t offer much other than what she had heard from the others, regarding their first encounter with King, and Valosterla. She¡¯s able to go into a little more detail about the bunker setup, and the intelligence that they recovered, including the feeds from the golem. Kyle reluctantly hands the recordings to Kiera, and notes with reluctance that he has backups at Asqualia¨Cnow cordoned off and subject to a massive recovery operation. Kiera nods quietly at this. When she has a second, she puts a reassuring hand on Kyle¡¯s shoulder in the seat in front of her: these people can be trusted, without a shred of a doubt. They talk more about the events leading up to the Asqualia incursion, including their efforts to disable the teleportal platform. This part shocks Joey¨Cthey¡¯d played a desperate gambit, and might have stalled the invasion by dumb luck. She¡¯s got another word to describe Drenar now: blessed with uncanny luck. They hadn¡¯t escaped it without damages though, and Drenar still looks like he¡¯s fighting the urge to shout at the SAF officials who chime in with their questions. Levine and Nick jump in repeatedly and point out the known security lapses, including Lieutenant Curtis, who had been granted clearance access despite questions in his service history. It looks like Lavernius had been right: He had been rumored to run some unsavory side operations in Burkina Faso, and Levine digs his nails into his palm as the details slowly come out. He¡¯s furious, too. Recounting all the details of what they did in Asqualia, before the attack¨Cit feels like they¡¯re fishing for someone to blame, based on the way the SAF officers glare at all of them in turn. Levine glares right back at them. The fact that he¡¯s not in cuffs by now, suggests this is merely their attempt to put culpability on a bunch of teens who had no clearance. Their thoughts indicate as such, and she narrows her eyes. Kiera might be harboring massive secrets that got people hurt, but she truly cares for all of them¨Ceven if some of her decision-making might have been guided by passion rather than logic. They talk about the attempted scuttling of the platform, how Curtis could have had access, and Lavernius¡¯s involvement. That¡¯s when she gets irritated that they suggest that she and Kyle had played right into their hands. ¡°Excuse me, but are you aware of the factions within the Talons, yes? From a historical perspective?¡± She sizes up the one with the black hair and gray eyes, he¡¯s not one to be easily rattled, and he¡¯s been the one asking pointed questions that look to assign blame. ¡°Kyle?¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°After the decapitation strike during the War of the Magi, the Talons adopted a decentralized structure. While this afforded them a better ability to withstand decapitating strikes on leadership, a lack of discipline could cause factions to compete and eventually kill select members to assert dominance. Sometimes to the detriment of their organization. Go read some history books, eggheads,¡± Kyle adds with disgust before sitting down in his chair and glaring at the man. Detailing the rest is¡­difficult. Who was where, when, and why the teleportal was destroyed¡­everyone wants to blame Lavernius. Julia sits up, tired of the whitewash. ¡°I wouldn''t be alive if it weren''t for Bernard. Neither would Joey, or so many other people. They had an army in reserve they kept pulling from, and by burning that platform, we saved ninety-plus lives, gentlemen.¡± ¡°So you admit to participating in this effort¨C¡± ¡°You¡¯re not lawyers, and this isn¡¯t a crime scene, egghead,¡± she adds in a scathing rebuke. Drenar tries to get her to sit down, but she waves him off. ¡°This is a scene of a tragedy, that we desperately tried to stop.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right. The Talons had numerical advantages, and Lavernius chose to side with the staff of the facility. He died defending our retreat. He was slain by that nightmare-level fiend that killed one of my friends. I don¡¯t know if I can call him a hero¡­but he stood by us when he could have just run off to join his friends. He killed several talons soldiers before he fell.¡± She sits down in her chair, and Angela squeezes her hand gently after the officers look at each other, then Zameren stands up, and glares at the two SAF officers. ¡°It¡¯s true that Curtis was a traitor. We were all blindsided by it. We put trust in that man, who put out a calm veneer¡­and he betrayed us. If it were not for Joey¡¯s sharp wits, no one would have come out of the night''s events alive. No one. You would be well reminded of who should have been keeping a closer eye on your own. If you dare to accuse them of helping contribute to this unprecedented tragedy, I will not let this go. Fifteen staff members lost their lives. Double that are injured, some of them seriously. Bernard had the decency to choose to side with us at the end, take that as you will.¡± He sits down, his gaze boring a hole through those two men who were finally rankled by his authoritative voice. The finger-pointing and subtle accusations stop after that moment. Drenar details the dash through the vault, and Volkir inputs quietly¨Che¡¯s taken form in the shape of a middle-aged man with silver hair, and green eyes, and still looks somewhat youthful, even given his age. He also has biting words for their accusations, and their gasps at the revelation of his identity do bring a light smile to her face. They aren¡¯t facing the sharks in this room alone. They conveniently skip the part where Drenar drowned¨Cthat felt a little too personal to bring up, and she¡¯s glad Drenar doesn¡¯t chime in either. Eventually, they detail the last parts about Valosterla, the battle in the power plant, and the Talons¡¯ routing at the hands of them, and the Valkyries. Kiera gives an icy stare at the soldiers after that exhausting several hours, with only a few breaks in between. ¡°They love their paperwork,¡± Drenar whispers with a baleful glare at the men during a pause. They confer quietly with a few other agents who pop into the room on occasion. ¡°Probably feeding the casualty report to Val when they get a chance¨C¡± Don¡¯t. She glances at him and gives a subtle shake of her head. Don''t say that part aloud. You can communicate in two ways now? Wow. I thought it was a fluke in the plant. His eyes widen slightly, but he takes the hint, and his focus returns to the forward portion of the room. He keeps glancing at her, out of the corner of his eye. I know we have a lot of other things on our plate but¡­that is cool, Joey. I¡¯m learning as I go, Drenar. And I have no idea where this ability''s limits are. She wasn¡¯t kidding when she wanted to do field research on herself. But, it¡¯s so low on the priority stack, that she can¡¯t even process it. The reminder of the casualties intermittently through the debrief has been taking a toll on her. Hearing names, and recalling the rooms where people died, it¡¯s getting harder and harder to keep a brave face on. Drenar can sense it too, when she digs her fingernails into her jeans at the mention of Reeves and Betty. We won¡¯t forget them, Joey. We¡¯ll make sure all the people involved in their deaths are brought to justice. She¡¯s surprised when he places his hand over hers. His skin has a few callouses, but his grip is firm and his touch warm. The trembles in his hand seem to have gone away¨Cshe¡¯s noticed that a few times. Let¡¯s get through this. I know this is hard. I know this has to be the second worst day of your life. But you won¡¯t face it alone. It¡¯s¡­I¡¯m glad you guys are here, Drenar. Because I would have lost it a few hours ago. She takes a deep breath while they finish going over the details, and Kiera is visibly irritated by this point, after this nonstop interrogation. She¡¯s had to stop more than a few times to chastise them for forgetting this entire room is one giant trauma case, and she has forgone any level of subtlety in her comments. Levine clears his throat and turns to his peers and his tone is one of utter hostility. ¡°So what¡¯s the point of this fishing expedition? Are you looking for someone to blame? Blame the murderous CEO who has several Conclave members in her pocket. Blame the killers who performed a home invasion at scale. But if you dare to accuse anyone in this room of wrongdoing, then you will be tendering your resignations before the turn of the day. Am I understood?¡± ¡°That¡¯s bold of you, Dillenger.¡± A new voice speaks from the doorway of the conference room, and a woman in a grey and blue uniform steps in. She¡¯s blonde-haired, wearing glasses, and holding onto a tablet like her life depends on it, despite the composure in her words. ¡°Eyeing management, finally?¡± ¡°Karen Artemis. I¡¯ve been wondering when you¡¯d come to view the casualties.¡± There is little formality in his voice, and even Nick looks averse to the change in tone. ¡°Your attack dogs have been wasting my time and subjecting these individuals to threats since they set foot here at the promenade. You have some nerve.¡± ¡°We are following every lead, Dillenger. I¡¯ve read your initial reports. I want your resignation on my desk by noon tomorrow,¡± she snaps. ¡°You actively sabotaged conclave property, by your admission¨C ¡°Wrong. I want yours.¡± He tosses an additional folder on a table in the center of the room, and Joey looks at it, surprised. ¡°I know why Curtis flew under the radar. You signed off on his service record adjustments for his ¡®black box¡¯ operations. I didn¡¯t have to look far, once I knew what to look for last night.¡± There¡¯s more than a few gasps in the room. ¡°Karen, you let that one slip. All intelligence officers are subject to intense scrutiny to avoid entanglement after deep cover operations. The Talons converted him and gave him money. A lot of money. We¡¯re lucky he was lazy once he had a fat paycheck, or their knowledge could have been sufficient to plan for an effective assault.¡± ¡°You better have more than that, Dillenger!¡± she snaps in response to the outright hostility. ¡°You accuse the oversight¨Cme¨Cof negligence?!¡± ¡°I¡¯d be careful who you accuse, Karen.¡± Kiera acts like this is not the first time they¡¯ve interacted, and those icy cold eyes are that of a predator sizing up prey. She can¡¯t help but feel a little intimidated by this display. ¡°Because I bet this isn¡¯t the only ¡®oversight¡¯ that would crop up. Dillenger, do you have authority to¨C¡± ¡°Section fifteen paragraph nineteen, lines¡­screw it, someone go get the book,¡± Levine grouses. ¡°It¡¯s the one that states that in the advent of a crisis, the responding officer of SAF¨Cmyself¨Cshall follow any leads in the event of a security breach of this magnitude. In addition, Bernard Lavernius was able to acquire an administrator card to get unobstructed access into the facility for Roland King, aka, the Kingmaker. You remember who he is, don''t you?¡± ¡°You''re throwing that in my face? Again?¡± she hisses. ¡°Karen, all I have to do is drop a slip of paper, and it¡¯ll crush your body into the pavement like a pancake, if you want to talk about the scale of egregious actions,¡± he rebuts. She taps angrily at her datapad, and her body posture is tense. She¡¯s looking for a fight. ¡°SAF override access and administrator cards could only come from the highest levels of SAF. The treachery on this one runs deep, Karen.¡± ¡°You dare to accuse my office?¡± Drenar is tensed and a fingertip is on his dagger. He¡¯s not unjustly worried about this blowing up out of control. ¡°Karen, my facility was compromised on multiple levels. The technical know-how to bypass security in that way is only known to a few select individuals. If we are to assume that Lavernius and Curtis were separate factions, then Lavernius knew because of his intricate knowledge of teleportal magitech. Curtis could only have gleaned it with inside help.¡± Zameren stands up and points at her. ¡°I am here, rather than at the side of those affected by this attack, because you seek to accuse those who came to my aid. I am also a vote on the security panel, Karen. I am initiating a vote of no confidence against you. Per SAF protocols, and if I know my old friend correctly, you have no choice but to stand down and let Dillenger conduct his investigation, no matter where the leads go.¡± ¡°This is outrageous. I¡¯ll see that you¡¯re locked up for this, Dillenger,¡± she says with words dripping with venom. Drenar turns to rise and looks like he¡¯s about to shank this unruly Karen, but Joey grabs his arm subtly, and she gives him a disgruntled look. Let this play out. This one isn¡¯t ours to fight. The warning isn''t lost on him, and he gives one last scathing glance at Artemis before he dips his head slightly. Fine. I was going to use words, anyway. He sits down as Karen throws colorful accusations. They¡¯re without merit, and eventually, she runs out of steam and stomps out of the room once Zameren follows through with his vote. She¡¯s probably going to lose it, given the unprecedented attack at six sites, plus Asqualia. Eventually, the room clears out, and it¡¯s just them, plus Kiera and the two other Valkyries. ¡°Kiera¡­you know what we have to discuss,¡± Drenar states with remarkable calm. ¡°You know who we have to discuss.¡± ¡°Not here. Not now. It is too dangerous to discuss in the open. Nick, your residence is still a Valkyrie safehouse, correct?¡± she asks quietly. He shifts uncomfortably, the sling still keeping his arm secured. ¡°I can¡¯t remember the last time I had guests of that caliber over. But, yes. Guys, I know it¡¯s a bit of an ask, but is everyone good to go?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not going to avoid talking about it, Kiera,¡± Drenar states calmly. It¡¯s like he has ice in his veins, with the low tone he uses. It takes a lot to rile him up, she notes silently. ¡°Tomorrow morning. Guys, shall we?" She glances at her wristwatch¨Cit is indeed now nighttime. They¡¯d been at this all day, with few breaks, and she still felt the itch of recovering wounds and aching bones. They head back through the commons, where stretchers and cots still sit, some occupied, and medical equipment still stacked in an organized fashion across the entirety of the large room set. Then a dreaded thought occurs to her, about at least it''s not an existential one. For once. ¡°Angela, I don¡¯t, um¡­¡± she lets out a soft huff. ¡°I don¡¯t have any clothes. All my stuff is in Asqualia. And I can¡¯t imagine going back there anytime soon.¡± ¡°You¡¯re about my size, I think I should be able to find something for you,¡± she replies warmly. Drenar glances at her questioningly, but says nothing¨Cwhat is he trying to say? Angela¡¯s a little¡­different sized, Alex chimes in, and Drenar groans audibly. Julia taps his forehead and grins. ¡°Spill it, what¡¯s the spirit dragon saying?! I want a microphone for this dragon in your head!¡± she states with a smile. ¡°Nothing I want to discuss aloud,¡± he sighs. He glances at the sliding door, and his eyes go wide. ¡°Oh shit.¡± Joey turns to see a teenager with bouncy blonde curls and another woman¨Cher mother, maybe? They¡¯re standing at the door, and Julia gasps. ¡°Kelly?¡± ¡°Julia!?¡±
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 127: Damage Assessment, Part Two It didn¡¯t take more than a second for Joey to figure out who she was talking about. She''d even seen Lavernius¡¯s daughter once at a picnic a few months ago. The facial features, her hair, and the accusatory tone. Julia looks like her worst nightmare has come to life, and Drenar is bracing for a whole new level of pure pain, by the look of it. Kelly looks like she¡¯s been crying lately or hasn¡¯t slept, or both, because her eyes are bloodshot and she looks like she could keel over from exhaustion. She darts over to Julia and gives her a tight hug. Julia grunts at the motion of half-healed wounds and tries to return the embrace. ¡°Julia, we heard about Asqualia, and you look¡­awful.¡± Kelly can barely talk, and her mother hovers close by. She looks gaunt. Fragile. Like she is slowly wasting away, her face accented is with sunken eyes, and just¡­looking tired beyond measure. This woman has been dealt too many blows of bad news, and she doubts she can take this last one. ¡°Julia, what happened down there?¡± ¡°Kelly¡­we fought an army of depraved killers. That''s what we were doing yesterday. All night.¡± Julia looks like she¡¯s on the verge of tears, and all Joey can think of is the sound of that last scream by Lavernius as Val tore him apart. She digs her fingers into her palm tightly, and feels her pulse spike. It¡¯s like reliving this all over again. Julia is likely doing the same, and she subtly moves over to her side. ¡°Fates. Julia, you look like you did fight an army.¡± She turns to Joey, looking confused at first, then smiles faintly. ¡°Hey, I think I remember you. You were at the picnic over the summer, right? I don¡¯t remember catching your name.¡± What¡¯s worse is knowing she¡¯d seen Lavernius with his family then, in a moment of recollection. She nods softly. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m Joey, I uh¡­I knew your father, I saw him from time to time in the archives.¡± ¡°Julia¡­what happened to my husband?¡± Joey recalls her name as Mirabelle, based on the last words that King and Lavernius exchanged, before the chaos that followed. She¡¯s not going to take this news well at all, and she¡¯s fighting to keep a calm face. ¡°Kelly, Mirabelle¡­we might want to take this one someplace private,¡± Julia starts to say, but Mirabelle slumps, shadows under her eyes. It¡¯s like she knows already. ¡°My husband and I were in a bad crowd when we were young, Julia. We turned our lives around, but I know for a fact that my husband did terrible things before, even if for a noble cause. Please tell me what happened. I need to know.¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am, I don¡¯t think this is a discussion you want to have here¨C¡± Levine starts to say, but Mirabelle shakes her head. ¡°If you¡¯re here, and he¡¯s not, I know he¡¯s dead. I know who he worked with, in the past. But I need to hear the words.¡± Julia swallows uncomfortably, head held low. All that fighting spirit, all that unbounded courage she¡¯s seen from her is melting in the face of reality, Joey thinks. And she can hear the turmoil going on in her head. Joey takes a measured breath, and reaches out¨Cthat string of a connection between them is firmer than before, the connection is almost instant. Julia, it¡¯s okay. We need to tell her. Even if the truth is awful...Just don¡¯t tell her how he died. Please don¡¯t. I think we can spare her that part for now. There would have been nothing left of his body for anyone to examine post-mortem, not with the teleportal destabilizing at that range. Julia glances her way, only for a second, and winces. She heard her, loud and clear. She¡¯s connected in that way to three people? This is a strange time to make that discovery. Kelly and Mirabelle hold onto each other as if bracing for the news. ¡°Bernard was working with King. They were trying to acquire records about a device under Talon''s control, the same device that triggered our Awakenings. And yours,¡± Julia says in a slow, monotone voice. It¡¯s all she can do to keep her composure, and not break down in tears. Mirabelle closes her eyes and turns her head away¨Cshe knows at least some of the details. ¡°They planned to sneak a small team in, grab the records, and ghost out of there.¡± ¡°I can confirm. We cornered him earlier in the day.¡± Joey speaks calmly, knowing that this is only going to get worse. ¡°A rival faction in the Talons had another inside man, who pursued a less subtle approach. They planned to kill everyone inside, and leave no witnesses. Lavernius helped us delay that approach when he realized what they were up to. He helped buy time. But the Talons found another way in, forcing us into a running battle. Your husband, he¡­he had an escape plan for the staff. He cared. He cared for the lives of his peers.¡± She won¡¯t dare mention his beliefs on the Conclave, or his last bitter words. He¡¯d died believing that neither the Talons in their current form nor the Conclave, should win this coming battle. Mirabelle squeezes Kelly''s hand tightly. ¡°Go on.¡± Julia takes a deep breath as if dreading what she has to say next. ¡°We had a plan, we were going to rig up a one-time teleportal platform. But to do that, we had to head deep behind enemy lines and get a navigation circuit, and destroy the platform the Talons had been using.¡± Joey can feel the inching dread in her voice, and she places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She responds by putting her hand on hers, before taking a deep breath, looking weary and out of tears to cry. ¡°We were able to get the circuit board, but¡­ to ensure the Talons couldn¡¯t stop our sabotage of their plans¡­he stayed behind.¡± Mirabelle is already in tears as if she¡¯s known what the outcome would be. Kelly clings to her mother''s arm, and Julia forces back a choked sob. She can¡¯t continue, and Joey feels herself mentally wrap around her as if trying to comfort her. ¡°Lavernius covered our escape. He died defending us, Kelly. He died protecting the staff at Asqualia, and that is how you should remember him.¡± Why does this lump in her throat hurt so much? Lavernius was both a traitor and a fellow staff member who died in the belief that they could do what he could not, bring justice and order back to the world. Her? An above-average alchemist, and Julia, a living lightning dragon? Had his hopes been misplaced? She hopes not. Because it does feel like an impossible task. Fighting the whole world¨Cthe Talons, and possibly the Conclave. But he died believing in one thing. The Luminaires. ¡°Kelly, I¡¯m so sorry¨C¡± Julia is tear-struck by this point, and can''t finish her words. She breaks away from her mother to give them both a hug, sobbing. ¡°My dad was always a good father, I don¡¯t care what they say about him. You were with him at the end, and that speaks volumes of his last actions.¡± She sobs into Julia''s chest, and she¡¯s fighting back tears while giving her a heartfelt hug, fingers pressed tightly at her back. ¡°I want in. I know you and Drenar and Angie are all going to do something stupid and crazy, and I want in.¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t.¡± It¡¯s the first words Drenar¡¯s spoken in a few minutes, and he¡¯s wearing a look of fatigue and pain. He¡¯s tight-lipped and shaking his head. ¡°Kelly, we just told you¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡± The fierceness in her voice gets Joey¡¯s attention. ¡°I want in. You all went on a suicide mission and came out alive. I want to kill the people responsible for his death. I want in.¡± ¡°Kelly, no. You don¡¯t want this. You don¡¯t want to see the things we saw, or endure the things we endured.¡± Even Drenar is choked up, the words tumultuous in his head. He doesn¡¯t know how to say no to her, and desperately doesn¡¯t want to risk anyone else, if he can avoid it. I sent Lavernius to his death. That¡¯s the thought that keeps going through Drenar¡¯s head, like it¡¯s on repeat, even with Alex trying to help him realize that he couldn¡¯t have predicted what would have happened. ¡°Kelly, your father didn¡¯t want you¨C¡± Joey stops and tries to suck in a much-needed breath, as shudders rack her body. She¡¯s not grieving just for Lavernius when she feels wet streaks on her cheeks. ¡°His last request was to keep you safe. I lost coworkers, including your father last night. I¨C¡± Her composure finally slips, and she can¡¯t keep it up. Talking about this one shouldn¡¯t have affected her, but now all she can think of is Reeves, Saul, Betty, and a few others who had been torn apart by unparalleled violence in her workplace¨Cher home. Drenar gently pulls her away and puts a reassuring arm around her. She doesn¡¯t protest, but instead turns to him, knowing he¡¯s trying his best to keep it together, too. Julia and Kelly are whispering, and Kiera is trying to comfort Mirabelle. All the while, the commotion in the medical center continues. She wants to tell Kelly it''s going to be okay. But it''s not. Nothing is going to be okay for a long time. Even with a desperate victory against that army of killers, they still lost the things that mattered. And they were never coming back. ¡°Joey, my dad mentioned you a few times. From a while ago. He said you were sharp, and had a lot of potential. I don¡¯t think he was wrong.¡± Kelly looks up, tear-struck, and trying to hold in the sobs. ¡°Kelly, we should¡­what do we¨C¡± Her mother falters between words. She¡¯s still taking this in, the utter shock of the moment. Luckily, Julia¡¯s mother is there to try to soften the shock ¡°Mirabelle, we are currently headed to a secure site, so these young ones have a chance to unpack the past week. You should come with us, because retaliation strikes could come for you and your family. I do not say that lightly, either.¡± Kiera intervenes and gives a conciliatory tone. ¡°If you need anyone to talk to, anything you need, just ask. We¡¯ll get them here.¡± Joey hopes they don¡¯t pry into his death. Because they won¡¯t want to hear that a murderous dragon tore him apart before he was granted the mercy of a swift death when the teleportal destabilized. They should never have to hear that part.
The ride back to Nick¡¯s house is lengthy. And quiet. Even Drenar has fallen into silence, Joey notes as they eventually pull up. Nick disables the lengthy set of magical defenses by the front door. Levine has to assist him, since Nick¡¯s shoulder is still on the mend¨Cit¡¯ll be another day before his bones are fully set, by her estimate. After a short amount of preamble, Nick directs everyone downstairs to the training area, where there are a series of temporary living accommodations. It¡¯s sparse, but comfortable when she tests one of the bunk beds. Kyle adamantly refuses to leave her side, and after some small talk, everyone settles in for the night. No one is really in a talking mood, not after this day of consequences. Kiera is also press-lipped and insists everyone able to shift to dragon form safely, should do so and get a good night''s rest, primarily because dragons heal faster in their natural form. Kiera is upstairs with Levine and Nick, along with Kelly¡¯s family and a few of the Valkyries. They¡¯re down here, and she just feels¡­numb. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Talking about Lavernius, of all people, shouldn¡¯t have caused her to lose it. Did she feel guilty over his death? Or that maybe he had a point? That the Conclave deserves to die for their sneering indifference at best, or creeping oppression at worst? How would the world fare if the kitsune weren¡¯t treated like the lowest caste of the society, seconded to the wargen and the fey? Everyone loves to poke fun at the fey, born with feathered wings that are dead useless for even a glide, but still attractive, and their pointed, elven-like ears and bird-like eyes. They were the strangest out of the Kin¨Clike someone was trying to make an amalgamate of a human and bird, and just utterly failed in their effort. But they didn¡¯t get the same flak as the wargen, and the threat of infection of the Lyco virus. She shoves those thoughts aside, and just buries her head at a plain wooden desk set by the wall in the small room, next to the bunk. Kyle looks on, bruised and miserable, and lets out a soft sigh. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s me, too.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it.¡± Her voice is muffled because she barely even lifts her head from the hardwood surface that has a deep varnish color, or the faint smell of lacquer that is still notable to her sensitive nose. ¡°I really don¡¯t, Kyle.¡± She hears the creak of the metal ladder on his bunk, and she peers up from the desk to see him standing, weary and slack-armed, and struggling with words. ¡°Joey, we¡¯ve just been through a traumatic ordeal. Reeves is dead. Felix. Too many others. The final count was fifteen people who died, according to Zameren. Out of a staff of a hundred and twenty, plus roaming researchers. Ten percent, Joey. That is¡­apocalyptic. No one in Asqualia didn¡¯t lose a friend.¡± ¡°You know who I keep thinking about?¡± She tenses her fingers on the desk, digging her nails into the wood. ¡°Lavernius. Of all people. I don¡¯t even know why! Not Betty, with the bolt shot through her throat, not Winslow, half his body burned to a crisp. Not Reeves, while he¡¯s holding his guts in and I¡¯m trying desperately to get him patched together. No. I think of Lavernius, and how he might have been right, and that infectious thought is just¡­too much to bear, Kyle.¡± She doesn¡¯t mean to sound accusatory, but her glaring at him probably doesn¡¯t help with his mood, and he clenches his jaw. ¡°You¡¯re not the only one hurting, Joey.¡± ¡°I know!¡± she shouts. ¡°I know Reeves was your friend, and I did everything I could, but there was too much damage to his internals, Kyle. I just delayed his death. I couldn¡¯t save him, just like I couldn¡¯t save Derek, who had a bolt go right through his heart after his barrier failed, or Lavernius, when he stayed behind so that Julia and I could escape. Val tore him in half, Kyle, before he died. I can still hear it. That is all I can think about, and the way he just shot five people in the head like it was as routine as doing dishes.¡± Even Julia had been shaken to her core at that, and so little could rattle Julia. Kyle looks taken aback, hands up in protest. ¡°Joey, I''m not saying you didn''t try to save him. He had more of a chance than a lot of others. You need to talk to someone, because we are all walking trauma cases right now.¡± His voice is just shy of breaking, and he rubs at the area where he''d been shot by an autobow bolt. ¡°I''m worried about you, Joey. More than I ever was. What''s going to happen when you have to tell the rest of them that you''re a Kitsune, or they find out by accident?¡± ¡°It already happened. Angela knows. Alex¨Cthe dragon in Drenar''s head¨Cknows. Nick probably knows, but I''m not surprised, because next to me, he''s the other resident magical creatures expert,¡± she states with a huff. Of course, Nick would know, and his professional silence on the subject matter is telling, along with his demeanor always being composed and friendly. Kyle looks like he is about to freak out, then comes to a dead stop, then smiles. ¡°Wait, hang on. Angela knows, but how does Alex know?¡± ¡°My psionics are¡­¡± she hesitates to say it. ¡°They''re changing, Kyle. I didn''t dare to tinker with them for so long, and now that I am, things are happening that I have zero forward knowledge about. And I''m also tied out psionically to all three of them. And you. I have no idea what will happen next.¡± She rests her chin on the desk, all the fatigue of the day catching up to her. He slowly circles past the desk and puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder. ¡°Joey, you really should talk to someone. Please, even if it''s just me?¡± It''s strange, hearing Kyle talk so slowly. Normally he had a rapid-fire pace, as if he couldn''t get the words out at the speed he wanted. Now, though¡­he''s putting a lot of thought into them. ¡°I know the past few days have been the worst of our lives. But, we pulled a victory from the jaws of defeat. No one should have made it out. Even I know that, now.¡± She tilts her head, unwilling to counter his statement, and he grabs a folding chair and slides it closer to her. And then he waits. ¡°Nothing''s going to be the same.¡± They''d spent more than a few seconds glancing at each other, and she finally broke that silence. ¡°The Talons, the Conclave¡­the whole calculus of our lives has changed in ways I can''t predict. Why are we alive, and so many others aren''t?¡± ¡°Bad luck, good luck, training, sticking it to those foes before they could do the same?¡± He tries to rationalize it and taps a finger for emphasis. ¡°Fate?¡± She raises an eyebrow at the lunacy of the suggestion. ¡°Fate doesn''t exist, Kyle. ¡®Fate¡¯ was a stupid viral video that one idiot mage got onto YouTube that slipped through every level of Veil Protocol. Three billion views later, it entered the Internet zeitgeist.¡± No one had of course bought into it, that magic was real and that their lives were controlled by omniscient, mysterious overlords that were implied rather than observed or inferred, like the Kinsgard. That had been a colossal screw-up, and how that follower of Gaia got that far, still amazed her. Kyle slowly wags his head and smiles faintly. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I think you do believe. Ever since Luminari awakened. Ever since it started calling to you. It chose you for something.¡± She slumps back down on the chair, and draws a deep breath. ¡°Fate. Doesn''t. Exist.¡± ¡°Why? Because you''re an arcanist slash scientist who thinks there''s a rational and logical answer to everything? Maybe there isn¡¯t. Or maybe the answer is so simple that you don¡¯t consider it: the blade called out to you first. You know who gave it to you?¡± ¡°Kyle, I¨C¡± ¡°It was Drenar¡¯s mom, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Now his voice cracks under pressure, and she can see the glimmer of sadness etched in his puppy dog eyes. ¡°You¡¯re not the only one that can make connections, Joey. She looked just like him when I think about it. It¡¯s why it called out to him as well. The champion of the Valkyries chose you to guard the sword. She chose you for a task so impossible, that I don''t know if anyone else could have pulled it off.¡± ¡°All I did was hand the sword to¨C¡± ¡°The Champion of the Valkyries chose you.¡± He sits there, looking stern. ¡°And I know why. She needed someone she could trust. Someone who stood for everything that all Kin stand for. Someone who has seen the world for what it is, and what we desperately need to fix. You''re Amaranth''s prodigy. You were top of your class, you could have gone anywhere! But you chose here. Why? And don¡¯t say it was just because of me, either.¡± ¡°Because I¡­¡± she falters. Was Asqualia that special to her? Why had she chosen to come out here? Because I viewed it as a home. Not just a job. When Zameren had given her the tour, she instantly fell in love with the academic setup, just like another university campus. Her prior experience has been¡­a little tense, hiding her Kitsune form. Here, no one cared. Two of the staff were Wargen, three were fey, and several people she suspected were hiding their ancestry also lived here, but no one ever said anything. The fact that they had custom-tailored accommodations, even for dragons and all other Kin, and Zameren''s warmth in his introduction, sold her on the place. Kyle nods after a minute, even though she''s been silently propping her chin with her hands, and thinking about it. He smiles faintly. ¡°Don''t stew on it too long, Joey. And talk to Drenar, please. You guys are¡­there''s something between you that I don''t think you realize is rare.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not into him!¡± It¡¯s the worst deflection she¡¯s ever made in her life. ¡°You are into him.¡± ¡°He¡¯s younger than me!¡± Oh great, there goes that argument again, Kyle does have a good read on her. ¡°You know, we have other things to worry about, other than who I would have any kind of feelings about.¡± ¡°I was legit worried you were asexual for a while.¡± She narrows her eyes at him. ¡°You know that isn¡¯t true, and you have proof of that.¡± He coughs awkwardly at that subtle reminder. She smiles slyly. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Kyle, fox got your tongue?¡± ¡°Okay, now you¡¯re leaning it into too much. I know you¡¯ve got feelings for him. And maybe, you should take that as your cue to have someone in some small corner of your life that you can open up to, and just¡­unpack some things, Joey. Please?¡± She relents for once. ¡°Okay, fine! But I need to get to know him first. What if he¡¯s into fetishes? Or music I hate, or his only current hobbies are monster slaying and being a badass? Or¡­maybe he has a thing for fur? I mean, that would make it¡­a little weird.¡± Kyle raises an eyebrow at her statement. ¡°You realize the irony of that statement, considering we currently have wargen, kitsune, Kass¡¯lan, and others populating the world, yes? Oh, and dragons and fey.¡± ¡°Not hearing a denial of my point, Bertance.¡± Even though she hates the subject, it''s a welcome reprieve from talking about who they lost, or when they might consider bringing in someone specialized in post-traumatic disorders to walk them through this, or the staggering damage to the facility. She shoves all of those away, for just one moment of sanctuary. ¡°Seriously, what if he hates Japanese food? We could never be friends ever, if that were the case.¡± ¡°You two are on a mad quest to find his mother. The current reigning Champion of the Valkyries, who has been missing in action for almost six years. Pretty sure he''ll adapt,¡± he counters with a chuckle. "Look, he seems alright. I think Julia or Angela would have brought something up if he was totally messed up in the head." Why am I resisting this? Because I''m afraid of dumping my damages on his lap? That caustic thought is burning worse than any compound she could synthesize, and she tries to keep a calm face. But Kyle''s had too long to pick up on her tells. ¡°Look. I misjudged him. I thought he was an idiot out of his depth. The reality is, Drenar is a kid thrust into an impossibly large role, and he''s doing his damn best to keep it together. Just like you.¡± ¡°Alright, I''ll give it a try. But Kyle? Saving the world comes first. Val has to be stopped. And the Conclave has a lot to answer for, too, at a minimum.¡± He beams at this statement¨Cis this because he''s trying desperately to mask his inner turmoil from the past few days, or because he wants to see her come out of the shell she''s been hiding in for so long? Looking inward, she realizes Kyle has been her best friend for a long, long time¡­and she''d pushed him away, even though he was looking out for her, trying to help her tear down the barriers of being born as someone who the world viewed as a second class Kin. She won''t make that mistake again. ¡°One condition, though. Promise me you won''t give him a hard time if things go¡­a certain way?¡± ¡°From what I''ve seen from him so far, I very much doubt I ever will have to. Let''s get some rest, yeah?¡± The tension melting through her body also means she notices the creeping fatigue. Healing after such a rough few days is not easy. Even with regen potions. She stares at the bunk bed above her for a while, before she eventually drifts off to much needed rest.
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 128: Haunting Echoes, Part One ¡°You killed me.¡± Joey¡¯s eyes open, and she''s back at the burnt and shredded remains of the garden shack. The grounds of Asqualia are damaged, and the area is stained with violence. She knows it''s a dream, but it still fills her with dread. She''s back to her scorched lab coat, scuffed injuries, and that taste of bile still in her mouth. That voice is familiar. Too familiar. She walks over toppled bricks, and metal and wood splinters, to find the source. What she sees fills her with revulsion. The light of the world seems to fade out. All she can see is the remains of the shack. Splintered wood, metal shrapnel, the charred outline of the blast. And Curtis. Except, his corpse is leering at her. A chunk of his abdomen is gone. Limbs have torn flesh, and bone is exposed. And blood¡­drips off of him. There''s a tear of skin and muscle, and she sees cracked bones where his muzzle would be. And he''s glaring at her with accusing eyes. Most of the rest of his face is¡­intact. ¡°You killed me.¡± Blood continues to drip, but it never forms a puddle. It just seems to be looped at the instance of his death. ¡°You shot me, and you murdered one of your own.¡± Joey stands silent at the accusations. His brown fur is burnt at the edges of the gruesome, fatal blast, and his ochre-colored eyes follow her as she steps closer. Old Joey would have been terrified at this. She would have woken up by now, screaming, sobbing uncontrollably, just like the night terrors from when she was thirteen. Not today. Debris floats away at the slightest touch, and she remains calm. Even furious. ¡°You always wanted to be a killer, Joey. You got your wish. How''s that plan for all kin living as equals working for you now?¡± She taps a nail impatiently on her wristwatch. Blood runs down his body, and never hits the ground. This grotesque fountain of Kin trauma is violating physics and arcanistry on every level. It''s not real. ¡°Fox got your tongue, Joey? Got nothing to say?¡± ¡°To you? No.¡± The words are quiet but forceful, and his grin fades to a suppressed snarl. ¡°You and your short stack friend were judge, jury, and executioner for me, Joey. Not even a shred of remorse?¡± His jaw just hangs slack as the meat falls off. The corpse adjusts the muzzle back into position with a squish of flesh, and a grinding of bone. ¡°Or the other people you killed?¡± ¡°I''m not justifying myself to a bad dream. I defended my friends, and my home.¡± She wishes she could wake up from this. She usually recognizes dreams for what they are¨Cmaybe because she''s a psionic? Her mother had explained so agonizingly little. How many had she directly had a hand in their deaths? At least six? Does she dare to count? No. Think of the one hundred and change people who survived because you were willing to stand and fight. She doesn''t know where the thought comes from¡­but it almost sounds like something Drenar would say. The corpse doesn''t care though. It just stands there on shredded limbs and stares at her. That lecherous, bony grin of a cracked muzzle. ¡°I can live with what I did.¡± ¡°What about little Blake? Think you can live with that day, when you told him to jump in a lake?¡± That flash to eight years ago sends a cold chill down her spine. As cold as the water she dove into, and she shivers uncomfortably. Curtis grins. ¡°Yeah, you remember. You told him to go jump in a lake, and he did! I bet that was a surprise. You wanted to kill people when you were a little kit. He walked off the dock, and just stood there on the bottom of the lake, and let the water go into his lungs.¡± ¡°That¨Cthat was an accident.¡± She stumbled on her words, her limbs shaking. ¡°He didn''t drown.¡± Drops of water are dripping down from the lake above her head, a rainfall under a massive body of water. Her heart rate spikes, and she feels her breath go rapidly. ¡°I saved him!¡± Curtis smiles evilly, drops of water mixing with blood. ¡°That''s what you''re telling yourself, so you don''t have to face the truth. You''re dangerous. Kitsune are all dangerous. It''s why they put us down. Can''t have the Kitsune race telling people to go kill themselves¨C¡± ¡°You don''t get to judge me. You, the person who tried to get me to shoot myself with my bolt pistol. I felt it.¡± Her heart is still pounding, but she''s focused. This awful, horrible scene isn''t just from the past few days. It''s from eight years of fear. ¡°I have more powerful psionics than most. It''s why I all but stopped using them. I never wanted to cause harm again.¡± It''s how she avoided pressing the bolt pistol to her neck against her will. It''s how she snapped Curtis''s insidious suggestion away with a mental shield. It¡¯s the first time she¡¯s admitted to herself on why she held back. It was supposed to be a red letter day when she got the acceptance letter for London Academy for the Arcane, all those years ago, and sharing the news with a friend. Instead, it almost ended in tragedy. She grips the fabric of her jeans tightly. ¡°I never wanted to hurt anyone.¡± ¡°That first kill would''ve been such a rush, though! Little Blakey still can''t look you in the eye, the last time you saw him. He''s still afraid of you. He called you a traitorous rat, and you just couldn''t take it, told him to go drown himself¨C¡± She cuts off the horrible manifest of her fears and growls. This bad dream is trying to distort reality. ¡°Never. I know there''s more to psionics than anyone¡¯s told me. I know they have uses beyond destruction. You want me to choose the easy way, and become a power-hungry psycho like Val? Never. I''m a woman on a mission with determined friends, I''ll learn my limits. I''ll train. I will never let my powers shape me again.¡± Curtis continues to dribble while the drops of water intensify. ¡°Until you hurt your friends. Who''s the new one, Drenar? Or that shapely one, Angela? You''ve got a thing for them both. Make them your friends. They won''t have a choice. They''ll want to do things for you. And they won''t be able to say no.¡± That lecherous grin sets her on edge. Does she care about Angela in that way? She draws a blank and focuses on the now¨Cthis ghost is trying to rile her up. This is her fear trying to control her, and she locks eyes with him. ¡°Go to hell, Curtis. Where you belong.¡± She doesn''t remember when she transformed as she bares her teeth at this malicious wraith, and her claws are tensed. ¡°I don''t regret killing you. You, who betrayed everyone. I don''t regret killing several other Kin. I regret that I couldn''t save more lives. I regret that I couldn''t save Reeves. Or Betty. I''ll carry those scars with me for a long time. I''ll take those failures and learn, so others won''t suffer the same fate.¡± She tenses on the tips of her toe claws, waiting to see if this corpse has any fight left in him. ¡°You''ll fail. Even if you don''t, they''ll despise you for what you are. Go drown in your insecurities, Joey. Go drown like little Blakey almost did.¡± That last sneer of his mangled muzzle does nothing to break her resolve. She doesn''t flinch when the magical barrier breaks, and an entire lake falls on her. The cold rush of water sweeps her away, and she feels the burning agony as her lungs fill with water, and her body spasms¡­ She snaps awake in her bed, soaked in sweat and panting, and shivering in the cool air of the subfloor. She looks down¨Cstill in her human form, that hasn''t changed. And she''s trembling. She curls her hands into fists repeatedly, and brings her hands to her chest, wrapping around herself and trying to calm down. Even with the realization it was a dream, her body is still reacting to it. She shivers from the horrible dream and throws the blanket back, and cups her cheeks with her hands, and takes slow, controlled breaths. She''d buried that bad day away, when her psionics went into overdrive. She''d almost killed her friend as a result. She rubs at her bruised and cut-up arms, like her skin is still crawling. ¡°Traitorous rat! You''re ditching us for bigger and better things in London! What about the rest of us, barely squeaking out a life here in Bixby?! You''ll never fit in there! They''ll skin you alive and put your corpse up for display, when they find out that their shining new student is a Kitsune!¡± ¡°Go jump in a lake, Blake, and go cool off!¡± This has to be different. She presses her fingernails into her skin to get her head out of the past. Two minutes of CPR. Two minutes praying to Gaia that he''d make it. And when he did, that look of terror in his eyes broke something inside her. She''d done this to him, even though she never wanted it to happen. You''re wrong, Curtis. These powers can be used for more than destruction, she thinks adamantly. Her link with Angela, Julia, and now Drenar¡­there''s something different about it. To be connected to someone in this way suggests that bond goes both ways. It would need to be something¡­ Something they both wanted? A connection of mutual trust, maybe? Her heart steadies, but it does nothing for the fact that she''s soaked in sweat still. She hops out of bed and peeks at the bunk bed. Kyle, looking more peaceful in sleep, even though he still looks beat to hell. She smiles faintly, and hopes that he¡¯s having a less fitful dream. She should feel safe inside the home of Nick, someone she considered a friend. But these nightmares don¡¯t respect walls or resolute words. Her body still betrays her, and she wills away that nauseous feeling of seeing that corpse standing there, taunting her. She¡¯ll never go down that path. No matter how tempting it might be, that power to destroy people¡¯s will¡­nothing good can ever come of it. She¡¯d never even told Kyle this one. And she doesn¡¯t want to. Because he¡¯d never look at her the same way¨Cor, maybe he¡¯d tell her that having seen it used once by accident should be a teachable moment, of the responsibility of power? And how to use it for good? It sounds like a Kyle thing to say. She inhales sharply, and lets out her exhale past her lips slowly, and tries to baseline her body. She reaches for the blankets, and it¡¯s still warm¨Cbut soaked in sweaty grossness. It¡¯s not an appealing retreat to slumber. I need¡­something to take the edge off. Rebalance my stress hormones. Anything to stop seeing that awful spectacle, maybe walk around? At least her logic is still working, and not locked up in existential fear. She swings her legs out of the bed, and for the first time in a while, looks down at her own body, and winces. She isn''t in much better shape, either. This might be the first time she wants to say the hell with it and take her Kitsune form, and just bury herself in her covers, nestled tight. Consequences be damned. Boy, would that cause a stir in the morning. Next plan please, brain. ¡­ Right. No drakensoul to bounce ideas off of. I do see the appeal of it, I just¡­ eh¡­why''s Alex such a pain? She rises unsteadily and hops out of bed. Maybe someone else is awake¡­though at three in the morning, she doubts it. She does pause at Kyle''s bed and adjusts the blankets over him. They''d all taken beyond the recommended max dosage of Regen potions, the rest would have to wait until the alchemical compounds broke down before anyone could use more. That would be a good twelve hours or so. He looks a little more at peace, and she runs her fingers through his hair gently. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Kyle, I honestly don''t know what I would have done without you there. They''d all done the impossible, and come out of that night alive. I dragged you through hell on earth, and you still stood by my side. But, it had not been without losses. And the damage inflicted was more than just ugly bruises, ugly gashes, and the inability to sleep. It would be the emptiness of seats no longer filled with chattering coworkers. Or friends. It would be the lasting silence that would be the overbearing reminder. Every single day. And then, there would be another day of a subtle dread. The day when they eventually remove the cheap, plastic label of someone¡¯s name on an office door, or on the plaque of their laboratory that conveyed far, far more presence. Maybe they¡¯d have a memorial set up. Someday. But they¡¯d fade from memory. And be forgotten. Like their deaths meant nothing in the cosmic scales. She shudders at the thought. No one should be forgotten like that. Those who fought and died defending friends and loved ones, their spark of courage would never die out, or be forgotten by those who survived. She walks down the dimly lit hall to the larger training area, now hastily converted to a resting area. She''s not sure why she''s here. Angela is resting on a dragon sized cot. She''s the pinnacle of beauty with her shining silver scales and iridescent feathers accenting her wings, cheeks and arms. Bandages still cover a good portion of her body, but she appears to be resting well. She places a hand on an arm gently¡­still radiating warmth, just as she would expect. She turns to Julia''s cot, but it''s empty. She pivots to see her curled up and nuzzling against Drenar, one arm protectively wrapped around him, and she''s resting her head against the crook of his neck. Her face is scrunched in pain, or sadness, and Joey can hear a faint mumble from her throat. Drenar isn''t faring much better, and his tail twines around hers, one hand resting on hers. Bandages adorn their bodies, and there''s still the smell of the medical ointments she''d managed to manufacture to help speed up their recovery. He looks a little more at peace. She reaches her arm out, but hesitates, and her hand hovers over his shoulder. I barely know you, Drenar. So why were you willing to put your life in my hands? And I did the same thing, and I can¡¯t think of a reason why. Her hand trembles in the air not from fear, not from hesitation¡­but anxiety. She¡¯d committed to helping him do the impossible, because of a single common thread: The champion of the Valkyries chose her to defend her legacy. Maybe it wasn¡¯t just the sword she handed her¡­but a trust they would find each other? Could she have planned this? It¡¯s an irrational question, how could she have seen so many moves ahead? How could she have predicted he would find the sword? Could it be Fate, even as much as she doesn¡¯t want to believe in it? Or the easiest answer is, it was a cosmic coincidence beyond calculation. It¡¯s the first time she¡¯d doubted the most logical answer. She stops hesitating, and places a hand on his scaly shoulder, and feels that warmth radiating off of him. So few people realize the dragons run at fairly higher core body temperatures than most other kin. As a kitsune, she runs at about 39 Celsius. But, dragons run as high as 41 Celsius, depending on subspecies. He barely stirs in his slumber, except to shift his head on the stiff pillow. He is something different, isn¡¯t he Alex? She dares a whisper to his drakensoul, and she feels that slight arc through her brain. Joey? Are you out there? Drenar¡¯s fast asleep. I know. I figured¡­ he needed this moment. She sits down on the edge of the bed, careful to avoid pressing on his body. Just tell me one thing, Alex. I could tell you a lot of things, but I feel like it¡¯s something that you two need to talk about in private sometime, it¡¯s¡­not my business to interfere in such things. This side of Alex, minus the snark, sounds more wizened beyond his years. He lets out a soft huff. You¡¯re an empath, if you can make connections like this. The term is alien and unfamiliar to her, other than the meaning in normal English literature. What is an empath? She dares to ask the question she''s been dreading. Kyle had mentioned it once as a sarcastic comment¨Cbut did he know more? Maybe the reason he hadn¡¯t gone into more detail, was because he wasn¡¯t sure. It¡¯s a sound theory, from what she knows of Kyle and his behavior. Powerful psionics. But in a different way. I¡­knew one. She was talented beyond measure. She could form bonds with individuals, even though she didn¡¯t quite know what it meant, other than forming a connection between her and someone else, where they could share thoughts. Mind speak, if you will. I connected to Angela in the same way, too. And I think Julia, and maybe Kyle. She realizes that this is an answer she needs desperately. The two snoozing dragons don¡¯t even notice her presence, they¡¯re beyond exhausted, and still healing. Drenar looks like he¡¯s got a tapestry of violence on his body¨Cdented scales, cuts, and one older scar on his wrist. So, there¡¯s more to it? There is. It¡¯s said that such bonds are rare. They don¡¯t happen by accident. Some of the older Kin have argued it¡¯s a bond of fate, preordained from birth. I don¡¯t know if I buy into that theory perpetuated by stuffy old scholars who were busy getting high off of select medicinal herbs, But there is power in it. I never researched it, I just knew of my own experience with a friend. Only Kitsune have this power, don¡¯t they? It takes a moment, but then she feels that mental tug of a nod from Alex. An emote on a mental level. Yeah. And you¡¯re worried about what it means. There¡¯s¡­something that happened a long time ago, you could say. She doesn¡¯t go into detail on this one. She just can¡¯t. Not until she knows more. I know you''re a sharp arcanist, but Joey? Don¡¯t experiment on the lad, he¡¯s been through a lot. I wouldn¡¯t experiment on someone I¡¯d be potentially dating¨C She claps her hand over her mouth and lets out a squeak, that had to be the most bold thing she¡¯d thought of, and it¡¯s met by instant laughter by Alex. She narrows her eyes at Drenar, still fortunately asleep. Oh, you do like him, don¡¯t you?! Tell him that one before I¡¯m ready, and I¡¯ll burn your soul out of him Alex, she offers in an empty threat. No seriously, I just want to know why. Why did his mother pick me? I mean, from what I know of the four days I¡¯ve known him, he¡¯s brave. He¡¯s resourceful, and more than a little bit awkward in that adorable teen way. Yeah, he¡¯s got his charm moments. If only he¡¯d use them to start his dragon harem, because he easily could. She tries to stifle a giggle¨Cthis dragon is so bold! He also laughs softly at this comment a few seconds later. No, I¡¯m not trying to lead the lad down a bad path. I also am not sure how uh¡­secure this connection is. Because we are mentally linked, he might be able to sense your thought speak. Guess we better not chance it then. But does he have anything I should worry about, Alex? Like trauma that I don¡¯t know about? If you¡¯ve been paying attention, Joey, you¡¯ll know he was scarred deeply by what happened. You¡¯re a sharp lass. You understand this is one I can¡¯t talk about, it has to come from him. Joey lets out a slight sigh of relief. Well, I suppose that¡¯s a good start. Oh, and he has this strange obsession with magical fox girls. No idea where that one originated from, you wouldn''t know anyone who matches that description, would you? She narrows her eyes and is tempted to punch that dragon in the jaw¨Cexcept, unfortunately, that would also hurt Drenar. She lets out a barely audible sound of disgust. Right, sorry, sensitive subject. You¡¯re a lovely young lass, I think Drenar¡¯s mind hasn¡¯t been poisoned like the rest of the world against the history of the Kin. Same with his friends. Keep that in mind, yeah? I can. She feels more at ease now, and she notes Julia stirring¨Cdid she see the gleam of a sapphire eye for a split second? Better to not chance it. Alright Alex, thank you. I uh¡­I should probably head back to bed. Back to the night terrors. Keep the company of good friends, Josephine. You¡¯ve already found them, for what it¡¯s worth. She smiles faintly¨Cdespite his dripping snark, he is decently natured, for a seven-hundred-year-old dragon soul. She glances at the two of them, still curled up like nest mates. It might have only been a few days since she''d met them, but it felt so much longer. He needs this right now. They both do. They just found out their entire life was one big sheltered facade, and I can''t imagine anyone being able to take that as well as they did. Her arm goes slack to her side, and she smiles faintly. It''s kind of cute, those two all cozied up. But¡­Julia said that it¡¯s not a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship. It¡¯s something different¡­like siblings, I think she said? She manages to ease off the bed and hop back down to the cool floor, accented by small rugs that line the way back to the temporary accommodations. Maybe the terrors will be more manageable now, since she has someone in her corner. She has all of them, now, not just Kyle and Claire, and few others. A bond of chance¡­as friends? Or fate? She figures, one way or another, she¡¯ll find out for sure, with a healthy dose of evidence to go along with it. She stops mid-stride when she hears a shifting, scraping sound¨C a silver tail gently blocks her way back to her room. She turns to face the not-so-sleepy Angela peering at her from the cot, with those brilliant blue-gray eyes of hers etched in curiosity. "Can''t sleep?" she asks quietly. Joey shakes her head. "Bad dreams. But¡­they¡¯ll go away, eventually. There''s nothing I can do but ride it out, for the moment." Angela looks like she''s still waiting for her to say something, and she arches one eye crest. "Do you¡­mind if I hang out with you for a bit?" Angela smiles warmly, and slides over a bit from the edge of the bed. "Darling, you don''t even need to ask. Here, hop on."
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 129: Haunting Echoes, Part Two It''s a little awkward to hop up on the higher seated cot, but Joey manages it on the first try, and her leg protests little at the motion. She lays against Angela''s side, against those deceptively soft feathers. "So¡­what''s on your mind?" ¡°Well, that could be one hell of a roulette wheel." Joey winces when she says it like that, but Angela shrugs softly. ¡°Bad dreams of what happened?¡± she inquires after a few seconds of hesitation. ¡°Yeah. The mutilated corpse of Curtis taunting me, haunting me in my one safe place,¡± she replies unhappily. She doesn¡¯t know why she¡¯s so quick to open up to Angela¨Cshe¡¯s kind of like Drenar in that way, with that warm charm that is almost inexplicable. Angela hardly tries for it, either. She lets out a soft rumble. ¡°He can¡¯t hurt you anymore, Joey.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just that. I try to rationalize the things that have happened, and it just¨C¡± she sucks in her breath, too afraid to bring up the worst of it. ¡°I¡¯m dangerous. He¡¯s right.¡± ¡°No you¡¯re not. Not from what I¡¯ve seen.¡± It¡¯s strangely relaxing that Angela doesn¡¯t press further on it, and yet, seems to have a grasp of what she¡¯s talking about. ¡°Why him, and not Val?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Val¡¯s just a murderous psycho. Curtis is¡­everything I could be if I let go.¡± She doesn¡¯t elaborate on it. ¡°Yeah. Messed-up dreams that¡¯ll fade, eventually. How are you healing?¡± Angela gestures to her scales¨Cthe cuts, discolored scales, the large gouges where Val had raked her claws across her¨Cshow signs of healing, and have slowly begun to fade. ¡°It itches a lot. There¡¯s a little bit of pain, I feel like when I flex my dermal plates, it feels a little stiff. Is that the right term for them?¡± ¡°Eh, close. Dragon scales are a bit of an exotic substance. Compared to the fiction of too many stories I read when I was a little kid,¡± she adds with a hint of amusement. To think so few people knew the truth about Kin in the world, and the wonders of their biology are still widely unexplored by modern science. She traces one on Angela¡¯s arm, and she points at the armor scales. ¡°These ones just shed, if there¡¯s enough damage. It¡¯s easier than healing up the armor scale, plus when they scar up like that, it¡¯s easier to compromise. Draconic biology is quite resilient at times.¡± ¡°You are a scientist at heart, Joey. I dare not put you and Julia in the same lab together, you¡¯ll make¡­well, you¡¯ll make dragon science a thing! Probably at Drenar¡¯s expense,¡± she adds with a throaty laugh. ¡°That boy needs a little bit of a break for a while.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t cross boundaries. I do have some ethics. Well, minus setting evil fiends on fire.¡± Angela taps a claw on one of her tapered horns, and she sighs contentedly. ¡°You¡¯re a firebug, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I just happen to like it when things transmute in a profound alchemical release of potency! Which also usually makes fire,¡± she adds with a foxlike grin. She rubs at Angela¡¯s feathers on her mane, and her expression morphs into something more relaxed. She sighs almost dreamily. ¡°Oh, uh, pardon my manners. I was looking to see if any of the cuts were inflamed. Feather accents can hide injury or infection.¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t actually mind that. It feels¡­hmm¡­kinda nice.¡± She stretches an arm out lightly, and her tail goes limp, the tip swaying gently on the edge of the bed, while Joey parts the feathers. No injuries to worry about. ¡°Oh. What are you doing? Because you should keep doing that." Joey runs her fingers gently through her feathers¨Cdespite their feathery texture they are a marvel of draconic biology. ¡°Is that a um¡­normal reaction?¡± ¡°Preening feathers releases endorphins for dragons. One could argue it''s to encourage maintenance as a biological necessity. It''s not limited to your wings; it may also be associated with the forearm accents, chest mane, or on the facial accent feathers. Though, that last one might be a bit more¡­sensual." Angela gives her an amused look, with a hint of a toothy smirk. "I presume you''re speaking from a cultural perspective, and not a personal one?" Joey feels her cheeks warm, and she stammers for a second. Angela lets out a soft snicker. "Well, I think I can rule one of those out." ¡°I¡¯m uh¡­pretty sure I still have a preference for¡­¡± She trails off and glances at Drenar, a short distance away. Angela takes the cue, and she chuckles. ¡°Well, I think so, though I haven¡¯t exactly been pursuing¡­relationships of late.¡± ¡°So, I¡¯m guessing there¡¯s a story behind this one?¡± Angela says coyly and twirls a feather strand around her claw. ¡°You could say that. Anyway, the whole uh¡­thing with draconic social relationships isn¡¯t my strongest suit, but you pick up on some stuff when you extensively study their biology. I''ve read so many books on what used to be their culture. Now it''s all just a bunch of questions for drunk twenty-somethings on Tuesday night trivia at a dive bar in the Mercadian Promenade." Joey scoffs softly at that. People just didn''t care about the marvels of kin biology or culture at all anymore! "Jeez. You are a hardcore academic Joey, but you still have room for feelings of heart." It feels like a compliment from Angela, at least. "It''s funny, you preening my feathers, it kind of reminded me of when I was younger. Back before my mom went full-on bitch mode. Back when I was a sickly little kid, she used to do that for me. She¡¯d run her fingers gently through my hair, Every night. Sometimes in the middle of the night, too, when I''d wake up, crying. Back when she cared.¡± ¡°She doesn¡¯t care now?¡± This answer surprises her, and Angela lowers her gaze, and she clicks her claws together. Almost as if she¡¯s anxious. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to think now, Joey. I guess when I was no longer dying, it just wasn''t as important." Joey glances up at Angela, who''s got that far away look, before looking right at her, and her face droops. "I''m sorry, I know you''ve got so much more on your plate¨C" "No, I want to hear more. I need something¨Canything, really, to keep my mind off of what happened. When you were younger, were you ill often? I think Julia mentioned it once, but I didn''t pick up on it at first." Angela nods quietly, and gently puts an arm around Joey''s shoulder. The size difference makes it difficult, but she appreciates it anyway. "Yeah. I was sick. I had a congenital heart defect.¡± ¡°It was bad?¡± She can¡¯t imagine how something that severe could be not bad, in hindsight. ¡°My sister¡­never saw the waking world. I know my mom never recovered from that. She had a defective heart, she didn''t make it past six months in the womb. James and I were supposed to have an older sibling, and it just¡­¡± Angela stops and clears the mist from her eyes. ¡°Bad luck runs in the family. James got lucky, but I had the same issue, just less severe. ¡°We were waiting in an organ donor list a mile long, and I was not going to last much longer, according to what James told me. I celebrated my fifth birthday in a hospital bed. I couldn''t even eat the cake, it was pretty bad. The cake, I mean," she adds with a soft laugh. Joey nods along and smiles faintly. "It got bad. Really bad. I crashed twice. They got me back within a minute. I crashed a third time and¡­I was clinically dead for fifteen minutes." She winces when she says it aloud, and Joey presses her hand firmly on Angela''s claw. "''Clinically dead''. Those two words have been stuck in my head ever since my dad mentioned it about a few months ago. Mom gave him this death glare, like he was supposed to never speak about it, and later, she was screaming at him. Thin walls do wonders for when teenagers listen to the real relationship between parents, and it wasn''t pretty." "Fates Angie, that''s horrifying. But, you''re alive right now. I still feel your heartbeat. This isn''t some purgatory. Or heaven. Or nirvana. Or Elysium," she adds with a soft sigh. "You''re here." Angela shakes her head, and looks weary. "Joey, I shouldn''t be alive right now. You spend that long clinically dead, even mages get written off. Even dragons. And I was none of those when I was five. Part of me wonders if magic wasn''t involved in my revival. Mom and dad would rather eat a cyanide pill than tell me, their own daughter.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Her free hand goes to her chest, and it''s only now that Joey notices the incision lines, traced faintly over her scales. Old, well-healed scars, something that translated between her human form, and her mighty draconic form, and showed the total vulnerability of such a brave woman. "It made for some¡­interesting discussion with Julia, about why I always wore a one piece swimsuit during the summer, or why I''d get dressed by myself." "Do you mind if I¨Cno, I''m sorry, I shouldn''t¡­" Angela tilts her head, and smiles instead. "No, it''s okay Joey. You''re a specialist in draconic biology." Angela pulls her hand away from her chest, and motions for Joey to examine her. She traces the scars. Sharp, precise cuts. The kind you might need to place for a heart transplant, though the invasiveness has diminished with modern robotics and surgical procedures. Joey can imagine the scale of them when she''s in her human form. "They were in the process of the transplant?" Angela has that far-away look again. Like she''s trying to figure something out. "No. According to Dad¡­I never got a heart transplant. But James remembers that I was supposed to. And that''s what set my mother off, big time." Joey frowns and examines the scars again. It''s lined up exactly with where the draconic heart would be. "Can a regen potion heal a defective heart?" She ponders on this for a second. The answer is as academic as it is disturbing. "No. Regen potions and similar magic only restore to the baseline state. It''s why mages and dragons aren''t immortal, that would be mighty scary if you could just keep using regen potion to restore failing organs as we age. No matter what, we all eventually succumb to the ravages of time. Even if dragons live a whole lot longer than most. Wargen live about two hundred years. Kitsune can get to four hundred, if¡­if we''re careful. Elven can live almost as long as dragons, but they rarely last that long." When she spoke of herself, Angela nods solemnly. ¡°I''ve never seen a Kitsune before. I think I saw a few of the Wargen back in town, but¡­as you can imagine, our parents kept us completely walled off from anything magic.¡± ¡°You''ve been missing out, Angela. On a lot of things.¡± She sits back and rests her head on Angela''s flank, and she doesn''t mind this at all. ¡°Thousands of years of history and wondrous secrets of our world. I still don''t know what happened to you in the lab, or in the power core. Or what the deal is with Luminari. But more importantly, I don''t know how your heart healed. Or why there''s a shard of mana in your heart at such a young age. How are you still alive?¡± Angela looks at her, and her jaws quiver for just a second. "I don''t know." Hearing that gnawing doubt in her voice, Joey knows that a huge unknown is weighing on her more than her blank in academia. "I know that my survival is not a coincidence. I know in my soul that it has something to do with the past few days. We need to find answers.¡± "You''ve got my back, Angela. We¡¯ll find answers. Maybe even Kyle can lend a hand,¡± she vows. ¡°But, we might have to wait a little while to try to solve that mystery. Does anyone else know the details?" "No. Not those specific details. I suppose it bothers me now, since there''s a lot of stuff going on with¡­well, all of us now,¡± she adds with a tender glance at Joey. "Drenar hasn''t seen my scars, either. I¡­didn''t want him to, which is why we didn''t get quite as far into our relationship as we could have by now. And we sort of put things on hold between us on Thursday, because I was worried someone might use that against us." Joey lets out a soft sigh. ¡°Why do scars carry over, anyway?¡± ¡°Same reason injuries carry over. Harming one harms the other. It''s a strange quirk of magic. Angie, you''re still beautiful, you know that, right? I don''t mean from just the physical perspective, either." Angela looks a little more at ease. "Yeah, I get that. I''m comfortable with who I am now, even if it might take a little time. But all this stuff¡­Joey, Sam and I were both given a second shot at life. And I don''t know how, or why. The mana crystals, Luminari, the way my scales changed¡­I don''t know what it all means. And it scares me a little.¡± We were both brought back for a purpose, Angela. Samarina¡¯s voice carries through the connection, filled with renewed determination. I don¡¯t think it was a coincidence we bonded together. We both had unfinished things in this world. A life taken too young¡­and a promise unfulfilled. ¡°Oh? Decided to join us?¡± Joey decides to tease out a response. I¡¯ve been here. I was just waiting for the right moment to speak. Angela smiles faintly, and Joey feels that mental tug of Angela and her resident drakensoul¨Clike a warm blanket wrapped around her soul, in a way. I failed in a task, before joining the rest of my kin in obliteration. ¡°Val killed her children,¡± Angela says quietly. This sets Joey on edge, and she curls her nails into the leggings of her sleepwear. ¡°Val has so much violence and untold grief to answer for.¡± They were not my children by birth but by bond. A secret task that a few dragons knew the full details of. They had been guarded for a long time. They were special¡­and then they were slaughtered. The children of Gaia. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of this. Supposedly¨Cif I recall my history lessons¨Cthey were direct descendants of the goddess Gaia, offspring between mortals and herself.¡± Joey shakes her head. ¡°I thought it was just a myth. No one¡¯s ever come up with convincing proof that Gaia was ever real.¡± Someone believed it strongly enough, that I was made the ward of five of them. Whether they were truly special, I never saw the end result. I only remember when I was overwhelmed in a skirmish during the war. Val knew about them, I remember her¨Cthe face was different, but that vile soul of her was the same. I took a lance in the gut, coated in a debilitating poison that kept my healing suppressed. When I came to, they were¡­gone. Val was not quick in ending them. Sam¡¯s voice is tensed to the point of breaking, and Angela slumps. This is why Val has to die. Not just for them¡­but so many others she¡¯s taken. ¡°We put her on notice, Sam.¡± Joey¡¯s words firm up. ¡°She is not getting away with the wanton violence she inflicts everywhere she goes. Not anymore.¡± There is one hope: she failed in her task. I know this because Angela is living proof. Both of them let out a sound of surprise. ¡°Sam, what do you mean?¡± Angela asks, her feathers ruffled at this revelation. One of the children¡­could talk to the crystals, like you can. It spoke to them. ¡°Sam, the crystals aren''t alive. They''re just minerals and aetherial energy, stitched together¨C¡± But, Joey falters in her words. Is there more to them than anyone can know? There has to be answers here. Answers they are sorely lacking. ¡°Who was this child?¡± Gone, now. I held her in my arms as she died. She said Gaia was weeping for her children. Devastated that such hatred for such beauty existed. Angela wipes away a tear from her eye, and swallows uncomfortably, and Joey is filled with a haunting pain in her heart, and she rubs uneasily at that clenching pain in her chest. You will not suffer the same fate, Angela. ¡°Damn right, she won''t.¡± Joey sits up, and ignores that clenching tightness. ¡°She''s afraid of something. I saw it. Eyes alight with terror when she saw your crystalline scales. I don''t know what they are, but if we ever get my lab back up to shape, we¡¯ll put it to good use. You have my word on that. We¡¯ll find out, one way or another.¡± ¡°Oh, fates. Dragon science. That''s gonna make Julia''s day.¡± The fact that she can see any kind of positivity in all this, is telling of her mental endurance. Her snout curls upwards to just the faintest hint of contentment. They will find the answers together. No matter where it takes them. Vol. 2, Ch. 130: Haunting Echoes, Part Three After the moment of shock has faded, and after realizing how there are still more secrets to uncover, they both then glance at the golden beauty wrapped protectively around the silver and azure scaled guardian of their team. Joey wraps her hand tightly on Angela''s claw, and they both sit back. "Have they always been¡­like that?" Joey asks barely over a whisper, and realizes maybe they should change the subject. Angela gives a gentle acknowledgment, barely moving her chin. "Drenar and Julia practically came into the world together, less than a day apart. They''ve been so close for so long. I know it''s sad, but¡­I get this feeling they¡¯ll leave the world together, too. Hopefully, after a long, fulfilling life, filled with joy and triumphs. When that day does come it won''t be the end¡­it¡¯ll just be a step to the next great adventure together.¡± She takes a moment to wipe her eyes. Joey realizes she''s not the only one past her emotional limit break of late. ¡°So that phrase, twin soul? It¡¯s not a jest, is it?¡± Angela gives it a second before she shakes her head, feathers tousling from the motion. ¡°Julia used to get nightmares when she was a kid. A lot. They''d find her wrapped up around Drenar the next morning when they were living right next door to each other. They never figured out how she got in, though. I think she climbed through the second-floor window. Talk about a mix of tomboy daring, and total vulnerability," Angela says with a soft chuckle. ¡°Though, as you might have guessed¡­they''re more like siblings than friends, in a way.¡± ¡°Drenar and I¨C¡± she pauses and lets out a huff. ¡°We have some stuff to work out, to put it mildly.¡± She has no idea how this kid is going to react to her telling him he might have feelings for a magical fox girl. She snerks at this silly phrase. ¡°I saw that look. You like him, don''t you?¡± Well, the dragon beauty is calling her out now, Angela never seems to miss a tell! ¡°Look, beyond his bravado, boyish and awkward charm, and surprising maturity¡­he just needs to take a comb to that hair of his, and maybe I''d view him as more than a blood donor for Regen potions. Does he plan that wild beast look?¡± she asks with a sly smile. Angela has to put a claw to her snout from laughing. ¡°Oh, you''ve noticed, have you?¡± ¡°A little bit, yeah.¡± The hard part, though, is still there. ¡°But I still need to talk to him about¡­me.¡± ¡°You mean¡­¡± ¡°Me. Being a Kitsune. That''s gonna be a shock. I just don''t know if now is the right time, given everything coming down on his head.¡± Angela tilts her head and smirks. ¡°Honestly? I think he''ll be alright. He does take after his mom. Speaking of which, how did you keep incognito for so long? What do you look like when you transform?¡± ¡°Oh no, not here, not now,¡± Joey pushes back with tension in her voice. Angela puts an open claw up. ¡°Alright, I get it, not here in the open. Stigma and irrational hate, I guess?¡± She''s amazingly astute. Joey takes more than a hesitant second to answer, and not because of the all-too-fresh memory of that corpse stabbing deep into her psyche. ¡°Do you know how all the kin came into being?¡± She decides to play it from an academic approach¨Csomething she knows Angela and her friends appreciate. She dips her chin, and her eyes are focused on her. ¡°Dragons experimenting on humans. Sometimes with volunteers. Other times¡­not so much.¡± ¡°I know little pieces, Nick has been filling me in. Plus, what I¡¯ve been able to read out of Amaranth¡¯s book. It sounds like their empire fracturing down the bedrock was a direct fallout of those experiments. People got fed up being nothing more than Magical experiments for dragons playing their hand at being gods.¡± She¡¯s very sharp, Joey notes. They¡¯d all have to be, to have made it through these past few weeks alive. ¡°Yeah. All kin that aren''t human or dragon are relatively new. Within the last ten thousand years or so? The kitsune were the last, largest round of¡­trials.¡± She could call it unethical experiments on slaves with often lethal outcomes, but there¡¯s no need to scare her. ¡°Kitsune were created last of the major Kin at the direction of the dragon empire just before the Schism war. We look like the legends from Japanese folklore¨Cand you could say we were the inspiration for it¨Cbut we were the result of an experiment between a magical creature with limited telepathic potential, and humans. It¡­didn¡¯t go so well. "They got what they wanted, potent psionics, but many couldn¡¯t couldn¡¯t control it. They suffered some severe side effects, manias, uncontrollable powers, birth defects. The dragon empire¨Cthe rotten parts¨Cdecided annihilation was the preferred containment option compared to a bunch of manic, overpowered psionics getting loose, who were suffering from torturous effects of said experimentation.¡± ¡°I would offer a hug Joey, but I might crush you by mistake,¡± Angela¡¯s eyes gleam with empathy. ¡°I¡¯ll risk it.¡± Angela is surprisingly gentle when she does, and those warm scales wrap around her torso gently, and she sinks into the gesture, while she traces the accent feathers on her forearm. Iridescent white and seafoam, with sleek silver scales that exude comforting warmth. ¡°Anyway¡­hmm¡­where was I?¡± ¡°Dragons being archetypal evil dragons?¡± Angela suggests while peering down at her. ¡°Yeah. So, the kitsune that survived the purges, and the war, finally got cut a break. The side effects of the experiments were diluted or disappeared within a few generations. But not before accumulating generational stigma that we could kill with our minds, steal secrets, or make others our slave. So many people still call us slurs, that we¡¯re filthy rats. That one still has me on edge every time I hear it.¡± She says it far more forcefully than she should, given the company not that far away, but she doesn¡¯t care. Angela responds by pulling one hand away and running it through her wavy hair. ¡°That is awful. And the Conclave does nothing about it?¡± ¡°No. Of course, they don¡¯t. They do lip service to try to maintain the appearance of an impartial body, but they proposed psionic limiters last year for those deemed ''security risks''. To me, that''s code for ''anyone we deem a threat to our reign''. It failed, but it won¡¯t again. There¡¯s a lot more to it, Angie. There are a few kitsune out there that can cause harm. They have powers that can really hurt people.¡± Including me, she thinks silently before hanging her head low. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t define us,¡± Angela grunts audibly and gazes at her with draconic gray-blue eyes. ¡°No. It doesn¡¯t. People are defined by who they are and what they do, and never what they are. I¡¯ll fight anyone who believes otherwise. No one can take away who you are, Joey, and don¡¯t let anyone tell you otherwise.¡± Hearing that from her, sparks a reaction, and she turns around and gives Angela a hug¨Cit¡¯s a little awkward given the size difference, but she still manages. ¡°Angie, I¡¯m not a needy girl¡­but¡­it¡¯s been a really rough week, and hearing that from you, makes it a lot more manageable.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Ah, jeez¡­another young adult with unshakeable passion. I thought I tapped out with Drenar and Julia, I¡¯m so glad I was wrong on that count.¡± She is immensely delicate with the way she runs her claws gently through her hair, while the two share a quiet moment. All that tension, all those awful moments¨Cthe death, the corpse haunting her dreams¨Cthey fade from her mind for a few minutes while she lets out an emotional anguish. Twice in two days, in fact. She couldn''t believe she''d broken down like that in front of Drenar, and she honestly doubted he noticed, given the overwhelming news she''d given him. We pulled off an impossible victory, and then we find out that his mother is alive. I should have known based on the similar appearance, I knew I should have trusted my instincts. Microphone stuck on? Angela whispers back through the link. She lets out a soft exhale while nodding her head, and cozied up to Angela while fighting misty eyed tears. Angela lets out a soft hum, and then¡­she starts up a set of words that get her attention. It''s something she hasn''t heard in a long time¡­ ¡°Hush little fledgling, do not fear, The storm shall pass, the skies shall clear. On divine wings, you shall be free, To Gaia¡¯s garden, we shall see. Over the mountains, through the valley, We find our home, where kindred rally. First of the chosen, last of Kin, She calls to her children, to see dawn again. Oh divine wings, we¡¯ll show the way To find the fallen and those astray. On divine wings, we shall fly To the hearth of Kin, in the sky.¡± She doesn¡¯t know how long she¡¯s been holding her breath before she lets out one long, heartfelt exhale. ¡°Thank you. I¡­I think I needed that. I haven¡¯t heard that in so long.¡± ¡°You know it?¡± Angela sounds genuinely surprised. ¡°It¡¯s a song that my mom would sing to me in those dark hours of the night, when I was younger, dying of a failing heart. I don¡¯t know how I remember it, but I do¡­it just¡­catches in the heart, you know? Ironic, I know,¡± she adds with a whisper-quiet laugh. ¡°I hate my mom for becoming cold and distant¡­but that song¡­I can¡¯t hate her for that.¡± Joey wipes the tears from her eyes, and tries to sit up a little straighter. ¡°It¡¯s¡­a song in old draconic. It¡¯s ancient. ¡®On Divine Wings, I Return to Thee¡¯ is the generally accepted translation of the song, and¡­it¡¯s something most Kin will hear in their lifetime. It¡¯s hard to pronounce with human physiology for the original version in draconic¡­but dragons can make those tonal notes with much less effort.¡± ¡°She always passed it off as some old family song. But it''s still beautiful,¡± Angela responds gently. ¡°I think translations don¡¯t do it justice. There isn¡¯t always a one-for-one translation for every word. It¡¯s hard to translate an emotional chord. It¡¯s a song about a hatching, far from home, trying to find their way back. And in the end¡­Gaia guides them back with a warm embrace, and a promise that she will be there to greet them, when they return to the Aether, at the end of the days and parting farewells from loved ones. Some of the translation doesn''t quite cut it, but¡­it does catch the ears.¡± She hasn''t felt this at ease in a long time, and eventually shifts around so Angela can lay down. The wings are always the tricky part. ¡°You do have a good singing voice, you know that?¡± ¡°It''s¡­a little different in the dragon form,¡± Angela admits, and shrugs with her wings. ¡°I could get used to it.¡± A few moments go by, and Joey finally feels like fatigue is catching up to her again. ¡°So¡­I guess it goes without saying, Joey, but, you''re in this, too?¡± Angela asks a little while later, while they''re both drifting off to rest. She really doesn''t want to go back to night terror-soaked sheets, and glances her way. ¡°Joey I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯m prying too hard, but¡­I know you must be having bad dreams.¡± ¡°I''ve...got you guys to talk to. That''s all I think I need. Bad dreams fade eventually." But will that itch for power ever fade? She hopes it does. Because she never wants to harm someone in that way again--even if it was an accident. She will never use them in that way to get what she wants. But this connection...if the mind domination is the extreme of their powers, what does this link between her and the others represent? She has has own answers to seek now, too, if only to avoid repeating the failures of the past. "I''m not going anywhere until we put Val''s corpse on a bonfire." "Grotesque, but admirable. I take it that means you''re in on this crazy idea, too." ¡°Val killed friends. She wrecked our home. And she''ll do so much worse if she is allowed to roam unchecked. I''m in this for you, Julia, Drenar¨Ceveryone¨Cbecause we need to fight for a better world.¡± She''d never been surer about signing up for a task that might be suicidal at best, or impossible at worst¡­but they''d already done the impossible. And she knows her skills will give them every edge they need. ¡°Kyle might be a little terrified of the crazy-eyed Kitsune alchemist signing up for a death wish, but I know he¡¯ll get on board, too. I have bitchy divas to burn, a Conclave to go beat upside the head with a dose of decency, and some new subjects¨CI mean friends, to hang out with.¡± She can''t help but smirk at that last one. ¡°Sassy. Now where''s my frosty cone?¡± She narrows her eyes at Angela who is trying to hide a toothy smirk, and failing. ¡°Oh come on, it''s not that red!¡± She protests while tossing back a few stray strands. ¡°It''s so red. It''s like royal red.¡± ¡°Is not!¡± ¡°It so is, Joey. But does it hold true for uh¡­the other side of the mirror?¡± Joey sighs and relents. ¡°Tell ya what, assuming Julia''s mother doesn''t kill us tomorrow, I''ll show you.¡± Angela beams at this, and after a moment, both of them start to nod off. Angela almost reflexively wraps a wing gently over Joey, and it''s¡­quite cozy. This is the weirdest thing that has happened to me. Me, making friends with a dragon. Hmm¡­I wonder what it would be like to cozy up to Drenar¡­ This time, she doesn''t bat away the idea out of instinct. Vol. 2, Ch. 131: A Journey Begins With A Single Step Of Bravery "You''re doing what?" Joey is surprised at Kyle''s subdued reaction when she brings up her plans while they are getting ready for the trip to the hospital. Kyle''s stern expression tells her he¡¯s just getting started. "No I''m sorry, I am lost here. Because quite frankly, I think you are suffering from either delusions of grandeur or a severe case of post-traumatic stress." He''s pulling his beard again, which he reserves for his most anxious moments. "I was there, Joey. I saw Reeves cut in half and I can still hear his screams, and that horrifying realization he was dead the moment Val carved a path through him. You did the best you could, but I don¡¯t know if anyone could have saved him. I was there fighting for our lives in that goddamn dungeon of a vault. I was there to watch Val beat the ever-loving hell out of all of us after Drenar should have blown her to pieces with her own detonator. And I am not okay. I am so far from okay, that I don''t know if I will ever be okay. Which is why I know you''re not okay.¡± "Kyle, I get it. We saw people we know die. The funeral services are going to be starting in the next couple of days. I''m going to be bawling my eyes out and be an utter wreck. And when I''m done grieving, I am following James, Angela, Julia, and Drenar to wherever this takes us. We''re going to go stop Valosterla and her entourage of killers from wrecking our world. And everyone else who helped her." He slumps, and shakes his head. ¡°Joey. Last night, I said talk to Drenar, not¨C¡± ¡°What, sign up for something a little crazy?¡± she finishes impatiently. ¡°It is crazy. But there is so much more I can do alongside them, than waiting around to pick up my life off the blood-stained halls of Asqualia.¡± ¡°Joey, this whole week has thrown everything off kilter. I wanted you to be there for them, not throwing yourself onto the frontline.¡± Kyle puts his hands on his hips and then lets out a soft exhale. ¡°Look, I like these guys too, but¡­are we sure we¡¯re ready to sign up for a suicide mission, Joey?¡± ¡°I knew I was in this the second King brought up Drenar¡¯s mom, Kyle. Do you know why?¡± ¡°Why?¡± She sucks in a deep breath before she lets out her theory. ¡°Because he knows she¡¯s alive¨Che hinted at it with that last phrase of his, the same thing that Drenar¡¯s mom always used to say to him when he was younger. I have a feeling that she might be alive, because of him.¡± Kyle gasps in shock, and stammers for a response. ¡°That¨CJoey, it makes no sense! Why would he save Val¨Cthe biggest psycho I¡¯ve ever heard of¨Cand in the same lifetime, save the Champion of the Valkyries? What the hell is this guy¡¯s endgame?!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, and so far, no one does. This means, I think we need to find out, at a minimum. The only way I can do that is go with Drenar, and show the world there¡¯s a group out there that will stand for what¡¯s right, if no one else will." He sighs in resignation, but his eyes are filled with focus. He''s steady and calm¨CKyle could be so emotional at times, and he occasionally lets it get the better of him, but not this time. ¡°There¡¯s no talking you down, is there? I care about you Joey, you¡¯re my friend, but this¡­this is scary. We are gonna be against the world. And I don¡¯t have limitless bravery like you, or Angela, or Drenar. I¡¯m just an arcanist who builds stuff, I¡¯m no tough-as-nails warrior.¡± She takes a step closer, one hand on his shoulder. ¡°Kyle, you stood with the rest of us. That is more than anyone ever could have asked.¡± He smiles faintly. ¡°I wasn¡¯t there because anyone asked me. I was there for a friend. And her friends, too,¡± he responds quietly. ¡°You know, I would never let you go on a death wish mission if I wasn¡¯t there alongside you. You and I¡­ couldn¡¯t make it work, and maybe I was pushing for the right thing at the wrong time. I¡¯m sorry for what I said earlier. I should have known better than that, and that you needed more time.¡± She lets out a quiet breath, and slowly dips her head. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m getting to that point, Kyle. Because someone else besides you knows what I am¡­and treats me like a human being, and a friend. And I think that¡¯s all I¡¯ve ever needed.¡± ¡°And the rest of them?¡± he crosses his arms, and leans casually on the wall. ¡°Given what I know of Julia''s sunny disposition, pretty sure she will be more likely to squeal in utter delight. As for Drenar, he apparently has a thing for fox girls. I think it started as a random joke between him and Julia before this chaos, but, welllll¡­¡± she trails off, while Kyle rolls his eyes. ¡°Uh-huh. Am I gonna have to go smack some common sense into him¨C¡± ¡°Kyle,¡± she says in a disapproving tone. ¡°Alright, fine. Look, let¡¯s be real, Joey. We''re not adventurers. We''re not heroes like the Valkyries, who have decades of rock-solid training, an unwavering level of trust and teamwork, and the best weapons and equipment that are the envy of the world. We''re glorified scientists, who sit in a lab with a nerdy lanyard, doing relatively boring stuff that quite frankly isn''t going to even budge the needle on the scale of mage-kind. I don''t want it to sound unglamorous, but that''s what we do." She''s unmoved by that declaration. ¡°You also build crazy stuff, Kyle. You¡¯ve synthesized an equivalent Valkyrian steel. I think with Levine, Nick, and the rest of them, we can form a smaller team that is far more effective than an army.¡± She''s lucky he was able to get the sample out of the lab--who knows what the condition of their equipment is going to be when--if they ever get to it? It could be a true turning point, if he can make more for the team. And work on his prototype magitech power armor with the full design realized. ¡°Oh, strategizing without me?¡± Angela slides around the corner, looking less injured and more alert, and flexes her arms confidently. ¡°I was wondering where you guys were, Drenar was getting everyone together to talk to the overwatch raven.¡± ¡°Say what?¡± Kyle blinks and just mouths the word like he can¡¯t believe what he heard. ¡°Kiera? You know, the Valkyrie that¡¯s also Julia¡¯s mom?¡± she adds with annoyance. ¡°We¡¯ve all agreed we aren¡¯t going to chew her out, but I¡¯m worried Drenar¡¯s gonna lose it at her. For reasons.¡± ¡°You mean like lying to you guys your whole lives?¡± Kyle proposes. Angela shakes her wavy hair and sighs. ¡°Among other things.¡± She puts a hand up out of caution. ¡°I know we all want to scream at her. I get it. But we need her on our side if we¡¯re going to do this dangerous stunt of restarting the Luminaires on a formal level.¡± ¡°Teenagers screaming at their parents. Glad those years are behind me,¡± Kyle says with a smirk. Angela rolls her eyes. ¡°Yes, I know. My parents are upstairs now, along with Drenar¡¯s guardians. This is going to be a bloodbath, probably.¡± ¡°Theirs,¡± Joey growls. Angela laughs at this and pats her shoulder. ¡°Okay, I know your feelings on this, but we really can¡¯t though?¡± She can''t help but marvel at this a little bit¨Cthis fearless teen is advocating for peace, when she was ready to rip Val limb from limb only two nights ago. And, she has magical abilities no one has ever heard of, besides her drakensoul? This one will have to be played cautiously. No doubt, everyone will want to blame the teenagers. ¡°Hey, uh, Joey, one other thing¡­I don''t know how this is going to go at all. This is the first time I''ve drawn a blank.¡± Joey gives her a reassuring smile. ¡°That makes two of us. Hey one quick question, what color are my eyes?¡± ¡°Eh? Still lavender. Why?¡± A thought has occurred to her. Why do so few people see her eye color? She looks in the mirror and it''s still that lavender shade she''s known her entire life. Yet Angela, Drenar, and Julia had all seen it. It''s a spooky coincidence. ¡°Eh, nothing. Random question.¡± Angela lets out a sigh. ¡°Only in magic land will I ever get a question like that. Is it because you''re a¡­well¡­¡± ¡°I don''t know if it''s tied to that.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°It is.¡± The three of them turn around to see Nick, his arm still in a sling, and looking like he needs another few days of healing. He''d just come down the stairs, and looks worn down. Angela drifts over to him and says something quiet. She feels anxious. Everyone around her is finding out. But Nick, ever the professional, smiles politely. ¡°Joey, I''ve known since the second time I accompanied Amaranth in your field expositions. I¡­know someone else in a bit of a similar situation.¡± Joey casts a sidelong look, then it hits her. ¡°Damn. My only clue was¨C¡± ¡°--Subtle enough that I dare not say it aloud,¡± Nick cautions. He goes back to his relaxed posture. ¡°Angela, help me get this sling off.¡± She gives him a questioning look, lips pressed together. ¡°You broke your shoulder pretty bad, Nick. even with your draconic healing, you need another few days. Don¡¯t let your stoicism cause you more pain, alright?¡± Her and Nick? I thought I got a vibe from them earlier! Angela whirls around and taps her finger to her temple. Her psionic microphone is still stuck in the ¡®on¡¯ position, and Angela lets out a strangled groan. ¡°Seriously, this has never happened to you before?¡± ¡°What happened¡­¡± Nick squints his eyes, and looks back and forth between her, and Angela. He gasps in surprise. ¡°No. No way. Just like that?¡± ¡°Yep. Welcome to the weirdness, Nick, we are off the rails on a crazy train,¡± Angela replies. ¡°Also, why didn''t you ever mention Joey as¡­¡± ¡°Because it wasn''t my place to say. I¡¯ve known enough Kin who try to live a normal life without the crazies harassing them for the simple offense of existing in this world.¡± He tilts his head toward her, ever the professional. ¡°I''ll just throw it out there, half of us already know. You don''t have to hide anymore.¡± ¡°Hang on. How is it that you knew?¡± She is curious about how these strange bedfellows managed to deduce this, in part as learning for the future. ¡°Uh, Joey? I''m a magical creature expert here. I¡¯ve known since we met, when Amaranth was out on field exercises with you. It¡¯s kinda hard to hide the unique scent of a Kitsune after three days in the wilderness with no shower,¡± he shrugs. ¡°The cinnamon scent is a really good mask, though. That threw me off for quite a while.¡± Ugh. My body betrays me. It¡¯s unfortunately true, and she voices her frustration. He still smiles politely while she¡¯s stewing over this inconvenient truth. ¡°Body scent isn¡¯t the result of bad hygiene,¡± he states matter-of-factly. "You are quite a lovely young woman by any kinship measure, with a deep passion for knowledge.¡± ¡°That can¡¯t be the only way you knew,¡± she counters. He shrugs and puts a hand out as if to further explain. "Well, that, and when we were running for our lives from a Kryngaxx, you climbed twenty meters up a tree in your human form." Oh right, that misadventure--she really couldn''t explain that one as uncanny athletics. "Also, your slight obsession for eggs and fish. Bit of a cultural taste, me thinks." "I do not have an obsession with eggs!" She does though, she thinks unhappily. "Cobb salad with eggs, hard-boiled eggs for breakfast, egg sandwich¨C" Kyle stops listing things when the wild-eyed Kitsune glares at him. "Oh, it''s true, Joey." ¡°Of course, you would notice these things,¡± she groans. The number of people who probably know is growing too high, by her count. She runs her fingers through a few stray strands of hair dangling in front of her face and sighs. The worst has come to pass, and disaster hasn''t struck. Maybe there is hope. ¡°I know you guys aren''t judgy, I picked up on that pretty quick. Not so sure about the other people that are going to be in that room,¡± she adds after a second of hesitation. ¡°But uh¡­seriously, I''m still feeling a little anxious about this one. Do you know how many people at the academy knew? It was like, three. Including Kyle. I pulled that off for four years. You guys have unmasked me in less than four days.¡± ¡°We are super weird people,¡± Angela says with a smirk. ¡°We sniff out weirdness like it''s a mini-game lately! Julia has the top score. And Drenar¡¯s a distant second. He tries.¡± They''ll fear your power. They''ll call you a rat¨C Shut up, ghost. She makes her decision in a heartbeat and takes a step back. ¡°You know what, if Val''s going to spend her entire focus murdering us at every turn, I might as well go out in style. Besides, I did promise Angela she''d get to see this.¡± ¡°Uh, Joey, we might want to stall on this a bit¨C¡± She lets out a huff and turns to Kyle, wearing an expression of feigned annoyance. ¡°Look, if I keep waiting for the right time to do this, I''ll never do it. I''m tired of living with a wayward glance behind my shoulder, and there''s now an army of depraved killers who know who we are. Gotta say, the prospects of facing flak on this one are pretty low. I''ll either end up dead, or prove to the world that Kitsune can be heroes, too.¡± His eyes light up, and he wears a lopsided grin. ¡°Well, it was nice knowing you, Mitsune.¡± Angela lets out a snort, puts a hand to her mouth, and tries to suppress a laugh. She fails miserably and breaks out in laughter and can''t stop, and Joey peers at her with curiosity. ¡°What''s so funny? It¡¯s just my middle name," she states with annoyance, but Angela still can¡¯t stop laughing. This is a decidedly very not-Angela reaction, so it must be for a reason. ¡°Uh¡­Kyle, you broke her. I have like one chemical to fix this, and it isn¡¯t a good one.¡± Angela manages to stop laughing for a second, and puts a hand up to wait. ¡°Oh Joey, you have no idea how much that made my day. Love Hina.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Her anime obsession in her early teens clicks into place when she mentions the name, and she groans when she realizes the connection. ¡°Kitsune Mitsune¡­really?!¡± ¡°I think this means your parents are just criminally dorky,¡± Angela said while trying feebly to regain her composure. Even Nick cracks a smile, much as he tries not to, and subtly clears his throat. ¡°What it means is that I will poison them for this!¡± she snarls. ¡°Of all the boneheaded things my parents have done, that has to be the dumbest way I¡¯ve ever been subtly outed as a Kitsune!¡± She raises a shaking fist in the air. ¡°Soooo dead.¡± ¡°Not gonna lie, that one is pretty obscure by most standards,¡± Kyle says reassuringly. She turns and gives him a baleful eye. ¡°You knew.¡± ¡°Joey, seriously¡­wanna know how I first knew?¡± He taps his temple for emphasis, and she doesn¡¯t even have to activate her psionics to hear him, he bites his lip as if he''s embarrassed. You uh¡­wag your hips a little bit like you have a tail still. If she still had her fur right now, every single strand would be bristling on end, and she glares at him. ¡°That is how you knew?¡± She can¡¯t believe this, she doesn¡¯t wag her hips when she walks around¨Cdoes she? She sucks in a sharp breath and points at him. ¡°You are now required, on pain of death for failure to comply, to let me know when my appearance doesn¡¯t match par, Kyle.¡± He goes pale at this very explicit threat. Angela puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder while she¡¯s still trying not to laugh. This is embarrassing to the extreme, and she feels a flush of heat on her cheeks. ¡°I think you¡¯ve successfully terrified him, Joey. Now, shall we save that wrath for the crowd upstairs?¡± She glances at the hallway back to the upstairs floor and relaxes the tension in her body. ¡°Alright, fine. I guess this one can wait a bit. But let me do this on my terms, alright guys?¡± She glances at Angela and Nick, who both give a firm nod. She lets her arms go relaxed before taking a slow breath, ready for the worst. ¡°Let¡¯s go face the music.¡±
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 132: Well, This Is Awkward... Angela led the group up the stairs, more confident than ever. They were going to do things their way, no matter what the adults in the room said¨Cat least, according to Drenar and Julia. And she knew she was ready for it, except for the little problem of her parents now standing and talking sternly to Kiera. Sternly might have been a polite term¨Cher mother, all blonde, with delicate nails, grey eyes, and looking like she hadn¡¯t slept in a few days, was taking an accusatory tone even before they entered the living room. Her mother is leading off, like usual, at full tilt. ¡°--think that we might have needed to be consulted by this? You are unbelievable, Kiera! You and your daughter are the most reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous people in this house! And that¡¯s after finding out Nick has been seeing my daughter as a¨Ca¨Cwell, I don¡¯t know what to call it, but a really inappropriate relationship! And you knew!¡± Kiera looks unimpressed. ¡°Really, Celes, your lack of candor is not helping, considering who you work for. Did you neglect to mention that little inconvenient truth?¡± Oh, great. Damages. Joey, you might want to hold off on your reveal for a little bit. Or you know, use your psionics on my mom to get her to calm the hell down. Joey lets out a soft sigh as if she¡¯s not fully on board with this, but makes no further vocalization. Angela hesitates by the door, and Drenar and company are coming from the kitchen. He still looks beaten to hell. ¡°So, when did my parents start laying into Kiera? And where are Diane and Dave?¡± she asks him. ¡°Ah, they¡¯re still upstairs talking to the Valkyries, they''ll be alright,¡± Nick assures them. This discussion is gonna suck. He rubs errantly at a bruise on his neck, and gestures to the door, voice lowered. ¡°You really want to go in there now?¡± James interjects before she can get a word out, and his face is pressed tight. ¡°Nick, everyone we count on has lied to us. It¡¯s time to call out our parents¡¯ bullshit.¡± Drenar twists his lip and lets out a soft sigh. ¡°On the plus side, even if they wanted to kill me, it would be a laughable attempt now.¡± Angela twists the door open and locks focus with her mother, Celes¨Cblonde, petite, and somewhat short in stature. Her father, Alan, is darker-haired, lean, and still managing to fight off the deleterious middle age look, and they¡¯re still glaring at Kiera before turning to their kids. The fact that her mother didn¡¯t even come to see her yet, was telling. ¡°Hi guys. We uh¨Cdecided that¨C¡± she is interrupted in two scant seconds by her mother. ¡°We¡¯re leaving, Angela, James.¡± Her mother¡¯s tone set the pace that this was going to be ugly. ¡°I¡¯m so disappointed in you two.¡± ¡°When did you two even get here?¡± James demands, and folded his arms before peering at them crossly. ¡°You know, for two kids who were fighting for their lives in a facility hidden below a lake, against hundreds of bloodthirsty mercenaries, you two should have dashed home the second you were made aware of it. Been taking your time?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that simple, James,¡± her father states calmly. Kiera turns to face them, and Angela can see she had a murderous look on her face. The last time she¡¯d seen it, Julia had just had a hang fire from her rifle, and almost didn¡¯t keep the rifle pointed downrange. Her mother had been livid. This was beyond that. ¡°We had to take a longer route home. For reasons I don¡¯t want to get into¨C¡± ¡°Alan. If you try that line one more time, I will not be responsible for what happens in this room, because my patience is at its straining limit,¡± Kiera snaps while glareing at him, and she is not giving him any slack. ¡°Celes, tell them what you told me. It¡¯s time to air the dirty laundry.¡± ¡°Why do I get this feeling you¡¯re trying to have your cake and eat it, too? Going to hug your kids? No? Is that too much for you?¡± Angela taps her arm, and feels that rush of fury burning through her. ¡°No ¡®sorry for keeping secrets¡¯ from you? Diane and Dave at least had an excuse. They were sworn to secrecy, because of something I doubt you two know. So let''s hear it. Right now.¡± Her mother looks at her, and might as well be looking right through her. ¡°We work for Magitech Industries. We have spent the last three days evading their security force, to ensure we were not followed. That is why we took so long to get home, and why we''ve avoided you. You two just cost us our jobs and nearly our lives!¡± She thought nothing could surprise her. And she still let out a strangled gasp at this atom bomb of a reveal. James has a much more direct response and a ball of flame appears in his hand, and everyone backs away from him. She doesn''t even try to dissuade him. Because she''s three seconds away from making her mother a greasy smear on the wall, too. James growls out a response. ¡°Magitech Industries. The people we just fought. Oh, this makes so much sense why you didn''t tell us about your careers. You''re working with team villain! You two are dead.¡± He is not backing down, and a shimmery texture lights on her hand. Her telekinetics are about to make her mother a human yo-yo, if she says anything else unflattering. ¡°James, you better put that out, or you will regret it. We are still your parents," her mother says in a low tone. Angela has a much more biting retort in mind, and she is absolutely done with her mother. ¡°Parents who work for a murderous diva. Parents who likely took my information and sold it to the Talons. Or just Magitech industries, in the most criminally unethical way imaginable. Or, conveniently told someone where the records could be found.¡± She put the pieces together in an instant, eyes narrowed and focused on her mother. ¡°Tell me you two aren''t so horrific that you didn''t do all of that.¡± Or that shard of mana in my heart that I¡¯m all but certain is your doing, too, but that one might be too dangerous to air out in this room. ¡°We''re not discussing this in front of them¨C¡± her mother waved to her friends and Kiera. But Kiera takes a menacing step forward, and she is still only the second most dangerous person in the room, next to herself. ¡°No, Celes. You are. You are going to tell them, because I will be laying cards on the table as well, today. I should have known this day was going to come back to haunt me, when you mentioned you avoided discussing your jobs when at all possible.¡± Julia has a hand of restraint on her shoulder, and she glances at her briefly. ¡°Angela, don¡¯t. Let¡¯s hear them out rather than screaming¨C¡± ¡°We are past that point, Julia.¡± She shrugs her off and takes a footfall of doom toward her mother, arms folded across her chest. ¡°Drenar, don¡¯t even try, either. Joey, this one is mine to fight.¡± ¡°Angela, you are out of line¨C¡± her mother says, but her mother backs down when she sees the seething expression on her face. She¡¯s never had difficulty in holding back her emotions until the past few days, and she is going to let them see a side of them they haven¡¯t been around long enough to witness. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°No. You were out of line the second you decided your jobs were more important than your kids. You decided to blind us from our heritage since day one. You decided to lie about how I was clinically dead for several minutes. But we¡¯ll get to those. Your boss, Valosterla Roshanikov, tried to kill every single one of us. Your murderous diva of a CEO¨Coh, scratch that, because Bennett Magia is still breathing¨C¡± ¡°Actually¡­¡± Levine came in from behind them, looking rougher than usual. ¡°Yeah, Bennett is dead. They found him shish kabobed in his penthouse last night. Doubt the news reached you two yet.¡± Both of her parents look like the light went out in their eyes, and her father winces while her mother stutters. ¡°Seriously, we beat that bitch to high hell, and she still had enough energy to go murder her boss?¡± Drenar asks on disbelief while throwing up his hands in frustration. She sympathizes¨Cshe¡¯d shaken off deadly blows, even from Luminari. Then again, Val seemed to scream about a ringing sound. Maybe the sword had marked her for justice? The next blow is going straight through her heart. Angela lets out a calm breath before continuing. ¡°Well then, soon-to-be-deposed murderous CEO, for as long as she can before Valkyries and SAF raid her office and depose her.¡± She peers intensely at her mother. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. I fought that monster a couple of nights ago. Weird stuff happened. I was also Awakened by a dragoness in my soul that seems to know things about the history of this woman, who also had a bone to pick with her. And where were you guys? Oh, that¡¯s right, keeping up appearances. I¡¯m disappointed in you both.¡± ¡°Angela, say another word and¨C¡± her mother¡¯s threat is lost on her. ¡°You¡¯re gonna pretend I don¡¯t exist? Never acknowledge anything I ever did as important? That¡¯s what you¡¯ve been doing for a dozen years already, mom. That¡¯s nothing new. There is nothing you can threaten me with, that could possibly top what we went through over the past week.¡± ¡°Angela, stop. Let us get a word out, please,¡± her father gently nudged her mother aside after his attempt to diffuse this situation. ¡°We didn''t plan on any of this happening. None of us did. We worked on research projects for various medical benefits of magical and mana based materials. That¡¯s what we¡¯ve been doing. A lot of it has military applications for soldiers in combat. Some of it is prosthetics. Advanced ones.¡± ¡°Cut the bullshit, dad.¡± She hit her patience limit. ¡°What deal with a devil did you make to save my life?¡± she taps her chest for emphasis. ¡°Julia¡¯s seen it. Joey¨Cour new bestest friendly alchemist ever¨Chas seen it. A mana shard in my heart, and it¡¯s not supposed to be there. Is it? It¡¯s why I¡¯m still alive, isn¡¯t it? And you¡¯re reminded every day of the price you paid for it, aren¡¯t you?¡± Well that was one way to get the adults to all shut up, and her mother looks mortified, and her father gazes at the ground. They both knew. She lets out a measured breath before continuing. ¡°Of course, I wasn¡¯t normal. Why did I ever believe you two? What¡¯s one more lie to Angela and James? They¡¯ve already been spoon-fed the lies since birth.¡± ¡°Angela, let us get a word out, please? We were valued researchers. We still can¡¯t talk a lot of those things in this room,¡± her mother adds after eyeballing Kiera, who gives her a death glare right back, ¡°About what it is we research, specifically. And we are sorry you got caught up in this.¡± ¡°You know what, hell with it. I know how Angela¡¯s records got snagged, along with the rest. You gave them to the Talons, didn¡¯t you?¡± Nick is quick to pile on, eyes narrowed. He brushes past everyone else. ¡°How else did a low-life like Jimmy Cabresa get access to those documents or even know what to look for? Someone who knew what they were told him. That was you, wasn¡¯t it? I could pull up the roster of other Magitech Industries employees, but I¡¯m sure the number of them working in this town, with the right access, can be narrowed down to a handful. You were researching Angela too, weren¡¯t you? Your daughter.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true. We were told to specifically keep her clear of any testing that might¡­cause problems.¡± Her father twitches when he says that, and she ponders what that meant. ¡°There¡¯s more to it, but we had your best interests at heart, once we realized what that data was going to be used for.¡± James is still out for blood. ¡°Oh, how convenient, how this comes out after Magitech Industries became a known collaborator for the Talons,¡± he growls. He still hasn¡¯t extinguished that little fireball. But Angela has one threat she''s willing to drop. ¡°Mom, I¡¯m gonna lay this out for you. I fought the deadliest dragoness on the planet, and survived. You¡¯re going to tell me what you¡¯ve been hiding, right now, or we¡¯re done. As soon as I¡¯m eighteen, I¡¯m gone.¡± She¡¯s never been more pissed off, and yet more reserved in her words while she taps a shoe patiently. ¡°You can think it over after we have our debrief with Kiera, and the next day or so. But if you¡¯re not gonna come clean now, nothing is anchoring me to you two, whatsoever.¡± ¡°Angie, maybe this is a bit extreme¨C¡± Joey starts to say. ¡°If you knew my mother and how she acted, you¡¯d take one of your acid canisters, and melt a hole through her body,¡± Angela replies calmly. Joey stands there, mouth agape for a second, before letting out a soft huff. "Yeah, this is what it looks like when a kid gets fed up with nonstop abandonment by her family. I won''t give you the satisfaction of raising my voice to give you some justification in your words that I''m being emotional." ¡°Oh, is this your new friend?¡± her mother states with an eye-roll. ¡°Spoilers, miss¨Cwhatever your name is¨Cshe¡¯s in a bit of a transition state. She¡¯s in that age of confusion.¡± Does her mother still think she''s gay? She''s pretty sure she''s not. She''s just...awkwardly close to all her friends who are girls. And Drenar''s still decent on the eyes, even if they aren''t going down that particular path anymore. She''s had enough. ¡°Okay, I tried to be polite. Bye Mom, the rest of the adults are going to go have their little discussion, Kiera, make sure she doesn¡¯t go anywhere?¡± She knows with that menacing look that Kiera keeps giving her mother that that won¡¯t be a problem. ¡°I look forward to seeing how this round of disappointment turns out.¡± ¡°Angela¡­we¡¯ll talk.¡± Her father finally grows a pair, and her mother whirls around, looking incensed. ¡°I suspect, however, that this particular discussion can wait a little while.¡± Angela glances at Drenar, who lets out a soft sigh before giving a soft nod. He''s saving his willpower for the next round of disaster. This discussion coming up next is going to suck for everyone in this house, no doubt.
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 133: Forged In Fire, Quenched In Blood, Part One Oh, this is just a room filled with awe-inspiring women, and we are about to get an earful from my mother. Julia sits close to Drenar at the impromptu conference room that Nick had set up in his den, and had hastily cleared away their bulletin boards, equipment, and various papers to get a simple setup. That slight papery crisp smell still permeates the room, along with the varnish Nick had weaved into the organic looking trim that accents the darker set room. Late morning sun filters in through the simple windows, and she eyes James fiddling with his watch and trying to avoid the gaze of her mother. The one woman who¡¯s been super silent other than checking on her health. Every attempt to sidebar a conversation has been met with ¡®we will discuss it in the morning¡¯ like she knows she¡¯s trying to push this off for as long as possible. Unlike the other two Valkyries flanking her at the table, she¡¯s not wearing her helmet. Julia figures, this one is out of the bag completely. She also keeps getting wayward glances from one of the Valkyries, and she can see a flicker of amber eyes behind the visor. Kiera tilts her head toward her. ¡°I know what you¡¯re going to ask. I think this secret is out. Go ahead.¡± Julia gasps when the Valkyrie in question takes off her helmet, and she recognizes that auburn hair and amber eyes, along with the youthful face that looks like its just edged into middle age. Joey let¡¯s out a gasp when she runs up and hugs her tightly, unable to restrain herself. ¡°Holy shit, dragon baker?!¡± Julia exclaims. She stands up from the table, fingers tensed on the surface, and Drenar is gaping like he¡¯s trying to catch a fly. He really needs to work on his reactions, in hindsight. She points at Malena for emphasis, unable to just compute this, then it hits her. She absolutely knows Joey somehow. ¡°Hands off my cinnamon stick!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that strong!¡± Or that¡¯s what she theorizes Joey meant to say in protest, but her voice is muffled by Malena¡¯s embrace, and her own elation. ¡°Um, hi Malena, I guess the bakery is just the uh¨Cwow you¡¯re strong¨Ca day job?¡± ¡°Joey, when I got the word of what was going on, I pulled myself out of semi-retirement and barnstormed to Asqualia. Thank Fates you and your friends are in one piece.¡± Malena is barely keeping her composure, and eventually lets her embrace lapse. Joey looks amazed. Drenar''s still making that strangled noise like he can''t comprehend this. She barely can either, and points accusingly. ¡°Hold the phone, you two have met! Why didn''t you tell us shit when we came over to your house?!¡± ¡°Tsundere, they really need a minute here,¡± James says warily and tries to nudge her back to sitting at the table. ¡°Wait. Hang on. Did I miss something here?¡± Drenar asks after his brain unbreaks. ¡°How have you two met?¡± ¡°Oh, right. The chaos of the last few days. Amaranth Vertimer was my mentor at London Academy. He''s how I got into magical creature studies! Now I just take pieces of magical creatures and do magical science with them! Malena lived in town, and when I got here, she would invite me over on occasion!¡± The explanation is plausible, but Julia can''t believe this cosmic coincidence. ¡°Your whole house smells like cinnamon,¡± Julia accuses, and Malena smiles faintly. ¡°No wonder why I''ve craved cinnamon cookies ever since! It''s now permanently infused in everything Joey wears!¡± ¡°Uh, it¡¯s not, though,¡± Joey counters politely. ¡°Joey, you¡¯re a walking cinnamon stick. And I still love you to pieces for it,¡± Julia declares proudly, and Joey clears her throat and looks like she¡¯s blushing. ¡°Still, question to you, dragon baker. Didn¡¯t fess up anything before?¡± ¡°Julia, the second you showed up at my house, I knew something was amiss. I was still under the presumption that¡­Victor one had still not given the green light for the reveal.¡± Malena bows her head slightly at this, while examining the occupants of the room. ¡°You might want to hear all the details on this one, first, before you ask your questions. I have a feeling I know what you might ask.¡± ¡°It¡¯s more like an observation, Malena. An observation on how all the adults are selfish, blindsided their kids, subjected them to massive psychological trauma, and decided that they knew what was best?¡± She turns slowly to see that James¨Cever the cold, calculating rival, just went off like an instant fuse. ¡°You¡¯re right, that¡¯s small potatoes. Let¡¯s talk about important stuff. We went through hell on earth and sent dozens of disposable henchmen to either a lengthy jail turn, or a premature dirt nap. We have been subject to interrogation for the past day and a half. We¡¯re owed answers. By you, the overwatch raven, and¨Cwell I dunno who you are, but I¡¯ll bet money you¡¯re someone else we know,¡± he states with vitriol when he points to the third Valkyrie. She stays motionless in her seat. ¡°James, settle, please. This is not productive,¡± her mother states. She really does know how to command a room, and not just because she''s the top Valkyrie on the planet. ¡°I want to go over the past few weeks. Please refrain from accusations, calling the adults useless, stomping your feet, or attempting to set anyone on fire.¡± ¡°That is a very specific list of things you want me to not do¨C¡± Julia decides this one isn''t worth the fight. Not this particular angle. ¡°James, sit down, please. Mom, just don''t lie to us anymore. Because we''ve had a lifetime of that. And some of your reasons suck. Some of your secret-keeping almost got people killed.¡± The slight shift of her chin is almost imperceptible. She taps her tablet, and scrolls through. ¡°So let me recap what I''ve gotten from Dillenger and the reports from SAF. You all Awakened, felt threatened by the Talons, decided you knew best, and¡­went on a crash course for the entire week on what not to do in a crisis. And yet you all managed to fortuitously run into Levine and Nicholas, who just so happen to be the top tier talents of SAF.¡± Julia tenses her fingers on Drenar''s leg because she sees that look on his face. He''s pissed off. And for a lot of different reasons. Her mother almost looks amused at this. ¡°You also forgot the part where you didn''t clue us in on Veil protocol, Mom. Might have been important!¡± She still gets in one light barb. Her mother, however, is unconvinced. ¡°That reveal was coming. I''d seen your eye color change and suspected you might be Awakening, though I thought we''d have more time. We¡¯ll tally that one as an oversight on my part. A lot of what I''m about to reveal was coming at some point, anyway. Now, let us continue.¡± and so she did, for about another five minutes and summing up actions¨Cdo Valkyries get anything done when they have to do this kind of paperwork crap?! That must be the boring part of the job. They reach the end of the summary, which dovetails into the arrival of the Valkyries at Asqualia. Her mother looks a little more wary after having summarized this awful few weeks and sets the tablet down at the rustic table. Not a word has been spoken by anyone else for five minutes. Her mother looks at them sternly in turn, the slowly advancing sunlight highlighting tiny streaks of bright strands in her raven black hair. ¡°I would say that this is the single most reckless series of rash decisions and poorly thought-out planning I''ve ever heard of. Including you, Nicholas, and Levine. By an immense margin. And it runs contrary to your service records. This is so dangerous, so anathema to the normal procedure of Veil protocol, that I¡¯d ground all the teenagers with attitude involved until you''re somewhere in your thirties. And that I''d see resignations from you two.¡± ¡°And you''re not gonna do that, Kiera.¡± Drenar crosses his arms, and gives her the stern look right back. Looks like Drenar has picked up that soul-piercing glare from her, finally! Her mother folds her hands on the table, looking immensely composed, given the circumstances. She''s not entirely wrong. When given the facts, they had made some bad decisions. Mom finally lowers her tone a shade. ¡°But, then I need to remind myself that some of this¡­situation¡­could have been avoided. It could have been entirely negated if those you should have been able to trust¡­came forward with critical details.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°And?¡± Drenar asks impatiently. Boy, he''s gotten bold. He''d never challenged his mother like this before today. ¡°Drenar¡­Julia¡­Josephine¡­ everyone else gathered here¡­¡± she looks at them in turn, focusing on their expressions. She can see the tension melting from her face, a little bit at a time, and her tone is softer at the edges now. ¡°Given the circumstances, I¡¯m proud of you all. You all stood against merciless killers, obtained critical evidence of the Talon''s activities, and defended dozens of lives in the past week. And you¡¯ve all had to endure something no parent wishes to see their children go through.¡± She sits back in her chair, all the sternness dissolved from her high-arched cheekbones. ¡°What you all have uncovered is a festering wound in the mage world that could have dire implications for the rest of the world of consequence.¡± Julia stands up with Drenar in turn, as do Joey and Angela. ¡°We want answers, Mom. You know what this is about. And I think you know how this started. It started six years ago. Didn''t it?¡± Her mother motions to the idle Valkyrie, who goes to secure the door, and pulls out a device that looks like a cell phone, and she taps a few buttons. Kyle takes an interest, head tilted and eyes sharpened on the brass and silver armored Valkyrie. ¡°We¡¯re secure. Ma¡¯am, are you sure this is¨C¡± ¡°This has always concerned family. And now we have brought trouble to our doorstep, Victor Seven. Now, as for the rest of you, what I am about to say, does not leave this room. Are we all clear on that?¡± ¡°Good on my end. Nick?¡± Levine asks quietly. He nods silently, then points to Drenar. ¡°You might want to start.¡± ¡°Alright. I guess I''ll start. My mother''s alive, Kiera.¡± Drenar goes straight for the throat on this one, and his voice is remarkably reserved even as there are a few gasps in the room. Levine nods quietly, and glances at her mother briefly. Drenar continues before the commotion can break the flow of the discussion. ¡°Joey can confirm it. She visited the Asqualia Research Center, one year ago, and gave her Luminari.¡± ¡°Brass and silver armor, verdant eyes, dark hair, about one-eighty centimeters. And also a close resemblance to her son, even if I only could see part of her face through her magitech visor,¡± Joey adds in a soft tone. ¡°She came there for one purpose: to give me the single most important relic of the Valkyries to care for. Me. A girl from the middle of nowhere, Missouri. What she did was so unthinkable, that I couldn¡¯t believe it. Not until Luminari started reacting to my presence¨Cand then later, Drenar and Angela, specifically. When Alex¨CDrenar¡¯s drakensoul¨Cidentified the blade, we knew it couldn¡¯t be a coincidence.¡± Her mother sits there, stone-faced, and the only reaction is a slow blink. Is her mother even breathing? She''s fairly certain dragons still need to breathe, no matter how awesome they are. ¡°Kiera¨Csay something. Anything. Tell us that we¡¯re not chasing a ghost. Tell us that she¡¯s alive so that we can know for sure. Or tell us that she¡¯s kept a body imposter trying to live up to impossible standards.¡± She more than subtly draws close to Drenar¨Cshe wants answers just as much as him. ¡°Trisha is alive.¡± Kiera¡¯s answer draws more gasps from the room, James saying something rather unsavory, and an outroar from Nick. She motions for silence and then puts a hand out for Drenar to continue. His reaction is a shaky exhale like he¡¯s trying not to break down right then and there. Joey carries the emotional overload for him, just as well. ¡°That is the terrible burden I have carried since the events six years ago. I will get into that in a minute.¡± ¡°So, she handed the single-most important object the Valkyries have in their arsenal, and gave it to a total stranger. Why?¡± Joey doesn¡¯t let up, and Julia has immense respect for her. Very few can stand up to her mother on this level. ¡°To ensure it found its way to the hands it needed to be held by.¡± Her gaze follows the room¨Cto herself, to Joey, Drenar, and Angela. ¡°The secret of her survival has been held by three people: myself, Malena, and Gale. We were the first responders. And what has transpired since then has deeply troubled me.¡± Drenar stands there, looking stark, before he slowly shakes his head in disbelief. ¡°Kiera¡­you should have trusted us. All of us. This was not your call. I deserved to know that my mother was alive. Because you know what happened next.¡± Her mother bows her head slightly. The realization that what transpired next, would never have happened if she¡¯d told them the truth. You know this was your fault. Her unerring glare at her mother tells her what words cannot. And her mother knows it. Drenar stands there, stoic, arms crossed, and waits for her mother to say something. ¡°I know. It has weighed on me every single day since then. And I can never take it back.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an understatement, Mom.¡± she rises from her seat before Drenar can stop her. ¡°You have held this from us for six years. What we are, who we are, and where we need to aim our ire at. Now, you can tell us what the crisis is that was so desperate, you completely destroyed our lives.¡± Her mother looks taken aback. ¡°Julia, I think you need to dial it back a bit. I¡¯m getting to that part. This is no simple matter. The dangers of this knowledge can¡¯t be understated.¡± ¡°Really? The deadliest dragon bitch on the planet wants our heads on pikes, Mom. I very much doubt you can top that!¡± Drenar sighs and nudges her. He doesn¡¯t want this to boil over, based on that subtle tilt of his head and a few hand signals that she picks up on. [Let her talk.] She takes the hint and turns back to her mother. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s rewind the clock. What happened six years ago that kicked this off?¡± ¡°I have one guess. Surprisingly, it isn¡¯t Valosterla.¡± Drenar sounds as somber as a funeral right about now. She would put a reassuring hand on his, but he slowly rose from his seat. ¡°Kiera. I know who attacked her. It was the Conclave, wasn''t it? What¡¯d she do, step on their toes too many times? Find some scandal? Val would have been dancing on her grave¨Cand likely mine and Evan¡¯s, given her history with Lyssa, if she knew she existed, or had a pin on her identity. So tell me, who was so desperate¨Cso utterly insane¨Cto even attempt it? Val indicated there were dozens of bodies, and even her knowledge was limited. And that Valkyries were cleaning up the mess.¡± He crosses his arms and lets out a soft sigh. ¡°Kiera. We''ve been through hell on earth. I can''t do this without answers¨C¡± ¡°She was attacked by a splinter group in the Conclave. One that bridges that blurry gap between the Talons, and those who are supposed to represent order.¡± Joey, Kyle, Levine, and Nick all recoil in horror near-simultaneously. Drenar squinted, as if he couldn''t believe what he heard from her mother. Kiera bows her head, and her fingers are tensed on the table. ¡°All the evidence we have of their involvement is incidental, some of it was destroyed. I can tell you what happened that day, Drenar. And why we had to hide the truth.¡± ¡°Kiera, you''ve been like a second mother to me, so please tell me everything. Even the parts you know I can''t bear to hear.¡± ¡°You have my word on that.¡± Drenar sits down, looking tense. Joey¡¯s right next to him, and Julia notes they''re...holding hands? When has he ever held hands? This is truly a sign of how bad off he is, talking about this subject. Then again, she¡¯s not surprised. Drenar was broken to pieces after his mother¡¯s presumed death, and reliving this doesn''t help keep the glue of the last six years intact, either. Joey, he might still break down at some point today, so whatever your psionics can do to keep him from falling apart, use them at your discretion. Joey glances her way, mouth open in response, but eventually clams up. Kiera doesn¡¯t let the gesture go unnoticed and raises an eyebrow. Does her mother know something about Joey that she doesn¡¯t? Drenar interrupts the thought process before she can process this further. ¡°Alright. What happened that day?¡± Her mother lets out a slow exhale. ¡°Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.¡±
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 134: Forged In Fire, Quenched In Blood, Part Two Julia''s mother took a brief moment after that bold statement that left everyone looking uneasy. ¡°I presume you know what it is the Valkyries do?¡± Julia bites her lip gently while stewing on this. Drenar finally speaks up. ¡°Vaguely. Larger than life heroes.¡± He should be ripping her mother to pieces right now, but he keeps calm in a way that she can almost respect. Her mother dips her head lightly in response. ¡°The Valkyries have been an established presence for thousands of years. Our organization was created before the events of the Schism Wars of the Dragon Empire, as a stabilizing influence. It was our efforts that led to the dissolution of the corrupted fragments of the empire, and dealt with the Outsiders at that time. At immeasurable cost. Four thousand, two hundred years ago¡­the first Champion gave her life to protect the well-being of the planet. She slew the invading Outsider controlling the lesser entities, closed the nascent interstellar portals they used to invade¡­and died. Her name was Gaia.¡± The room has grown uncomfortably silent before her mom continues. ¡°Yes, that Gaia you hear mentioned from time to time. People called her a goddess, and I would say that she was just a dragoness determined to protect her world¡­but in recent years, I''m not so sure. She established the Valkyries as a force for the preservation of good for all Kin. Against all threats to our world, and against factions who threaten to destabilize our fragile peace. And we have done that for over four thousand years. With honor, dignity, and the preservation of good our sole focus." ¡°Until now.¡± Julia glances to see Joey looking at her mother with contempt, but this pushback is subtle for her. ¡°Maybe you''ve lost touch with what matters, Miss DeVerdra. Things aren''t very peaceful out there.¡± ¡°We are a relatively small organization, Josephine. We number in thousands, not millions. We are not the people to set the course of history, we exist for the preservation of good. We take our vows to defend the ideals of our world seriously. But we are not omnipotent, nor do we desire to lead.¡± Julia takes note of that, for later. ¡°We defer to the Conclave, and work with SAF in joint ventures to do surgical¡­ corrections¡­when order and peace are threatened. Dillenger and I have worked together before this, though not to the level of this past week.¡± It clicks. She doesn''t want it to click, because Levine''s kinda awesome and dad material, and she wants to meet this teenage daughter of his, but it clicks. ¡°Oh my Fates, you two are boning!¡± she shouts in astonishment. Levine has a remarkably muted eyebrow raise, and her mother sighs. ¡°Why is that the first thing you assume?¡± her mother asks. ¡°Because it''s true, and it explains how he didn''t reveal your identity!" she accuses. This day is just a series of nonstop reveals. But does she want her future stepdad as this guy? He is remarkably calm under fire, and a good teacher. Eh. He still needs my approval. He''s got a chance. ¡°We had coffee. Once.¡± Levine practically growls his response. He''s not happy about being called on it. ¡°Twice,¡± her mother corrects, and almost looks amused when he scrunches his face, and narrows his eyes. ¡°No, it was once.¡± ¡°I think you''re conveniently losing count, Dillenger. And it was over logistics.¡± ¡°It drifted from logistics.¡± Drenar is rapidly losing patience. "Okay, focus, you guys. I still need answers, and you two¡­really kept too many secrets. Now tell me what happened on November 11th.¡± This is the moment her mother is dreading in the way she hesitates, before continuing. ¡°I can tell you that our identities are well protected and scoured by both mundane and magical means. Few even within the Conclave are authorized to know who we are. The Valkyries have had very few instances where our identities are leaked deliberately¨Cbut accidents still happen.¡± She offers a stern glance at Malena, who is otherwise unapologetic. ¡°Your mother was, and is a living legend, Drenar. I just wish this part of our life was something that we could share with our families more candidly. ¡°Per our policies, once your dad met your mom, all records were scrubbed, all electronics erased, and heavy-duty shroud enchantments were required to be on his persona at all times. I don¡¯t know where the lapse was, but we think that somehow, it was tied to information she was in possession of. Your dad found something.¡± ¡°Hang on. What?¡± Drenar looks bewildered by this assertion. ¡°Your dad was involved in the mage world, too. Not nearly as much as Trisha, granted, but he found something, and they were traveling to a secure site to verify the contents. They were intercepted en route. Whatever he found was important enough they sent a small army to kill him and bury the evidence. They found your mother by sheer luck.¡± Her mom looks almost as devastated as when her father died. Drenar sits down to process this. ¡°My dad was involved the whole time? Fates, Kiera, it was hard enough figuring out Mom is a dragon and I¡¯m half, same as Evan! What was he doing?¡± ¡°His job. He was an engineer who was good at data recovery.¡± This part Julia knew was true, and how he occasionally talked to Drenar and the others about his job as a forensic investigator for the police. Apparently, he did just that but with magical technology, too. ¡°We had been working on several unrelated matters¨Cwe thought the Talons were up to something, so he was taking a look at an encrypted drive that was acquired by a previous raid by the Valkyries¨Cone that SAF had tried very strongly to take over the investigation.¡± Julia sees where the dots are connecting. It¡¯s not going places she wants it to go, and there¡¯s a gnawing dread the fact that the Conclave could be involved, is unnerving. Drenar sits there, looking shocked, eyes wide like he usually does when someone decides to wreck his entire life in a fell swoop. Her mother continues after that brief pause. ¡°I don¡¯t know how his identity was leaked. But no less than forty armed men, a few dragons, and several vehicles gave chase to them on that day. Except, they failed to account for one thing. Your mother is a legend of impeccable grace. And she made them pay for their arrogance by sending them all to their graves, a few at a time.¡± ¡°Looks like I was right on that account.¡± Even with that validation, it didn''t bring any warmth to Drenar''s face. ¡°They engaged in the vehicle, then on foot. It did not end well for the mercs.¡± Kiera doesn''t have to say it, but Julia knows Trisha likely slaughtered them to a man as if she were a max-level hero taking out level-one NPC¡¯s. ¡°By that point, they were running through a ravine in the hills. She''d injured her wing in the attack, and kept Eddard safe. Until the mercs command team jumped in.¡± ¡°Do we know who they were?¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Trisha killed four out of five of them. She was...not gentle in their demise. But there was one who was a cut above them. An armored soldier, an ogre of a man, wielding heavy weaponry¡­and an axe so bloodstained, it''s acquired its unique magical abilities.¡± ¡°Drenar¡­we''ve seen him.¡± Julia''s eyes narrow when she remembers seeing one man on the screen, at the promenade. ¡°An armored soldier, decked out in armor that looks like a mechanized suit.¡± Drenar looks stunned at this, then snaps his fingers. ¡°Nick. The guy you were talking about. The one you said we should run from. Davos Renshrak. Does he carry an axe?¡± ¡°Yes, he does. And he has used it to great effect.¡± Nick''s gaze drifts over to Joey, who looks like she¡¯s trembling slightly. Whatever this man did, was more than enough to warrant his removal from the face of the earth, she decides. ¡°That hulking killer that snapped a man''s neck on live TV. He''s working for the Talons, Nick! Val had to be lying!¡± Drenar states aloud. ¡°No, Drenar. That man has taken a paycheck from more than just the Talons. He could have been paid by anyone to take her out, for the right price,¡± Nick counters. ¡°But, a splinter of the Conclave¡­that is bold.¡± ¡°It was. Trisha managed to wound that bastard, but he was winning a battle of attrition after she¡¯d been wounded, and fighting for a significant duration. Even Luminari couldn¡¯t easily get past his armor.¡± Kiera is clenching her jaw, as if hesitant on what to say next. ¡°Drenar¡­your dad was a mage of a little skill¡­and he defended her.¡± ¡°And died defending her. Didn¡¯t he?¡± His shoulders slump a little, and his gaze lowers to the table. She closes her eyes and lets out the lightest wisp of breath. This is not easy for her mother, either. ¡°Eddard Rashalda overtaxed his body, shielding her. He suffered a lethal case of mana burn. That was his last dying act. Deflecting the axe blow that should have killed her. Davos took off her arm, instead. And she still nearly died from it. She stabbed him right in the chest past a section of compromised armor, and Davos managed to stagger to the safety of a one-time teleportal pad. None of his men survived that encounter.¡± Drenar clenches his fist at this, incensed at this bad news. ¡°Our imminent presence kept him from finishing the job, and fled. How that man survived such a critical injury is beyond me. ¡°We attended to your mother, and barely got her stabilized. We had to act fast, because Trish was able to save the data, even as she was at risk of bleeding to death. The rest was a cover story to ensure that the enemy presumed that they both died, and were no longer on their radar. Your mother was in a medical coma for two years, a secondary impact of a toxin he coated on his axe. Another year in therapy at a secure site, that even the rest of the Valkyries didn¡¯t know about. And I had to protect that secret, even though it pained me every single day that I had to do it.¡± Drenar slumps down in his seat, and leans his head on Julia¡¯s shoulder. This is too much for him, and he stays like that for a good minute. No one dares to speak, and he looks hollowed out again. ¡°How? How is that man still alive?" ¡°Because Trisha couldn¡¯t dare move against him in the open. Not until we knew who funded him, and gave cover to his activities. He¡¯s a genocidist for hire, Drenar. And he has very select clients who were more than willing to obscure his location, and presence, for years. And those who protected him¡­are very dangerous if their underlings prefer to turn the business end of a pistol on themselves rather than give up information. We had to play the long game until we could find out who the source was. Otherwise, they would have come after her, until she was dead.¡± Drenar is finally shaken out of his apathy, a gentle sway of his head, eyes lacking that spark of energy he always seemed to have. ¡°This whole time¡­I thought my mom was the target. And they were just after my dad. They must have done this in a hurry, because if they knew about my mother, they would have wiped out all of us.¡± He sounds distant, too. ¡°This is why you couldn¡¯t show my dad¡¯s body. Because everyone had to believe the cover story. Because someone stood to lose a lot, if this information was ever cracked wide open.¡± Her mother winces, and her whole posture droops just the slightest amount. ¡°I know this is not what you wanted to hear, Drenar. This is not a story I ever wanted to have to tell you, because I wanted to kill the men that did this, and they chose to end their own lives rather than give up the names of those who hired and supplied them. The only reason your mother is still alive, was a single warning on her phone, ninety seconds before the attack.¡± Everyone leans in, and Drenar is instantly at attention. ¡°Someone warned her? Who?¡± ¡°Take a guess.¡± Her mother looks like she¡¯s going to rip her teeth through the soft tissue of her lip. There''s about three seconds of dead silence before the answer dawns on Julia. Only one person would have the gall to do something like this, if it furthered his interests. One man who seems to know everything. She slams her hand on the table. ¡°That bastard!¡± ¡°That could describe a lot of unsavory people we''ve met lately,¡± Joey said with remarkable restraint. ¡°Spoilers, a couple of them are now dead.¡± ¡°King.¡± Drenar looks about as warm as the grave right about now. Joey goes ashen white. ¡°This explains so much about how he knew about the Valkyrian dagger, and how he knew about me. And his endgame strategy.¡± ¡°But he''s on team villain! What the hell is going on?¡± Joey gasps. ¡°King playing everyone against everyone. Are we sure Val is the biggest threat here?¡± James does raise an astute point. ¡°Or worse, someone inside the Conclave isn¡¯t helping Val achieve her world domination plan?¡± ¡°We won¡¯t know until we find him.¡± Drenar sucks in a deep breath through his teeth. ¡°Kiera, if mom¡¯s not dead, then why the hell did she not come home the second you thought things were going screwy?¡± ¡°Because she¡¯s been busy being covert, Drenar. Trying to find the monsters who pulled this off, same as me. We¡¯ve had to play this one very close to the chest, because we are still uncertain where the leak on your father¡¯s identity came from. I couldn¡¯t rule out one of our own. She is very active behind dangerous enemy lines. People working with the Talons, at present. Some of that might be related to what King is interested in, but I don¡¯t know the connection yet.¡± Drenar doesn''t buy it. He''s quivering in fury. ¡°Kiera, you''re telling me, now that we¡¯ve been in a crisis that you¡¯ve been aware of for four days, she didn¡¯t come rushing home?! Or did you just not tell her, because you knew what she¡¯d do, if she received word that her kids were in danger?!¡± Drenar is practically shaking at this, and she decides it¡¯s time to let him vent. Her mother sits there silently, looking expressionless, and Drenar throws up his hands. ¡°Thanks, guys. Really. This discussion is not over, Kiera.¡± He rises from the table, fists clenched. ¡°Julia, do you mind following me out for a few minutes? I need some air.¡± She springs up in an instant. This is too much to take in, and she¡¯s been clenching her fingers into the table hard enough she could leave indent marks. ¡°Yeah, you know what, that sounds like a fantastic idea.¡±
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 135: A Crossroads Physical stimming always helps with focus¨Cbut today is doing nothing for her as Julia clenches and unclenches her fists while standing alongside Drenar. The deck on the back side of the house is just like the interior of the house, the wood is well maintained, and there¡¯s an overlook down a small wooded hill. Nick¡¯s house is right on the edge of the dense forest, and a few clouds ride low in the sky. The sun is shining brightly, and the fall foliage of the trees drifts down in the slightest breeze. It¡¯s also chilly, and her jacket barely keeps the biting cold away. Even being a dragon, she isn¡¯t completely immune to it. ¡°So, I get that you¡¯re pissed off?'''' She decides to throw caution to the wind, based on the way he grabs a few errant leaves on the deck, and lets them drift down the hill while he¡¯s leaning on the railing, and taking a much-needed break from the drama in the room. He¡¯s gazing quietly, eyes dimmed and lacking that usual spark of brilliance of his. He does look like the spitting image of his mother¡­in a more compact form. He got the bad luck end of the height curve. He spends a few seconds tapping on the railing, before settling his hand down, gripping it as if he needs the assurance of the geometry to keep him standing. ¡°I¡¯m so past that point, Julia. This is just a disaster. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯m keeping it together.¡± When it¡¯s just them¨Cand maybe Joey and Angela, now¨Che does open up a lot more than usual. ¡°Dad¡¯s a mage. Mom is the Champion of the Valkyries. That walking heresy exterminator in the tin can armor cut her arm off. She killed dozens of people. She might have pissed off someone in the Conclave so badly, that they sent an army after her. I don¡¯t believe for a second they targeted my dad, and didn¡¯t know about her. That just doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± He rests his chin on his hands as he leans forward, gripping the railing, and makes a disgusted sound. She puts an assuring hand on his back. He leans into it, a little, and she runs her finger through the hair at the back of his neck, and he looks like he wants to melt on the spot. ¡°This sucks on so many levels. Your mom is a walking sociopath with the amount of lies she had to tell to keep us out of harm''s way. And I cut my wrist as a result of that.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t mean to do it, though.¡± For the first time since it happened, she finally, finally realizes that he never would have gone through with it on purpose, and certainly not if he¡¯d had any indication his mother was alive. ¡°It was an accident. Brought by a health dose of gross carelessness, maybe.¡± ¡°And lies.¡± He glances her way for a moment, before looking back over the fall vista. ¡°At least I didn¡¯t permanently mess up my wrist. The memory is worse. It¡¯s just something I can look at now, and say it¡¯s part of me¡­but doesn¡¯t define me. Because I¡¯ve got so many reasons to keep fighting now.¡± ¡°Progress. Let¡¯s just say I won¡¯t challenge you to any knife fights.¡± He scoffs at that, but still manages a faint smirk. ¡°Well, your mom is right about one thing, though. If they told me she was alive, and that she had to go missing to keep us safe, I would have chased her across the world. No matter where it took me, no matter the danger level.¡± He glances down at his jacket, and rubs errantly at his wrist. ¡°For the first time, Julia¡­I have no idea what to do.¡± ¡°No one said you needed to have an answer to everything, Drenar. Just being in that room was hard enough.¡± The soft breeze is a stark contrast to the turmoil likely going through both their heads. A few more leaves drift down, and she leans her head on his shoulder. He doesn¡¯t move, but gently wraps a hand around her back. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to feel about Mom anymore. I get that she did this with the best of intentions, but it was awful for all of us. And she knows what she did was horrible.¡± There¡¯s a squeak of a hinge, and she raises her head briefly to look at the newcomers. Angela and Joey are there, looking somber. James eventually filters in behind them. ¡°So, what are they discussing now?¡± Joey shrugs. ¡°Hell if I know. Levine and Nick were laying into your mother. I would have been next in line, to put it mildly, and I have some choice words about how I feel about it. Are you two alright?¡± Drenar turns around and leans on the railing with his back and runs his fingers through his hair. ¡°Joey, I¡¯m not okay. I¡¯m not going to be okay until I get Mom home, Put Davos into the grave, and make sure Val shares the same fate.¡± ¡°That''s a tall order. Matilda is going to need an upgrade to put a hole through that man¡¯s helmet,¡± Julia says plainly. She can already see some merits of making several tweaks on the rifle, and she knows Nick probably has some ideas too, given the limited effect the weapon had on Valosterla. That Boyes rifle had broken his shoulder, so there had to be a middle ground. ¡°Drenar, maybe my mom is right for once. We aren''t ready for this. Look at how badly we got beaten up. I''ll follow you side by side to the gates of hell if that''s what it takes to get your mom home in one piece¡­but we need a plan. We¡¯re going to need a really good plan.¡± He nods sharply at that, much to her relief. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do this without a plan. I mean we¡¯ve done alright so far.¡± ¡°Our plans have all sucked,¡± James scowls, but softens his tone when Joey glares at him, as does Angela. ¡°What is with you two, are you all networked or something?¡± ¡°James, our plans have mostly worked. We saved a hundred people from a deadly fate. Joey¡¯s coworkers and friends. I doubt we could have hoped for anything better, given what we were up against.¡± Angela looks glum, and folds her arm gently while glancing across the meadow. ¡°Winter¡¯s coming, guys. And I don''t mean that in the literal sense. After what we pulled off, we can certainly do even more. I will. I don''t care what my parents say. They have no leg to stand on.¡± ¡°Okay, our plans have been fine, but we''ve been up against some absurd odds lately. We need better plans. Better teamwork. Tactical leads. Assuming, of course, the Raven doesn''t just lock us down for eternity.¡± James softens his words and rubs at his cheek¨Can ugly bruise is still there. ¡°Drenar, what do we do here? We can''t fight the world on our own.¡± ¡°The Valkyries can. They chewed through Val''s forces while they bottlenecked at the power plant. They¡­could be people to learn from.¡± Drenar perks up, and gazes at Joey. ¡°Hey, I have a question. How well does Kyle know the Conclave¡¯s history? Could he tell us how the Luminaires formed? Whether there¡¯s some leverage we can use?¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Shouldn''t Alex remember that?¡± She responds testily. Drenar shakes his head. ¡°No. He was terrible with paperwork. Most of that went to the others¨CHanna in particular, but he could lead. He could inspire. And that''s what we need. Because a bunch of daring young adults and a few veteran intelligence agents are probably not enough to win this thing.¡± ¡°Luminari could. I mean, it responds to you and Angela. Maybe¡­you could be the next Champion?¡± Julia proposes with a beaming smile. Even though he gives a toss of his head, he still smiles faintly. ¡°I don¡¯t think it works like that. I don¡¯t have the tactical acumen to lead the Valkyries, even if that was the case, Julia. That¡¯s time and training I don¡¯t have, and I¡¯m not delusional enough to believe that I could right now. Maybe in the future?¡± It was a fun idea, but he¡¯s also sadly right. Being a Champion is a lot more than just swinging a sword around. Joey''s eyes brighten, dazzling in the sunlight. ¡°Hey, you know what? There might be something. Alex, was there anything in the Glasgow Accords?¡± Drenar squints as if unsure, and his gaze goes skyward¨Cconsulting Alex, she figures. She needs a hot mic plugged into Drenar''s head to listen on! Or maybe Joey can help, too! Within morally dubious bounds, of course. ¡°He says¡­consult section fifteen? He remembers something about moments of crisis, but can''t remember the rest. I have no idea what that means.¡± ¡°One second.¡± Joey darts back into the house with a creak of the screen door and a slam of the main door. They''re on their own again, and Julia steps over to Angela. ¡°Uh, that reminds me, what kind of fallout are you facing?¡± ¡°You mean our parents working at a James Bond Villain Company that had a hand in trying to kill us all? Fallout for days. I''m so disappointed in my mom. She couldn''t even look me in the eye, and be proud of what we did. Nothing will ever satisfy her.¡± Her eyes are flashes of gray lightning, and she thrusts her hands into her pockets. ¡°She can go to hell. I''m so done with her. I''m picking my path. With you, Drenar, Joey, Kyle, and everyone. I¡¯d love to see her try to stop me, because she can''t. And she knows it.¡± ¡°So, we¡¯re dropping out of school, taking on a death wish mission, fighting the world, and expecting to come out of this alive? I wish I had your bravery," her brother adds solemnly. ¡°Bravery is one thing, James. This is¡­¡± she purses her lips and puts a hand out, palm up, ¡°a calling. Like it''s something we have to do. Because no one else can. The mana crystals do weird things to me that have never been recorded before. Drenar has a teleport. Julia is a Tsundere dragon.¡± She can''t help but chuckle at that one. ¡°Guilty as charged, Angie. Tsunderebolt is something even my mom can barely use. Kinda feels special, knowing there''s something I''m better at,¡± she says while flexing her arms in a bit of a show-off. Angela¡¯s lips crease into a smile after a second, as does Drenar. ¡°Well, we still need to go back in there and¡­and hear the rest. Even though I know there''s probably more heartache ahead. I need to ask her about Laresten. And what really happened to him? I don''t doubt that there was something he was doing, because everything we learned from him¡­¡± he slowly nods to Angela, ¡°might have been the edge that kept us alive.¡± ¡°I wonder if he''s a dragon in disguise too. Wanna hear my theory?¡± she asks. Drenar tilts his head in curiosity. ¡°What if he was put in your path because she wanted you to meet him? Don''t you find that just a little odd, on the timing?¡± ¡°Yeah, I haven''t unpacked that one just yet. I mean honestly, it just occurred to me that I saw a photo of when he was¡­less old? He had auburn hair. Green eyes like¡­¡± he trails off, and he puts a hand to cover his mouth. ¡°Are you serious? Has the answer been staring me in the face the whole time?¡± ¡°Wait, what answer?¡± She has no idea where he''s going with this? Of course, he''s still trying to solve a mystery. But which one? Then, it hits her like lightning and she springs up from her relaxed position. ¡°Holy shit, he¡¯s¨C¡± ¡°--We have a solution, guys!¡± There''s a sound of dashing feet and Joey bursts out, Kyle in tow. She looks more frazzled than usual, and points to Kyle agitatedly. ¡°We have a solution to some of our current problems, but this could be a little risky!¡± Well, that awkward reveal can wait. Joey explains the plan, and she can''t help but grin. Julia''s mother is either going to love this, or murder her. Drenar is still slightly in shock, and glances at the sword over his shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re sure about this?¡± Kyle had followed Joey out after a few seconds, and nodded firmly. ¡°I have scrapped every bit of lore I remember about the Valkyries, the Conclave, and the history of the War Of The Magi. We can¡¯t fight this alone Drenar, and you know that. We need more than just a team if we¡¯re going to get through this alive. I know for a fact you won¡¯t let what Val did go unanswered. Plus, finding your mother might be a tad difficult if we have to fight our way through an army of bloodthirsty killers by ourselves.¡± Kyle, ever so composed even in the face of immeasurable losses, gives Julia determination that if he can do this, so can they. Drenar runs his fingers through his hair, before tapping the hilt gently. His expression firms up, and after a moment of contemplation, the determination is back in his eyes. ¡°Alright then. You guys up for this?¡± ¡°Like we ever weren¡¯t?¡± Julia says while arching her body. ¡°Let¡¯s get back in there and make the announcement.¡±
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 136: The Legend Of The Luminaires ¡°You''re doing what?¡± ¡°Article fifteen, section four, paragraphs three through six. We¡¯re formally restarting the Luminaires.¡± Kyle recites from memory and taps the side of his nose while her mother leers at him. ¡°You can look it up, you know. It''s basically a little contingency they left in, just in case the world went to shit and someone had to bring a bucket and a whole lot of mops.¡± ¡°Spare me the vivid and unflattering imagery, Kylancer,¡± she sighs. Kyle''s just a nickname? No wonder he corrects her a second later with a look of indignation. ¡°Just tell me what it says.¡± ¡°The inheriting members of the Luminaires may invoke a declaration of emergency with the blessing of the top three Valkyries, or with the approval of the Chancellor of the Conclave. Seeing as we don¡¯t really have a path to talk to the leaders of the Conclave¡­guess who that leaves?¡± He smiles nervously, and Julia gives him a gentle shake of her head. Her mother is likely going to be in no mood to do this. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not going to sign off on this. You are all on lockdown, after this week. I can¡¯t protect you if you¡¯re all galivanting across the world in a harebrained attempt to stop Crosomer, King, and Valosterla. We are the professionals on this matter. Not you.¡± Her mother¡¯s rebuke isn¡¯t unexpected. But, Kyle isn¡¯t done yet. He stands firm, and points to Drenar. ¡°Oh, really? You¡¯re going to question us now?¡± Kyle¡¯s feeling bold, which is rather pronounced, from what she knows of him. "And vigilante behavior is the answer?¡± Her mother finally rises up from the table, and points to Drenar. ¡°You risked yours, James''s, Angela''s, and Julia''s lives during this stunt of yours, Drenar. You are lucky I''m not presiding over all of your funerals right about now." Her mother has all the appearance of a six foot and change raven with piercing blue eyes. "Give me one good reason why I would ever allow this, when I know for a mathematical certainty that this endeavor you¡¯re about to go on will lead to your death.¡± "I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve noticed from your high perch, but the world is looking kind of crap-sack at the moment, Mom." It''s Julia''s turn to throw some accusations. "The Conclave has a possible hand in the attack against Trisha! SAF personnel might have been involved not in just that, but also the events of the past week, aiding the Talons. Including the security officer of Asqualia, who is now serving his preferred role as a corpse. Your neutrality on this matter, that the Valkyries don¡¯t get involved in the course of human history, is a joke. If you don¡¯t step in¨Cif we don¡¯t step in, things are going to get worse. Val might very well be the least of our worries. Also, King knows who you are, so that¡¯s terrifying too.¡± "I don''t think you''ve earned that place to chastise me, Julia, but we''ll get to that eventually. I was willing to entertain the notion you did the right thing for the wrong reasons before¡­but this?" She hates that her mother never allows herself to become emotional, because it made it that much harder to drive the point home. "The Valkyries are neutral." "Yeah, that''s working really well for us, isn''t it? That neutrality of some of the greatest warriors and Arcanists on the planet, who sat back for a few hundred years, and continue to do so while our planet is rotting. Good for you on your neutrality and not making waves on human history!" James throws a biting ''thumbs up'' at the end of his statement, and a grin that melts into contempt. "Some heroes you are." Kiera doesn''t even flinch. "You might not understand because you are young, and not rehearsed in mage history James, but there are reasons we keep our presence minimal. You can''t run a world on heroes. So to speak," she adds with a dry tone. It mildly ruffled her feathers, Julia figures silently. "Now, would anyone else like to take a turn throwing some insults or critique? Because as far as I¡¯m concerned, these exploits of yours, are the end of the road. You were all reckless. Every single one of you.¡± ¡°I disagree. Their combat prowess, while unrefined, shows immense potential. Drenar and James both show tactical acumen considering the numbers we faced, and our newfound allies from Asqualia proved why London still trains the best mages¨Cnot with book smarts or magical potential, but daring and innovation.¡± Levine still stands firm, and he¡¯s still got that amazing poker face of being in tune with his emotions. ¡°You¡¯ve heard my thoughts on the matter, and you know where I stand on this.¡± ¡°Dillenger, I understand you and Nick¡¯s reputation, and I appreciate the glowing assessment, but it is irrelevant. You, of all people, should have never let them attempt this. Or you, Nick,¡± she says with a bit of venom in her words. ¡°Once we have things settled down, Drenar and Julia are going to be sitting this out¨C" "Excuse me, lord and mighty queen of the Valkyries, but I think I''m gonna object to that!" Everyone slowly turns their head to see Joey, who has sat quietly there at the table, but now she''s hit her break point and is furious. There isn''t a single person at the table who isn''t stunned into silence. "You''re not going to do that, because no one is going to let you do that. Starting with me." "Miss Pyromist, correct?" Her mother hadn''t called her by her first name, oddly enough. "Forgive me if I speak out of turn¨C" "No. I will not forgive you for speaking out of turn." Oh boy. Here we go. Here''s where it gets crazy, and I was about two seconds too late to lay into mom. Julia sits silently while Joey looks to everyone around the table, before locking eyes with Kiera. "Let me lay this out for you. Three hundred and fifty mercenaries laid siege to my home. Fifteen staff died, and more were injured. Shot, cut in half, burned to cinders, or worse. And where were the people that were supposed to keep one of the most secure facilities in the Arcanist world safe? Oh right, they were busy helping set the place to burn." Her voice goes low for a minute. "Kyle and I lost friends, Kiera, at the hands and direction of a murderer who''s trying to attain something as absurd as godhood or ultimate power. Reeves was cut down right in front of us, and Valosterla was laughing like some kind of lunatic. I couldn¡¯t save him in time. The people that helped me and Kyle get as many of our staff out alive as possible, you know who they were?" She waves her hand around. "Misfits. Rogue SAF agents. Sons and daughters of the Valkyries. People who put themselves at grave risk for someone else, when the smart thing would have been to stay home, and leave it in the hands of the proper authority. Without them, I wouldn''t be here to talk to you in person." Kiera sits there for a minute, presumably to come up with a counterargument. "Those are all very good points, Miss Pyromist. And completely fly in the face of facts. Your actions also endangered the facility¨C" "Oh don''t you dare wave that horseshit here, Kiera," Levine snapped in possibly the first time she''s heard him swear, and even Kiera is taken aback. "Josephine found the connection between the saboteur and the other actions of the Talons. They had one known operative and other suspected conspirators who had gone undetected for months. Joey and Kyle''s sleuthing forced Valosterla to action before they were ready. Those efforts disrupted their attack timing, coupled with our team intercepting an early attempt to hold the teleportal platform. Even with their immense attack, we had an outfitted security team that bought time. We saved lives through close coordinated counterattacks and bottlenecking those mercs with the building''s defenses. It''s my professional opinion that, barring our intervention, everyone in Asqualia would be dead right now. You sound like Karen Aretemis, you know that?" "Aren''t you on the bench right now, Dillenger?" It¡¯s almost a coy response, which got Julia''s attention. "I was, until I wasn''t. Karen''s resignation was hand delivered to me this morning. They''re busy doing an internal audit with men and women I trust, and they''re cleaning house right now. I¡¯m still digging into Curtis, as well as Lavernius. King is a wild card that I do not know what his end game is, other than a strange notion that thinks he can be the hero out of this unprecedented crisis in the making. Sorry Joey. I didn''t mean to take the spotlight." He nods at her firmly before taking a step back from the table. "So, as I was saying, I''d be rotting at the bottom of the lake about now if Drenar and Julia and everyone else didn''t show up." She stands up from the table, and points at Drenar. "There''s one other thing you don''t know. Kyle, you told me there¡¯s one other override of the Glasgow accords.¡± "Let me guess. It has something to do with that sword sitting by Drenar. You have not said one¨C" she stops, as if she recognizes it, and she inhales sharply. "That¡­that can''t be right." "You know whose sword that is. Don''t you? Of course you would. You¡¯ve seen it many times. Your daughter, Angela, and Drenar, all can hear crystalline chimes emanating from this relic. And you know why that might be." Joey has her full attention, now. "It''s a Valkyrie sword, and they do have their quirks at times¨C" "It''s not just a sword. It''s Luminari. The fabled blade of the Valkyries, and one of the major symbols of the coat of arms of your armor." It''s telling when even Kiera glances slowly at her shoulder patch. "Trisha Rashalda delivered this sword to the archives a year ago, Kiera. I spoke to her, even if I didn''t know who she was at the time." Any chance at deflection is cut right out from beneath her. ¡°She also said in a strange way that Luminari has an uncanny way to end up right where she was needed. Ever since that day, every time I walked into archives, I could hear her ringing. I know that now, ever since the attack." This is the moment that broke Kiera in a subdued way, and the fact that the cinnamon flavored alchemist beat her to it, annoys Julia to no small extent. She knows why the artifact is calling out. "It''s so bad out there Kiera, that the sword called out to me. Me. An alchemist who grew up in the middle of nowhere, in a town you can barely find on a map. Someone who isn''t a hardened warrior, unafraid of the eldritch evils of the universe. And I don''t know why, and I don''t get how a sword that is associated as the core part of the sigil of the Valkyries would call out to someone like me, but I totally get why it would call out to those three.¡± ¡°And yet, you never took the blade for yourself. Why?¡± Joey takes a deep breath. ¡°Because prior to three days ago, I¡¯d never had the courage necessary to do right by her. That changed when your daughter, and her friends showed up and got us out of an impossible situation. I was able to keep Drenar and Julia alive when they squared off against Valosterla. A monster that can take on even Valkyries, and survive.¡± Joey shakes her head, and points to the blade, still sitting idle. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Maybe you should take that as your sign that you underestimate your daughter and her friends, and why we''re restarting the Luminaires. Because it is that bad. Crosomer has a head start with a crooked, multinational magitech company. Valosterla is one of its head executive officers, and a man like King working between them. They have thousands¨Chundreds of thousands of men on the payroll to pull a coup over successfully this time. The Conclave knows they can''t stop that kind of steamroller. And, they have a device that could shatter the fundamental boundaries and barriers of our world. The Valkyries aren''t going to win this alone, and the Conclave I can''t count on at all. For a variety of reasons." Julia can''t help but silently applaud Joey¨Cit took arrogance or foolishness to face down her mother, and she was neither of those. Joey looks like what courage she''d summoned up had run its course. Bravo, kid. Bravo. She might not show it, but you just won that conversation. She''s hoping that someday she can tell when she''s listening in, so she knows she isn''t alone. ¡°I know you¡¯re feeling passionate about this, Josephine. I understand you¡¯ve suffered immense personal loss¨C¡± ¡°No. I don¡¯t think you get it. Trisha gave the sword to me, because she knew where it was needed. And you¡¯re asking yourself right now, was Trisha wrong? Because if she was, then you have no idea how you¡¯re going to solve this.¡± She knows her mother well enough when her eyes darken, and she taps at the table gently with her fingers. She can¡¯t refute Joey¡¯s logic. Or the way the blade lights up like a flare when Drenar or Angela hold it. And maybe her, too? "Kiera, we''re doing this because if we don''t, then Valosterla will choose violence at every turn, and sooner or later, she''ll come after Drenar, or your daughter, or any one of us for daring to stand up against her.¡± Her mother spends an awful long time in silence. This may be the first time in a long time that someone has bested her in a discussion. "You''re children. This is not a game¨C" "No, it''s about people''s lives, Kiera. We''re restarting the Luminaires, whether you want us to or not, and there isn''t a damn thing you can say to stop us. We''re already past the point of no return, and you know that. If you think we''re not ready, train us so we are. Sitting in a safehouse until this gets worse isn''t the answer." Drenar takes his cue when Joey gives him a quick head tilt. Kiera slowly rises from the table, and looks like she¡¯s having a moment of contemplation. ¡°Drenar, I need you to show me. I need to know my faith is not misplaced. Show me that the sword will answer your call.¡± It¡¯s like a switch gets flipped, and Drenar stands up from the table, and he takes the scabbard in hand slowly. All eyes are on the blade that gleams with a slight green glow that lights the large table, and Julia hears those now familiar crystal chimes of calm and comfort. Even now, after he explained what he and Joey had seen in that vision that seemed to split soul and body, she wonders what she will see if she one day picks it up. She glances at the bandages still wrapped around her hands¨Cthe remnants of the serious mana burn she¡¯d inflicted on herself. My whole body is a living weapon, if I choose to do so. So what¡¯s a sword going to do? It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t know the basics, but Drenar and Angela truly know what they¡¯re doing with that thing. And Joey does swing a staff hard enough to break bones even through magitech armor, but I don¡¯t see her using an european broadsword, either. That part still puzzled her. Why did the sword call to her? To get our attention? Or is there more to her than she knows about herself? It¡¯s a thought for another day. Her mother stands there, hands limply at her side when she sees the glowing runes. ¡°Trisha is going to kill me,¡± is about the first words she¡¯s uttered in thirty seconds, and even that was a struggle for her. ¡°Well old girl, looks like the Rashalda family line is taking you out for one more run, huh?¡± ¡°Convinced yet?¡± Kyle stated flatly with folded arms. ¡°You know I read up on history, Kiera. What little I could that¡¯s public record and not sitting in a vault in Valhalla. That blade is Valkyrian steel with an extremely unusual alchemical silver coating. The mana core inside it is immense. Almost like it¡¯s a vessel. Do the souls of all those who have fallen in battle with her¡­end up with her?¡± ¡°Bertance, you know as much as me. Trisha never could tell me all of Luminari¡¯s secrets, because she hadn¡¯t figured them out herself yet. That blade saw action against some truly horrifying monsters of our world, and quelled the hatred in many others¡¯ hearts.¡± She¡¯s still in awe as Drenar gently places the sword back into the scabbard, and the demonstration has run its course. ¡°So you really think you can do this, Drenar? Because I don¡¯t want any of you coming home dead." Drenar nods solemnly. ¡°I have to. If we don¡¯t put a stop to them, I don¡¯t have the confidence that the Conclave will, or can. Because, if you¡¯re right¡­the Conclave had a hand in the tragedy of six years ago. Which means I have a personal stake in finding justice." Seeing the tension on his limbs, isn¡¯t something she expected to see in him so much. "I''m not delusional, I know I can''t fight this alone, and I know more than a few people who''ve already told me they''re in." "Now I wonder who that could be," she mutters and peers at Julia, who grins unapologetically. "You know, this kind of suicide mission is typically more suited to people with a greater degree of training. I can still ground you, dear." ¡°Kiera, I''d set up a Pay-Per-View event for the fundraising effort of watching you try," Drenar says with just a beat of humor. "Alright, since you''re here, this is my formal notice." He takes a deep breath, and speaks the words from the heart. "Per the Glasgow accords, Article four, Section fifteen, I invoke the right to reforge the Luminaires, due to the unforeseen and violent rise of the Onyx Talons and their leaders. They threaten to destabilize our world down to the bedrock and shatter what little privacy we have left in the Veil Protocol, and I will lead others to defend the defenseless. We will hunt down those who perverted justice, and make those responsible answer for their crimes against all Kin. Who will second me?¡± ¡°I will!¡± Julia stands up and places her hand on his shoulder firmly, and he glances over, his face starting to fill with confidence. ¡°Sorry mom, you might still be able to put me on curfew and ground me for eternity, but I got a Siberian Hellkite to go hunt and a couple megalomaniacs to put in their place with butt kicking for justice.¡± ¡°Me three! Or something. Now it¡¯s just gonna sound lame from here on out,¡± Angela said with a light flourish as she stood up and positions beside Drenar too. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not getting left out!¡± Joey fumes. ¡°Besides, you three need some proper lessons on magecraft. And I need samples.¡± ¡°Oh Fates, you¡¯re tagging along to use us as arcanist experiments?¡± Drenar groans. ¡°Alex, you were right. I¡¯m going to get immolated.¡± Joey smacks him playfully, and it¡¯s almost adorable. ¡°Think these kids are going to need us old dogs?¡± Levine proposes amusedly to Nick, who lets out a soft grunt. ¡°Someone needs to temper them with patience and planning. We¡¯re game, Kiera,¡± Nick adds a second later. ¡°Oh great, everyone is signing up for a suicide mission now? Well to hell with that, I¡¯m not gonna be the last one on the bandwagon, not with this amateur engineer who desperately needs a tactical lead!¡± James states with determination, and he gets up from the table abruptly. ¡°Sure, I can¡¯t fight my way out of a paper bag, but I think you might learn some strategic pointers from me. Pro tip. If it¡¯s more dangerous than Julia, run.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in. Just give me caffeine, precious rare metals, and get my furnace in Asqualia up and running, and I¡¯ll forge them the craziest magitech this side of the Veil. Also, no jokes on dwarves. I¡¯m not that short,¡± Kyle says gruffly. Friends, and newcomers alike, had rallied behind a common cause for justice and decency, and even Kiera is floored by the response. ¡°Maybe this is a little too on-the-nose, but¡­I might have to make a guest appearance every now and then. Purely to check up on you Julia. And not, shall we say, break with the Valkyrian norms and go throw a beating at people who clearly deserve it.¡± ¡°Promise me you won¡¯t nag me about my safety?¡± She¡¯s hoping her mother will at least not hover over them. But, this is further than she ever expected to get, given her mother¡¯s overbearing protection. ¡°Stick with the training,¡± Levine quips firmly. ¡°You¡¯ve got my word Kiera, they¡¯ll be prepared by the best and brightest. And maybe, a few rounds on the Valkyrie training course would go a long way, too?¡± ¡°You were serious on that request, weren¡¯t you?¡± she asks with a tinge of amusement. ¡°Oh if we''re going on this madcap adventure, I think they¡¯ll need to be pushed to their breaking point and more if we¡¯re going against these fiends. I¡¯d rather break them now and let them learn, then bring them home in¡­less than desirable shape.¡± Levine pushes the point gently, and her mother relents. ¡°Alright. But don¡¯t expect me to go easy on any of them. If they¡¯re not ready, I will pull the plug. And we need to keep this one close to the chest. I have some ideas on that.¡± Her mother is finally being sensible again, that certainly took long enough. Better late than never, she thinks as her mother rises once again. ¡°Well now. I suppose congratulations are in order, seven recruits, and one steadfast teen wielding a sword that has developed a very odd taste in who it allows to wield it,¡± Kiera says with amusement. ¡°As the current leader of the Valkyries, I recognize your authority, and will stand by this. Your code of conduct is yours to write, but I presume that given the company present, I don¡¯t trust that¡¯ll be an issue?¡± ¡°Moral compass, Kiera. Moral compass. We need to keep the high ground on this one, we¡¯re eight people versus a merc band with the funding of a nation state, so we¡¯re going to need all hands on deck for this one,¡± Drenar vows solemnly. ¡°Uh, motivational speech time?¡± ¡°Nah, we can skip that part. Save it for when we start putting boots to backsides on these creeps and make them sweat a little?¡± Julia says with firmness. There, in the fortress away from home, friends and newcomers made a pact to take the fight to the terrors of the mage world, and bring them to justice for their abhorrent actions. Julia had no idea where this would take them, but she knew one thing for certain: The Luminaires would stand together, and live up to the legend of those who came before. Drenar smiles faintly. "Yeah. We''ll save the speech for a win. Don''t get cozy, guys. We need to get ready for the impossible."
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 2, Ch. 137: The Ruby Kitsune Stepping foot out of that room, Drenar had never been more anxious in his life. He¡¯d just signed them up for the craziest thing he¡¯d ever done in his life, and he felt his heart rate going through the roof. All his talk of taking on the world fell apart, as soon as he headed downstairs. How was he going to do this? With steely determination, friends, and an army of our own. He takes a deep breath and grasps the railing going to the guest quarters, and is eager to get some much-deserved rest after the lengthy day. But, he isn¡¯t alone¨Che catches a whiff of cinnamon behind him, and Joey practically swirls into existence. How does she do that? ¡°Hey, I hear the turmoil going on in your head. You don¡¯t need to keep a brave face on at all times, you know. We¡¯re all scared of trying to pull off something this big.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t get scared, not really. Maybe a little anxious,¡± Julia chimes in just behind her and flexes lightly before wincing. ¡°Damn, I am not as indestructible as I thought I was. It¡¯s gonna be a few days before we¡¯re in fighting form, aren¡¯t we?¡± ¡°I mean, I could make some alchemical reagents to get you guys back on your feet faster, but some of the side effects suck. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s worth the price of admission,¡± Joey adds before they all head down the stairs. That cracked tiling where they had been training only a few days ago still needs fixing, he thinks with resignation. Nick is going to hold them to that one, and he had a feeling manual labor was going to be in their near future. Plans for training, weapons, armor, equipment, and building an army of upstart youths were on the back burner, until they dealt with these small-time problems. Angela breezed down with them at the same time, along with James. Evan was still apparently talking to Jackie¨Cseriously, how did those two make up? He hasn¡¯t figured that one out, either. Julia had commented on it and she was just as mystified as he was. ¡°I think we¡¯ve got this, Joey. We always make plans.¡± His statement does nothing to calm James. ¡°Our plans suck, Drenar. Our plans usually involve us going from mortal peril to extreme mortal peril. Not for nothing, but one of these days, you¡¯re going to take on more than you can handle, and get hurt badly,¡± James points out. ¡°Let me make plans, from now on?¡± ¡°Where would the fun be, though?¡± Julia comments with a light smile. She¡¯s never ceased to be an optimist, even given this particular week. They¡¯re all in the commons area where a cozy couch and a few recliners are placed¨Csomeplace for downtime. Nick also has a healthy portion of DVDs and a decent TV¨Cdragons apparently need entertainment, too. He browses through the stack, and laughs. ¡°Oh dear Fates, Nick, you are an action movie junkie. And hilariously cheesy bad ones, too.¡± ¡°How bad is bad?¡± Julia edges over and giggles. ¡°Oh, this is hilariously bad.¡± ¡°Well, about every Chuck Norris movie under the sun, Bruce Willis, and Jason Statham, to name a few.¡± He places the DVD¡¯s back, and the idea of watching a movie to just drown out the lurking dread inside his head might not be a bad idea. ¡°Show of hands, 80¡¯s or 90¡¯s action?¡± Apparently, people still love 80¡¯s movies, and the cheesy one-liners of muscled lead men haven¡¯t dulled with age¨Cthis was a foray into a different culture altogether, and they all laughed at the dated script. Julia had taken up residence on the opposite couch with James and Angela, and somehow had scrounged up popcorn. It was just a mask, he thought distantly. He knew it by the way everyone talked quietly. Normal was gone. It was dead and buried. Training started in a couple of days, at his insistence. And of course, dropping out of school was also on the table. Well, that was one small thing he had to look forward to. I¡¯ll never have to go to Barton¡¯s lab lessons again. Worth it! Oh, you¡¯ll be working on training of a different sort, lad. And if you want to impress a certain alchemist, you might wanna change the subject. Alex¡¯s warning comes a tad too late and Joey lets out an annoyed growl just next to him. His dragon just called him out again in front of her? Wanna know what he does love to study, though? Alex asks. ¡°Oh Alex, I would absolutely love to know!¡± She settles in and jabs him gently with an elbow into his ribs, and he groans. ¡°Oops. Sorry, forgot you¡¯re still healing.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re just leaning too hard into the dragon science part. Also, I enjoy studying applied sciences and manufacturing,¡± he adds with a smirk. ¡°Admirable. Maybe Kyle can make use of ya. He¡¯s got some ideas.¡± The movie ends, and most everyone has gone to small talk. James bowed out early and said he wanted to catch up with Kyle and Nick before bed. Julia and Angela said they were going to catch some sleep. Which was odd, because Julia had been wrapped around him last night¡­but given the nightmares on their doorstep, he wasn¡¯t surprised. It just occurred to him it was just him and Joey in the room. It¡¯s awkwardly quiet. Maybe it¡¯s time to call it a day? ¡°Well, this is me, I guess,¡± he said with a yawn. He hasn¡¯t felt this exhausted since¡­well, only last week. It might have been an entire lifetime away. She¡¯d been sitting next to him, and kept glancing his way with curiosity. ¡°I think I need to get some rest." ¡°Do you¡­have trouble sleeping? I mean, look at what happened over a single week,¡± she speaks barely above a whisper. He thinks back to last night¡¯s replay in his head. Of the horrors of a war so close to home. Of the man he¡¯d killed, and the rest who had suffered life-threatening injuries. Or, just the simple reminder of the water going into his lungs. ¡°I had my first brush with the most awful thing in the world, six years ago. I had two years of bad dreams. I know she¡¯s alive now, but¡­¡± he can¡¯t find the words to describe how he felt about it. ¡°She was in a coma the whole time. She was one step removed from death. This isn¡¯t¡­quite as bad as that. But it¡¯s bad enough that I¡¯m glad I¡¯m not alone. That¡¯s not something I counted on, being a drakensoul. Never being alone in all my endeavors.¡± Yeah, it¡¯s nice to feel loved. At least it isn¡¯t boring with you around, Alex adds in a sardonic beat. Joey clears her throat, and rose from the couch. ¡°Hey, can we talk about something?¡± ¡°Okay. What¡¯s up?¡± She takes a deep breath and exhaled, and her whole body seems tense. He¡¯d noticed it a couple of times throughout the evening, something must be bothering her. ¡°Drenar, there¡¯s something you don¡¯t know about me. Can we talk someplace private?¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s try the guest room.¡± This is leaving his stomach twisting in knots, what did she want to talk about that was leaving her this anxious? He could guess that it''s something personal. But, what could be so personal that she wouldn¡¯t talk about it in front of the others? Was she a¡­ No, there¡¯s no way. Right? She can¡¯t be. He makes sure to keep that thought as quiet as possible, since he doesn¡¯t exactly know the limitations of her psionic ability. He¡¯s not sure she does, either, based on what she¡¯s told him thus far. He latches the guest room door closed, and she¡¯s sitting on the bed, hands on her lap and gazing at him solemnly. ¡°Um, look, I don¡¯t want to lead you astray, Drenar. This is kind of a big deal.¡± ¡°Alright. How big a deal are we talking about?¡± Yep, this is the moment where she announces she¡¯s an eldritch nightmare horror with a heart of gold, he can see that heel turn coming. Or a magical fox girl. Or a serial killer who had holed up in Asqualia and had accidentally done the right thing. Or any number of things that quite frankly, wouldn¡¯t move the needle, because she¡¯s already shown her determination, courage¡­and just a touch of acerbic wit that he kind of enjoys hearing from her. He throws all those thoughts aside when she stands up from the bed, and takes a step closer to him. ¡°The kind of deal breaker that will break how you view someone.¡± She bites her lip gently, and her hands fall by her side. ¡°You might not look at me the same way again¨C¡± ¡°Joey, you just collectively saved our lives. You fought side by side with us against the deadliest dragon on the planet. There¡¯s not a single thing you can tell me that would change my perception of you.¡± ¡°Really? Because I think this might.¡± He¡¯d short-circuited anxiety and might have traded it for aggression. ¡°How long have we known each other?¡± ¡°Four days.¡± It felt like a lifetime, though. ¡°You think that¡¯s enough time to get a read on a person? What their values are? Or how dangerous they are? Can you really tell enough about a person in that short of a span to trust them?¡± Her expression softens a little. ¡°You do,¡± he points out. He has a standing theory on what¡¯s about to go down in this room, and he¡¯s hoping he hasn¡¯t let that thought leak out. ¡°Joey, look, you¡¯re a sassy, dependable arcanist who I wish I could have met sooner in my life. Nothing¡¯s changing that.¡± ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± she asks while shaking her head in disbelief. ¡°Because I am. And¡­I just figured it out. I figured out¡­who you are. And I think the answers¡¯ been staring me in the face for a while now.¡± He straightens up and crosses that short distance of the lovingly crafted rustic wooden floor. ¡°My mother handed you the second most important thing in her world to you, besides myself and Evan. She gave you Luminari. The symbol of the Valkyries. She would not have done that, unless she was sure it was the right call. You might not see it, but I do. And she did it, likely knowing everything there is to know about you. And maybe something you don¡¯t know about yourself.¡± Everything that he¡¯s known about her starts to stitch together. The blank spots on the map begin to unfurl and become known. ¡°I think that whatever we saw in the aether¨Cshe knew you well enough, too. All you ever needed was the confidence of a few good friends. And I think you¡¯ve already found them. Which means, you can do almost anything, Joey. And I think you can do this.¡± She stands there, stunned, and then a barely present laugh sneaks by. ¡°You know, it¡¯s strange¡­all the people that know about this one, have discovered it by accident, or were my family members. I¡¯ve never outright¡­told anyone this one of my own choosing, you know? I¡¯ve never wanted to, until today.¡± She wrings her hands and taps a foot anxiously on the floor. ¡°So um, yeah, I¡¯m gonna do this before my nerves fry, so, don¡¯t freak out, okay?¡± Oh boy, the anxiety is back¨Cwell, there¡¯s no going back now, after pulling out the vote of confidence. She takes a step back, and her eyes are closed in concentration. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The first thing he notes is that her hair grows slightly longer¨Cand turns even brighter red than the strawberry color it normally is. Less subtle, was the rest, and he watches her human form melt away. His heart rate picks up¨Cthis wasn¡¯t supposed to rattle him, it shouldn¡¯t! The realization of the truth slowly sunk in as he watched small claws emerge on her hands and feet¨Cand how her stance changed as her ankles elongated, and she stood gently on paw pads. He stood there solemnly as her form gave way to something he¡¯d only read about in folklore legends...and about a thousand manga comics he¡¯d read at more than a little bit of an obsessive pace in the past few years. And then he realizes¡­he¡¯s always known. It was sitting right in front of him from the beginning. Nick had made a comment about kitsune he''d questioned from the start, knowing he¡¯d left a coy truth in sight. Her psionics are most certainly not normal. And she moved with an agility that couldn''t possibly be human. All the pieces were there. He just had to put them together. And It didn''t change a thing in his mind. Well Alex, guess who¡¯s getting set on fire in the near future? It was nice knowing you, Drenar. I mean that with all the sincerity of my ethereal heart. She opens her eyes, and they¡¯re still mostly the same¨Cwith that deep lavender tint he¡¯s always associated with her, and she clutches her tail anxiously. ¡°Drenar, say something? Say that you understand.¡± He stands there, unable to form words that can even remotely come close to saying what he feels. Words are too much for this one. He crosses that infinitely small distance between them before leaning in for a hug that she doesn¡¯t shy away from. He can feel a roll of emotions coming off of her¨Canxiety, dread¨Cand maybe, for the first time in her life, a sense of elation. The exchange lingers for a moment¨Cit¡¯s a strange sensation, how her fur is as soft as silk, and he can feel the faintest press of her nails at his back, and her breathing is calm and steady now. She needed this moment¡ªmore than anything in the world. ¡°So, do I take that as a yes, you do understand? Or, that you have a thing for fur, or that we should explore the options here between us, or¨C¡± ¡°I think I need to start, by rolling my whole collection of Magic cards over to James in the morning.¡± She looks at him, head tilted in curiosity. He¡¯s still getting used to that, and her teeth are a little sharper, and her ears perk up. ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°He said I¡¯d fall for a magical fox girl. Turns out, he just filled out his bingo card. I didn¡¯t see that one coming,¡± he adds as his lips crease into a smile that he can¡¯t hide. She puts a hand to her muzzle and tries to hide a snerk sound, but fails. ¡°The second thing we need to do? You and I need to go out to brunch.¡± She lets out a laugh that sounds more like a cackle. ¡°Dear gods, do you practice being adorkable, or does it just come naturally to you?¡± ¡°Well, if you¡¯re gonna be using me as a test subject for dragon science, or as a blood bag for making life saving medical potions, I think you and I need to get to know each other a little better.¡± She¡¯s practically in stitches trying to keep her composure, and failing. ¡°I just showed you the most terrifying secret I have, and you¡¯re inviting me to brunch?!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that what friends do?¡± he proposes with a smirk. ¡°Besides, now that I know magical fox girls are a real thing in the world compared to¡­oh say, a couple of weeks ago, I really need to get more in touch with all the things and people I¡¯ve missed. I mean, I can promise you, I¡¯m not some weirdo.¡± ¡°Too late, that has already been established.¡± She pokes his nose gently with a finger¨Chas she been paying attention to Julia? It feels like her presence is nearby, but he doesn¡¯t know why he would think that. ¡°So, you¡¯re not freaked out that you might have an interest in someone who isn''t fully human?¡± As if this could ever be even remotely more terrifying than Val¡¯s manic singing, and she raises an eyebrow at that thought¨Chow did he know she was still connected, anyway? It almost felt like Alex¡¯s presence in the back of his mind. ¡°You''re not getting rid of me that easily, also I¡¯m only half human, by my accounting.¡± She waves her hand gently as if she half-agreed. ¡°I¡¯m guessing that you''ve gone incognito because¡­because people suck, and don''t want to understand others as equals.¡± He did find it odd that he hadn''t seen anyone else like her, until now. ¡°I know enough from what I¡¯ve heard from Nick that kitsune¨Cwell, uh, you¨Chave had a bad run of luck in the past.¡± ¡°There''s¡­a lot of history.¡± She lets out a soft breath that most wouldn''t notice. This has taken all her courage to bring up, he realizes. ¡°I don''t want to unpack all of it just yet. There¡¯s a lot. And I think you¡¯ve got your share of stuff, too?¡± He tries not to glance at his wrist. ¡°You could say that.¡± He ponders over something, and the way Angela had been attached to her hip the past couple of days. ¡°Angie knows, doesn''t she?¡± ¡°Yep. Heart of crystal from that one. I really need to tell the rest of you guys, but¡­I wanted to tell you, first.¡± She smiles faintly and her tail swishes playfully. Should he take that as something to note? ¡°Look, this one¡¯s beyond secret, alright? I don¡¯t think I need to ask you to hold this one close to your heart.¡± ¡°By the time I¡¯m done ripping up the establishment, you won¡¯t have to.¡± She scoffs that, and puts her hands on her hips. ¡°You really just enjoy taking on every task imaginable that could end up with an utter death wish, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I know, it¡¯s like some innate skill. I don¡¯t even try, and I invoke the wrath of gods and megalomaniacs,¡± he shrugs. ¡°You have to promise me one thing, Joey.¡± Her tail twitches in anticipation. ¡°Oh, having a girl make promises? That''s dangerous.¡± ¡°We never let people define who we are. We¡¯re the only people that get to decide that. No matter what happens.¡± She smiles playfully at that. ¡°You know something? I think I can hold to that one.¡± With sleep no longer even remotely in his thoughts, he was content to just hang out and chat with her the rest of the night, until there was a mighty banging on the door. The kind of knock that only a certain tsundere¨Coh no¡­ ¡°Hey, open up! You have to share the cinnamon stick Drenar, I know she¡¯s in there!¡± Julia declares at the door. ¡°You¡¯ve known her for five minutes, and you two are already hooking up, you are such a teen!¡± ¡°Pot, meet kettle,¡± he retorts at the door, then motions to Joey whose fur is now bristled, and she looks like she¡¯s a flight risk. ¡°We are not currently, in any capacity, engaged in coitus.¡± ¡°He¡¯s lying, totally a bunch of coitus happening in here, it means the room''s off-limits!¡± He turns and feels death coming for him when Joey looks like a¡­well, a fox in the henhouse. {What, I had to make it sound believable!} she whispers through that link of theirs. {Yeah Joey, that was totally not believable. Julia knows my lust drive is like, broken or something.} He would try to get Julia to just not bother and tell her in the morning, but she decides to take matters into her own hands. The door handle cracks and Julia barges in, grinning from ear to ear. Joey is feebly trying to hide behind the bed. Julia goes slack-jawed, staring, and Drenar tries to sputter something that doesn¡¯t sound like air escaping a flat tire. His effort fails spectacularly. ¡°Buh. Fox girls come in cinnamon flavors?!¡± It¡¯s the most Julia thing she¡¯s ever said. Joey¡¯s ears flatten against her head, and she looks at Julia meekly. ¡°Um¡­they do?¡± she offers timidly. If his heart wasn¡¯t about to lock up in cardiac arrest, he might have found it quite adorable. Julia practically vaults across the room to give Joey a loving hug, and simultaneously letting out a sound of utter delight. ¡°I have the bestest, cutest, most adorkable friends ever, and we will train like it¡¯s an action movie montage, and look badass while doing it, and save the world!¡± He lets out a breath like he¡¯s been holding his head underwater for too long. Joey looks like she¡¯s trying to relax, but Julia is currently in ¡®utterly endeared¡¯ mode. He sees Angela leaning by the doorframe, smiling politely. ¡°Sorry Drenar, you weren¡¯t the first to know. She¡¯s alright. Though, I think you figured that out already.¡± ¡°How long were you guys lurking out there? I gotta commend you, even with the draconic hearing, I didn¡¯t pick you two out.¡± Angela sighs contentedly. ¡°I know a dragon ninja.¡± ¡°Uh huh.¡± He can¡¯t help but smirk at that one. Joey has finally given up resisting while Julia goes on about friendship, trips to a spa together, and plans for dragon science. He decides to interject a moment later. ¡°Joey, meet our resident tsundere. Julia, meet Joey, a gal of many talents.¡± He lets out a soft laugh that feels like the dread, anxiety, and fear leaving his body at once. ¡°And with sleep off the radar¡­what¡¯s next?¡± ¡°Something a little less trauma-inducing. Group hug!¡± Julia proposes. He sighs contentedly at Julia¡¯s spirited idea. ¡°No matter how much things change¡­some stuff stays the same.¡± After a little while, they all settle down into another round of spirited discussion, and Joey sits next to him, his hand firmly wrapped around hers. They might have monsters and corrupt institutions to bring down soon enough¡­ But this? This is one of those few treasured moments in between, that makes it all worth it. The Legend of the Luminaires: End of Volume II
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! V2 - V3 Intermission: Author Behind the Scenes Hi everyone, So this is a bit of a special edition where I dive into a little of the ''behind the scenes'' of how Luminaires get made, and some of my more mad hat ideas came into being. So, a little background for you. If you''ve read the comments on some of the chapters, some of this may sound familiar. Before The Dark Times. Before The Talons... Luminaires originally started back in...sheesh, high school. I had the concept when I was jotting down ideas in a dream diary I was keeping at the time. It was about...two nights worth, and then that idea just died out. Fortunately, the dream I had of people transforming into dragons a la second puberty was the idea that stuck, after a few iterations. Work started around April of 2002, and it was all handwritten. In spiral-bound notebooks. My writing hand was screaming in agony. I was also in the ''not good enough'' phase for a long time, being a teen who read a lot, but hadn''t exactly written a lot. I didn''t feel like I hit my stride in story narration and author voice until much later. That iteration was unbelievably bad, and Crosomer was a real dick. Straight-up evil. That went on for a few years, on and off. This was the era of Nokia cell phones that had almost no capacity to do anything other than call people. Imagine that. Eventually, I typed it up, most of it over the summer of 2004 when I was working retail on Cape Cod. ...and then it was an on and off again thing as life continued, I wrote various snippets for it, ideas rose and fell, and I fell into editing purgatory. I wasn''t very disciplined at the time, and had plenty of other focuses (college, gaming), plus I kept tinkering with one-off ideas that were experiments in story direction, characters, and so on. Some of it survived. A lot of it didn''t, which led to one of the most fundamental changes. A Change in Perspective Literally, a change in perspective. The story was originally written in first-person. That writing style...kinda broke my ability to story tell. Yep, it was all originally told from Drenar''s perspective, first person, with a few breaks to a third person perspective of a few others. You might have noticed a lot of the POV started with him very heavily in the first volume, and then expanded to most of the rest of the Luminaires--plus a few extras. Some traces of the old version remain. It wasn''t until about June of 2023 that I realized I was trying to tell a story of a team, and what I''d been doing for so long, was just not working. Plus I found the style just didn''t work to capture the scenes--especially the action shots. This was about when I had stalled on the second major rewrite that had started from the ground up after many years a second major rewrite started around mid-2019 that was much closer structurally to the current version you''ve all read, but still from the first person perspective. There were months at a time when I didn''t write a single page. The summer of 2023 was when I tackled the third-person, rotating POV. And it started with Joey, of all the characters! I ran an experiment back in July of 2023, plus a few prior ones, when I tried to write from her perspective on future events in the series. I liked it so much, I ended up making three massive decisions based on it. 1. Rotating POV, third person present 2. Converted what was the first portion of the story to third person, with all the updates 3. Joey was added as a main character. What''s that, Joey was a secondary character?! Yeah, that part''s true. I wasn''t sure for a long time about what direction to take her character. Her psionics were there since the beginning, but then I started to detail out world building, Kitsune history, and her job and skills, and it added these deep layers of complexity. Being in a bright spotlight, but still having to keep secrets about herself? Sounds like a great idea to build off of! My only regret is that I could only sneak in a couple of references to her in the first volume, after I had already dove deep into reworking Volume I. Eagle-eyed readers might have picked up on it, as I typically hint at major things well in advance, even if it might not play out the way people think. So, along with these changes and a lot...and I mean, A LOT of writing out advanced scenes well beyond the current release, I could chart out to about the 60% point of the whole series. After I heard about Writathon on RoyalRoad, I decided I needed to do this now or never. I''d stalled for an eternity ever letting this go to public, so I would learn as I went. So with minimal research, I started posting around early November. The rest, as they say, is history. It was a little disconcerting how little I knew back then. I had the luck of running into several fellow authors in those early days, who helped me realize that several tweaks were needed, so Volume I got a massive facelift to improve the quality. That was about the point I was also working on Volume II and trying to set a start date, and get chapters churned out that met my new standards. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. And a Patreon? I was amazed at the support I received from my peers in getting all this ready. Other interesting things that you might all be surprised at. Ah, the power of radical redrafts. Possible spoilers here, but I think it''s reasonable to assume most of you have seen this by now. 1. Crosomer was the main antagonist, Val was a secondary. King also did not play the massive role he does in Volume II, being the literal Kingmaker. Val was just a warlord looking to get power. Her current...aims, as have been hinted at, are a little more complicated this time around. 2. Drenar and Julia had a much closer relationship in the old versions. It''s become much more nuanced and evolved since then. 3. The A team, B team setup of Volume II was added in to show the intersection between Joey and Kyle''s events way sooner. In the earliest drafts they never even knew about Drenar and the others, until they were at the doorstep of Asqualia. It also contributed to the massive page count increase over volume I. It was always fun to telegraph when the paths were about to intersect. Of course, I didn''t want them sitting idle, so the intersecting paths of Curtis/Lavernius were added. The Wrap-up, Post Volume II So, regrets/thoughts of mine? There are a few, after having read hundreds of comments...and I do want to thank everyone who does comment, because while I can''t respond to all of them, or incorporate all the changes, I do read all of them. There''s some structural stuff that, had I started with a completely clean sheet of paper, I might have done differently. I may come back and give Volume I and a good portion of Volume II a major facelift based on that feedback, and tighten up the narrative. 1. Drenar and company would have hit their Awakening way sooner, heck even the first chapter. The dream would have abruptly ended, Drenar would wake up and realize he''s now a half-ton dragon, crushed his bed, and probably be very uncomfortably positioned in his room. Evan would roll in, walk out with a resigned sigh, and say ''Hey yeah, Diane, that thing happened. We have a mess to clean up.'' This would have led to some details about the Veil Protocol, the Conclave, and some other miniature reveals way sooner without head scratching. And maybe some people they could trust in this weird world they got thrust into. It would also have completely disrupted the back half of the volume with their initial run-in with the Talons, and much of the other discoveries. Would I rewrite it for a proper publishing release? I think I would. Even if it would be challenging to re-align events and still capture the same magic as before. 2. The Talons/Conclave--both organizations make mistakes when it comes to secrecy. Or with law enforcement being inept/corrupt. I''d probably go back in tighten those up. 3. Exposition--looking back, there are some info dumps in the form of dialogue I''d tighten up, or leave more to trial/error for the MCs to figure out. A good chunk of Volume I is that. While some people love it, and I do personally, it can slow down the story a bit. Show, not tell, has been mentioned a lot 4. Characters--probably one of the stronger points. Not much I would change here, except to clarify Drenar/Julia''s personal relationship as close friends rather than anything romantic. One major revisit I''d want to do would be to get more screen time for Angela in Volume I, and add Joey in very early with a cameo or two, or start threading their paths together sooner. Maybe I''d cut out a little drama and some of the banter they throw at each other. Each scene really only should have two or three driving characters, after that it kind of bogs down the pacing unless well managed. Going Forward After having given some thought to the first two volumes and how they went, Volume III sort of represents a blank slate to tighten up on what did work, and what didn''t work for the prior two volumes. Chief among them, pacing, tightening up dialogue, and less exposition/more intuitive mystery solving. I do have most of the major events mapped out, but because I have plenty of writing left to fill out, I''m curious to see what people want to hear more about! A few topics that will come up in the next volume, though this is not even close to the full list.
  • The Conclave - history, organization, and how it really gets run.
  • The Valkyries - history, philosophy, training, and more
  • The Dragon Empire and the Schism War--history plays a role
  • Dragon science!
  • The Followers of Gaia
Now, to hear from YOU GUYS! Yes, I''d like to hear from you, the audience! I know many of you guys have been regular commentors, if you have any burning questions, leave them in the comments, or if you prefer anonymity, send me a DM, and I''ll include it in another unnumbered chapter as a Q & A session. I think I''ve answered most of the questions presented thus far (also as a sanity check to make sure *I''m* not goofing and contradicting magic rules or other stuff), so if there''s more history/lore you''d like about a particular topic, I''d love to expand on it! Or the characters, too! V2 - V3 Intermission: Clipped Wings ¡°I can¡¯t believe you think you¡¯re going to get out of this without some stern words, Val.¡± Those are the first words Robespierre has offered since everyone settled into the room, amidst an uncomfortable silence. King is standing stiffly at attention, and is tempering his own emotions harder than usual. Because he''s furious, and he can''t remember the last time he wanted to give in to emotions. He takes a measured breath before he speaks. ¡°I concur. Your conduct was an egregious waste of resources, and your actions led to the death of one of my best agents¨Cand a personal friend of mine.¡± King is tempering his tone as best he can while sitting in the kimberlite mine where Valosterla has reluctantly invited them after the unprecedented disaster inside the Asqualia Research Archives. It has been almost a full day since the catastrophic failure of the ill-fated invasion. And King is not happy about the cost of this one. They had lost over two hundred men, significant equipment, and not to mention the element of surprise on their capabilities. Val is sporting numerous injuries that her assistant Melissa is attending to. Crosomer is gripping his fists so tightly that King is worried he might try to strangle this dragoness right then and there, consequences be damned. He¡¯s gritting his draconic snout in a decidedly unfriendly way at this frazzled, beaten, bloodied, and utterly reprehensible woman, who glowers at both of them with her ruby eyes. ¡°I made the move because you screwed up, King. Your little errand boy allowed people to observe the Talons last week and gain insight into our designs. I had to accelerate the timetables, and I didn¡¯t have time to consult with you two.¡± She gnashes her teeth, while Melissa attempts an accelerated regen potion on the wound on her torso¨Cshe¡¯s a mess of injuries, and King wonders just how she¡¯s still alive. Scars, old and new, adorn her body. ¡°You were going to lose the initiative, King. Lavernius was never going to get us the information we needed.¡± "You presume that I didn''t plan for all of that." He steps forward, the clank of armored boots and he grips his fingers in his gauntlets¨Che hasn¡¯t even bothered to take off his armor set yet. He peers at her with the intensity of a hunter, because this vile woman caused the death of one of the few people in this world he truly trusted. ¡°Val, I should kill you where you stand, for what you did. Lavernius could have gotten us the information. I had a deal established with Rashalda, and you torpedoed it. You have earned the ire of the Valkyries for this stunt. SAF is on full alert and mobilizing. We will not be able to hold those other teleportal platforms, we were not properly equipped for an occupying force at multiple positions.¡± He stepped closer. "Val? I knew Lavernius long before I met you. And you could be rest assured, If I''d known what you''d done beforehand, you wouldn''t be sitting here, having this discussion." ¡°Yet you still made the decision to withdraw us both.¡± Her deflection finally cracks his patience, and he wants to reach for his holster and put a mana-coated round right through her forehead. It would be satisfying, and this might be the only time he could pull it off. Melissa might present a challenge to also subdue. Crosomer will likely break their partnership. Val¡¯s guards are still outside and guarding the door, and given what he knows of Richard and William, will be relieved that their daily threat of a violent death will be removed forever. And then he will have no way to undo this slow-rolling disaster and put Zacharias in her place. He needs her. And even if he does kill her right now¡­ ¡­It won¡¯t be permanent, and it will betray a promise he made, long ago. He keeps his promises. Always. He uncurls his fist, and lets his hand drift back to his side. Val has been eyeballing him, to see what his response might be, and she smiles. ¡°Doing some calculations, King?¡± ¡°Calculations are how we create an enduring cause, and rout our enemies, Val. Calculations that did not add up when you did this.¡± That clench of loss¨Cthose bitter words from Rashalda echo in his head, because for the first time, that child has said something that rattles him to his core. You keep playing this game, you will always lose, King. Always. He¡¯s not wrong, either. Val is dangerous for a multitude of reasons, and all his efforts have been calculated risk, with distinct disaster if he doesn¡¯t use the right mitigation strategy. Crosomer glances his way, citrus eyes narrowed and snout clenched, like he¡¯s figuring out what he¡¯s thinking. ¡°King, I understand that this was a disaster. We will be establishing conduct rules after this. Val, if this ever happens again, ever,¡± Crosomer snarls when he turns to face her, ¡°you can be rest assured, this partnership is over.¡± ¡°Do you gentlemen maybe want to save the childish insults and tantrums for after she¡¯s healed? I am busy trying to stitch her together, and you¡¯re laying into her like this isn¡¯t your fault. You all played games with Rashalda and company, and the smart thing would have been to kill them!¡± Melissa gives a piercing glare to them, King in particular, but he¡¯s not phased by it. She¡¯s dangerous, loyal to Valosterla, but she is also a voice of reason when Val gets into one of her moods. A mood that is a low growl in her throat while she applies an injection at an energy burn on her stomach. ¡°You all screwed up. Big time. Everyone in this room contributed to this mess. And you all need to get your shit together if we¡¯re going to pull this off, now.¡± ¡°Thank you for the encouraging words Melissa, but we are quite aware that a few¡­miscalculations may have contributed to this.¡± King glances at Crosomser, and pulls a seat up to the chair¨Crich mahogany, plush leather, and as opulent as the rest of the room, and sits at the conference table, where Val has been established at a seat since they arrived past the metal barricade doors. Crosomer follows suit, though he sits down too abruptly, and sits on his tail. ¡°Ow! How do dragons use chairs, anyway?¡± he complains. King glances at him, and sighs. ¡°You usually curl it to the side,¡± King suggests. Crosomer huffs indignantly, and Val laughs with a crackle and a grunt¨Clikely aggravating her much-deserved injuries. At least Crosomer can be a voice of reason, or he might have killed Valosterla the second he walked into the room. Even with the dire consequences that might carry. Crosomer gingerly swipes his tail to the side, a flash of mottled dark scales with patches of green and blue, taps a claw at the table, and clacks his foot claws on the floor. King leans toward the table, the bright light casting an unwelcoming glare on the shiny surface, and puts a finger to his lips, and contemplates his response. ¡°We are in damage recovery mode now, Val. And you¡¯re going to listen.¡± ¡°¡®Damage¡¯ being the operative word. Val, let me see if I get this right, one of those kids took a magical sword, and hit you with some kind of radiant beam?¡± Melissa asks. Val winces and points to burnt and blackened skin that is slowly flaking off to reveal partially healed flesh underneath. ¡°They¡¯re all dead when I¡¯m done healing.¡± ¡°No. They are not. They are instrumental to our success now.¡± King has his solution, even if it¡¯s something Val will despite. She presses emergent claws into her armrest, and snarls. ¡°Oh, you are not serious. Armed valkyries are raiding my office right now in London, and you¡¯re talking about letting those brats get away with this? Or even working with them?!¡± A charge of dark energy erupts on her arm, possibly driven by her rage. ¡°You are bold, King.¡± ¡°Your office is inconsequential. While you were busy sulking and recovering from serious wounds, I was having men seize hard drives, information, and critical personnel, and left them a ghost office center. That problem has been managed,¡± King replies calmly. ¡°The Luminaires are a requirement to our success¨C¡± ¡°Your success,¡± she bites back with an unhinged fervor, and she bares those inhuman teeth of hers at him in an aggressive stance. ¡°You think I¡¯m going to forgive them for what they¡¯ve done?! Their heads all have a preemptive slot on my wall!¡± She thrusts her arms over to that mantlepiece, and King doesn¡¯t even glance in the direction of the macabre collection of heads. It¡¯s utterly grotesque, and not worth his commentary. He¡¯s got bigger priorities than the trophies staring blankly at their killer at all times. ¡°You have already made enemies, Val. You established that when you killed Lyssa. Remember?¡± Crosomer spits with disgust. ¡°You have no room to maneuver on this one. None. So you can sit down and listen to reason, or we are done, and we can collectively part ways. You won¡¯t be able to grind an axe with Zacharias without us.¡± King sees she¡¯s doing the math, as she should be as a CEO who got to her role through poise, daring, and a hefty pile of corpses. She knows she is not in a position of strength, for the moment. She tilts her head to look at Melissa, who rolls her eyes in response. They both know that this is not a bluff, and she taps her manicured nail on the conference table. ¡°Fine. I want her head on a plate. But when we are done, Rashalda and Shalinde are dead. Do I make myself clear?¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°No Val, they are off limits. They need to be alive to enact the next phase, or this plan won¡¯t work.¡± King has a few ins on the translation matrix without Volkir¡¯s assistance, though if that sage is indeed alive¨Cas he had predicted¨Cthen there are still a few options left, if their current leads don¡¯t pan out. ¡°We have two sites located regarding Kinsgard ruins that the dragons built over or had tagged, but never properly researched. One in the Amazon, the other in your home country.¡± ¡°Siberia is hardly my home country,¡± she scoffs. ¡°It¡¯s just the place where I endured nonstop torment. And killed my mother when I grew more powerful than her. You want to dig for the ruins, and find more translations for the Kilntstarnoth.¡± ¡°Yes, that is part of the plan. But to fully enact the plan, I still need Volkir¡¯s journal. The records were copied. I have digital traces from one of the cell phones used to capture it, but it¡¯s encrypted. I think Dillinger took a backup copy.¡± Val raises her eyebrows in surprise. ¡°How did you deduce that?¡± ¡°I know how the man thinks. Valuable intelligence would have never been left to be willingly destroyed. We were baited, successfully. We need their assistance as a backup, and we need to turn them towards fighting the Conclave. Even if some of them may despise us.¡± King leaves that less than subtle statement hanging to let her feel his disdain. ¡°You assume I will ever¨C¡± she sighs and taps her nails on the armrest for a good handful of seconds. ¡°The price on this one is getting to more than I can stomach, King. This had better be worth it. But if they engage my men, I will not hold back, and they will be killed to the last. So you better work on your end to get us that information.¡± ¡°Splendid¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯m not done setting terms, King,¡± she says before digging her claw into the table. An ill-thought slip of temperament that is likely going to cost a significant amount of money to restore. Not that she particularly cares since she is the richest dragon on the planet¨Cat least, on paper. ¡°Rashalda and Shalinde are the price of my cooperation. After you¡¯re done getting the information we need, their lives are forfeit. But King?¡± she traces that claw eerily across the table in an unsettling screech. The wood sliver chips and curls in her wake as her expression morphs into a scowl, and she narrows her eyes. ¡°If this proves too troublesome, I will kill every single one of them, their families, their friends, co-workers, and associates, and make it a bloody massacre.¡± ¡°This is not a negotiation, Val. You still need my help on this one,¡± Crosomer says with a sneer across his snout, and he furrows his eye crests before arching forward. ¡°So far, all you have done is managed to kill people we care about, rather than the adversaries that matter.¡± She lets out a tsk sound. ¡°Still haven¡¯t gotten over Lyssa? Pining over Alex¡¯s dead wife? You haven¡¯t changed a bit¨C¡± Crosomer slams his hand down hard enough that the table cracks down the middle. Splinters of wood scatter and seem to hover in mid-air in the wake of him hitting the break point of his patience--and King figured he''d have cracked way sooner than this. She is instantly alert, energy crackling across her arms and snarling aggressively while Crosomer draws a wand, primed with deadly acidic energy. A wise weapon against Val, if only the weapon carried more power. ¡°Don¡¯t you ever say that again.¡± His words carry deadly intent, and King brushes off shards of wood from his armor vest before putting a hand of restraint out. ¡°I understand the history between you two. And what you did back then cost you the war in a pyrrhic victory against the Valkyries, Miss Roshanikov. You would be well advised to learn from your mistakes, and not relive the past. Either of you.'''' A glance at Crosomer indicates he is very unwilling to see reason, and Valosterla, despite her injuries, grits her teeth in sheer anger. Melissa throws up her hands in frustration and glares at them with venomous green eyes. ¡°You know what, have at it. Go kill each other. I¡¯ll go shop my resume around, maybe I can line up a job with the cutthroats at SAF intelligence, it¡¯s less stressful than you three.¡± Melissa''s declaration finally snaps Val out of her murderous mood. ¡°Excuse me?¡± Val glares at her, teeth on edge. ¡°You¡¯d leave? You know that contract is in perpetuity.¡± ¡°Val, I wrote that contract to give me an exit clause for when you went full-on psycho, which is what you are rapidly approaching. Careless mistakes have been made, you are all vested in the destruction of the Conclave, are you not?¡± Melissa takes a step closer to Val, and stinging tendrils of dark energy lash at her like stray strands of hair blowing in the wind. ¡°But you know I¡¯ve stuck around for a lot more reasons than that.¡± The violent rays of purple energy cease, and Val observes the room, glaring at each of them in turn. ¡°Get me the information that I need.¡± She storms out of the room and Melissa follows, who gives them a quick nod of affirmation. The metal barricade door slams shut in a series of metallic clanks and pistons locking into position, and a magical ward of deadly intent traces across the paneling. They¡¯re back on track. King exhales¨Che¡¯s been holding his breath for far too long at the volatile situation, and he may have miscalculated the animosity between Val and Crosomer, for once. Robespierre slowly holsters the wand, and and tips his head to the side. ¡°She¡¯s becoming problematic.¡± ¡°She¡¯s also our only shot at taking down Zacharias. We are playing a dangerous game, Crosomer. More than I initially realized, and you should not have risen to her taunt.¡± He clicks his claws awkwardly together for a moment, and his gaze turns to the now-shuttered doorway. ¡°The whole world went to hell the moment Lyssa died, King. I swear I can pinpoint every bad thing to that point of no return. She was never supposed to be there. I got her killed, because I couldn''t convince my former friends to see reason." Crosomer glances at the destruction of the table, and lets out a small tsk sound. "This is all Zacharias¡¯ fault. Everything that happened, stemmed from her. But Val¡­there¡¯s something really wrong with her, King. More than I can put my finger on besides her murderous tendencies and her odd taste for drama and music.¡± King permits himself one small barb. ¡°Yes, eccentricity seems to be in style around here.¡± Crosomer scowls at him, but quickly brushes off the shards of the desk from his cloak. ¡°Just keep in mind our contingencies. And don¡¯t let your obsession with gaining back Alex cloud your judgment. That kid is now going to come at us with everything he¡¯s got, now that Val scuttled my attempt to win him over.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you failed. I think there¡¯s another angle to play. Josephine Pyromist.¡± Crosomer taps a tapered horn on the side of his head, and sighs. ¡°I¡¯m trying to learn your playbook, King. It requires a deft hand. If Drenar can see that the Conclave is the root cause of all that ails the mage world, then maybe, there¡¯s a chance to get the Luminaires fighting the right people.¡± ¡°Not with Val as part of the equation. But we need her. So that¡¯s¡­problematic,¡± King concedes while wringing his hands. That is going to require a complex solution that he hasn¡¯t been able to piece together yet. ¡°Promise me you won¡¯t attempt to poison her, goad her, or slip a bomb in her bed chambers?¡± ¡°You left out stabbing her,¡± Crosomer comments shrewdly, before he pads out of the room with a click of claws. He stops at the doorway, and peers back, tail swishing lightly. ¡°King? Let me pose something for you. If we do somehow manage to destroy the Conclave, undo a cultural genocide, and see those responsible for this current world meet justice¡­what¡¯s there to say about us?¡± King regards the question for a moment. ¡°You mean where people praise us for our sacrifices? I think you and I both know that price paid is more than we can bear already.¡± Crosomer¡¯s claw lingers by the door panel, and he ruffles the feather crest on his head. He lets out a frustrated sigh. ¡°There¡¯s no good ending for us, King. There never was a promise of one.¡± The door unlatches, and he walks through, and tilts his gaze at King, narrow-lipped and weighing his words, before the bulkhead closes. Now that the room is empty, he practically falls into the seat, and rubs the bridge of his nose. ¡°If you¡¯d failed for as long as I have, Robespierre¡­any ending is better than an eternity trying to save one person.¡± The confession echoes in the still room and the thrum of ghostly whispers in the mine.
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! V2 - V3 Intermission: Alchemy 201 "Do you ever take any down-time, Drenar?" "Are Val, Davos, and the rest of the rogue''s gallery of magical criminals dead or in prison?" Drenar retorted to a certain sassy alchemist sitting next to him. "Uh, nope. And the Conclave of Depravity--I mean, the Conclave of the arcane is still standing." Joey is busily mixing something at her bench, and it''s later in the evening than he realized. Almost a few weeks have gone by since the attack at Asqualia. He expected to have a little bit of downtime¡­but life has a way of keeping him on his toes lately, in more ways than one. He thinks back to the last few weeks. He¡¯d been a shoulder to cry on for Joey, when they attended the funeral for those who lost their lives. He''d felt the press of heartache, too, when he looked at the lined-up coffins established at the graveyard, just on the edge of town. The Valkyries¨Cand SAF¨Chad been exceedingly efficient at the recovery operations, and the currently ongoing reconstruction of the facility. He felt awful, knowing he¡¯d seen some of those people alive at the facility before the attack¨Cand had been unable to save all of them. But he also knew what they had done was nothing short of impossible. In the few days since the attack, Joey had quickly established herself as more than just a fellow survivor, but as someone he viewed as a friend, alongside Kyle, who was stoic and stubborn to a fault, like him. He held Joey¡¯s hand during the proceedings, and she expressed her appreciation for having someone there. Diane and Dave had also arrived at the funeral, to show support. They knew one of the mages from their normal life, although Diane admitted candidly that they were more than generally aware of the mage community¨Cand sworn to silence. He remembered approaching them after the proceedings, giving him a heartfelt hug that felt much-needed after the disaster of the past few weeks. They had been just a little upset about being left out of the loop, and Diane in particular. But, they also understood and supported his decision on wanting to take on the people responsible for these horrendous acts. They were still under the protection of the Valkyries at another house nearby¨Ctheir current house was considered vulnerable, given that Valosterla and the Talons likely could pinpoint their house. So, that was going to be a long-term problem. Right now, their current base of operations was Nick¡¯s house¨Cand now a permanent garrison of SAF agents that Levine personally hand-picked, along with a squad of Valkyries, were a revolving presence at the house, and in the vast basement complex. The barn out back also received respectable furnishings after the lengthy cleanup¨Capparently, dumping an overload of mana energy into a portal that isn¡¯t rated for that high load capacity does a number on the surroundings, and ¡®pushes¡¯ things away. He¡¯d given more than a stern lecture to Kyle that he was going to be replacing every bit of paneling and trim work he had to fix, as a result. Drenar and the others had lent a hand, and they slowly cleared the debris, got the armory back up and running, and made it somewhat cozier than Nick¡¯s previously spartan furnishings. Now it had a corner dedicated to Joey¡¯s alchemical experiments, and a mini forge that Kyle used to great effect. Kyle is cooking up something, and has been using a mini-fabricator to print out custom magical metal components. He''s been spending a lot of time bolting, welding, and fusing together pieces into something that looked like an armor set¨Ca prototype. Kyle''s exceedingly close-lipped about it, other than saying they were going to need every edge they could get, and that he was not going to settle for anything less than perfection. Which for Kyle, meant that it didn¡¯t blow up on the first try, according to Joey. She has an unprecedented level of sass. Alex''s comment brings him back to the present task he''s been doing on auto-pilot, basic alchemy. Which unfortunately, also requires more than a passing knowledge of chemistry, and he wishes he had paid more attention to Barton¡¯s lessons. Julia however, seems to be thriving on this unexpected synergy. They¡¯re working on alchemical bases that serve as the groundwork for potions, salves, and other various reagents for more complicated efforts, like chemical processing. ¡°Drenar, one more time please,¡± Joey says a short time later, as they¡¯re working late in the evening. He¡¯s sitting at the bench, and trying to get this gel compound to¡­well, gel in a way that doesn¡¯t run as thin as water, and he is frustrated that his mana control on stirring in the magical primer isn¡¯t working. He must be doing something wrong, or missing a step. ¡°Take a step back. Evaluate. Tell me what¡¯s missing.¡± He folds his arms, and recounts the steps. ¡°The temperature has been set correctly, the mana primer was in the correct ratio to the aquafor, and I stirred with the right intensity. The filtration at the next step used the correct mesh, and I tried to activate the mana primer¡­but it didn¡¯t condense. Too much liquid still? Possible contaminants?¡± Her eyes flash at the last two¨Creally, now, it¡¯s like her eyes have a light of their own at times. Is that normal, even for a mage? ¡°Check the pH.¡± He pulls a tester strip and dabs it into the solution, while she taps a plain nail on her wristwatch. But, she¡¯s still smiling at least. Even when she does get a bit sassy at times if he makes a dumb mistake. Learning alchemy has been filled with those, even though he¡¯s scribbling notes as fast as he can. He compares the sample to the pH, and frowns. ¡°It¡¯s a bit off. By 0.5 pH? That¡¯s enough to throw it off?¡± He realizes that might be the case here. ¡°It''s likely. Contaminants could be present in the filter you used, or there were contaminants from a mixing container that wasn¡¯t thoroughly cleaned. It doesn¡¯t take much,¡± she explains while adjusting her safety goggles, and points to the earlier mixing container. ¡°I see staining on the glass and particulates. That is your root cause. Don¡¯t use the same mixing containers, use a new one, and verify they are clean.¡± ¡°Right,¡± he says and looks at the now worthless solution. ¡°Well, this was a waste.¡± ¡°Try again. You¡¯ll get it right, now that you¡¯ve eliminated one root cause.¡± She twirls her hair around her finger while humming softly, and he gets to work on the next batch. He¡¯s focused on the effort this time and checks his steps at every turn. She attends to her mixture, and the glow of mana wraps around her hands as she primes the completed potion. The aqueous solution is perfectly clear, with a slight turquoise color, and glows lightly without any additional effort. Angela might have grace on the battlefield that even he doesn¡¯t¡­but Joey has impeccable grace in this lab and the foray into magical sciences. She¡¯s in her element here, and it shows in her pitch-perfect knowledge. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be paying attention to your own work, and not what I¡¯m doing?¡± she says with a playful twist of her lips, tilting her body in the seat next to him. ¡°I¡¯m just observing the expert at work. I¡¯ve got a lot to learn.¡± He wasn¡¯t staring, was he? Then again, it¡¯s hard to not notice her in a room. She does kind of stand out in that way beyond her bright red hair and toned, tanned skin, lavender eyes¨C You¡¯re staring again. Stop that, I keep expecting you to catch fire any day now, young dragon-wan, if you persist in rubbing shoulders with the young woman here! Drenar grunts at Alex¡¯s interruption to his train of thought, and Joey stifles a laugh before spinning in her chair, one leg crossed over the other, elbow pressed into the armrest, and resting her cheek on her hand. ¡°What else is going through this young dragon-wan¡¯s head, Alex, do tell!¡± That sly grin of hers makes him unnerved¨Cshe¡¯s too good at observing things, and that psionic link is tricky. Especially when his thoughts drift to predictably¡­well, thoughts of meeting other young women her age, and he¡¯s in his prime and¨C Whoops, focus on the lab. He winces and she bursts out laughing, which somehow makes it worse. ¡°Sorry, sorry, the brain goes bad places, don¡¯t melt me¨C¡± ¡°Drenar,¡± she says in a teasing tone, ¡°Do you have any idea what I heard running through Kyle¡¯s head when we were dating for a spell?¡± ¡°Wait. Have you guys dated? I knew there was a vibe between you two!¡± He¡¯d seen it, that closeness between them, but then they also kept their distance a little bit. He gets to the edge of his seat, leaning in out of curiosity. ¡°Tell me more!¡± ¡°Sorry, that one costs a successful gel primer,¡± she responds coyly and points to the still-unfinished concoction. ¡°Tell you what, I¡¯ll let you have one secret if you can get it right in one try.¡± He sits up and cracks his knuckles in response, while wearing a confident smile. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s on. I was close last time, I can get it this time.¡± ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t, Joey! Embarrassing stuff is off limits!¡± Kyle shouts from his forge, where he¡¯s wearing heavy heat-resistant armor and a full helmet with a darkened visor. He¡¯s been pouring metal into sample trays, and the heat is pleasant from the other side of the barn. It must be oppressively hot right next to the forge. She cackles madly while finishing up her work on her next potion, and stashing it in one of those metal and plastic alchemical canisters that she stores in her compact hopper system. He still has to ask her about that one, it¡¯s a marvel of engineering he hasn¡¯t quite worked out yet! ¡°Kyle, please, your thoughts are saddening vanilla! Now Alex, on the other hand, is quite intriguing! And the teenager he¡¯s inhabiting, but you know, sometimes you get unexpected bonuses!¡± She looks at him deviously, eyes flashing with mischief. ¡°C¡¯mon, you¡¯ve got this.¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. A few minutes later, he lets out a contented puff of excitement. It¡¯s done, and the gel looks the right consistency and color, plus the opaqueness is correct. He¡¯s done it! ¡°Alright Joey, looks like someone¡¯s spilling a secret! Read it and weep!¡± ¡°Ah-ah, hang on. This requires full investigation!¡± She peers at the solution, and stirs it with a sample rod, and tests it with a dropper of a clear fluid. The gel flashes green for a second before reverting to its bluish color, and she beams a smile at him. ¡°Well, looks like I¡¯ll make you an alchemist yet! Now drink this, and see if it induces any bioelectric current!¡± ¡°Sure I¨Cwhat?¡± he stammers at this unexpected request, and he peers at the solution, and recoils at the concept of downing this stuff. Is that even safe? ¡°Uh, Joey, I don¡¯t believe this is fit for human consumption.¡± ¡°But you aren¡¯t human, are you?! See, dragons can eat some strange things, and it won¡¯t bother them! Just tip the whole thing back, and see what happens!¡± She¡¯s excited about this and almost giddy¨Cis he about to get poisoned by this mad alchemist, or is her knowledge that pitch-perfect?¡± ¡°Okay, seriously Joey, this feels like a trolling attempt about to go horribly wrong¨C¡± ¡°Down it, you wimp!¡± Kyle scolds from the forge and pries off the visor. His red hair and face are all sweaty, and he pants from heaving around the heavy batches of metal he¡¯s been working on. ¡°If that mad scientist tells you it¡¯s safe, then it¡¯s safe!¡± He can feel the twinge of anxiety as he stares at this solution¨Cthis is a terrible idea that he really doesn¡¯t see the upside on. He grimaces at this really bad idea, and twirls the gel in the beaker, and she¡¯s still got that leering grin. ¡°C¡¯mon, I promise you that it¡¯s safe.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t haze me, Joey.¡± He steadies his hand, and takes a sharp breath, and clears his throat. ¡°Well, bottoms up, then.¡± Downing that gel that slides down his throat that tastes like the most sour grape he¡¯s ever eaten is enough to make him gag, and he focuses on getting the whole thing down. It clings to the back of his throat, and he places the empty beaker on the table with a loud clink, and he feels a tingle of energy on the back of his tongue. She¡¯s enjoying this far too much, and he shudders from the tart flavor. How does this taste so sour? She¡¯s hazing you, bro. Alex is convinced, too, and he feels sparks of energy across his skin, and a thrum of energy that traces across his nerves. It feels like someone jolted him with a nine-volt battery¨Cand Julia¡¯s not even around right now, she¡¯s in the basement training with Angela on her martial prowess, while James, Nick, and Levine are busily talking logistics. He manages to give a weak thumbs-up, and tries not to cringe from that low-level current running across his nerves. Joey pats him on the leg, and smiles. ¡°Well, the test passed. How¡¯d it feel?¡± ¡°Like you¡¯re using me for dragon science. And not in a good way.¡± He groans as that jolting feeling persists, and he flops back in his chair, his breath shaky. Those jolting sensations do pass after a few more seconds, and the presence of energy is still present. ¡°So, what exactly did you do?¡± ¡°Oh, that? I was testing something. Julia commented that you can use plasma-based abilities, just like Angela, but you can¡¯t seem to generate them on your own. So, I concocted this formula to¡­how to put this¡­clear out the plumbing.¡± He glances at her warily. ¡°Should I expect some adverse effects from this that could be somewhat embarrassing?¡± his stomach is still fluttering from this, and he hopes his dragon-enhanced body is performing as intended. That is a weird concept, being more than human now, and one he still can¡¯t quite wrap his head around. Joey cuts short his internal discourse. ¡°Nah. I think we should test if you can use plasma-based abilities like Julia tomorrow, it might take time to clear out your mana filament pathways. I think they were just not working correctly. What I¡¯ve done is added a solution that should correct for any biological effect that could result in malformed filaments that could prevent you from generating your energy internally.¡± ¡°So, like a regen potion?¡± he groans, and still feels a slight tremble in his hands that persists a few seconds later. ¡°Okay, you¡¯ve taken my blood, my feathers, my scales, over the past day. Now spill it, what¡¯s that earned me?¡± ¡°Well, my trust, and second off, I think I could tell you something really cool. You get to pick!¡± Oh, this could be a dangerous proposition, Joey. Are you sure you¡¯re willing to let him ask any questions? Alex eggs him on and he grumbles something unintelligible. Take a spin, let¡¯s see if we can surprise her! ¡°Don¡¯t mind this guy. He just showed up on the couch inside my head, and now raids the fridge, and doesn¡¯t pay rent,¡± Drenar grumbles. She¡¯s in stitches trying not to laugh. A small question does come up that he¡¯s curious about. ¡°I do have one good question. What¡¯s up with the purple eyes? Is that a mage thing? I read that the Baltian species of dragon has that shade of eye color, or an intense blue. But with your status as a kitsune¡­¡± ¡°You know something? For once, I don¡¯t have a firm answer.¡± She settles down, and her expression is a little less animated. ¡°I don¡¯t know why my eyes are purple, Drenar. I mean, I can see it, every time I look in a mirror. So do my close family. No one I¡¯ve talked to has been able to figure it out. Only a handful of people can even see it, and I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s a reason for it. As a scientist, it kinda bugs me. But it¡¯s a small thing. Maybe I¡¯m just a freak.¡± Uh-huh. I think you have a theory, my favorite mad scientist, Alex chimes in and is almost gloating. What is up with these two, it¡¯s like they¡¯ve been having a sidebar conversation when he¡¯s not looking! But Alex claims Joey can only reach out to both of them at once. She tilts her head, and rests her cheek on her hand, with her elbow propped up on the armrest. ¡°Well, I do have a theory. It¡¯s not a good one. I think¡­I think only people who trust me can see my eye color. Maybe it¡¯s tied to my psionics. King made an off-the-cuff comment when I was talking to him over the arcanlink, before the attack. It kind of rattles me, now that I¡¯ve had a moment to think about it. How I make¡­connections to people.¡± ¡°Make connections? You mean the mind speech?¡± She''s slow to respond, and is deep in thought while gazing at him with curiosity. She¡¯s always studying him¡­but what is she trying to learn about him? ¡°The little I know is self-taught, and my parents would use them to ¡®check on me¡¯. It was a little intrusive, growing up like that. There¡¯s just a lot of irrational fear about psionics. Only humans and kitsune have them, as far as I know. And the kitsune¡­we go out of our way to hide it, because of generational fear of what happened before. Our culture tends to lend itself to keeping secrets, instead of giving more ammunition to those who would do horrible things to us for the crime of simply existing.¡± She glances down and lets out a quiet breath. ¡°We¡¯re not the only ones that have a hard time.¡± He¡¯s still wrapping his head around that one. The duality of her physical appearance is always fascinating¨Cand he suspects she¡¯s thinking the same thing when he¡¯s in his dragon form. Though this lab really isn¡¯t set up for his size, so, human form is the default for now. She still prefers her human form¨Cmost of the time. It¡¯s only in the evening when she usually transforms back. She explained after a while, it sort of became a routine. He realizes he has been pondering her statement for a moment, and clears his throat. ¡°So, no one fully understands them? Or is the record-keeping that bad?¡± he presses. Of all the magic he¡¯s heard of so far, this one is the most mystifying to him. And he has done a little reading. The dragon empire had tried to exterminate the Kitsune. And that reading had been chilling, knowing somewhere down the line, one of his ancestors might have had a hand in those atrocious acts. It does not sit well with them. And then Joey¡¯s own powers started awakening in her own way. ¡°If I were to believe half of the stories I¡¯ve heard from my family¨Cgrain of salt, mind you¨Cpsionics can form bonds like this with people they¡¯re¡­close to.¡± His mind draws a blank on where that statement could be going. Like a relationship? Or, maybe just an alignment of personalities? Okay, I think I¡¯m attracted to her, she¡¯s got a thing for me¨CI think¨CI mean. should I just go for it? We¡¯re busy training like crazy for a pitched battle against a terrorist army, and the Conclave¡¯s useless at best, and insidious at worst. What¡¯s the play here? You know what Alex, I think I¡¯m overthinking this one. She raises an eyebrow and pokes him in the temple, with just a hint of a smirk. ¡°Hey, words, not thoughts! Gotta practice that one!¡± She doesn¡¯t sound like she¡¯s scolding him, but he leans in. He can still make out hints of what she''s thinking. The feeling is more of an emotional barometer. He''s still trying to get a read on her. And he realizes she''s waiting for the right question. Time to go all in. ¡°Alright, can I ask one more?¡± ¡°Shoot.¡± ¡°What is your favorite food?¡± her response is almost instant. ¡°Japanese.¡± ¡°Perfect, I¡¯ll take us out for lunch tomorrow.¡± His brain catches up to his words at about the same time as Joey does, and her eyes go wide. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, huh?¡± ¡°So, is that a no?¡± Damn it, he¡¯s blaming the dragon in his head for this one, he¡¯s been messing with his vibe for too long, and now he¡¯s probably embarrassed himself¨C ¡°Oh hell yes, Drenar. I¡¯m down for it," she responds with enthusiasm. This had both surprised her and left her elated, and she¡¯s also trying not to twirl her hair like she does when she¡¯s anxious. ¡°But uh, one request.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± This should be good, he figures. ¡°You need to comb your hair before you do. You look like a wild beast.¡± That sassy attitude is back, and he can¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Damn, you have been listening to Julia and Angela, haven¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Guilty as charged.¡±
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! V2 - V3 Intermission: Field Training Julia lived and breathed one of two things in a given day: air, and training. Today is no different on this day close to Thanksgiving, except Nick has hastily cleared out a training area in the clearing behind their temporary base of operations, and set up a target range. It¡¯s her favorite thing in the world, besides Joey and her friends at the moment. More surprising, is the amount of leeway that her mother is giving all of them, while she dials in the range of her target. Of course, ranged targets aren¡¯t the only thing lurking out here. Nick, Kyle, and Levine have all been trying to make a surprise obstacle course to keep the Luminaires on their toes. Each of them has contributed in a way, but only Levine and Nick know all the details. Making this difficult is the fact that it¡¯s snowing, visibility is poor, and she¡¯s freezing, even with this winter gear. Mages should not be cold! Dragons, doubly so! She¡¯s wondering just how ¡®Nordic¡¯ her family heritage is, all things considered. Those fat gobs of wet, sticky snow that are slowly melting in her tied-back hair are making it look like someone broke open a pillow, and visibility is awful. Of course, Nick would make this difficult. He peers down the course of structures and hidden dangers. ¡°Alright ladies and gents! We¡¯ve been doing training for a few weeks, let¡¯s see what you¡¯ve got. Julia, Drenar, Angela, Kelly you¡¯re fire team A. Joey, Kyle, James, Jackie, you guys are fire team Bravo. For this purpose, all weapons are outfitted with blunt tips, non-lethal. So try not to shoot anyone. The objective is to sweep and clear the obstacles, and if it looks like a hostage¨Cdon¡¯t shoot it! No restrictions on innate magic, it¡¯s a tool for use, but watch for collateral! Harming innocents needs to be avoided at all costs, and you will never have perfect knowledge of the battlefield!¡± Just get to the good part, Nick. She¡¯s tensed and ready to spring into action, and a crackle of static clings to her hand, where her gloves are designed to channel her plasmakinesis, and not burn a hole through her clothing. Kelly is similarly outfitted, and Drenar is eyeing the marked path and the structures. He¡¯s weighing the approach. She¡¯ll let him take the tactical lead and call it. Angela will follow it to a fault, and a shimmer of force surrounds her. Her telekinetics are now a force to be reckoned with¨Cpowerful and deadly precise. She¡¯s still amazed at what she can pull off¨Cfrom grabbing a soda can out of her hand to splintering concrete with a concentrated blast. She¡¯s proud her bestie has become a reserved badass. The glance doesn¡¯t go unnoticed, and Angela smirks lightly with eyes that match the drifting snowfall almost. ¡°Remember, aim first. Don¡¯t fire at the first thing you see.¡± ¡°I know. I¡¯m no rookie.¡± Nick gives the signal, and they move in a close formation. Drenar and her take point. Their goal is to clear ten targets, and Kyle¡¯s golems are primed to deliver non-lethal attacks. A single ¡®hit¡¯ will suffice to disable them without permanently damaging them. They trek through the snow in cozy but serviceable boots, their winter jackets marked with the greens and blues of the Luminaires¨Csomething Angela had insisted on. She¡¯s still working on a few extra touches for the uniforms. ¡°Two and two. Julia, you¡¯re with me. Kelly, with Angela. The clock¡¯s running, the par time to beat is three minutes.¡± Drenar slaps the safety off the autobow, as does everyone else, and his dagger is on a quick-grab sling on his vest. They quickly slip through the snow, and she sees motion¨Can automaton shaped like a dog with sharpened metal claws, lunging for them over the gnarled stump of a fallen tree. The color even matches with the snowfall and the other ashen-colored trees, but she¡¯s in pure reaction mode. Two bolts perforate the metal exoskeleton, and she redirects it as it lands, with a blast of plasma energy that leaves it in a crumpled heap. Another one is leaping almost at the same time, and Drenar sidesteps and stabs down through the metal skin, severing the head. The automaton goes limp in a heap of now twitching limbs, and tries to grab him even though it¡¯s missing visual sensors. A single stab down finishes the job and cuts through the mana core, dribbling blue fluid draining into the snow. ¡°Two targets neutralized, moving in!¡± he declares over the radio. ¡°Julia, what¡¯s in the structure?¡± She focuses her gaze on the prefab structure and lets her vision unfocus, and she can see the world go to blue, black, and white. Her vision now highlights the outline of faint traces of blue¨Cmana circulation. She can see three faint blobs. Even better, she can see through relatively thin materials to see beyond them. ¡°Two on the ground floor left of the door. One by the stairwell, just hovering there. Can¡¯t see the VIP dummies.¡± Drenar nods. ¡°Two more down at our position,¡± Angela relays. Julia hops over the low barrier of the fallen tree to the plain wood and metal structures¨Cseveral target silhouettes pop up¨Cand several of them are civilians. She lets out a breath as she spies the automaton firing off a magical bolt of shimmering blue energy. Drenar blasts backward with a burst of kinetic energy¨Chis version of an evasion that doesn¡¯t involve his teleport. She pins the target in the head and it goes down, and he fires off at the second, narrowly avoiding the civilian silhouette. They burst into the structure to clear out the rest, and Drenar pulls at her shoulder before she steps over a tripwire. She winces¨CNick knew she couldn¡¯t see it in advance. Clever dragon. ¡°Fast, but cautious. We take a casualty, we fail. We get a noncombatant hurt, we fail,¡± Drenar says firmly. She takes a deep breath, of course, Nick isn¡¯t making this easy, and neither is Levine. They sweep up the rickety stairs and she anticipates the golem with Drenar taking the lead. His kinetic deflection disrupts the pre-aimed blast of fire, and Julia vaults over the railing and lands a plasma blast at the ball of her foot, delivered into the head of the golem. The automaton sputters and keels over, out of the fight. ¡°Nick, you asshole, there¡¯s more than ten targets!¡± Julia hisses over the radio. There¡¯s not even a subtle laugh in response. ¡°You knew, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°In missions, you have to roll with the unexpected. Those golems were set to really hurt you.¡± She growls and gets back to vaulting out the window to the next structure just adjacent to it, and does a quick spot check with her mana spectrum vision. One automaton next to the target, two others nearby, and she relays this to Drenar. This one needs to be fast and decisive. He gives a silent count by hand signal. She breaks through the small wooden barricade, landing in a tumble and sweeping the legs out of the automaton aiming at a poor innocent civilian mannequin. Drenar teleports in and grabs the second and third with a quick grapple, and a thrust of a kinetic lasso each. He throws the bots to the side, smashing small pieces of mechanical connectors off the constructs. He¡¯s in raring form, and she surges to the last target with her legendary tsunderebolt. This one didn¡¯t show up on her mana sight¨Canother trick by Nick, and shielded against emissions? Except this target¡¯s a little more durable, and the arcane barrier flares off of it from the impact. She feels like she just smashed into a wall with her chest and she stumbles back, watching for the countering swing. She gets inside its swing, buckles an arm, smashes a leg joint, and lands a rebuke of a blow as it tries to hammer her body with its free arm. It fails to accomplish anything, and ends up in the scrap heap. Drenar clicks the radio. ¡°All civilian targets rescued on our end, Angela, how¡¯s your end?¡± ¡°Swept and cleared. Meet outside by that low cover, the last rescue target on the far side of the clearing." They dash out the door and the snow makes it a little slower going. But Angela is the definition of grace and almost slides through the snow. That shimmer of a distortion field suggests she¡¯s using her kinetics to move the snow out of her way¨Ca rather clever use of powers. ¡°I see it. The last target,¡± Drenar responds, and points along the cover of densely packed trees. ¡°Julia, up the middle. Kelly, Angela, up the flanks. No idea what Nick did to make this tricky.¡± They don¡¯t have to wait long as a machine of a different nature bursts forth from the snow, having laid flat. It¡¯s a bot made of multiple connecting metallic pieces that link together by a series of universal connectors. The limbs end in sharp talons and it looks like a metallic scorpion¨Cwith a mana battery for a tail. The first shot flares Julia¡¯s barrier from the near-miss and explodes a tree next to them. Splinters of boiling sap and shards of wood ping off her barrier¨Cthat¡¯s gonna be a mess to clean up. The civilian ¡®target¡¯ is still uncomfortably close. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Drenar, grab the hostage and run! Angela, Kelly, flank and attack!¡± Julia barks out even as her autobow is in motion, firing hardened steel bolts at this unexpected complication, but they bounce off¨CKyle mixed it up again, it¡¯s resistant to the bolts! It launches through the air and comes after her in a blur of deadly steel claws. It misses as she rolls to the side, and smashes the side of it with her buttstock. The impact doesn¡¯t do much, and she tosses the weapon aside, to charge plasma to her gauntlets of skull smashing¨Cwell, Volkir¡¯s gauntlets have some pretentious name, and she likes hers better. She smashes and dents the metal exterior while Kelly lassoes the torso with plasma. The construct flails in her grasp, and eventually, she just fries the circuitry and it goes limp like spaghetti¨Cand it¡¯s heavy, too. ¡°VIP saved,¡± Drenar says while touting the mannequin which looks a little weathered. Snow continues to drift down and he¡¯s broken out in a grin, as Nick responds a second later with amusement. ¡°Oh, trying to show off? You beat my par time. Two minutes, forty-five seconds. Nice work guys. Debrief, once Joey¡¯s team is done with their obstacle run.¡± A short while later, Julia is taking pointers from her favorite cinnamon stick working in tandem with the others. And she groans when Joey¡¯s team beats them by¡­three seconds?! Just what alchemical boosters did she feed to that perennial weakling James? Or has he finally leveled up, so to speak? Joey and James had opted for a rather unconventional breach¨Che¡¯d rocketed to the roof of the structure, and she had bounded up in a scrabble of claws and incredible parkour. After landing, she used a focused acid cutter to burn through the roof, and they flanked the golems¨Cwith Joey kicking one out a window in a moment of badassery. Everything ran slightly differently with the position changes, and Kyle and Jackie had done fine work disabling the rest with gravity magic and precise aiming. Joey springs down from one of the trees after the last target is cleared in a flash of red and claws, and skims down and lands on her vulpine feet. Out here is one of the few places she¡¯s willing to embrace her true form, and she¡¯s grinning from ear to ear. Julia thought her hair was red before, but in her Kitsune form, it¡¯s vibrant red, with white accents on her face, neck, and limbs. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, someone broke a record? Well, we just had to do one better, Drenar,¡± she adds while leaning toward him. {Oh, you two are just so adorkable.} Julia makes her thoughts clear as day, and Joey glances at her for a split second, frozen. {Don¡¯t mind me.} She grins silently while Joey goes through her anxiety reboot. ¡°You are savage, Joey. I didn¡¯t know Kitsune claws could cut through steel,¡± Kyle comments, points to his now damaged constructs, and grabs Joey¡¯s attention. ¡°Thanks, guys, we found out my golems need some work!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help but notice the threat level and threat count was grossly understated,¡± Drenar points out to Nick. Levine lets out a soft grunt. ¡°Never assume things go according to plan. Intel can be bad, or incomplete. We will never have perfect knowledge, and you must react accordingly. Both teams did well, considering each encounter was set up differently.¡± Levine looks over his note and shields his tablet from the fat gobs of snow. ¡°Drenar, your team performed well. You split up to track a faster par time. That was a risk, but acceptable given the known threat level. Your team made excellent use of magical and conventional attacks. Joey¡¯s team¡­well that was something. Shock and awe indeed.¡± ¡°Were you a ninja in another life?¡± Julia¡¯s heart wants to melt for Joey who is still flexing and wrapping her tail around Drenar to keep him warm. It must be a kitsune thing. ¡°Nah. They don¡¯t have ninjas in Missouri,¡± she replies with a toothy smirk. ¡°Alchemical boosters bought us speed for a tradeoff of a possible crash at the end of the mission, we also took a risk.¡± ¡°Risk? You mean that feeling where I¡¯m fighting debilitating nausea?¡± James looks a little pale, and possibly sick to his stomach based on the way he¡¯s clutching his torso. ¡°Oh, right. Here, try this,¡± she adds as she pops a canister out of her dispenser. He grabs it and gulps it down, and shudders at either the flavor, or the effect. ¡°Okay, he didn¡¯t explode, that one works!¡± she adds with a cheer. He laughs nervously, and Julia regards her warily. ¡°Don¡¯t blow up James, please. I like him just enough to not wish death by magical accident upon him,¡± she says firmly. ¡°Oh Julia, I¡¯m a professional. People don¡¯t blow up. Now, on the other hand, if you want to know about my knowledge of exothermic reactions involving chemicals, then I¡¯m your gal!¡± she says while grinning and pointing at herself. ¡°Yep, this is my sign. I¡¯m dating an arsonist,¡± Drenar sighs. ¡°And she still isn¡¯t the strangest member of our team." ¡°I think you like dangerous,¡± Julia teases and pokes him on the nose. Joey takes a slight offense with a hint of a lip curl, but shrugs after a moment. ¡°Yeah, let it never be said that I¡¯m the most sane member of the group, because I¡¯m not,¡± he says with just a hint of depreciative humor, and Joey smiles. After they trek inside, it''s back to debrief about tactics. Nick goes on about the approach and points out their breach methods. He also points out the risks and gives a few other recommendations. ¡°We have two dragons with plasma. Make sure shielded foes are prioritized,¡± he says at the tail end of the day, before they all get up to relax. Levine and Mom are in the kitchen, cooking up something. It smells tantalizingly good¨Cshe''s going to blame Nick, he''s the influencer of good cooking. And there''s more than a friendly banter going on between her mom and Levine. Evan and Jackie are busy going over more dragon science with Joey, and Drenar is keenly paying attention. It''s the way he looks at her, with that attentiveness and that vestment of learning, that has led her to a slow burning conclusion: he is into her, in that way. Not in a fling sort of way. Something deeper, more... soulful? Argh! Angie has the more flowery words for this! She keeps her thoughts guarded--no need to freak out the magical fox girl still giving lessons, because she is a gem of a personality. Now, I bet those two haven''t hooked up yet. Hmm. What do I do to play to the chaos? She thinks with a silent smile. Maybe Angie can lend a hand? Angela is busily working on¡­some kind of design on her tablet, deep in focus. It''s one way to pass the time. Nah, I''ll let that one cook on its own. ¡°I see that look. The look of a Tsundere dragon,¡± James teases when he grabs a seat beside her at the table. She scoffs at that assertion. ¡°Whatcha thinking?¡± ¡°Matchmaking.¡± James rubs his chin before following her gaze, and he leans back in the chair. ¡°Oh, hell no. We cannot have little baby silver dragons and tiny red foxes running around, while we¡¯ve got a world crisis to solve.¡± ¡°Oh, it would be adorable,¡± she says confidently. ¡°I would be an honorary auntie!¡± Though, the thought does spawn a rather intriguing question that she has been going in circles around. Who does she like in that way? Drenar is like a brother, he¡¯s out, Nick has finally embraced the idea of hanging out with Angela, and James¨C An idea crops up, and she glances at him. ¡°Say, remember that time you were gonna ask me out but didn¡¯t?¡± He goes wide-eyed and claps his mouth shut. ¡°Nope. I don¡¯t have a death wish.¡± ¡°Okay, fine. Let me make this easy for you. I want sushi, and we¡¯re gonna go out for it. On a not date,¡± she adds hastily. Despite his previously weak as overcooked spaghetti physique, he¡¯s filled out a little bit since this whole crazy adventure began. ¡°I demand this, as my lifelong rival, and the destroyer of my turn-based armies!¡± ¡°Julia, seriously, I have no desire for sushi.¡± He¡¯s not making this easy, and folds his arms before swerving around to examine her. ¡°I challenge you to a magical duel. I win, I get to pick the place to eat. You win, you get your sushi. On your not-date.¡± ¡°Deal!¡± In the end, she got her sushi. Though she has to ponder¡­did James let her win, or go a little easier on her? He¡¯s smiling when he thinks she isn¡¯t looking. Either way, it¡¯s a delightful end to a tough day of training.
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! V2 - V3 Intermission: Some Assembly Required The glow of the forge is a brilliant white-hot on the interior, and the heat almost feels pleasant¨Cbut this is no time to be pondering about a nice heat soaking. There¡¯s some work to be had. And that particular work is weapons, armor, and guns. Big, shooty guns that Julia is planning on forging herself. ¡°Okay, get the machine ready.¡± Kyle is in a heavily padded apron and shielding with a darkened visor, and reaching for the ceramic crucible containing a rather rare and magical substance¨CMithril. Stronger than steel, lighter than aluminum, and the prize of his collection of magical ore samples they had delivered from a site in Arizona. ¡°Julia, we need to pour fast. I need a perfect cylindrical bar stock for this barrel. We can¡¯t have anything in the barrel forging screwing with the chamber pressures we¡¯re going to be putting into this thing.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t need to tell me twice. I¡¯ve committed the process to memory.¡± It¡¯s strange how the heat doesn¡¯t bother her, but the cold still does. She could bask in the warmth of the forge¨Cis that the dragon side of her in utter delight? Great, one more change she can tally up, brain chemistry changes. Joey said that doesn¡¯t really happen, people remain who they are, but there are a few minor changes in perception, due to the subtle changes in physiology. ¡°Kyle, let¡¯s do this.¡± Without another word they get to work, grab the molten metal, and pour it into an extruder. This is toasty hot, but she persists. Kyle quickly gets to work as she holds the material with a set of tongs, and he begins hammering the forging, driving out any pockets with his automated machine. This goes on for a while, and her skin barely breaks out in a sweat. This heat is so delightful. ¡°Oil quench, now. Watch for it, it¡¯s hot enough it might auto-ignite this, it happened to me last time I tried.¡± She puts the finished cylinder in, and a burst of fire ignites from the oil and quickly extinguishes with a quick blast of frost from James sitting nearby. ¡°You know, I¡¯m glad I¡¯m not a one-trick fireball dude. Ice is handy,¡± he replies with a hint of amusement. "Alright, what¡¯s next?" ¡°We wait for it to cool.¡± It turns out, that process was going to take a while, so she ended up having to do the one thing she hated: Waiting. She drummed her fingers on the bench, looking for insight on what to work on next. Should she pester Drenar in his close-quarters and teach him to use his telekinetics to punch a hole through a person? Nah, probably not, she didn¡¯t need Drenar on a path to villainy. Target practice? The rifle course is opened up again. Ask Mom about what else she¡¯s been fibbing on, aside from understating her age by a hundred years? She has a better idea, and an evil smile crosses her face as she grabs her favorite cinnamon stick. ¡°C¡¯mon Joey, we¡¯re going out for food. Leave your alchemical witchery on the bench for an afternoon, bring the under-bearded dwarf.¡± ¡°The dwarf has a name, and it¡¯s Kyle!¡± he protests while attending to a machine currently metal-sintering a panel of armor. He¡¯s got projects for days, and she¡¯s not certain he even sleeps at night. ¡°You are like an anime character that broke out of an insane asylum, Julia!¡± ¡°Do I get a vote?¡± Joey asks halfheartedly. ¡°Sure! As long as that vote is yes, you do!¡± Julia beams. She loves it when people have no idea how to react to her more zany statements. Joey sputters for a couple of seconds before shrugging. ¡°Okay, but not sushi. You eat more sushi than I do. I vote for noodles!¡± Finally, she grows a backbone¨Cshe needs to keep encouraging that and make sure Drenar doesn¡¯t roll over with every suggestion Joey makes in the name of science. Or dragon science. ¡°Deal!¡± Julia affirms with a smirk. This vixen can be bought with food¨Ca thought she doesn¡¯t even try to shield, and Joey just gives up after a second with a wry smile. ¡°Kyle, watch where you put your beard, or you¡¯re gonna burn it off!¡± she reminds him. ¡°You sound like my sister, Gale. And I don¡¯t mean that in a good way.¡± Moments later, she manages to snag Drenar, and they head out to their favorite noodle place¨Cwell the only one for a hundred miles, she supposes, but Osaba¡¯s is still one of her top three favorite comfort food places. It¡¯s not that far from the Mercadian Promenade, and she hasn¡¯t tried half the food there. Drenar is seated next to her¨Cper her insistence, and Joey and Kyle sit across from them. She¡¯s in charge of this one. ¡°So, I must know some things! We¡¯ve been working for a while now, and I barely know you guys! We work and work, but don¡¯t know how each of us tick!¡± She sets the stage while Kyle and Joey glance at each other, and make some kind of silent exchange. ¡°Alright, Julia, what¡¯s the angle?" Joey sighs. ¡°There¡¯s not much to tell. We were run-of-the-mill arcanists until you guys barnstormed in.¡± ¡°I wanna know about mage life. I feel like we¡¯ve been running around and no one¡¯s asked you guys about ¡®Hey, was it like Harry Potter, where the kids are basket cases?¡¯ In case we run into more triggered trauma.¡± ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t like Harry Potter,¡± Kyle sighs with relief. ¡°Look, if you¡¯ll forgive the expression, most mages are level-one scrubs like me. We have a trace of mana filaments in our bodies, and we generate a little by biological means. Most of our studies were about understanding draconic language spells¨Cwhich I still remember a little¨Cand practical applications.¡± ¡°Magical materials, alchemy, runes, metamagical creatures, ritual spells, language invocation spells, and natural abilities.¡± Joey counts them off like she¡¯s done it a hundred times. ¡°You can break down most magical studies into those categories.¡± ¡°Yeah, but, what about mage history?¡± Now she¡¯s got Drenar going, she¡¯s so glad he¡¯s brought along his inquisitive nature! He¡¯s been too busy studying, training, and trying to be a serious leader. Well, that¡¯s one thing he¡¯s got on her. ¡°I mean, I know the highlights of the War of the Magi, but¡­you know¡­the losers of said battle certainly have made it known that the history books are a little slanted.¡± ¡°Ah, I don¡¯t want to bore you," Joey protests lightly, but Julia knows she loves being the academic. ¡°Ooh, I have questions! Is mage academy just like high school?¡± She figures it probably is. But with magic. Joey laughs and leans in a little. ¡°Very much so. Guys being dicks, girls being bitchy, and some decent people in the margins just looking to study the arcane and make something of themselves,¡± Joey affirms while waving her hand lazily. ¡°Classes were about study work. Very little magic actually happened. Though, Kyle did build a power armor set that almost self-destructed.¡± ¡°It worked! The version I used for our escapades was version two. And it kept my insides, well, inside. I can¡¯t wait to upgrade it further! Those rune classes were awesome for inscribing active spell barriers with a mana battery backup.¡± The conversation continued for a while. Joey and Kyle took turns describing school life. Surprisingly, accidental burnings, deaths by dissolvement, and dragons crushing people under their feet were nonexistent. Julia was amazed that they let dragons walk the halls! Joey made a hand wave about it¨Capparently, there were facilities for all manner of kin, even some rarer ones. Cat girls made the list, strangely! Her bingo card needs more slots to fill, she thinks with a grin. ¡°Oh great, she¡¯s plotting something,¡± Drenar grumbles in between gulps of pho noodle bowl, and chicken. She steals a piece right when he¡¯s looking at her, and she smiles before consuming it. He furrows his brow. ¡°Okay, you¡¯re plotting!¡± ¡°Nah, you can¡¯t prove nothing!¡± He really can¡¯t, he¡¯s not quite as talented as getting a read on her as he thinks. Joey, on the other hand, has been probably helping him cheat. She raises an eyebrow in surprise. {Oh no, I¡¯m staying out of this one, Tsundere. I have to set some ethical limits,} she projects with a quick thought. She still snags another bite of Drenar¡¯s food, and he proceeds to jab a shrimp out of her bowl--how did he move that fast?! She narrows her eyes. ¡°The stealing is supposed to go in one direction. Mine!¡± she declares. She playfully deflects his chopsticks away with his second attempt. ¡°You know why I used to be so skinny? You kept stealing all my food,¡± he accuses her, and she thrusts her pose forward. ¡°No, I was teaching you survival instinct! Some of it did indeed stick!¡± Sadly, his chicken is well guarded this time, and Joey¡¯s trying not to break out into titters of laughter, and Kyle rolls his eyes. ¡°You two totally hooked up at one point. You two have that vibe.¡± Drenar chooses that time to start choking on his food, Julia has to slap him on the back. Noodles do not serve him well, dripping from his face. ¡°Well, uh¡­we didn¡¯t," she says in a low tone. Kyle raises an eyebrow, as does Joey. ¡°No seriously, we didn¡¯t!¡± Do they really give that kind of vibe? Drenar¡¯s like a brother to her. One made of chiseled abs and an unhealthy level of steadfast bravery, sure, but he¡¯s more like family to her. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°We didn¡¯t.¡± Drenar has come back from near death by noodles, and is coughing while covering his face with a napkin. Apparently, noodles are more deadly than Val¡¯s crimson harbinger blade of death. ¡°Not even friends with benefits?¡± Kyle¡¯s face droops a bit¨Cwhy is this magical engineer so insistent on that? Or is he thinking of his one-off thing with Joey? ¡°No, Kyle,¡± Julia sighs. Almost by magic, Drenar seems clued in, and smiles. ¡°Well, that reminds me. Kyle, you two¡­did you¨C¡± ¡°Oh no, off limits,¡± Joey says, her face blushing profusely. ¡°I¡¯m not having this discussion here!¡± ¡°Hey, Kyle brought it up first, turnabout is fair play.¡± There¡¯s the Drenar she loves, he¡¯s leaning into the zany. ¡°Tell me something she hasn¡¯t told me!¡± ¡°Julia, could you kindly tell this young drake that this is totally not cool?¡± Joey clearly has something embarrassing she doesn¡¯t want to share¨Cthe best kind of thing to share! ¡°Oh no, it¡¯s totally cool.¡± she puts her elbows on the table and leans in, grinning madly. ¡°Hey Kyle, does she¡­you know¡­¡± ¡°I fear her more than I fear you, Tsundere,¡± Kyle says while he¡¯s stroking his beard. Aha, he¡¯s anxious! She just needs to push him a little bit further, and he¡¯ll crack! ¡°C¡¯mon, I¡¯ll trade one embarrassing thing about Drenar.¡± Kyle leans in, as does Joey. they glance at each other before nodding enthusiastically. ¡°Oy, I¡¯m right here!¡± he protests. ¡°Alright, fine Kyle, you got this one time,¡± Joey says with a little hesitation. ¡°Nah seriously, I¡¯ll throw in something as a bonus about Julia.¡± Oh Drenar¡¯s gotten bold, and he peers at her with the intensity of¨Cwell, a dragon. ¡°Choose wisely.¡± She ponders for a moment, and then the idea hits her. ¡°Drenar can¡¯t grow facial hair. It¡¯s legit impossible for him.¡± Kyle stares at her, then his lip tugs and he makes a sound of surprise. ¡°No beard. No mustache. Some weird hormonal thing.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound that bad,¡± Kyle says, before squinting at him. Drenar sighs and rolls his eyes. ¡°Unless¡­oh wait¡­does that mean¡­¡± ¡°Do you really want to continue this line of inquiry?¡± Drenar says icily. Joey¡¯s turned redder than her hair and is covering her mouth to hide her expression. So isn¡¯t Drenar, and he clears his throat. ¡°I mean it¨Cit¡¯s not a big deal.¡± ¡°I legit thought you were a touch androgynous, now that I think about it. ¡± Kyle¡¯s blunt statement doesn¡¯t do him any favors, and he sinks lower in his seat, as if he can hide from this. ¡°Okay, my turn. Joey uh¡­well, the whole ¡®other¡¯ thing about her is¡­¡± ¡°We tend to¡­shed¡­a little bit during summer months,¡± she says sheepishly. ¡°It only really happens if you spend a lot of time in your Kitsune form, though.¡± ¡°You clogged up the communal bath drain!¡± Kyle¡¯s trying not to laugh, and she gives him a glare of death. Drenar can¡¯t help but smile. ¡°I did not!¡± ¡°You totally did. Also, Joey has what we call a ''long coat'', meaning her fur is longer.¡± ¡°It made summers in Missouri a nightmare. Then again, it makes winters here a lot more manageable,¡± she adds contentedly. Drenar nods thoughtfully at this while finishing the last of his food. ¡°The more I know. Alright, my turn. Julia can sleep through an apocalypse. Know how I know that?¡± ¡°Oh don''t you dare!¡± she grits her teeth. ¡°You¡¯re the one who decided to open this Pandora¡¯s box. So, I decided in my infinite wisdom at the age of seven to draw on her face like she was a clown. She woke up the next morning, Mom and Dad were trying not to laugh, she freaked out, and proceeded to throw me down the stairs and tried to strangle me. Feebly. Young Julia did not have such beastly strength then!¡± She hates that leering smile. ¡°Oh, this is too rich,¡± Joey beams. ¡°Tell me something else!¡± Julia still can¡¯t quite fault Drenar, though. She can fall asleep pretty hard. The conversation drifts from embarrassing stories, to stories of Kyle filling a bath with rainbow-colored dye in a dorm bathroom, to Joey digging her claws into the next nearest thing if something scares her. Drenar visibly winces at this¨Cthis must have happened already. Joey and Kyle have plenty more to share about classes, though everything seems laughably easy now that magical science is in the mix. Eventually, they head home, and that special project is waiting for them. Kyle grabs a bench and examines the forging before nodding satisfactorily. ¡°Well, drill bore time. I''ll mount the barrel and get the true center. Get the drill bit ready?¡± Doing firearm barrels is a tad more complex than she thought, though Kyle''s multi-axis cutter machine makes short work of cutting the barrel to length, putting in centerings, and drilling the length of the bore. She double-checks his math with the program he''s running, and examines the measurements from the disassembled Matilda to verify a few things. Metal chips fly and she keeps the machine clear. Drenar also saunters over from time to time and asks questions, though Joey quickly calls for him to finish up work on a new alchemical booster. ¡°Those two are so cozy. Joey never was so quick to open up to people. It took her a while to warm up to me,¡± he says while they''re between rounds of work on the lathe, and she hands him a tool bit. ¡°She wasn''t trustful?¡± Kyle shakes his head. ¡°Her head was always on a swivel. She spent most of her four years at the academy in her human form. Didn''t want to risk getting labeled. People see a Kitsune, and people instantly start judging. People see a young woman acing her classes, no one bats an eye.¡± ¡°That''s stupid.¡± She doesn¡¯t cherry-pick her words, and Kyle nods while checking on a fixture. ¡°It is. No one calls out dragons for being walking murder machines, elves for being practically ageless, or dwarves for having a baked-in alcohol tolerance. Funny enough, I don¡¯t drink much. And we¡¯re only a centimeter below average human height,¡± he adds with a shrug. ¡°Looking a lot more than a centimeter, Bertance,¡± she teases as she playfully sweeps her hand over his blazing red hair. He can¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°And the conclave just¡­lets all these stereotypes persist?¡± ¡°People are hard to change,¡± he admits. ¡°And there is subtle bias. It''s been getting worse. But hey, if we have a say in things, maybe we can change people¡¯s attitudes for the better.¡± ¡°I like the way you think, Kyle. Anyway, as you might have guessed¡­Drenar has damages. Big time. Maybe that¡¯s why they get along so quickly?¡± He wipes down the fixture and squares the piece into place. ¡°I think all Joey ever needed was people she could trust. And there weren¡¯t a lot of them at the academy. A lot more at Asqualia, but she''s always slow to open up. You guys are¡­I don¡¯t know. You guys tend to bring out the best in people. That teen spirit thing,¡± he adds with a laugh. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re not that much older than us.¡± She uses a gauge to check the perpendicularity and nods. ¡°Let¡¯s get this thing started, it¡¯s going to take a while to cut.¡± The project takes till the waning hours of the night. Kyle does start nodding off after some work on the lathe, and the work is done. Even the rifling on the bore. He drops a gage down and nods satisfactorily. ¡°Perfect fit. I''ll have to run a few more checks, thanks for the help.¡± ¡°Still need to work on the upper receiver. If what you''re telling me is right, the parts need some upgrading so it doesn¡¯t fracture from the force, and we need to add the recoil damper system. Or I''ll break my shoulder like poor Nick did.¡± a thought dawns on her, and she poses a question. ¡°Could we go¡­bigger?¡± ¡°You mean a dragon lugging around a 20-millimeter upscaled version? I did the math. It''s possible. Why would a dragon need a sniper rifle, though?¡± ¡°Oh, you know. Just to say it''s been done.¡± A dragon portable auto cannon sounds more appropriate, but she doubts they''ll need that level of destruction anytime soon. Kyle yawns and sets down the barrel, and she thoroughly cleans it to get rid of any debris. ¡°Make a note, mithril is a good choice, but adamantine would also work.¡± ¡°Nah. Too heavy, too expensive. Plus, mithril has a higher strength-to-weight ratio, and is easier to come by.¡± He rolls his shoulders finishes putting away his tools in a surprisingly neat arrangement, and closes his toolbox. She does the same with the disassembled rifle and puts it back together before securing it in a locker and putting in the lock code. They have more work to do, but building the tools of her expertise is an experience that she doesn''t want to miss. And Kyle is certainly the guy they need in their corner for this one.
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! V2 - V3 Intermission: Beach Day, Part One ¡°Oh, absolutely not!¡± Kiera is pacing in her temporary office at Nick''s house, and fuming at this new request, while DeShandrea stands there, looking far too relaxed. The nerve of this young drake, really now! ¡°You asked me to train them. We have. Now, Levine and I agree that downtime is essential for continued growth. You''ve had them working on their high school work¨Cwhich is trivial because they are all good students¨Cand you have had me work them to the bone, night and day. They need downtime after a month and a half of this.¡± ¡°Valkyries don''t take breaks,¡± she argues. ¡°Did Julia come up with this? I''m not playing favoritism here.¡± ¡°Kiera, it''s their birthday coming up. It''s a coming-of-age moment for most mages. And dragons,¡± he adds in a shrewd bit of draconic culture. She tenses her fingers on her desk and misses her one in Valhalla. Working out of here has been out of an abundance of caution, even if it''s somewhat inconvenient. And now, this bold agent thinks he can convince her by using¨C She throws up her hands in frustration. ¡°You know I can''t deny her an 18th birthday party. And Drenar,¡± she adds as an aside. ¡°Alright. You have one day, Nick. Then it''s back to training.¡± ¡°Are my munitions requests being prepared? Because I made some pretty specific requisitions,¡± he adds with a smirk. She taps at the list, and it''s odd. ¡°You want another M82A3, factory stock? Why?¡± ¡°And the conversion kit. Plus adamantine round stock. Kyle has some¡­ideas¡­about some upgrades.¡± She has a dreaded idea of what he''s going to do. ¡°You''re building her a rifle. A very dangerous rifle. These runes are difficult to get, not to mention the raw materials. Is this a worthy investment?¡± She asks with a raised eyebrow. ¡°We need a counter to dragons when it is not favorable to have excessive munitions or golem constructs. It needs to be small enough to be portable for lengthy field excursions, and powerful enough for effective armor scale and barrier penetration. Shape charge munitions present weight and encumbrance issues. Barriers are also effective against this sort of attack, to an extent, and will bleed off the impact.¡± She hates how rehearsed this is. He knows his stuff, and has excellent rationale. And giving Julia a deadly weapon is stressing her limits of tolerance. ¡°This is a very dangerous weapon you are cobbling together.¡± ¡°It is. And we need to be ready. Drenar is basing the team on a mobile response. Fast and quiet, but able to hit hard with limited encumbrance. Hit-and-run tactics against a slower, more entrenched foe. He expects an asymmetrical battle in most encounters.¡± ¡°And he''s been taking lessons from Levine. Smart.¡± She taps the logs and approves the request. ¡°Now, I plan on being at my daughter''s day off, so please, do tell them to be¡­responsible adults?¡± ¡°They''re teenage dragons, Kiera. With respect, all bets are off.¡± She can''t hide a smirk that crosses her face, for a brief moment. ¡°Careful, now. I am quite aware of someone else who is of age very recently.¡± It''s a delight to watch him cough awkwardly¨Cvery little breaks his composure. ¡°Yes, James and his twin did recently celebrate a birthday.¡± ¡°Oh just say it, Nick, Angela has a thing for you. Though I do question the age gap.¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­somewhat challenging. But for dragons, less notable. Now, shall we try to have a little relaxation, before the entire Talons army comes back out of hiding?¡± ¡°One day.¡± Nick lets out a contented sound once they''re past the teleportal gateway, and a warm tropical breeze comes up to greet him, with a fragrance of salt spray, tropical tangs of various plant life, and a blazing sun above him that accents that brilliant turquoise water. Everyone else is behind him, even Levine has tagged along. But he has a dad bod, and sticks to wearing swim shorts and a water shirt, and a floppy hat accents his head, and a pair of sunglasses hide his gruff expression. Everyone else is ecstatic, including Angela, who takes in the wonder of this wonderful retreat from the world. ¡°Cheer up Levine, it''s just a day in the sun,¡± he assures him with a gentle nudge of an elbow. He makes a grunt deep from his throat and adjusts the bag on his back. ¡°You''ll be fine.¡± ¡°This is not how an intelligence officer spends his day off,¡± he grouses. ¡°I¡¯ll take it with a grain of salt that Val has gone to ground. The Talons haven¡¯t been up to anything after their disaster of a smash and grab.¡± ¡°Hey, this isn¡¯t a work day,¡± Nick cautions him. ¡°Everyone needs a day off.¡± Levine grunts, and adjusts his sunglasses¨Cthis old wolf could be encouraged to have a good time, if persuaded. ¡°A teleportal by the beach. This is the best day off ever,¡± Drenar says with a grin, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and bathing trunks already. After a few weeks of solid training, he looks like he''s back in peak athletic form again. ¡°Hey, what are the rules for going in dragon form out here?¡± ¡°No flying past two hundred meters, and no cannonballing into the ocean. For your own safety, and for the sake of not making a mini tsunami,¡± Nick relays. ¡°Why, exactly?¡± ¡°Ehmm¡­he made a promise to a certain someone.¡± Joey is edging beside him, wearing a modest blue swimsuit with a breeze shirt covering it, and her bright red hair is tied back tightly while wearing a pair of decidedly unstylish sunglasses. ¡°Really, Drenar, first chance you get to go to the tropics, and you want to stretch your wings?¡± ¡°Yep! Gotta keep in shape! Plus, they also help with swimming.¡± He¡¯s sure sounding confident, more than usual of late during downtime. ¡°Besides Joey, this is our chance to actually hang out!¡± ¡°We do that all the time. Usually, in the lab.¡± A coy smile crosses her face while she peers at him with a devious expression. ¡°Alright then, mister hot shot! Promise not to dump me in the ocean, I''ll consider it!¡± ¡°Done!¡± He practically skips to the ocean with Joey in tow. ¡°So seriously, it¡¯s considered a¡­courtship thing when a dragon offers a lady a flight?¡± She laughs in response, and pokes him in the nose gently. ¡°Oh, you hopelessly naive kid. I must scold your elders for not teaching you proper dragon etiquette. I can teach you a thing or two! I don¡¯t know just dragon biology, I know the culture, too!¡± Nick can¡¯t help but smile at these two as Drenar takes his dragon form and Joey hops on without a second thought. She lets out a sound of delight as he takes off in a plume of sand from the beach, and tests his wings. Those two bonded fast. Nick is far more surprised that Joey had taken a massive plunge to reveal her kitsune form to him, Angela, Julia, and the rest of them. He¡¯d known for a long time of her true form, but he knew that if anyone was going to make that reveal, it had to come from her. He peers at the rest of the beachgoers, not even bothered by the few dragons taking flight, skimming the waves, and he can hear Joey cheering him to go faster, even at this distance. Well, it¡¯s one less thing to worry about. Julia is grinning from ear to ear in her two-piece tank top and swim gear, all lean muscles and a sun hat covering her. She''s as pale as anyone here besides her mother and has a generous portion of sunscreen on. ¡°Yes, I am an adult now! Time to make dumb decisions and never regret them! Best birthday ever!¡± Angela laughs at this and is wearing a one-piece swimsuit, with a loose shirt covering her top. Even dressing modestly¡­she can turn heads, he catches himself thinking. Better to not let that cloud his thoughts. She still spots his gaze lingering on her for a split second too long ¡°Hey mister, aren''t you the chaperone on this one?¡± She says with a playful smile. ¡°Hah. You''re all adults now, remember? I''m here in an¡­advisory role. Also, some young woman wanted me to tag along. Brown hair, freckled skin, angular features that suggest old nobility¡­wouldn''t happen to know anyone like that, would you?¡± He throws a sharpened smile right back. ¡°Get a room, you two!¡± James yells from behind them. He and the rest of the crew are here, including Kelly, Jackie, and Evan. Kyle takes up the rear, with his golems getting their gear loaded. Kiera is busy trying to look incognito, which is quite impossible because she''s a pale-skinned titan of a woman. Her Nordic heritage is not helping her blend in, and she tilts her head at the young adults shuffling to the beach and the boardwalk set up for mages. ¡°Remember, no booze! You''re all underage, don''t even try it!¡± she shouts out. ¡°We''re not,¡± Levine says with a light smile. ¡°I think it''s time to see if the winged iguana can settle a small bet.¡± ¡°Hah! You realize the alcohol tolerance of a dragon, right?¡± He laughs at this attempt to gin up a contest. ¡°Nah, besides, I have some plans for some team activities.¡± He pulls a volleyball out of his bag, and Angela peers at it with interest. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Hey, you said it''s a day off!¡± Her protest is lighthearted¨Cshe¡¯s looking forward to it. ¡°If you''re having fun with it, does it count?¡± He poses with a light toss of the ball. She catches it mid-air with a snap of her wrist and a telekinetic grapple, and tosses it up in the air with a smirk. ¡°Sure. But it''s on my terms. You''re on my team.¡± He tilts his head in skepticism. ¡°Stacked teams. You and I need to be on opposite teams to keep it fair. Well now, shall we get this underway for our birthday duet?¡± ¡°Alright then. Julia, go smack Drenar¡¯s tail to get his attention, we¡¯ve got sports to play!¡± She proceeds to do just that, and a gold-scaled tsundere dragon gives chase to Drenar. Joey pouts at the flight cut short, but Julia also promises it¡¯s an opportunity to settle a bet. Nick has no idea what that means. A short while later, the teams had been formed and Nick stood with Drenar, Evan, Julia, and Joey against James, Kelly, Jackie, Angela, and Kyle¨Call in human form because spiking a ball as a three-meter tall dragon might stack the odds just a little bit. It proves to be a tense match because he swears Angela has developed uncanny dexterity in the past few weeks, beyond her normal grace. It¡¯s not just her athletics, though. Ever since the day in the power core, her other powers have magnified. Her telekinetics are through the roof, and she was able to keep pace even with him on their outdoor field treks. And he is not pulling punches on the training floor. She¡¯s excelling at everything thrown at her. ¡°Match point!¡± She declares as she serves the ball. There¡¯s a scrabble of golden sand as the teams keep the ball in the air. Drenar lands an amazing save, and Julia is an utter beast with spiking that ball. But Angela is there to keep the ball in the air, along with Kelly and Jackie making admirable plays. Eventually, Nick dives for the ball and just comes up short, and there are cheers from the other side of the net. Angela joins the group hug with the others, cheering triumphantly. But only for a second, and she steps over to give thanks to the others after hugging him. It had been a tense match the entire time, and as far as he was concerned, they all won. They¡¯re all covering each other''s backs, if this exercise is any indication. ¡°So, there is a side of Nick Deshandrea that isn¡¯t all dry humor and stoic to a fault,¡± she says with a beaming smile. ¡°Or, you¡¯ve got a twin and just gave Nick the day off. To do monster hunting or something.¡± ¡°Hah. I don¡¯t think the world could handle two of me,¡± he retorts and points to the team. ¡°Alright ladies and gents, post carnage report! Drenar, tighten up on the defense, you guys missed a few easy saves! Don¡¯t let good positioning go to waste! Julia, spend less time orbital impacting the ball at people, and aim at off-position individuals! Jackie, I saw you gravitation lens the ball, don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t see that!¡± he adds with a grin. She kicks the sand and sulks for a bit. ¡°Good tactic for real danger though. That can turn a shot from a deathly experience into a near-miss.¡± ¡°Always a positive side for you, Double-O dragon,¡± she grumbles. ¡°Man, how did I end up with you misfits?¡± ¡°Easy. Your psycho ex-boyfriend duped you, and put you into the middle of a giant war. We¡¯re here to knock heads together, and put a stop to that.¡± ¡°Hey, that''s my line!¡± Drenar protests, and Joey more than subtly nudges him. ¡°Alright, alright. But it sounds cooler when I say it!¡± ¡°Sheesh. Absent life-and-death encounters, you¡¯re almost alright,¡± Joey teases. ¡°So, what¡¯s next?¡± ¡°I got this one! First to the buoy way out there and back, gets treated to dinner! And maybe something extra from me!¡± Julia beams with a lecherous grin before pointing further out into the lagoon. ¡°And no cheating with dragon form! Gotta keep it fair!¡± ¡°It¡¯s still not fair, I am still limp spaghetti muscle mass,¡± James complains. He¡¯s busy snapping ice into existence with mana control, and placing it into his water bottle. It¡¯s not entirely true¨CJames has been whipped into shape a little bit, and his magical control is surprisingly composed. ¡°Keep working, Shalinde Junior! We need to be lean, mean dragon machines! And you¡¯ve gotta work twice as hard!¡± she says firmly, hands on her hips and dipping towards him lightly. ¡°I¡¯ll make it worth iiiit,¡± she sings. He sets his bottle down and stretches his limbs. ¡°Alright, you know what, challenge accepted.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll bet I can beat you out there,¡± Angela says confidently and gently wraps an arm around Nick¡¯s shoulder while pointing. ¡°And be back to shore before you¡¯ve even gotten to the buoy.¡± ¡°You¡¯re on.¡± He doesn¡¯t even think before accepting, and everyone else shares their enthusiasm. The splash of the warm water in that impossible azure shade is like swimming in a bath, but utterly pleasant. It''s far from his first time having to swim competitively, especially against some of his peers from his SAF deployments. Julia and Drenar also take part along with everyone else, though after a while, it¡¯s clear who is in the lead. And it¡¯s not him. It¡¯s Angela, powering through the water like she¡¯s been doing this all her life. Drenar and Julia are close behind¨Ceven Joey is keeping up, unwilling to let Drenar beat her. Angela is setting the pace, with smooth, controlled strokes through the water that barely disrupt the surface. Nothing is lost to inefficiency¨Cshe is powering through this and even he¡¯s straining his muscles a bit this time around. ¡°Julia, I¡¯m built for sprints, not endurance!¡± James gasps somewhere a little bit behind them. ¡°How the hell are you all so strong?!¡± ¡°Not because we¡¯re half-dragon, that¡¯s for sure! Then again, have you ever seen a lazy dragon?!¡± ¡°Once, in a movie! And it¡¯s kinda the trajectory our lives are taking!¡± Nick would point out that he could be spending time swimming rather than bantering, but it doesn¡¯t slow down Julia, a length or two behind him. They¡¯re swimming around the buoy and Angela dives in, flutter-kicking and practically gliding through the water. She is graceful in an almost ethereal way. And he¡¯s not about to be beaten by someone younger than him, no way. He thrusts forward with powerful strokes, keeping to a controlled rhythm and catching the scent of salt spray when he inhales. A beautiful coral reef in a palette of colors is below him, distorted by the splash of the water and the puffy white clouds reflected from above, but he¡¯s not here to take in the sights. He¡¯s here to win. He catches up, neck and neck with her, and she makes it almost look easy. Is she holding back? He swears she¡¯s holding back. That¡¯s when he notices something that catches his eye. There¡¯s a slight glow from her that he thought was a trick of the light, and when he dives in, he realizes it¡¯s not. There¡¯s a slight glow coming from her chest, and she¡¯s still a blur of limbs, gliding through the water as easily as she can the sky when she¡¯s in her Maridian form. He takes a second too long to appreciate the moment because they¡¯re at the beach now, and she swims to the surface before standing proudly, putting her arms up in exultation. ¡°Nick, why so slow my fellow dragon? I think that you might just be lagging!¡± she says in a small bout of verse, and wrings the water out of her hair. He blinks. That glow is gone. Had he imagined it? She tilts her head out of curiosity. ¡°Uh, Nick you¡¯re staring. Finally see something you like?¡± ¡°I¨Cum¡­well yes, minus that ¡®finally¡¯ part.¡± He focuses back on her small smile, hands on her hips as she takes a few deep breaths. Maybe it¡¯s better if he asks her about it, later? ¡°You didn¡¯t lap me, though.¡± ¡°You did pretty good, for an old guy,¡± she ribs playfully while gracing her arms around his back. He smiles faintly at that. He¡¯s not out of shape, she¡¯s just that good. ¡°I don¡¯t know how we crossed paths sometimes, Nick, but¡­I¡¯m glad we did.¡± The others are just behind them, and Joey is busy riding on Drenar¡¯s back, and he¡¯s being a good sport about it even as she pretends he¡¯s in his dragon form. Julia is also making sure James hasn¡¯t collapsed from exhaustion and is busy whispering something in his ear that immediately causes him to blush. Nick regards his fellow teammates and commends them for their excellent pace. ¡°Alright guys, don¡¯t wear yourselves out too much! We¡¯ve got dinner coming up in a couple of hours! I fully expect you guys to work on your aerial maneuvering, Joey, spot for them, and make sure Drenar doesn¡¯t fly circles around the rest of them!¡± ¡°Done! C¡¯mon, I need to see if you can fly faster than you can swim!¡± she jests, and he growls playfully. Nick heads up to the beach while Angela lingers with the others. He¡¯ll regroup with them later, and he spots Levine sitting with Kiera, sipping some drink. With what they¡¯ve got ahead of them, they need all the downtime they can get.
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! V2 - V3 Intermission: Beach Day, Part Two Later, with the sun trending towards the horizon and turning the water a beautiful molten color and with a soft breeze blowing through the palm trees, Nick sat down to finally relax. He orders a drink with Levine and Kiera, and watches the others playing in the water. A few wargen, a stray kitsune or two, and a group of fey are all swimming around, and Julia¡¯s pretending to be a shark dragon. Much to Drenar¡¯s frustration, he gets dunked again. Joey and Angela are busy chatting about something on the beach, Kyle is frantically trying to keep his golems from becoming underwater deadweights, and the rest are doing short races between the marker buoys. ¡°Think they need us old dogs?¡± Levine asks casually while drinking some fancy drink through a straw. A distinct smell of rum and something fruity emanate from the spindly glass, adorned with an orange slice. Nick gently tips his hat back and smiles. ¡°I think they¡¯re all set.¡± He tosses back a mix of ginger ale and whiskey¨Cone of his favorites, and takes in the scene. He knows that sun and surf won¡¯t be forever. ¡°Besides, I think you two were almost enjoying yourselves.¡± Kiera scoffs at that and picks up her drink. ¡°It would be highly unprofessional to have the current head of the Valkyries consorting with a highly ranked SAF intelligence officer. Imagine the scandal that would cause.¡± Levine can''t help but suppress a chuckle, while Kiera peers at Julia, still giving Drenar a hard time. Nick notes Joey gets soaked while they¡¯re competing for swimming, and scolds both of them in the distance¨Cand punches Drenar in the arm playfully. With his armor scales, it was like getting hit by a foam dart, and he just grinned wildly. ¡°How come you didn¡¯t bring Mystra, anyway?¡± Kiera asks Levine a short time later. ¡°School, mostly. She¡¯s smart as a whip, though. Maybe I¡¯m just a little worried about bringing my family in too close. I have personnel watching everyone¡¯s immediate family members in places where Valkyries might¡­bring some attention.¡± Kiera smiles slyly at him. ¡°Nick, does he ever take a day off?¡± she inquires with a tip of her hat. ¡°He does not. Completely incapable,¡± Nick says with a grin. ¡°One has to think he¡¯s married to his job, first.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how my marriage ended,¡± Levine said with a grumble. ¡°We all make mistakes, Levine,¡± Kiera says assuringly. ¡°Even me. I¡¯m lucky that Julia doesn¡¯t hate me forever for what I did.¡± ¡°She was still pretty pissed,¡± Nick adds¨Cand she gives him the piercing raven glare that he''s come to associate with Julia. ¡°Well, from this point forward, we¡¯ve all agreed that we keep everything up front. Including me.¡± ¡°Yes, dating my teenage daughter''s friend? I¡¯m so glad we¡¯re being honest about that,¡± Kiera says while peering at him. She does have that look of a bird of prey, eying a tasty lizard. He shrugs it off. He¡¯s faced things almost as terrifying as a Valkyrie in her prime. ¡°Oh, lay off, Kiera. I know you have your reservations, but Nick here¡¯s a professional, through and through. Wish I could say the same for her and James¡¯ parents. Well, that¡¯s one we¡¯ll have to sort out, we¡¯ve been trying to get information out of them about Magitech Industries. So far, I think they¡¯re holding back juicy secrets.¡± ¡°A month?¡± she sighs. ¡°I¡¯m going to break Celes¡¯ neck if she thinks she can hold out for a deal. Angela¡¯s practically a daughter to me." ¡°I¡¯ve been backlogged uprooting traitors, writing reports, and taking up my new duties. Not exactly how I wanted my promotion by running over my prior boss with a proverbial lawnmower,¡± Levine adds with a laugh. ¡°We¡¯ll get what we need from them. In the meantime, let¡¯s get everyone together for dinner. I think it¡¯s about time.¡± A short while later, they¡¯d gathered at the resort and had a private room booked. Julia and Drenar both look anxious¨Cit¡¯s their last true moment as kids in this world, Nick thinks with a moment of gleaned insight. Both of them had to grow up so fast, and they needed these last moments of levity and carefree. Angela is to his right, smiling and cheering on Julia, who picked up a paper crown and is just rolling with the absurdity. ¡°Well, I gotta say, me surviving to my eighteenth birthday¨Coh, and Drenar, too,¡± she adds while he nods along, ¡°was a bit of a long shot. The odds were pretty good that we should have been dead and buried by now.¡± ¡°Not if I have anything to say about it,¡± Kiera mutters nearby. But Julia continues to roll along with her speech. ¡°Anyway, I know we got very lucky, and we pulled off a small miracle a month and change before this. I wanted to say, this day isn¡¯t just about us. It¡¯s about having the people that matter most with you, through the thick and thin of it¡ªall of you guys. I¡¯m proud of you all for toughing it out with some of my zanier ideas, dragon science, bad ideas, crazy ideas, and more! And for those small moments where I¡¯ve not always known what to do next.¡± She glances around the table, biting her lip gently. ¡°Mom, I know we have our differences on some stuff. And some of you guys have been¡­subject to some of the back-and-forth spirited dialogue.¡± ¡°Dearie, we know. It¡¯s been a hard time. I still love you, dear. You and Drenar have stood head and shoulders above the responsibilities that people your age normally carry. I think a few blunt words have been expected.¡± The rare concession from Kiera is noteworthy. Julia smiles faintly, and there might be a glimmer of mist in her eyes. It¡¯s been ages since he formally became an adult. Or a young drake, as some of the other dragon-born would call him. Julia continues with her heartfelt speech. ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t wanna spend any more time doing speeches¨Cthat¡¯s what Drenar is for!¡± She more than nudges him to the forefront, and he runs a finger through his hair¨Cdoes he ever fix that wild mane? It''s gotten longer than it ever was, and yet, he hasn¡¯t gotten a single bit of stubble. ¡°Way to put me in the spotlight, Tsundere,¡± he says with a bit of bite. He glances around the table and has that distant for a moment. Drenar can get a little emotional at times, and this is one of those rare moments he is. I used to be like him. Before I got jaded, and believed that the world had been in a tailspin for a long time. I used to think nothing I did was going to fix it. Maybe with the Luminaires, we can turn the tide a little bit. All eyes are on Drenar, and he taps the table gently. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll keep it brief. I¡¯m eighteen, leading a group of misfits from an ancient peace-keeping militia, and my mom¡¯s the ultimate badass of the Valkyries. I likely have a bounty on my head, courtesy of one murder happy dragoness. Kids, do yourself a favor. Don¡¯t try to out singing murderous divas. Because that¡¯s how we got here,¡± he adds with a small laugh. Julia is in stitches trying not to laugh. The fact that he can be relaxed about this, speaks to his remarkable tenacity. ¡°Boo, longer speech!¡± Joey heckles with a grin. ¡°Okay, fine. Longer speech, then. I¡¯m proud of all of you guys. I couldn¡¯t have a finer group of friends, fellow warriors, arcanist experts, and people who have served as mentors and guardians for all of us. We got here through tenacity, and being there for each other. Plus, more than a little daring. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and people counting on us. So we need to train hard. And thoughtfully.¡± ¡°Still on the hook for weapons training tomorrow,¡± Nick finally chimes in. ¡°Still sounds like a birthday present,¡± Drenar grins. ¡°Alright enough with the fancy words, let¡¯s eat, and get the most out of our last day before we fling ourselves back into danger!¡± Without any additional hesitation, everyone digs into the meal, hard-earned after a busy day on the beach. He can¡¯t remember the last time he had prawns¨Cit has been a while, and surprisingly not on his shopping list. He¡¯s going to have to fix that. The evening wanes on, with everyone talking, joking, and doing their best to be¡­well, young one last time. Angela keeps stealing glances at him, those grey-blue eyes always examining him with interest. They talk about a few facets of missions of years past that he hasn¡¯t shared yet¨Cand of some of his more difficult hunts in the wilds. She¡¯s never deterred from knowing any of the details¨Ceven going to ask him how he prepared ambushes, details about monsters, and a few mishaps that Joey laughs about. ¡°No way! Did Nick run away from a monster? That¡¯s absurd! Heart of bravery, from this one!¡± Angela says defensively. Joey looks confident while leaning in. ¡°Well you see, when the Kryngaxx gets into their territorial defense mode, there¡¯s almost nothing that can stop them. So, Nick and Amaranth were dragons flying like lizards out of hell, I¡¯m on Amaranth and firing off every alchemical round I have on me, to slow it down! That canopy in the Amazon was too thick to take off from, so we¡¯re booking it through the underbrush! Man, that was scary.¡± ¡°You never said you participated in the hunts!¡± Angela says with a laugh. Joey tosses back her hair and smiles. ¡°Well, I was there for research. Nick prefers the catch and release, or at least to get rid of only dangerous monsters that will actively hunt Kin. Though, there are big monsters out there that even he won¡¯t tangle with.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Angela says with a sly smile. ¡°Do tell me, how did you get out of that one?¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°By hiding. It wasn¡¯t fun. That Kryngaxx nipped my tail,¡± he grumbles. ¡°Joey then proceeded to gum up its mouth with some alchemical foam. That bought us enough of a distraction to keep running, and lead it far and away from some campers. I mean, it was technically a success¡­but big guns and tactical knowledge don¡¯t always cut it.¡± ¡°Proof that even our resident hunter knows his limits,¡± Joey says proudly with a pat on his shoulder. ¡°Ah cheer up Nick, knowing your limits is important.¡± ¡°Yeah. I need a full team roster for big hunts like that,¡± he concedes. ¡°I could have used an unstoppable tsundere dragon then. And, maybe a subtle application of force.¡± The evening grows late. Everyone eventually filters to their guest rooms, and Nick notes that there might be some slight changes in room assignments. Julia subtly sneaks into the room Drenar and James are sharing, and Drenar is busily chatting with Joey on a couch in the commons. Nick however, wants a little bit of quiet time, away from the noise. He¡¯s still in his swim trunks, and heads out to the pool and jacuzzi tub. There¡¯s a cooler breeze going, now that the sun is down, and the scent of tropic fruits, flowers, and other greenery fills his nostrils. He sits down in the jacuzzi, not even bothered by the warmer temperatures. As a Hinterland green, he could almost sit in a lava bath. He¡¯s heard a daring few dragons have tried, but that sounds remarkably dangerous, if not outright lethal. He leans back and leaves a towel by a bench nearby, taking in the moon rising over the resort. He¡¯s not worried about security¨Ca few SAF agents had also been tagging along, a few close friends he knows he can trust for their steadfast support. He glances up at that starry sky, noting the light pollution out here is virtually nonexistent. One has to wonder if there¡¯s anything left of the gate colonies. Did the outsiders wipe them all out? Or, are there still fellow Kin among the stars, gazing in our direction, and wondering what happened to us during the Schism War? He knew some of the history, but not all of it. He allows himself to submerge up to his neck, relaxing in the stream of turbulent water. He closes his eyes, and takes in the sounds of the breeze, a distant sound of nighttime insects¡­ And bare feet walking across the patio? He turns to see Angela, hair let down and gazing at him. She¡¯s clutching at her swimsuit, and wearing an anxious smile. How did she know where he was? She only hesitates a moment, before sliding down into the tub, and lets out a soft gasp at the hot water. He peers around, and realizes they are in a rather secluded spot¨Cthe windows on the far side are dark, and there¡¯s a retaining wall and some plants closer to this side, obscuring the spot from prying eyes. They¡¯re alone for now. He tilts his head in curiosity, and she keeps looking like she wants to say something. I hope I¡¯m reading this wrong. He has a pretty good idea of what she wants to talk about, and he motions gently. ¡°I¡¯m not that rough around the edges,¡± he assures her. ¡°You have a few rough edges,¡± she says, her hands on her hips, and looking confident. ¡°How come you¡¯re out here?¡± She does edge around to be seated next to her, all pale skin, freckles, and lithe musculature tantalizingly close. He hadn¡¯t tried to get close to her¨Cnot on purpose, anyway. It also didn¡¯t help that he still effectively looks like a teenager. His Awakening hit a little earlier than most; At fifteen, it¡¯s pretty uncommon. ¡°Ah, I just needed to sit back, take a moment, collect my thoughts.¡± He¡¯s still thinking in the back of his mind about how all this is about to disappear, this moment of calm. There¡¯s nothing ahead of her but heartbreak, violence, and losing faith in humanity, by his measure. But Angela picks up on his distant gaze, and edges closer. ¡°Nick, I know that tone. You¡¯re worried. You do a good job of deflecting, but I know when you¡¯re worried.¡± He doesn¡¯t flinch when she presses up against him, gently. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just talk, the two of us?¡± He relents and sits up in the tub. Maybe he did read it wrong? He purses his lips for a second while thinking about how to proceed. ¡°Alright. I¡¯m concerned that the training we¡¯re doing isn¡¯t enough. I worry about what¡¯s going to happen when we run into an impossible situation. Or, when we watch the Talons lose their restraint, and start committing atrocities. I¡¯ve lost good fellow agents who just couldn¡¯t handle it. Combat has a way of bringing out the worst in people.¡± ¡°You think we can¡¯t?¡± she questions. ¡°I think you can handle just about anything, if I¡¯m being candid.¡± She¡¯s still wearing that solemn expression. ¡°Are you saying that because you have feelings for me?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying that, because I know you have the drive and ambition to be a Valkyrie or a Luminaire, Angela. You¡¯ve come further than Drenar, even.¡± Her lips crease upward. ¡°Flatterer.¡± ¡°No, I mean that. I¡¯m surprised Kiera didn¡¯t try to poach you, yet. Though, I can imagine she might want to avoid any awkward conflict of interest or favoritism, if she doesn¡¯t,¡± he adds with a wry smile. ¡°Now, getting back to the dragon in the room¨Cor jacuzzi, in this case? Yeah, I have feelings for ya. Just throwing that out there.¡± ¡°The kind of feelings that¡­might go further than friends?¡± His heartbeat quickens¨Cnothing scares him, but this gets mighty close. ¡°Only if you¡¯re willing. I¡¯ve got baggage. Some, you know, by my reputation. Other stuff¡­well¡­¡± He thinks back to fighting in the mud against Menazarri zealots, trying their best to take over a small island nation. SAF had been tasked to put a stop to that. What it had turned into was a horrorscape of bodies, blood, and inventive deaths by those zealots. He¡¯d lost two people he considered friends. Just the thought of the carnage sends a shudder down his spine. She sees it and wraps both hands around the back of his neck. The press of her body is close, and her voice is soft¨Clike satin over glass. ¡°You know I gave this a lot of thought, Nick. I spent two years trying to patch a hole in Drenar and Julia¡¯s souls. I know how hard it can be. I know there are a lot of things you don¡¯t talk about, but you don¡¯t have to be this reserved, stoic stick in the backside all the time.¡± ¡°You might not like the old me. There are demons buried down there, Angela.¡± Flirting with murkvine a decade ago had been his wake-up call, and he threw the stuff to the wayside after his mother¡¯s death. ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of awful stuff.¡± ¡°I have, too. You think I¡¯ve forgotten Val, with half her face burnt off, and healing in record time? Do you think that didn¡¯t register as an utter horror show? Or the fact that she hacked people apart like she was a butcher?¡± She pauses and waits for his response. ¡°I saw people burned to a crisp. I saw people die horribly, Nick. None of that comes close to knowing I was dead for fifteen minutes when I was five, and even that has dulled with time. I got through all of those, because we have collective friends that have been through absolute hell, and we¡¯ve held each other together.¡± He forgets that she¡¯s no longer a stranger to that kind of trauma. ¡°I have seen, and done awful stuff, Angie, to protect my teammates. Those kinds of things stay with you for a lifetime.¡± ¡°Then we face them, together.¡± She draws close, her forehead gently pressing against his, and she looks down, eyes closed and deep in focus, and her voice is barely a whisper. ¡°I should be dead and buried right now, Nick. But I¡¯m alive. I¡¯m living the life of my choosing. There¡¯s a reason Sam and I were brought back to this world, and my parents have said nothing. They still claim the shard of mana in my body is some sheer luck that kept me alive. I don¡¯t buy that for a second. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m going to like what I find when I get the truth out of them, or if Joey¡¯s expertise uncovers something. But, I will keep marching forward to keep this world safe, and the people I care about. Including you.¡± Her words stop all his attempts to keep distance in their tracks. She¡¯s committed to this. And it¡¯s not something he planned for. ¡°You have to promise me one thing, Angie. When we¡¯re out there, in the field, against these monsters who kill people without a second thought, or enslave kin and exchange them like trading cards? Don¡¯t ever lose yourself. I mean that.¡± ¡°That sounded suspiciously like a ¡®yeah, I want you in my life¡¯, Double-O dragon,¡± she says, with just the faintest trace of joy. ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose the most important people in my life¨Cyou included¨Cto the horrible things people can do to others. Especially when their actions and violence are unchecked.¡± She opens her eyes, a calm gaze inches from him. ¡°Drenar has it right. We keep the high morale ground, wherever we can. I¡¯ll be the professional with the stick up my backside, keeping us alive, and making sure we can go to sleep at night, knowing we did the right thing.¡± ¡°There¡¯s the Nick I know and love. Now, where were we?¡± ¡°Somewhere where canoodling isn¡¯t going to be readily observed.¡± Her eyes light up with delight. ¡°Hah. Coincidence?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you be the judge,¡± he says with a wry smile before she closes the gap. It looks like he¡¯s the prey of the hunt¡ªthis time.
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! V2 - V3 Intermission: School Of Hard Knocks There was one thing that Drenar hated above all else: lessons. He took notes and committed things to memory, but he hated lessons. Practical application of knowledge worked far more effectively, and with less stress than this. ¡°Now, pay attention.¡± Levine has broken out the arcanist slide deck, and is droning on about magical combat for the hundredth time. James is busily doing that eidetic memory thing where he just absorbs knowledge without a care in the world, Julia is making that squinty face like she just didn¡¯t get the topic. This sat in contrast to Angela, who sat composed while jotting something on her tablet, and he looked down at his notes. His hard-fought notes are joined by scribbles of a kitsune riding on a dragon, and launching alchemical bombs, and both of them laughing maniacally. He needs a good head check, if his thoughts keep wandering to being a half-ton flying weapons platform. A weapons platform with a firebug alchemist lobbing deadly explosives with precise aim. Speaking of which, a certain cinnamon scent is coming from behind him. He peers over his shoulder to see Joey peering at his drawing and smiling. ¡°Something on your mind?¡± she teases. ¡°Lessons,¡± he deflects. Joey might have a bit more practice in actual magical combat, but she¡¯s taking these lessons to heart, and writing furiously. He glances up at the tactical position that Levine has given, and it¡¯s not a multiple-choice question, either. This is a full tactical appraisal with limited knowledge. This means, that any answer he gives is going to be torn apart unless it¡¯s ironclad. ¡°So, We have hostile Talons soldiers entrenched, their numbers are unknown. They may have hostages, which means firing blindly into the building is out of the question. Drenar, I¡¯ll lead with your input,¡± Levine says from the briefing room upstairs in Nick''s house. Soft snowflakes are drifting down outside and a low wind howls outside, where the seasons are rapidly changing. Nick has this house well fastened down, because he can¡¯t feel even a slight draft in this house¨Cthe upgrades must have been pretty substantial. Drenar clears his throat and gets one last mental nudge from Joey. {Be bold. Don¡¯t be afraid to surprise the enemy in any way we can.} She¡¯s picked up on this mental link fast, and this strategic layer is important for him, too. Their running battle in Asqualia had been improvised and a tad desperate, but still effective. But, going on the offense¡­this is different. He rose from his seat and pointed to the arcanist hologram projecting the layout of the office building. He assesses the locations, and then strips back the layers of office layout, schematics of utilities, sewers, and basements¨Cand then he sees it. A way that might prove useful. ¡°A tactical team of three goes into this small utility space here, by the burner. No security, but it would require bolt cutters to get through, or an arcanist torch.¡± He points to the entry point and points to several positions by the front of the building. ¡°Tactical teams of Nick, Levine, and Kyle would wait for our response. I lead the secondary team with Julia and Joey to assess enemy positions, locate hostages, and take them by surprise. We go in with optic camo suits, which only last about five minutes with continuous use with a single mana battery. Enough to get in, assess the risk, and then lead with the assault. Our first move, we lay out the first soldiers¨Clikely in these rooms and these elevated positions,¡± he adds while pointing to a two-floor foyer with a sweeping staircase. ¡°The next step, the pincer movement¨Cwe play the distraction, Nick¡¯s team breaches, we throw smoke and use thermals and gas masks to sweep through. We go from south to north, moving fast and clearing hostages from the danger zones. Julia will ID targets at close range by any mana circulating. Joey uses alchemical boosters to accelerate us to move fast, and hit hard, before they can utilize any remaining hostages. Kelly and Jackie lead the last fire team in after this all goes down by this back door, which should be abandoned from the massive amount of noise we¡¯ll be making.¡± He taps the map, and points to a few rooms. ¡°These are large enough rooms to get a mobile teleportal, so reinforcements are a risk, and located deep in the interior of the building. Those rooms are away from any direct munition: total movement time, five minutes. Sweep and clear, another three. Due to the close quarters, dragon forms would be inadvisable, and would hinder tactical movement. Fast and fluid.¡± ¡°Not bad.¡± Levine nods and looks at his notes. ¡°What about hostage-taking?¡± ¡°Kelly and Julia can both disable without permanently harming. I can shield them, as can Angela, with our enhanced barriers. I also have the instant blink to close distance without exposing myself to fire. Negotiating with those fiends isn¡¯t going to be an option, given their prior history and training. They will expect a large force, and react slowly. They won¡¯t plan for a smaller mobile team.¡± Levine nods slowly. ¡°Good assessment. Now let¡¯s let this play out.¡± He moves markers and beacons showing the line of sight, showing the intended motions of each of the teams. The team simulating Kelly and Jackie halts at the door. ¡°Now, do we anticipate traps?¡± ¡°At the front door, yes. At the back door, maybe. Then again, the Talons are kinda sloppy on the back end of fortifying their position. Asqualia proved that, because we flanked them numerous times.¡± He likes how Levine has made this a chess game. ¡°That¡¯s why James is with them, for conditional assessment.¡± ¡°Not bad. I¡¯ll give it a B+ effort. Your breach is delayed when you find explosives on the door. In addition, you¡¯ll find that Nick¡¯s team is delayed by the front door during the breach.¡± Levine lets it play out further. ¡°Talons teams can pull from the rear. Hostages are used as living shields now. How do we proceed?¡± Drenar mulls on this for a second. ¡°Aether strike to grab one, neutralize two hostiles. Angela and Julia each grab one and shield them from reciprocal strikes. Emphasis is to rescue hostages first and foremost. And not to chase the Talons. Our objective is to save the noncombatants. That¡¯s it.¡± ¡°There¡¯s the ¡®A¡¯ grade I was looking for. Joey, assessment?¡± He peers at her to see her assessing the same schematics, but the building layout is different. She frowns. ¡°Not the same building?¡± ¡°Similar scenario. Different layout. I can¡¯t make it too easy,¡± Levine said slyly. He has the most wolfish grin on his face. ¡°How would you breach?¡± ¡°Same way we did it on the obstacle course. Rooftop entry by ladders or by dragon back. We¡¯d need to come in directly from above to avoid being spotted. We come in from behind and¡­let¡¯s see¡­¡± she murmurs for a moment and points to a building on the far side. ¡°Nick sets up shop with his rifle. Our goal is to drive the Talons to vulnerable positions. Smoke and stunners will be the lead-up. That vantage point has a good vision of the main lobby. You¡¯ve also deliberately baited one hostage position. That¡¯s the most dangerous one, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± Levine lets her continue the assessment and nods satisfactorily. ¡°You¡¯re less aggressive with the push. Why?¡± ¡°If we¡¯re spotted¡­Talons'' contingency may be to just execute the hostages. And no one wants to see that. These guys do deplorable things and stack bodies like cordwood." She also points out the disappearing foes as the simulation plays out. ¡°Plus, they¡¯ll be exiting through that back hallway. Where Nick has a clear shot.¡± ¡°You¡¯d neutralize them?¡± ¡°Or keep them from doubling back,¡± she points out. ¡°Once we have the hostages, we teleportal out using one-time pads. No point in sticking it out once we have the targets, we bounce, and let SAF deal with the rest with the primary sweep. The teleportals are risky and cumbersome, but they¡¯re the fastest way out.¡± ¡°A-minus effort. Solid, but it lets foes go to fight another day.¡± ¡°No, if they go through that hallway with weapons in hand, they won¡¯t be leaving.¡± Nick calmly reacts to the simulation and shows the small figures falling over, one by one. ¡°Enemy combatants with weapons in hand in a fire zone are fair game. If they surrender, it¡¯s discretionary. But do not take chances. You fire and you neutralize. You don¡¯t hesitate. I know some of you might not like that notion¡­but we will not always have the luxury of time or bloodless victories.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Levine continues to quiz everyone, with everyone getting relatively high marks. Julia gets a B+ effort, but her attempt to bulldoze is somewhat riskier than previous prospects, and James pulls her over quietly to talk to her for a moment, before nodding in concurrence. ¡°Think these ¡®simulations¡¯ will be useful when we¡¯re up against the real thing?¡± Joey asks a short time later after the lesson is done. It¡¯s already getting dark outside, and Nick has lit the fireplace recessed in the living room to great effect. She¡¯s got that etched curiosity on her face and she smooths her hair down, now wearing a winter sweater and jeans instead of her typical lab coat. ¡°We can¡¯t plan for crazy. But we can at least always plan to save lives, wherever and however we can, and not take unnecessary risks.¡± He grabs a coffee cup¨Cher favorite one that somehow had survived the attack of Asqualia, where their lab had been locked down and preserved. ¡°How do you like yours?¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Just milk,¡± she adds. ¡°I thought you like sugar.¡± ¡°I want to not like sugar,¡± she comments wryly while twirling her finger in her hair. She¡¯s got that curious gaze on her face. Most everyone had gone either to the basement to hang out, or upstairs and resting. A Valkyrie is sitting and reading a book in Nick¡¯s library¨Cin their armor, no less! He¡¯s never going to get used to that. ¡°You know, I was curious. You grew up here, but your mom¡¯s been here¡­a lot longer?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± he trailed off as he handed her a cup of coffee, which brought a smile to her face, ¡°If Kiera hasn¡¯t been bullshitting me, My mom is a hundred and forty-six. Which is young for a dragon, but that¡¯s¡­a long time, from my perspective.¡± ¡°Hey, Kitsune can live up to four hundred years. Even Kyle, with his relative normalcy, can live to a hundred and fifty, which is still longer than any normal human has ever lived. But yeah, when you can live that long, it changes perspectives on a lot of things. Time is less valuable to you. Or, maybe to the point, that time isn¡¯t as constrained if you can just outlast everyone else.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re on a path to conquest, sure.¡± He¡¯s still grappling with that notion, even to this day. It sunk in on the day before the ill-fated journey to Mount Syren that his life got a whole lot longer, and he had no idea how he was going to fill it¨Cassuming that a certain murder lizard didn¡¯t decide to carpet bomb his whole town. ¡°So, Mom and Kiera, they knew each other well before Julia and I were born. They were tight like me and Julia. Like sisters, almost. Maybe that¡¯s why¡­Julia gets attached?¡± ¡°You guys never¡­well¡­¡± ¡°Got intimate?¡± he concludes the leading thought. ¡°No. We never did. We, uh, did kiss. Once.¡± ¡°Oh, spill it! I haven¡¯t heard this from her!¡± Her eyes blaze with excitement. ¡°She must¡¯ve buried this one for a good reason!¡± ¡°Um¡­yeah.¡± He really shouldn''t have brought this one up. You shouldn¡¯t bring this one up! Alex says with an edge to his tone bordering on screaming. ¡°Nah-ah, don¡¯t spoil it Alex, I want to hear it from him!¡± she declares while leaning in, elbows on the table and propping up her chin, her coffee carefully tucked away on the rough-cut wooden table¨Ca rustic addition to the kitchen area. ¡°So, when did this happen?¡± ¡°When we were six.¡± No point in going back now, he figures. ¡°We were busy playing with Angela, and she got this devilish idea and said she bet her allowance that I¡¯d never kiss Julia. Julia dares me, thinking I won¡¯t do it. So I uh¡­I did.¡± She grins madly at this. ¡°Ooh, this is a side of you I haven¡¯t seen! So bold,¡± she adds coyly. He laughs softly at her expression. ¡°Well, it might have been too bold. She tossed me out of the treehouse we all happened to be in when this dare went down, and I sprained my ankle. It kinda hurt. A lot. I didn¡¯t break anything, but Julia was freaking out, thinking I had cooties.¡± Joey is busy laughing so hard she has to hold herself steady, a full-body laugh that she¡¯s clutching her chest and trying to make it less of a spectacle. ¡°She is such a tsundere! I totally get the nickname!¡± ¡°Yep. She¡¯s our Julia, alright,¡± he said with a wry smile. He grabs the cup of coffee that just finished and stirs in milk before taking a measured sip. Not too hot, and velvety smooth. Nick even fresh-ground the beans earlier. He thinks of everything. ¡°Anyway, getting back to it, my mom, she¡­she had this radiant charm about her. She was always there when I needed her to be. I lost a game of soccer in second grade and missed a penalty shot that could have won it. I was there crying, feeling like I let down my whole team.¡± Joey has composed herself with a hint of moisture in her eyes and listening intently. Studying him, like always. ¡°She told me that failure was simply an opportunity to learn, and failure is forever only if you let it be. I didn¡¯t let down my team, because I was trying my hardest to win.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a ¡®glass is all the way full¡¯ kind of view of life,¡± she comments, and runs a finger errantly across the table. Testing the smooth finish that Nick had put into this work of crafts Drenar quite frankly didn¡¯t know how he found time for it. ¡°She was always like that, huh?¡± ¡°Full of hope. Always looking at the future as something brighter that we should aim for. I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s anything that put Mom down, except for when Dad left for a while.¡± He bites his lip gently, wondering why he changed his mind. It was a topic that Kiera had gently deflected on the occasion he had asked about it, a week ago. ¡°I guess, when you¡¯re the head hero of the most heroic team on the planet, you kind of have to be, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Being heroic doesn¡¯t make you a hero, Drenar,¡± she said, lavender eyes gazing at him before pointing to his temple. ¡°What makes you heroic is knowing you¡¯re trying your hardest to live by a code. To make other people¡¯s lives better, or safer. Or inspiring someone. I wish I¡¯d known someone like you when I was younger, filled with resolve. I didn¡¯t have that, growing up.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t?¡± ¡°No. I was an only child, which is a rarity among Kitsune--most of the time, the average is 1.9 kits--er, children, per pregnancy. My parents were the definition of helicopter parents. And we were kitsune, which further complicated things.¡± She bowed her head before taking another sip calmly from her cup¨Cas if the motion were an appropriate mental pause, as well. ¡°I grew up in a community in Bixby, Missouri. The kitsune tend to keep to themselves¡­and maybe with some of the wargen and the fey, at times. We¡¯re the most non-human species, so blending in can be a bit of a pain.¡± ¡°Is it the¡­body scent?¡± She raises an eyebrow. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s ever registered as anything bad. It just makes you, you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying I stink?¡± she teased. ¡°No. I was saying we just have traits that we can¡¯t unwill about ourselves. For instance, the fact that I can¡¯t grow a beard. I mean it¡¯s a little bit weird, but¡­I guess I don¡¯t mind it. I guess I¡¯ll always have that uncanny boyish charm, as Julia keeps teasing me about,¡± he adds with a shrug. ¡°Tell me more about growing up. That must have been a whole other experience.¡± ¡°You wanna hear about that? Oh, it¡¯s not that exciting,¡± she says with a dismissive wave, but she¡¯s still smiling lightly. She does want to talk about it. ¡°So, now that you¡¯ve volunteered, what was school like?¡± ¡°With Kitsune? Well, we had an option to go as a human, or our kitsune selves,¡± she says while gesturing to herself. She still prefers her human form, though¡­she typically takes her fox-like form in the evenings. It¡¯s still a surreal sight. ¡°We had to keep our nails below a certain length. Kitsune''s claws are sharp. Fur also had to be brushed, no gnarls¨Cthey were such a stickler for appearance!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve noticed.¡± He swears he can still feel claws digging into his back in a moment of¨Cnope, can¡¯t think that one aloud, and he feels his face go flush. She leans in, grinning. ¡°Got something on your mind, you young drake?¡± {Of course, I do. The same thing that''s been going through my head all day. You know what I mean.} Now it¡¯s her turn to blush, and he lets out a faint smirk. ¡°But before I lose focus here, did you spend most of your time as a Kitsune?¡± ¡°I used to. It was just a common thing. We lived in a rural community. We had wards set up so anyone who wasn¡¯t a mage wouldn¡¯t be able to sneak up on us. Plus, I was the fastest sprinter in town,¡± she beamed proudly. ¡°Gymnastics is easy as a kitsune. I can jump almost double my height from a standing position. So, we were able to go to school, and learn mage history, and some of us do make competent generalist mages. A lot of us¡­choose a quiet life.¡± ¡°Because of stigmas?¡± he dares to ask. He hates how unjust the conclave is starting to appear, in his mind. ¡°It¡¯s so bad, that very few of the elders will even talk about psionics. It¡¯s a generational fear. Which is stupid, because, how can you learn to be in control of it, if no one is even going to talk about it in a calm, logical way?¡± she poses casually. ¡°So mom and dad would constantly pry into my thoughts. You know, to make sure I wasn¡¯t becoming some kind of serial killer, or suffering manic episodes. The worst I had were mild migraines. And even those have gone away lately.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just sad that the community as a whole doesn¡¯t see it as a gift.¡± She twists her lip and lets out a soft, deflating sound before responding. ¡°It can be. I don¡¯t claim to understand it. I¡¯m still figuring it out. People kind of freak out when you say ¡®Oh, hey, I¡¯m ¡®bonded¡¯ to someone." ¡°I don''t either of us knows what it means yet," he offered after resting his chin on the chair. for a moment, and trying to note every inference he could. "Joey, I know when you¡¯re hurting, when you¡¯re anxious, when you¡¯re thinking about the rest of us, even when you¡¯re not in the room. Or alternately, when you''re feeling that vast sense of bliss when we''re all together, doing what we have to, to keep others safe. I know it¡¯s scary, but living without secrets has been liberating.¡± she lets out a slight sound of surprise. ¡°Plus¡­it means you¡¯re a lot more willing to open up than you used to.¡± ¡°Trust is¡­precious and rare, Drenar. And I think there¡¯s more to these powers than just that.¡± She pulled out a small notebook from her pocket, and read a few lines. ¡°I can¡¯t talk to my mom about it too much, because she was our community¡¯s historian. But, this bond¨Cthis psionic bond I have with you, and Angela and Julia, didn¡¯t happen by accident. And I think the strength goes both ways.¡± ¡°I might have noticed it, actually. You can get us crystal-focused even when we¡¯re a chaotic mess. But, what about the other direction?¡± he pondered. ¡°Maybe your¡­endurance?¡± she said with an evil grin. He leaned into the idea. ¡°Tempting. I am kinda unkillable, as long as someone doesn¡¯t get the jump on me¨Cor throw a whole army at once at me." Or, did you mean another endurance?¡± Joey suggested, and a glint of amusement lit up her eyes. He coughed loudly and tried to keep his focus. She leaned in and whispered something into his ear. ¡°I bet we can put this to a test.¡± ¡°Oh, you crazy kitsune, you.¡±
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! V2 - V3 Intermission: Full Plate, And Packing Steel! ¡°Run this by me again? Why are we starting with Angela on this?¡± The query from Drenar has Kyle curious, and Angela folds her hands against her chest, waiting to see what their arcanist inventor has to say. ¡°Because she''s kinda badass? Also, if anything goes wrong, she might survive it?¡± Kyle asks with an edge to his tone. Which for Kyle to say, meant he was about ninety-nine percent confident. {Joey, remind Kyle that I''m not a science experiment, and that if this harebrained idea, whatever it is, gets me hurt? He''s going to have my bootprint embedded in his backside.} Joey nods at that thought whisper from her, and nudges Kyle. He takes the subtle hint. ¡°Er-hem,¡± Nick coughed while feigning annoyance, having possibly picked up on it. "I have objections to this. Mad science with unproven magitech sounds like a bad idea, Kyle. You also owe me a spotless floor." "It''ll buff right out!" Kyle protested. Angela glanced down at the scorch mark on the concrete, and grunted. "Well...probably?" "Secondly," Nick interjects before Kyle can continue, "Angela is not indestructible. That''s usually Drenar.¡± ¡°I already have Joey using me for mad science,¡± Drenar counters while loading up a magazine of autobow bolts. Joey politely clears her throat and motions to him. ¡°Oh come on Joey! I''m not a blood bank!¡± ¡°Here''s a cookie. Now, I need blood!¡± She demands with an evil grin and an empty blood pack in her hand, gloves already on. He groans and runs his fingers through his hair, and Angela can''t help but chuckle. Joey runs him through a barrage of alchemy at night, blood work during the day, and an extra helping of sass anytime in-between. She tips her head in her direction. {Joey, hey, be gentle! He''s tough but not indestructible!} Her Kitsune friend flashes a smile at her. {I can fix that.} She has a glimmer of mischief in her eyes, and Drenar finally takes the hint. ¡°Look, Drenar''s blood--and yours--has the alchemical precursors for Regen potions. All Maridian silvers do!¡± ¡°I feel used,¡± he complains, even while rolling up his sleeve. ¡°How''d you make due before you met me Joey?¡± ¡°I usually had to pay people. Now it''s free. Minus Malena¡¯s treats. And a ten percent cut to Julia," Joey says with an innocent shrug. ¡°Hey, it''s twenty-five!¡± Julia says while assembling the newer, streamlined Barrett rifle. This one is by far a much more compact design, and actually usable for closer ranges. ¡°You break him, you buy him!¡± Drenar sighs in resignation. ¡°Remember the time when we agreed we weren''t gonna fight over me? Yeah, I don''t remember having that conversation, so I''ll say it again, I¡¯m not a science experiment!¡± It was funnier that he is willing to roll along with it. Usually. ¡°Okay Kyle, while Joey''s trying to pimp me to a vampire, let''s have at it. How''s this new armor set work?¡± Kyle clears his throat. ¡°So, you guys have seen the Valkyrie armor? They''re compact power armor systems. They''re cutting edge, and beyond any magitech in the world. They have a compact mana reactor that can keep them operating for weeks in the field, and powerful enchantment work to ward off bullets, fireballs, sharp sticks¡­or Tsundere dragons,¡± he adds with a stab at Julia. ¡°I''m not that dangerous. I mean, to my friends,¡± she shrugs. ¡°What''s your kill count?¡± Kyle presses. ¡°Like I''d be morbid enough to keep count?¡± She gave him the Tsundere raven death glare she had practically trademarked by now. ¡°Nah, I think in terms of lives saved. It''s something Drenar would say!¡± ¡°Still here, still being used as a blood bank,¡± Drenar states with an accusing glare at Joey. She politely hums while getting his blood samples. Again. ¡°Right then. Putting it bluntly, we got beaten to hell with those armor sets we had prototyped. We needed something better," Kyle elaborates before handing a bulky-looking wristwatch to Angela. She eyes this new gift with skepticism. ¡°That is what you''ll be wearing now.¡± ¡°It looks like¡­¡± she turned it over and frowned, ¡°like an old analog wristwatch. Nothing special. Guessing it isn''t?¡± ¡°Press the dial. I also asked Julia for, um¡­measurements.¡± He says the last word very quietly. ¡°We''re all grown-ups here, Kyle. All you had to do was ask,¡± Angela said with a polite smile. It''s a treat to watch him squirm and turn and stammer a few words to try to recover and fail. She slips the watch onto her arm, and it feels¡­snug. And slightly warm. A tiny tingle of energy radiates from it. ¡°So, this is it? What is it, some kind of barrier emitter?¡± He can barely contain his excitement. ¡°It''s a full suit of magitech armor. Thanks to my recent discovery of a new variant of Valkyrian steel, I managed to make a full set, and several others. I also baked in a phase enchantment to fold it up into a discrete package. No one else will notice, unless at close range,¡± Kyle adds with a confident smile. ¡°Kyle, I sure hope to hell this doesn''t end like last time,¡± Joey sighs as she finishes taking a blood sample, and Drenar looks a little shaky. This kitsune is practically a vampire with her experiments, but she''s been stockpiling a healthy helping of new Regen potions. It made her a little anxious that her blood was the baseline component for these. ¡°You tested this, right?¡± ¡°You think I wouldn''t? Like I would anyone try this out without testing it out a few times to work out any phase array bugs?¡± Joey taps a shoe impatiently on the floor while Kyle peers at her with narrowed eyes. ¡°Yes, Joey, I checked it. I also smashed up a prototype just to see what would happen, and the safeties engaged to keep it from harming the user.¡± ¡°Good! I like fail safes!¡± She smiles faintly at Angela. ¡°Well now, even I haven¡¯t seen this, just the bits and pieces. When did you do all this?¡± ¡°Late at night, when no one¡¯s around? I barely sleep.¡± He sips a cup of coffee that had been sitting on the table as if to prove his point. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do this bench test. Press the set button on the left side, and hold it for two seconds. That''ll ensure that it doesn''t trigger by accident for normal watch use. Also, relax your body a little. I have it calibrated for each user.¡± She follows the instructions and a small beep emanates from the device. Slots open on the edges of the round face, and armor plating quickly unfurls and contours over her open hand, wrapping protectively around her fingers and closing to form a metallic gauntlet. Larger plates expand and fold down her arm, building and reinforcing into interlocking plates that send a spark of energy across her skin, and even a spark of power through her core. She stands rigidly as the plating contours around her bust and torso, with more of those flexible plates at the joints, and it flows like quicksilver down her other arm and legs. It feels snug, even slightly tight across her figure, and small runes glow with a soft yellow glow on the greaves and gauntlets that adorned the armor. She let out a gasp as it rode a little too snugly on her backside. She¡¯d better tell Kyle that one in private. Eventually, that mechanical clicking sound stopped, and she found herself encased in a neck-to-foot suit of dull green-tinged magitech armor. The breastplate is a little rigid, but it flowed with her in all the other motions, and she rolls her shoulder blades, and then takes a few practice steps. She twisted to see if her range of motion was inhibited. Instead, she found it flowed nicely, though the plates did separate just a little, as she moved. It almost felt like her dragon scales, except artificial. Angela lets out an emergent smile. ¡°This is awesome. Kyle, the weight of this is so evenly distributed that I barely notice it!¡± She takes a short test jump and gets to her normal jump height without much effort. Kyle looks like an eight-year-old kid at Christmas. ¡°Well, at least I won''t be eating an early demise from a lucky shot to the chest.¡± ¡°Yeah, nah. It has redundant barrier generator systems with a battery of mana crystals. You can also recharge it using your own mana generation for prolonged periods. The wristwatch has a smart display, and a backup projector in case of damage.¡± She flexes her hand and curls her fist gently, testing the motion, and the display lights up with various statistics: operation time, heart rate, and other vitals, along with a reading on some kind of internal mana capacitor, and Kyle continues detailing the armor. ¡°This is a prototype, mind you. There are some bugs to work out. So, consider this a stress test of the real thing. Let me know if it starts doing things to you that you don¡¯t like. Like making ominous charging noises like it¡¯s about to blow up, or getting unnaturally hot. Those could be warning signs.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Is he¡­is he screwing with us?¡± For the first time, she can¡¯t get a read on Kyle because he¡¯s wearing a dead calm serious face. Joey shrugs lightly and takes the blood samples to her lab, where poor Drenar is once again donating his lifeblood to science. It might be a tad exploitative, but she¡¯s pretty sure that Joey makes it up to him. Later. Joey must have heard that internal thought raises an eyebrow, directed at her. {What happens behind closed doors, stays behind closed doors.} It¡¯s enough for Angela to clear her throat and test the motion of the armor. ¡°Alright Kyle, let¡¯s test this sucker and run it through the paces," Angela announces. ¡°Done. Head out to the course out back. Nick has it set up for a solo venture.¡± Of course, Nick would set it up during a snowfall. Again. It¡¯s like he¡¯s trying to torment them all on purpose with the choice of outdoor training during inclement weather. Or, it¡¯s just because they live in a portion of Colorado where it snows a lot. Five minutes later, she¡¯s loading a GRC-15B autobow rifle, and peering down the 4X scope along the top rail. The armor does nothing to encumber her movements, and her use of telekinetics to steady her aim has not diminished. It might be slightly better. ¡°Kyle, explain the layers of the system. This feels like a dual-layer body armor setup.¡± ¡°Correct. Hard shell outer, soft shell inner. The inner shell has various things like regen potion injection ports, system readings, mana channels, and various protective enchantments. The ones I¡¯ve put on, for the moment ward off against most basic magical attacks, and soften the blow. But don¡¯t take a fireball to the face. That still doesn¡¯t end well.¡± ¡°What about bullets to the face?¡± Angela asks cautiously. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t run into those, either. I have a helmet with a reinforced barrier system prototyping. It works on a radar and proximity alert system to snap on automatically, but it¡¯s still in the works. It¡¯s not ready yet. It¡¯s also a huge drain on mana reserves with that rapid activation.¡± Kyle taps the armored gauntlet on her arm. ¡°Valkyrian steel outer plating, it¡¯s the wonder material of the mage world¨Clight, strong, and resilient against most attacks. Those carry various swappable plates you could use¨Cwhether we plan on swimming in a pit of acid, or just braving the cold. Depends on the rune work.¡± "Fascinating. What are the downsides?¡± Angela asks, and notes this cannot be truly without flaws. Kyle shivered in the chilly air, his breath turning to frost in an instant. ¡°Encumbrance, and the fact that this is not cheap to make. These suits alone are uh¡­well¡­I overcharged on Zameren¡¯s expenses card.¡± He¡¯s pulling at his beard, it must have been exceedingly excessive. ¡°Alright, you know the drill by now. One hostage straw dummy, you have to bring it back intact. You don¡¯t have to disable the golems this time as a ¡®win¡¯ condition. Just get the hostage back to the starting point in one piece.¡± She takes a sprint stance, and nods to her friends, with soft white flakes melting on the conforming armor. She¡¯s about to see how insane Kyle is with this idea of an entire armor system with various sub-systems and protections. ¡°And¡­.go!¡± She grabs the autobow and clips two stunner orbs to the belt, and dashes through the snow, her telekinetics driving a subtle vibration where the snow seems to slide away from her body before it could come into contact with her. The armor shifts and creaks lightly, but for something this metallic, it barely made any noise. Luminari was also strapped to her back¨Ca last-minute addition that Drenar insisted. She worked past the obstacle set¨Ctarget practice with mobile golems shooting stunner rounds at her in a criss-crossing pattern. She slid to cover and took out the first two with precise shots using the autobow, then slid out of cover to take on the third, pulling Luminari and deflecting the shots as it tried to reload from an external ammo rack. She leaped and sliced its head off with an almost effortless lop of the blade, and the runes surged with gray-blue light. Even stranger was the fact the mana conduits that adorned the exterior of the steel and green-tinged armor lit up in the same color, intensifying so that it formed angular patterns along her arms and legs. The mana crystal in her heart surges with power, and she feels all her focus intensify as Kyle¡¯s golems all converge on her position. He¡¯d upped the difficulty, and she slid between shots, swiping claws, and a fiery burst by one equipped with a mage wand in its tail, in a decidedly deadly attempt to slow her down. But those blasts were everywhere that she was not. She could feel the hum of power from the crystal, and the singing chord of Luminari resounding in her ears as she kinetically grappled to one target with a daring closing attack, slicing through arcanist circuitry and steel alike. She pivoted and bounced off the tumbling debris, landing in a crouch and a slide as she went under the next expected attack, throwing two stunners with a flick of her wrist that disabled the far golems and they started firing blindly. The next target tried to slice her open and the claws just glanced off the surface of the metal, jarring her movement but not stopping her. This must be what the Valkyries felt. Unparalleled grace, and daring, with the steadfast resolve to protect this world against the deadliest threats the cosmos had to offer. She caught the limb exposed and severed it with a single blow, and then used a kinetic grapple and her own brute strength to send the humanoid skidding through the snow and crumpling on a weathered stump. She darted into the prefabricated structure, feeling the vibrations of movement that alerted her to the presence of the golems waiting with pre-sited weapons. She wasn¡¯t walking into a field of fire on that one. Nick was stepping up his game. She went through the wall with a smash of telekinetics and sent debris pinging off the metal skins and crumpled the head of one and smashed it into the other, feeling that thrum of power coursing through her. Every trial she was enduring was so others wouldn¡¯t have to face the monsters alone. Every trial and error in this course prepared her to end the threat that still came to her in discomforting dreams. That monster, coated in blood, laughing maniacally as she hacks people apart with that crimson blade. That deadly blade the demon inside her used as a conduit¨C She almost skidded past the target as that strange thought entered her head and brought reality to a screeching halt. A ringing sound filled her ears and she winced, where did that wayward thought come from? Luminari is shining brightly¨Ceven resonating¨Cand she puts a hand to her chest. That crystal inside her¨Cit¡¯s vibrating at the same frequency. She can feel it. Sam, are you feeling this? Her silent whisper to her drakensoul came with a startling answer. She broke her. Sam¡¯s single statement was filled with a shuddering feeling inside her, as Samarina wept. Angela glanced around, unable to make sense of this. Sam, what are you talking about? That vibration has faded a bit, and she feels an onset of fatigue, and flecks of snow biting at her exposed cheeks. A low wind creaks through the trees. But Samarina doesn¡¯t respond. She¡¯s gone silent. She stands there, at a loss for what she¡¯s witnessed¨Cbut it had to mean something. She glances at the now safe target, hefts it in a fireman¡¯s carry, and sprints back to the finish line, Luminari having faded in intensity after sheathing the mighty weapon. ¡°Damn. I need more golems. Joey, we got repairs to make!¡± Kyle said between chattering teeth. He just did not like the cold at all, and she set down her equipment. She pushed past everyone and told them she just needed to go get the armor off and get cleaned up. By the time she was in the locker room, her hands were shaking, and she fumbled with the latch of the armor that slowly slid the plating back into those impossibly thin, impossibly small compartments as the phased material went back to its compact state. She barely was able to get the watch off as she ran the sink and threw water in her face, trying to understand what had just happened. Something new was happening. She could feel it in her heart. Danger is coming. The kind of danger that threatens them all. She looks at her flushed face, and pushes a few wayward brown strands aside, focusing on that no longer uninjured face¨Ca light scar across her cheek is there¡ªa scar earned, in the defense of others. She¡¯s fought the ugliness of the Talons and their doll-faced diva with murder in her heart. Whatever this feeling is, she¡¯s not scared of it. She firms up her expression, eyes narrowed, and ties back her hair, knowing their moment of action is coming, soon. She¡¯d be ready for it. They would fight the monsters together.

The Legend of the Luminaires: End of Volume II - III Intermission
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 3, Ch. 138: The Sixth Champion Opechea Falls, Colorado November 11th, 2018 Six years before the Battle of Asqualia¡­ Eldritch horrors, slimy bureaucrats, monsters, and raising a family were all things Trisha Rashalda could handle without much difficulty. But for her, even with all the endeavors of a hundred years of being a paragon of the Valkyries, there is something about this day that leaves her uneasy. A crawling electric jolt down her spine tells her danger is coming. She takes a moment to adjust the seatbelt in the passenger seat of her vehicle, brushes back the braids of her long brown hair, and uses the small mirror in the sun visor. Even with as little as she slept, there are no hollows under her green eyes¨Cjust a few faint scars from close calls. She closes the visor and glances outside as if nothing¡¯s wrong. Pine and barren trees, already under the spell of an incoming winter, are naught but fleeting images. Wind and rain streaked the glass of the car, and she felt cramped in the mid-size Chevy SUV. It was a work car, rarely used by the rest of the family, but her husband Eddard drove it well enough. She glances over at him, and he¡¯s tense too. Salt and pepper hair, light crinkles on his face, tanned skin, and a dark and well-trimmed beard adorn his face, his knuckles practically creak. It¡¯s November eleventh, and it should be snowing. Not raining, not here in Colorado. ¡°Think the kids will be alright with takeout tonight?¡± Eddard asks her after a couple of minutes of silence, punctuated only by the sound of raindrops on a windshield and the gentle squeak of wiper blades clearing the view on occasion. He¡¯s dressed like usual, in a plaid shirt and jeans, but she could see his ID badge just above his undershirt, and the gleam of the magical garments he wore at his job in experimental materials. A discreet position he handled well, given his transition from being oblivious to magic until he¡¯d met Trisha thirteen years ago, he¡¯d studied well. ¡°What¡¯re you thinking Trish? Pizza? Maybe Korean?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no decent Korean for a hundred miles, Eddard. Keep dreaming.¡± She lets out a soft laugh, but not in a mocking tone. She¡¯s gotten good at hiding her feelings for work matters. He sighs and follows the contour of the road and mountains slowly passing by on one side, a slight incline on the side adjacent to them. A guard rail intermittently protects against the steeper inclines. ¡°I was thinking Vietnamese. Ning is always asking me if I¡¯ll drop by her store, but I¡¯m always too busy for it.¡± ¡°You mean busy at your ¡®other¡¯ job, right?¡± Eddard is always too hesitant to ask about it. She flinches lightly at the mere mention of it, rather than calling it out what it is. A calling to a higher undertaking. A protector of all Kin across the world, unbridled by the governance of the day-to-day countries of the world, but given general counsel to the Mage conclave that runs their world¨Cif only semi-effectively. ¡°Trish, I know we haven¡¯t talked about it much. And by that, the conversation¡¯s been left off after I¡­¡± he exhales softly. ¡°After what, Eddard? You left for a year.¡± She¡¯s come to terms with it, even if she knows that her husband has been swayed by a temptation. She should be one to talk. She made a mistake, too. A rarity for her. ¡°Things still stand where they stood ten years ago. We haven¡¯t told the kids. It¡¯s what we agreed to, after all.¡± ¡°Maybe I was wrong to suggest we wait. Fates, ten years is an entire lifetime for them. They¡¯re going to find out eventually. And the longer we wait, the more they¡¯re going to resent us for it.¡± He sighs and strokes his beard gently with one hand. ¡°Trish, I was wrong.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve both been wrong, Eddard. About a lot of things.¡± She can¡¯t even look him in the eye when she thinks of what she did after he left and at the time, it had appeared he hadn''t ever intended to come back. ¡°You think it¡¯s time?¡± ¡°It is. Drenar is eleven. Evan, ten and change. They need to know. I¡¯ll be the one to take the blame for not telling them.¡± he laughs nervously. ¡°Hey kids, you know how adults have ¡®the talk¡¯ with you about sex education? Well, we have another talk. Yeah, the talk where you tell you that you two are half brothers, and uh¡­oh yeah, you¡¯re half-dragon, and in a few years you¡¯ll take your true forms, and uh¡­mom¡¯s also this heroic legend of the mage world. Thought I¡¯d throw that in there, too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just gonna dump all that in an afternoon?¡± She feigns annoyance at this. ¡°Eddard, such a lack of tact.¡± ¡°You are a legend, Trish. You¡¯re a hundred times greater than anything I could ever hope to be, and you know that. You¡¯ve fought monsters and madmen your entire life, without asking for a thing in return.¡± ¡°It¡¯s what we do, Eddard.¡± She lets out a calm breath and thinks about all the monsters that have fallen to the Valkyries over the years. The peace they fought tooth and nail for at every turn, so that others could have peaceful dreams and a life filled with promises of better things ahead. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call myself heroic. But a legend? That was my grandmother. I¡¯ll live a thousand years, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever match up to her greatness in the same way. My way, maybe.¡± She lets out a soft sigh. ¡°Maybe leave that part to me? Finding out they¡¯re half-dragon, both of them? It¡¯s a shock to anyone¡¯s psyche by itself. The rest of it? They¡¯ll think we¡¯re crazy.¡± ¡°You are crazy, honey. But hey, if anyone has enough disarming charm to keep them from freaking out, it¡¯s you.¡± Eddard steers gently along the road, the occasional wet snowflake disappearing as slush in the rainfall. Trisha smiles lightly at that. ¡°Drenar¡¯s going to take it hard. Especially when he finds out Julia doesn¡¯t know, either. Kiera¡¯s been hesitant to bring it up, especially after Takoshi was killed during the fall of Afghanistan. Too much to pile on at once. Maybe, let¡¯s save that one for a bit.¡± She kept looking out the window¨Ceven in human form, she had superior eyesight and could see far further into the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum than the normal human eye could. Looking for threats unseen. ¡°They¡¯ll need time to adjust. Maybe during their Christmas break?¡± ¡°Might be the best time. It¡¯s going to be a complete reset of their lives. Drenar might take it better than Evan.¡± Eddard glances at Trisha, still looking around through the windshield. ¡°Trish, I know that look. There¡¯s nothing out there.¡± ¡°There¡¯s someone always looking to off me, Eddard. Whether it¡¯s today, tomorrow, next year, or ten years. Fates know, I¡¯ve royally pissed off every mage criminal gang on the planet. I¡¯m worried about what the Talons are hiding.¡± Trisha sighs contentedly at this. ¡°Still, I can¡¯t help but feel I put us at risk with such a particularly dangerous day job.¡± "I''m not oblivious. What you do is important. Sucks that I can''t tell anyone, but then again, I get the world''s most courageous woman all to myself," he laughs. "Careful, Eddard. Gale, Malena, and Kiera will get jealous," she teases. ¡°So, what¡¯s got you tensed up? I know you mentioned getting bad vibes lately, but all we have to do is drop this data drive off. That¡¯s it. I decrypted part of it but there are just references to some operation name. They call it ¡®Gaia¡¯s cradle¡¯. I know there¡¯s a lot of mages who claim gods exist, but, so don¡¯t regular people.¡± ¡°When did you find this?¡± she queries. Her husband shrugs. ¡°About an hour before we left. The decryption on this one is a bitch. Someone knew what they were doing. I¡¯ve been using every dirty trick I know to crack the whole thing open without triggering a fail-safe wipe.¡± ¡°You made copies?¡± ¡°Like I wouldn¡¯t?¡± he asks casually. ¡°I tried. The data auto-wiped. This thing is black-boxed pretty thoroughly.¡± Meanwhile, that sense of looming dread builds¨Cher danger sense keeps going off. Trisha knew danger was present before she could even put a word to who or what¨Cshe¡¯d always had a borderline precognitive sense for peril beyond the rest of her kin. It showed with how few scars she carried on her body, even after almost a hundred years in the endeavor. ¡°Trish. I know you say that you¡¯ve always gone to great lengths to separate what you do from stuff that goes on at home. But I worry. I can¡¯t help but worry about you a little bit. I¡¯d be a terrible husband if I didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve handled everything the world¡¯s thrown at me thus far.¡± ¡°But there¡¯s plenty of places other than Earth, Trish. Not that we can get to them much anymore.¡± he glances over to her. ¡°I still remember you telling me for the first time, about other worlds. Have you ever visited one?¡± Trisha glances over to Eddard and nods softly. ¡°A few times. The standard operating protocol is to seal them up and render the portals inoperable given the incident during the Schism War, four thousand years ago. But the Valkyries and the Conclave still find them on occasion. The presence of folded planes, makes tracking all of them difficult, if outright impossible. Oh, but what a sight it was to step foot on that plane to see the Aegeans and those mountains that stretched to the heavens against a pristine green sky. I¡¯ll never forget it. But we take a risk every time we leave one open. The Outsiders can get back here, and I daresay with the dragons so divided¡­so limited, I don¡¯t think we could stop them this time around.¡± She glances down and imagines her form, folded gleaming cerulean feathers, steel and azure scales, and a grace unlike any other creature of the world. ¡°We¡¯re so few now, Eddard. Drenar and Evan are inheriting a future that might not have us in it for too much longer.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Don¡¯t say that, Trish. You¡¯ve never had a lack of confidence. You¡¯ve always found a way, and it¡¯s who you are, not what you are, that matters most in this world above all else.¡± She thinks back to the day he¡¯d walked in on her, in her true form, and stammered for words for about a good five seconds before asking her if she fell from Heaven, and the thought still made her smile. ¡°C¡¯mon. You didn¡¯t put boot to backside without a modicum of calm and steadfastness.¡± ¡°For the job, yes. It¡¯s the kids I worry about more, Eddard. But maybe I¡¯m overthinking it. I¡¯m sure Drenar will probably be ecstatic about Julia being half-dragon as well. Hmm. gold, silver, azure¡­what pretty grandchildren we¡¯d have someday,¡± Trisha laughs, and Eddard groans. ¡°Yeah, about that. Was that a joke? About dragon families raising kids together as nestmates? Lifelong bonds and all that jazz? I thought you were taking me for a ride the first time you told me that, Trish. Not that Julia isn¡¯t a wonderful little mischievous tomboy who¡¯s sharp as a tack. But those two combined¡­man, I¡¯m gonna need my own set of wings to keep track of them.¡± He shakes his head and chuckles. ¡°It¡¯s so true, isn¡¯t it?¡± Trisha blushes and he starts to laugh louder. ¡°Oh honey, it¡¯s adorable, truly.¡± ¡°Old traditions die hard,¡± she counters flatly, and unconvincingly and tries to fight smirking. Her phone is going off now, and the ID is blocked¨Cinterestingly enough for a phone that was supposed to be the most secure line on the planet, and way above civilian grade. This has bad news written all over it. She answers it without hesitation. ¡°Good afternoon, who may I ask¨C¡± ¡°They¡¯re on you in ninety seconds. They¡¯re coming.¡± Those words are enough to put her on alert, and she taps her armband, priming her Valkyrie armor for activation¨Cthe armor she¡¯d specifically designed to form fit her, even in her dragon form, a complex and difficult enchantment on already incredible armor, and she hits the speakerphone. ¡°A bit presumptuous, don¡¯t you think? You have the wrong number.¡± He probably doesn¡¯t. ¡°Trisha Rashalda, Sixth Champion of the Valkyries? No, I haven¡¯t gotten that wrong. A drone is hovering at two hundred meters plus attitude matching your vehicle speed with thermal optics, tracking your movement. They have been tracking you since you left the town center. Eddard¡¯s obscurement enchantments have been annulled, someone cracked them.¡± ¡°And who are you, exactly?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the reason he¡¯s not already dead.¡± The conviction in this man¡¯s words shakes her to her core in a way that monsters and even more monstrous mages couldn¡¯t. ¡°They¡¯re sending a forty-plus hunter-killer team in five vehicles, plus backup. Four dragons are on an intercept course.¡± She is already playing out a battle plan. Forty-to-one odds is nothing she hadn¡¯t handled before. ¡°They should have sent more,¡± she answers back, her eyes narrowed. ¡°You¡¯re not Talons. Or if you are, then you know the futility of this action, and are trying to sabotage an active mission.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not after you.¡± A cold seeping feeling crawls up her spine, and she glances at Eddard, who is focusing on the road but she can see him clenching his jaw. He''s already reaching for the compartment for his sidearm. ¡°You have something that someone truly dangerous wants to erase. Your husband is holding the key to bringing down a mighty foe of this world. Sixty seconds, by the way. They assume he is alone, and has been living in town, unmarried. The protections afforded to the Valkyries are still intact, as best I know.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve dealt with many foes. I¡¯ll deal with this one, just like any other,¡± Trisha answers in a cold fury. ¡°Do they know we have kids?¡± ¡°No. I have scrubbed every scant piece of data that would have indicated otherwise. I would not tolerate nor sanction the murder of children and non-combatants.¡± She can hear the disgust in his voice at the very mention of it. ¡°Today, I need to ensure that the Champion of the Valkyries does not die.¡± ¡°Who wants this information so badly? The Talons?¡± ¡°No. Someone else. Someone more dangerous. Not even that red-feathered diva can compare.¡± That narrows down the field a bit, a Siberian Hellkite? But he indicated that the threat was someone else. A cold chill goes down her spine. A nightmare has come fully realized. ¡°Was it Misha?¡± A name of a corrupt Conclave senator. She''s been investigating with Valkyries only. The slow march of the Conclave towards increasing authoritarian control has not been lost on her, and he''s one of the architects of that movement. ¡°Involved, but not leading it.¡± ¡°Belmont.¡± ¡°Closer. I know he''s involved. Fifty seconds.¡± She¡¯s got one name left, and she shouldn¡¯t say it aloud. But now the screws are turning. ¡°Fellwoven.¡± She practically curses the name. ¡°I can¡¯t prove her involvement. But nothing happens in the mage world without her awareness.¡± ¡°And what assurances do I have that this is not a ruse?¡± Trisha scans the surroundings, wooded foothills to her right, sheer cliff to their left, and impassable for Eddard. Not a lot of room for maneuvering the vehicle other than the road, and she knew there were no turn-offs or secondary roads for several miles. She could not and would not risk civilians getting caught in the crossfire. She sees lights in the rear-view mirror¨Cmultiple large-scale vehicles closing recklessly fast, given the weather. ¡°Because I need you alive. The world needs you to survive this for what is coming, Trisha. For what it¡¯s worth, this will be the last time we speak. I cannot break my cover like this again. Fight to survive. Fight for a better world.¡± ¡°And what do I call you?¡± she asked as she downed an alchemical agent¨Cshe was going to need the speed boost to get out of this alive. ¡°Call me a Kingmaker. I¡¯ve already been playing this game for a long time, Trisha, longer than you can possibly imagine.¡± ¡°How do I know that you mean well by this? You must have a motive.¡± She knew this information wouldn¡¯t come for free. ¡°Because I need the children of Gaia to survive, if I want to save this planet.¡± For the first time in her life, Trisha is rattled to her core. This is impossible. ¡°All the children perished. Few even believe they were real.¡± ¡°Incorrect. One survived the purges during the War of the Magi. And they¡¯re closer to home than you realize.¡± This man is dangerous beyond belief. He knows who the last known descendants of Gaia is? Only a handful of people even believed that Gaia had sired offspring¨Cand even fewer knew the truth. ¡°How many others know?¡± ¡°Just me. I ensured she survived, six years ago, but not without consequences. Her power will grow exponentially, and she will need good influences to keep that channeling for the good of all. Now you know the stakes of why you must survive. Events must be put in motion in just the right way.¡± Almost as if by reaction, a ringing chime ran out from the ancient relic she kept on her person at almost all times, sitting in the compact sling. A low hum, building in intensity. It did not carry its intent by words, but by something else¨Ca resonance of the soul. I need an avatar to survive, Trisha. Our world is dying. She must survive. The man on the other end gets her attention. ¡°Thirty seconds. Godspeed, my Champion.¡± The line clicked and Trisha knew two things. The first, was that he spoke of the ancient dragon tongue, a language of conviction and power. The second is that they are about to be in the fight of their lives. She presses the one-button alert for Sierra team, but there¡¯s no response¨Cit¡¯s being jammed now. This is no time to lock up, she needs to focus on the plan. ¡°Eddard, I will fight them to my last breath¨C¡± ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± His one-word answer and grim look were all he needed to say. ¡°Don¡¯t say it like this is the end. That these killers finally got their one lucky shot at you.¡± He pulls out a firearm from under the seat where he¡¯d kept it hidden in a holster¡ªa simple Glock, but chambered in mana-coated rounds that would shred most magical barriers. ¡°I¡¯ll kill every single one of them before they dare lay a hand on you. On our kids.¡± He chambers a round by bracing the slide against the steering wheel, his motions calm and deliberate. ¡°They¡¯re after me? Fine. Let¡¯s give them someone to chase.¡± ¡°Eddard, they will torture you. They will break your body and mind before they let you die,¡± she rebuffs firmly, even as armor plating emerges from the wristband and contours around her body in rapidly assembling Valkyrian armor she¡¯d both partially designed and constructed herself. ¡°They don¡¯t know we have kids. You know what you have to do if they¨C¡± ¡°Then you need to ensure the data survives.¡± He pulls out the small container containing an SD card that was hard protected against almost any and every magical attack, and puts it firmly in her hand, mana tracing against his palm and into the device. ¡°Get this to the Valkyries. If what that man said is true, the Conclave has just taken off its mask to land the killing blow.¡± he lets go and there¡¯s a ringing sound. ¡°Whatever is on this thing, it needs to survive, even if we don¡¯t.¡± She wraps a protective energy shield around him, enhancing his reactive barrier with her latent powers, and plasma arcs lightly from her arm in anticipation of the coming battle. The vehicles are closing, and she sees the men armed in the ebony ceramic and metal armor and well equipped. Well armed, too. Mercs, unmarked, and deliberately so. And they were rapidly closing and readying weapons. She had already hit the emergency alert for the Valkyries, but a five-minute response time was far too long. This would be over in less than two minutes. ¡°Eddard, I¡¯ll buy you time. Sierra team will lock on your location. Keep driving, don''t look back. I''m about to do something decidedly dangerous." She throws the door open with a kinetic blast, and the door is blown off its hinges and clatters wildly across the road, and the heavy vehicles behind them swerve to avoid it. Claws emerge from her hands and her body becomes lithe and powerful, the armor morphing with her in tandem as she climbs out the door and grips the frame with superhuman strength. Dragon strength. "Eddard, my spell barrier won''t be enough to stop more than a few rounds of ammo. Don''t make yourself an easy target." She narrows her eyes against the cold, stinging rainfall and wraps her tail tightly against the seat. Her entire body is tensed¨Cshe has to time this right as her wings emerge, with cerulean feathers practically shining in the dim afternoon sky, obscured by rain clouds. The soldiers open up side doors and aim autobows, a treacherous shot at these speeds, and with the winding road. The first round strikes just by her arm, but she crouches there unflinchingm as the truck accelerates. These men have made an assuredly fatal mistake as she springs forward, clearing herself of the vehicle. They will know utter terror in their last moments, as they witness what the Champion will do to protect her family.
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 3, Ch. 139: Never Mess With A Valkyrie, When Death Is On The Line! There are only two things more dangerous than a dragon: A Valkyrie, and a pissed-off mother. Trisha happened to be both as she unfurled her wings and used her telekinetics to burst forward and spread her broad feathered wings. She feels her completed transformation of gleaming silver and azure banded scales, and equally flashy feathered wings and feather accents. Her armor has morphed to accommodate her physiology, and Luminari rings like a crystalline violin. She could feel its radiant power surging through her. Her attackers stand no chance. Armored scales stopped determined bolts and deflected them harmlessly away. Deadly fire rays were dodged as she whirled and adjusted her aim, guided by her broad tail and wings. She was the epitome of grace, and a desperately fired rocket roared past, harmlessly. The driver knew with a horrified look they had made a grievous miscalculation when she landed on the hood of the vehicle and crushed the front end, only to spring upwards, and back aloft. The resulting force blew the vehicle upwards from the recoil, then it rolled and skidded out of control, the occupant''s feeble spell barriers insufficient for the impact force as the vehicle crumpled around a tree at great speed. Half a second goes by as she lands in a graceful tap of her clawed toes, the second vehicle seeing what had happened to the first. They know they¡¯ve underestimated this threat, and try to accelerate, closing the space against an opponent they had not anticipated. But their forward momentum is far too slow, She deftly sidesteps before the car can ram her, and with one massive telekinetic blast, along with an arcing slam from her powerful tail, the vehicles joins the first car on an express trip to the scrap heap. One man flies and screams in mid-air, having been ejected from the vehicle, where he¡¯d been trying to aim a mounted heavy caliber machine gun. She isn¡¯t going to let him go that easily. Trisha concentrates and lashes a plasma lasso at the man, saving him from a deadly fall. She reels him into her waiting claw, and he¡¯s still screaming in terror. The other three cars have stopped and are dislodging passengers, and taking up covered positions by the trees¨Cas if that would do them any good against her. All it takes to shut the screaming mercenary up is one venomous glare from Trisha, and he¡¯s reduced to a whimper and uncontrollable sobbing. ¡°Names,¡± she threatens. She scans the rest of the remaining mercenaries just up the road, all carrying standard weaponry. But they have nothing to indicate specialized munitions for killing dragons. Those had been her biggest worry, not that they wouldn¡¯t have an incredibly hard time chipping past her barrier. She knew very well how to create space against overwhelming odds, by splitting up groups and taking control of the terrain. ¡°Names. Now.¡± ¡°Eat shit, dragon bitch.¡± The soldier pulls a grenade off his belt and tries to remove the safety, but her slashing claws make short work of the futile effort, and she tosses the dying man aside. This is kill or be killed now. No one threatens her family. No one. She grabs the radio off the man and patches into the frequency with a rapid kinetic grapple. Multiple men are down, and there are no serious threats. The men on the road are now unloading and holding fire¨Call dark armored and no insignias and the remaining soldiers numbering a dozen. They are well armed, but not for a mage battle¨Cthis was a tactical team meant to target a high-profile non-mage VIP, but where is the backup team? Her danger sense goes into overdrive and she dodged with her springlike legs just as a bolt of fire pierced the heavens and turned the roadway to molten tar. The source was dragon fire¨Cand judging by the temperature, and extremely precise aim through the cloud cover, an Alterian Nightwing. Their back-up team should have been their primary team, she notes shrewdly. She sees a squad of four dragons diving down, along with a lone drone hovering just above, as if trying to keep its existence hidden, watching the fight unfold. Two dragons were Nightwings, two were Nevarran Reds¨Call of them much better equipped, with armor plating in addition to their scaly hides, and flying in a delta formation. They were flying low, and she saw the trajectory¨Cthey were in pursuit of Eddard, and they would close in less than a minute. Reaction took hold and she took a brief sprint to gain enough speed for flight, all the while being peppered with automatic fire that barely phased her. They¡¯d need to fire something a little more powerful to even breach her arcane barrier. Every single one of them has to die or be grounded. She focuses her telekinetics across her body to give her an incredible burst of agility to get to flight speed, feathered wings beating¨Cthis armor was so lightweight, it barely encumbered her. She of course had her instant teleport, but she saved it for only truly desperate situations. She needs to prioritize targets. The Nevarrans are the bigger problem, her plasma isn''t going to work on them as effectively. But, she could still knock them out of the sky with her kinetics and her decades of combat prowess. By her ear crest, her radio is picking up multiple radio intercepts. ¡°What the hell, why is a Valkyrie guarding this guy?!¡± one screams out. ¡°This wasn''t in the Intel brief!¡± ¡°Who cares?! I want corpses, and I want them now! Aerial assault team, deal with the dragon closing on you! Yates, don¡¯t you dare lose a bead on that SUV, or your carcass is going to be added to the pile!¡± one radio message echos while she closed the distance to the dragons. ¡°Waste that vehicle, once you get a lock with the drone!¡± ¡°Magitech jamming, can¡¯t get a lock!¡± That¡¯s a problem, she realizes with a trickle of dread. She''s outnumbered four to one, and the Nevarrans break off to circle while the Nightwings pursue the car¨Cthey would intercept in less than a minute. She times the predictable fire blast, and angles her sudden turn just right so she harmlessly evades the jet of flame. This time she responded in kind with a quick blast of rime frost¨Cnot to freeze them solid but to freeze their wings, causing them to stagger mid-air and lose altitude. She was buying space. And time. The Nightwings however, take heed of this and swerved upwards into the cloud cover and out of sight. She could barely hear their wing beats over this driving rain and the sound of her wings. They were, after all, the equivalent of owls when it came to stealth flying. But she also had a trick of her own and tapped the visor over her face. A thermal image override popped up and she could see them as clear as day. Two more quick blasts of rime frost slowed them down, and now she was in the lead, catching up to the car. ¡°Eddard they¡¯re throwing a sizeable force, I still can¡¯t reach outside the jammer radius! Just keep driving, I¡¯ll give you air cover,¡± she relays over her headset to the car communication suite, and she hears a crackle of static. This signal is getting through, barely. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t mind me Trish, driving at breakneck speed trying to outrun a bunch of zealots trying to turn my ass into a carcass. Just saying, when we get home and get the kids to safety, you owe me Korean barbeque,¡± Eddard states firmly. She matched speed over the vehicle, and the remaining pursuers were now distant and unable to present a threat. ¡°The first place we¡¯re going is Valhalla,¡± Trisha bristles, and glances back. The other dragons have not stopped pursuing, and she could indeed hear the drone buzzing nearby, over the sound of rain and wind. Whoever had retrofitted this particular device for this task of surveillance in the middle of a rainstorm had been no amateur mage, that was for sure. She tapped her visor again and the image shifted to thermal false imagery, and she finally saw it¨Cjust in front and to the right, a modified¨C She recoiled in horror. The drone was US Military and looked like a modified reaper drone armed with a variety of upgrades and mana-tipped missiles slung on the hard points. This was a serious weapon and an immense risk to civilians, the power of these weapons could be devastating for an errant hit. ¡°Lights out,¡± she roared and got close enough to the drone, plasma arcing in her claws. One hit disabled the engine, and once she was able to direct it upwards with a gentle nudge from her, she zapped one of the missiles with another jolt of plasma. It went up in a spectacular blast of energy, and bits of detritus pinged off her scales. ¡°Trish, Trish you okay?! What was that?!¡± she heard Eddard scream out. ¡°Taking out the trash. They have access to US mil-spec. I got close enough to get a serial number, we¡¯ll analyze it once we get somewhere safe!¡± She pondered this for a moment, how did they acquire a predator drone? Someone wasn¡¯t messing around. Her arcane radio pings¨Cit looked like the drone was the jammer source. ¡°Malena, Kiera, sending out a general distress call, how far are you?¡± ¡°Gearing up Trish, we knew something was up because comms were spotty in the city. What¡¯s the sitrep?¡± she heard Kiera finally announce on the radio. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Grossly outnumbered, high-value tactical team of at least forty, multiple dragons! They¡¯re after Eddard, something about the Gaia¡¯s Cradle!¡± she roared into the radio. ¡°Mobilize everyone!¡± ¡°Done! Hold tight Trish, we¡¯ll be there!¡± She has to deal with the dragons, first. None of these bastards are getting out of here alive, not after this. She alters course and banks around, seeing two of the dragons on intercept, the two wounded ones trying to catch up. She braces her claws, her telekinetics charging along the length of them, and beyond. A kinetic blade of incredible strength. She waits for them to commit and throw a blaze of fire at her¨Camateurs. She blinks out of existence and times it so that by the time they realize she¡¯s closed the distance too fast, the first dragons right wing and right arm are severed, and several deep wounds are trenched along their side from the incredibly swift attack. The dragon screams as it plummets to its death, blood raining down as it impacts and she hears a distant thud as it lands head-first into a forested patch, its neck bent at an unnatural angle. The second one fares as well as the first, having tried to swerve and grapple to avoid the same strike, but her claws are more lethal than theirs, and pierce through armor and scales alike, deep into the meaty tissue, as they fall to the ground. She slices brutally through their torso and a gush of blood comes out, and the dragon roars and clutches at the wound, plummeting down and meeting its companion in death. Trisha unfurls her wings and banks with incredible efficiency as the gee forces press on her, leveling out from a terminal dive and gaining speed to catch the other two who have seen this effort and roar in outrage, both of them launching fiery rays at once. She swerves and feels a sizzle of feathers¨Ca near miss, and she feels the burning sensation on her flank. She uses her aether slip, but this one has a surprise¨Ca focused spell barrier deflects her claws, and she skims along the side, trying to grapple from the underside and her claws slide off. So she drew the one thing sharper than her claws, and more deadly than her elemental plasma. She grabs Luminari with a kinetic grapple off her back, and lands a gruesome slice that severs part of the dragon¡¯s neck. Her foe gurgles as the blow registers. Target number two needs to be taken care of immediately, and she focuses her mana down her clawed arm. The runes on the weapon glow a bright green before she fires a powerful beam of energy that pierces through the adjacent dragon before it could aim a decidedly dangerous autocannon scaled to dragons¨Cand caught it right in the chest and sheared straight through its heart. The dragon went limp and its wings locked, plummeting to the ground, and she felt the sear of pain through her arm. That trick always took a lot out of her, and Luminari was in part fueled by her own power. Careful to not slice into her own wing by mistake, she sheathed the blade and dove after Eddard¡¯s car. She sees a new threat¨Cseveral vehicles have just come from the pass where she couldn¡¯t see anything beyond the sharp hills, and had men already pouring out and aiming weapons¨Cincluding a portable mana battery. Her eyes widened and she tapped the radio. ¡°Eddard, they¡¯re boxing you in on both sides, I¡¯m coming to you for a pickup! Keep driving!¡± she barks out and tucks her wings close to her body to gain speed, the vehicle just below her. ¡°I¡¯m going to land on the car and rip out the driver-side door, keep the vehicle steady!¡± ¡°And then take off into the sunset?! Trish, this isn¡¯t one of your trashy novels!¡± he exclaimed. The vehicles behind him were catching up again, and they had opened a hatch on the top of one and pulled out a¨C ¡°Eddard, evade, heavy machine gun!¡± she screamed out, and used her telekinetics and surged through the air like a missile. Her wings strained from the force of the wind pushing back on them, even as strong as she was in this form. Kiera had suggested that they all add a jet engine to a dragon¡¯s flanks, and she¡¯d dismissed it as a risk of tearing her wings from her body. Looks like the reality was she could meet in the middle as her limb ached from holding rigid. She cast down a bolt of plasma, missing as the vehicle swerved and disrupted the gunner¡¯s aim. Bullets ping off near the car, and someone taps the gunner''s shoulder to point at the dragon that just obliterated their air support. Now they¡¯re all shooting at her. Bullets ping off her barriers, but she drops them to take the hits with her armor scales, and Valkyrie armor that stops most of the impact. But that doesn''t stop it from stinging like dozens of wasp bites. Dragons might have living armor, but that doesn''t mean it doesn¡¯t hurt when people try to punch through it. The miniature mana battery one of them fires off is a bit more dangerous, and she swerves to be between Eddard and the hostiles. She throws another bolt of plasma that miraculously impacts the driver. The driver is dead before his flesh is done cooking from that overkill, and the wheel swerves and the vehicle jackknifes and tumbles. She can see the men ahead bailing out of the other vehicles, and an unhealthy amount of ordinance is about a half mile up the road. She surges forward and lands on the hood, denting the structure, and the car wobbles, but he holds it steady. ¡°Get ready, I¡¯m ripping the door off!¡± She manages to tear the door at the hinges with ease, but those mercs aren¡¯t waiting and open fire. Bullets ping off her barriers, which she flares to maximum force, and grabs Eddard while he¡¯s holding the wheel steady and flooring it at maximum speed. ¡°Courtesy battering ram, assholes!¡± he screams out¨Cas if they could hear him from hundreds of feet away, in a rainstorm. She launches off and the car skids just a little bit, then swerves to the right and into the guard rails¨Cwhere it finally breaches through and goes into a gully, before crumpling into a battered scrap heap. Insurance is going to give me so much shit for that one, she thinks as she pulls up, taking fire and more munitions ping off while she cradles her husband against her protectively and she struggles to gain altitude¨C She sees the threat too late. A massive man, a full two meters tall and clad in magitech armor, wielding a focused elemental incinerator beam¨Ca tech that very few possess outside of the mage''s military. SAF equipment. Either stolen, carelessly lost, or given to them. She tries to evade, but that man is a trained killer and the beam of intense bright light still sears into her wing, burning feathers and leaving her screaming in pain as it defeats her magical protection and armor. The only way is down and she crashes down into the ravine, slamming into rocks and small saplings and bouncing down. She pins her wings against her side and finally skids to a halt, with Eddard looking dazed. Her world is pain and she groans. That had hurt, and one wing is badly injured, based on the way she felt something crack on one of the impacts. She glances over and the knuckle joint is bent at an angle indicating it¡¯s broken. She hears shouts from above, and she scrabbles to her claws. She can¡¯t fight them all, and expect her husband to survive. She grabs him and places him in a carry hold and dashes through the woods and down the embankment, magical fire and other mundane munitions pinging off in their general vicinity. ¡°Keira,¡± she pants as she claws past a tree, and notes more than a few cuts on her scales where the weapons breached, ¡°Still grossly outnumbered, we¡¯re on foot, my wing is broken. Headed west along Gilford Ravine!¡± Static is her answer. The arcanlink on her armor is damaged and not receiving anything. They¡¯re on their own for now. The attackers pursue them. with the rough terrain giving them cover, she limps and slips back into her human form, and screams as that broken wing merges back with her body. "Trish, we need to get you healed--" "We need to shake these bastards, first." She grabs a compact autobow off a holster, and grimaces at the ammunition. but with the telekinetic and plasma she imbues into the rounds, they''ll pack a punch. She points to large rocky cliff face and several boulders, and motions for him to hide. "If you see an opening, you run Eddard. They committed an overwhelming force for just you." "Don''t die, Trish." She grabs a spot in cover, and throws back an alchemical flask--one that should give her one freebie, as her skin and body turn transparent. It will work to limited extent, but gunfire and large motions disrupt it quite easily. It also only lasts a minute. She prepares her ambush by throwing two more canisters--proximity mines. She is outnumbered, and knows it. She cannot take all of them head-on, even as powerful as she is. She waits by an outcropping, and sees the armored soldiers--and one using an alchemical thruster, on overwatch, and wielding a formidable weapon. "Trail through the mud, spread out, eyes open. Terminate with extreme violence," one man growls out in a magitech armor suit, and they fan out through the rocks and trees spaced through. the hillside keeps them funneled. She''s only going to have to one chance at this. They need to keep thinning their attackers, because outrunning them isn''t going to happen with her wing broken and her back radiating pain. One of them throws on a pair of goggles, and motions to the rest. "Mana scope picking up a trail, they stalled here, check your corners--" Its too late for the lead man who gets too close to the canister, and the device explodes in a spray of shrapnel--perforating him and the two nearby. They go down, bleeding and dying, and she makes her move, firing off at the one with the goggles. the bolt goes through his eye with an overwhelming kinetic charge, and keeps sailing. the blood hasn''t hit the ground by the time she fires a few more rounds, with six attackers left--the aerial man''s thruster is pierced and he screams feebly as the thruster swerves in circles, and slams him into the cliff in a fiery roar. Two more go down with multiple shots. Eddard fires off from cover and pins one down, and she is in motion as they fire on her position. Mana piercing munitions trace through the air with blue streaks, and impact her armor a few times, like getting hit in the chest with rocks. Luminari is already out, with three left, with a spaced out formation. The second proximity mine triggers as one man tries to push forward, and becomes shredded human meat. the other two have the shrapnel pierce off their barriers--too far away to fully overwhelm it. But Luminari has no problem slicing through the chest of one, in a blow that showers the ground with blood. the other opens fire at close range in a full automatic spray, and she swerves to the aether, with her world becoming a bright white for a split second. She takes the head off the last standing foe, and the body slumps for a second, blood mixing with the rain, and she rubs at the wound that pierced through her side. a joint of the armor didn''t hold, and she''s bleeding. She staggers over to Eddard, already reaching for an alchemical potion. "Trish, are you--" "Keep. Moving. More are coming," she pants. He wastes no time in putting her arm around his shoulder, and they limp down the trail, as more attackers open fire distantly, pinging nearby. They have to make it.
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 3, Ch. 140: The Butcher Of Cape Town Five tense minutes of dodging through the ravine, past the winding rocks while the number of men trail behind them thin. She doesn¡¯t let them feel the pain of their death, because it¡¯s too swift for their brains to register as she picks off more and more of them. Her husband flees down past the brush and past rough-hewn rock, and a wild stream that has built up with the incessant rain. The last of the mercs is nothing but a dying mass of spilled intestines and feeble clawing to hold his innards in. A stab through the heart with Luminari ends him. The last four had come at her all at once. Searing beams, acidic rays, and shadowy strikes from infernal weapons did as much damage to their wielder as they did to their victim. This was the last one to die, and she realizes after a rough count that¡¯s almost all of them. Fifty-nine men, including the several that Eddard had put bullets into. He might not be a powerful mage, but a nine-millimeter barrier-piercing ammo is still enough to end other mages. Though she probably can''t count instances of unfriendly fire. She grimaces against the motion of pulling the blade out of that still-warm corpse of man. Even in her human form, the radiating pain of the damaged wing still bleeds through, and she staggers through the rocky terrain, nearly slipping on the slick rocks and the rushing water. Eddard peers out from behind cover, and grabs her once he¡¯s certain it¡¯s clear. "Trish...they''re all..." He can''t finish his sentence, and his breath is labored. The sight of so many corpses has made him numb to that awful, awful feeling of seeing dead Kin. "Who are these people?" "I think they''re Ravager Company." Trisha leans on the cliff face, panting, and bleeding from the injuries sustained. Her regeneration is in overdrive, but it is taking too long to heal the worst of it. She hands her last Regen potion to Edward, suffering a severe cut on his torso, and he groans as the injury seals. But they don''t have the luxury of time¨Cthe fact that more mercs showed up really showed just how badly they wanted this information. "We need to keep moving." ¡°Trish. Run. Leave me, I¡¯m slowing you down¨C¡± ¡°Over my dead body,¡± she snarled, and got them over a rocky outcropping. They just needed to buy time. She hasn''t been pushed to her limits like this in a while, and Luminari is ringing like an alarm bell. An imminent threat is getting close. A sound of a thruster gets her attention, and something drops down from the impassable cliff face. She narrows her eyes at the mechanized suit of silver and gold plating and lands in a crouch. She knows this man. And she knows it, by the wicked waraxe he wields that is tainted with a crimson color. It is unnatural, just looking at that weapon, and the man wielding it. This man is an inhuman brute, at just over two meters tall¨Cand taller, with the magitech helmet and faint blue visor. Hidden ports on the arms and the chest likely hide weapons. But the bulk of this man, with the suit, is freakish¨Ceasily half a metric ton of man and metal, and there is only one person who fits this profile. ¡°Finally coming out of your hiding hole? Your clients must either love you, or are terrified of you, for you to evade the Valkyries for so long.¡± This man is one of the most dangerous humans alive. The slayer of children. The tool of despots and mage criminals across the world. The butcher of Cape Town. Davos Renshrak. She grips the handle of Luminari tightly and takes a stance. She''s injured, and Edward is badly wounded, too, the Regen potions haven''t taken full effect. Even in her dragon form, this foe would present a formidable challenge. This is one foe she can kill with no hesitation. That man in the mechanized armor grins behind the magitech visor, that feral primeval grin of a man who enjoys the atrocities he commits. ¡°I would ask who the fuck you are, but given the fact you just laid waste to most of my team, I can hazard a guess. Victor One. We finally meet." He even gives her a mocking bow, that wicked axe gleaming with infernal light, but it''s not the only weapon he has. There are ports on his armor for concealed firearms or other dangerous items. ¡°All of your team, actually.¡± She tenses and feels the ache of cuts along her legs and her side, still half healed. ¡°Who hired you? Was it Misha? Belmont?¡± ¡°Bitch, you''re gonna die today, so it means fuck-all who hired me. That little shit next to you is going to die, too.¡± He rotated his shoulders gently and gave the axe a test swing. ¡°Been a while since I killed a dragon. But I''ve never killed a Valkyrie. The man who kills a Champion has gotta have some kind of prize pool waiting.¡± "You won''t live to collect it." She is already injured, and she''s exhausted her limited alchemical weapons. "You know what I''ve done. Who I''ve fought." "Put the third Reich in the ground, their whole arcanist division? Yeah, knew that one. Your resume of murder is as high as mine," he says with a lecherous grin. "Plus the Ruskies are still pissed that you guys kept killing all their research projects, and putting craters into their research facilities. Or, the other despots who met sticky ends. Just my luck this string bean is married to you. Fucking intel." "I would offer you the chance to surrender...but I think the Butcher of Cape Town is enough justification to end your life." Even as she says this, she knows that she''s at a disadvantage. "Eddard, run.¡± ¡°Not gonna happen.¡± He racks the pistol slide against his belt with a grimace, a brings up a spell barrier over his body. He''s pushing his limits, and she sees the blue lines marking his veins. He''s already lightly mana-burned. ¡°I know who you seek. You will never find her.¡± Davos grins with that inhuman smile behind the visor. ¡°Ya know, that''s what they all say. ¡®I''ll stop you¡¯. ¡®You killed my daddy''. ¡®Please let me go, I''ll be good, I promise¡¯. Truth is, you never had a chance. At least my dead lackeys managed to soften you up. Didn''t think it would take all of them. Ah, well then. Time to earn myself another skull for the wall!¡± He came at them with a leap of inhuman strength, axe gleaming from the diagonal swipe aimed at her. She used her kinetics to push her husband out of positioning and also swerved past that deadly blow. She pivoted and swung Luminari against this foe, hoping for a quick disable. But the blade refused to cut through the armor. It scratched it but did not do any effective damage. She swerved to avoid the riposte and she examined her options. His armor is thick, and he''s fast. But so is she. He interweaves swings of his axe with wild haymaker blows, and that armor is too thick for her blade to cut through. But she can shear it off, as she times a few swings at exposed armor plating, and slices away at smaller segments. This man is no pushover and tries to blast her with a hidden flamethrower that she dodges with agility. His focus is all on her, and ignores the mana-piercing rounds pinging off his armor from Eddard. That sear of heat is a little too close for comfort. But he leaves himself exposed, and a hit slides into his side. She tears the wound open with a burst of kinetic energy and he grunts--the metal petals outward and so does the injury, but it isn''t a gruesome spray of blood. It''s a trickle. Is this the armor, or some twisted biology? She doesn''t wait to figure it out and dives past the return strike, coming out of a roll from that flame burst, but it flickers out. He''s out of ammo for it. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Time for a change of pace. She slides past his horizontal swing and charges plasma along her arm, and couples it with her kinetic energy and the blade surges with light. She swings mightily and manages to cut through a chunk of armor on his flank again and he staggers¨Cbut only for a brief second. He moves fast¨Ctoo fast for any normal human with injuries this massive, and a fist the size of a ham smashes into her armor, instantly disrupting her arcane barrier. The blow sends her skidding along the rocks and mud, and crashing into a rocky outcropping. Her kinetic damper spell barely protected her, and the pain is immense. He¡¯s on her in an instant, cleaving through the rock¨Cand fortunately¨Cnot her with that axe of his, and rock shards ping off of her armor as the vapors of her aether shift wear off¨Cand she lands a rebuttal strike on a leg, shearing through the weaker backside, and a surge of telekinetics throws him off balance. But this man seems to be immune to pain, and swerves at a speed no human can and barely misses her. She leaps backward with her telekinetics to buy space and, lands in a crouch by Eddard, who is calmly loading his handgun again. ¡°How¡¯s this man not dead yet? I mean, he¡¯s facing you.¡± Davos turns around, leering at them with that haggard grin on his face, hidden behind that semitransparent magietch visor. ¡°Manamachines, son.¡± Trisha grabs the handgun and empties the magazine into that helmet¨Cand to no effect. The bullets all bounce off his helmet, even with her persistent aim. ¡°Huh. I guess we tried the ¡®but what if we just shoot him¡¯ option.¡± ¡°You got a mouth on you, bitch.¡± Davos shrugs off the assault and charges with the axe, and the thrusters activate on his armor, sending him surging forward in a blaze of blades and fire. Trisha blasts Eddard to the side and avoids that shearing blade, and she¡¯s feeling the aches and pains of already being banged up. Her endurance feels like it''s straining. Fighting a small army had indeed taken a toll on her. But she does have a few risky techniques and channels energy to her weapon. The blade surges with light and pure plasma energy charges along the length of the edge, and she channels her mana into this one attack while dodging vicious swings. She is pushing herself to her bleeding limits, and feels the edges of her vision darkening. Her reserve strength dribbles away, even as she dodges and blocks that butcher¡¯s chops. A few near-misses still cut into her armor, and she¡¯s bleeding. She ignores the pain of those strikes sapping at her arm and shoulder. Davos tries to shoulder past her attacks and put his momentum into crushing her. He overcalculates and she gets another parting strike in, shearing through flesh on his flank, and in that split-second of contact, channels enough plasma into the blade to fry him. But this man is not human. He staggers, rather than dying where he stands, and clenches his gauntlet--a burst of gunfire pings off her armor, even as she''s too slow, and she feels a piercing blow hit her arm. A second torrent of plasma cooks the ammo in the magazine, leading to premature discharge and he bellows in pain. He doubles down and hefts the axe with superhuman speed, trying to catch her off-balance. But she has one last trick. She charges the sword with as much pure mana energy as she can muster, and the blade glows an intense blue. She uses her traversal blink to skip past the axe blow intended to shear her in half. The whistle of that blow was far too close. She reemerges back from that pure white aether and strikes with every bit of strength she has, energy surging through the blade, and strikes such a blow that the energy pierces a hole through the armor¨Cand him¨Cthrough his back, and right through his heart. Energy pierces through him, and puts a small crater into the ground. Dirt, and water turn instantly to steam and mud. That man should be dead with the blade of Luminari straight through his heart, and she pulls out viciously as he slumps, and he puts a gauntleted hand to the hole in his chest. His breathing is ragged, and he just¡­kneels there. ¡°Eddard, don¡¯t look.¡± Trisha lines up the blow that will take this monster¡¯s head off, to give him the swift death that he certainly does not deserve. She charges the blade with kinetic energy. She is beyond her break point, and struggles to charge the weapon. Her vision is swimming from utter exhaustion¨Cthat strike of righteous fury always took a chunk out of her endurance, and this had been too close. ¡°Trish look out¨C¡± That man should be dead on the ground. Instead, he backswung and caught her full in the chest. The sword clattered into the riverbed and she was sent flying into a boulder. The searing pain of the impact left her reeling. Her helmet had likely saved her from a concussion, and a rib or two were likely broken. She struggled to rise, and saw that man stand up, and turn to face her. There was no human face behind that visor. There was something else that slithered where a human face should be, and blood dripped from the hole in his armor. A dim glow came from behind the visor as that inhuman thing licked its lips, and jagged teeth gnashed. He grabs his fallen axe with a slow motion, and Eddard is busy firing off every spell he can, trying to stop him. That man ignores her husband and the assault of spells. Then that thing wearing a human face speaks in maddening slithers. Like the words sliding around reality and can¡¯t quite catch on the air. ¡°Great move, stabbing a man through the heart. Too bad I¡¯ve got no use for one,¡± that man says while ignoring the feeble assault, and Eddard is dangerously approaching mana burn. She tries to warn him, but the wind''s knocked out of her, and her vision is swimming. Davos hefts the axe and is grinning malevolently. Those eyes aren¡¯t human, they¡¯re coal black, and filled with eerie red pupils. What is this horrible monster?! Eddard dashes over to her, trying to get her to her feet¨CDavos is taking his time because he doesn¡¯t even bother to change mid-course, and advances step by shaky step. Her husband is screaming at her, trying to get her up, but she¡¯s overspent. She holds her ribs as she gets up, and groans through the pain of those breaks, even with her armor protecting her. Eddard tries to put himself between her and this infernal man, but he flings him with one arm, and he slides into the water, coughing. His veins are blue¨Che¡¯s badly mana-burned, she has to end this and get him to medical support, before it¡¯s too late! Davos leers at the injured man, then back to her. She reaches out to Luminari with her kinetic retrieval, but he slams her against the rocks, repeatedly. Her body is battered by this assault, and he grins maniacally behind the visor, still dripping blood. ¡°Damn, you Valkyries are hard to kill! Had to soften you up with my entire team, just to get you moving slow enough to do you in!¡± He pins her by the throat with one hand, clenching tightly and she can¡¯t get any air. Starbursts swim in her vision, and she reaches out to grab Luminari. But it¡¯s no use. ¡°I would savor this moment, but you fucking Valkyries are gonna be a problem. You¡¯re staggeringly unshakeable, unwilling to just let us have this world, and build it in our likeness.¡± Davos holds that gleaming axe with one hand, smiling from ear to ear, and her vision is darkening in the corners. ¡°Bye-bye, little winged bitch. Gonna send you back to Valhalla, now¨C¡± The deadly blow is stopped millimeters from her face, and Davos furrows his brow. She sees with her wavering vision that Eddard is using a telekinetic spell, and holding that monster at bay. Blue lines trace across his hands and face, and she tries to warn him to run. The words don¡¯t come, and he strains against the burning agony of overusing his mana, holding himself up and trying to keep that deadly axe head from splitting her in half. Davos'' grip slips for just a split second. It¡¯s long enough for her to slip from his grasp, as Eddard¡¯s spell fails and he collapses. She tries to blink to the aether¡­ ¡­But it¡¯s not fast enough. The slice of the axe through her left arm leaves her screaming in that brief instance of space. She comes back to reality with Luminari at her feet. She grabs at the severed limb with her hand and hits an emergency injector to seal the wound, blood streaming out. Davos is slow to react, and he leers at her, that inhuman thing slithering from his mouth, and he glances at her, then her own arm, on the ground. He smashes down with an armored boot and crushes the severed limb, and she would be repulsed at the savagery. Pain is her whole existence, but seeing that vile thing defy fate fills her with an overwhelming wrath to end this monster, even if she doesn''t survive it. For Eddard. For her kids. He clumsily brings his axe up, intending to finish her, but she fights through the agony, and she grabs Luminari with her free hand, filled with the steadfast will of every fallen Valkyrie before her that wielded the mighty blade. Lyssa. Katrine. Bellequa. Viviant. Gaia. She closes instantly with her aether slip, the blade gleaming with immense light, and the axe blow just misses. She slices vertically and guts the man from his torso to his shoulders, and a spray of blood trickles from the broken armor. Bone, muscle and metal all separate from the deadly edge of the weapon, and render the man like he''s been prepped for autopsy. But he still stands. He staggers backward, gurgling and tossing a one-time-teleportal pad down. She slumps down to her knees, all her energy spent, and she feels death calling for her, the severed limb still dripping slightly. Eddard is on the ground, motionless. Davos collapses onto the platform and disappears in a flash of light. His last moment of escape is futile--he''s already dead. There is no medical help in the world that can save him in time from two wounds that gruesome. Her thoughts become muddled and she crawls to her husband, reaching and gripping his outstretched hand. He looks at her, blue lines etched on his face¨Cburnt into his flesh. He¡¯s barely breathing. ¡°Trish¡­don¡¯t die on me¡­the children need you¡­¡± The world fades out. Vol. 3, Ch. 141: A Promise Unfulfilled Birds are chirping. ¡­ Why can''t I bring myself to rise? Trisha¡¯s eyes flutter open, and the world is a distinct blur. She can''t make out much, and her body is slow to respond. There''s a window, with sunlight coming in from an angle, but not directly at her. There''s a drop tile ceiling above her, blurry white. The room smells sterile, the faint scents of antiseptic in the air, and a floral scent. Her last memory is the hospital. Seeing Drenar and Evan. Only a flash of it. She knows she saw them. And there¡¯s something else familiar, nearby. Lavender. She can smell it, there¡¯s a fresh bouquet next to hear nearby, and not some cheap imitation. Only four people know her favorite scent, and¨C ¡°Welcome back from Valhalla, Trish.¡± She dares to open her eyes and risks the light, and sees a blurry outline of someone sitting in a chair next to her. They slowly rise to come over to the bedside¨Cthey¡¯re tall, almost as tall as her, and she¡¯d recognize that raven black hair and those dazzling glacial eyes anywhere. ¡°Don¡¯t try to speak. You¡¯ve been out a while.¡± She does her best not to say anything, but a throaty gasp still escapes her lips. She can¡¯t speak¨Cit feels like there¡¯s sand in her vocal cords. She feebly points, and Kiera DeVerdra¨Cthe friend of her entire life¨Cgrabs a cup of water from a pitcher and gently tips it to her. She¡¯s slow to drink, and it feels like she¡¯s weak all over. Kiera pulls away slowly when Trisha nods, and she sets the cup back. ¡°Please, don¡¯t speak for just a minute. I want to ask a few questions. Do you remember the battle in Gilford Ravine?¡± She nods after a moment. The memory is still vivid and undisturbed in her memory. That battle on the road, the dragons that she slew, one at a time. The men she picked off mercilessly as they pursued her. That demon with the axe. Chasing her and Eddard¨C ¡°Eddard,¡± she mumbled through thick lips, and a voice straining from disuse. Kiera pulls up the chair next to her, eyes locked on her. ¡°Did he¨C'''' she can¡¯t form the words, because she remembers. He¡¯d cooked himself saving her. He¡¯d put up a spell barrier that deflected the axe blow that would have cut her in half. It had taken¨C She glances down at her left arm, and feels fingers that aren¡¯t there. The end of her arm, just above the elbow, has healed cleanly, but her muscles are atrophied. She lays back, tears in her eyes as Kiera grips her remaining hand, trying to hold in that unimaginable loss herself, and it¡¯s only her immense steadfast nature that keeps her from breaking out in tears. ¡°Eddard saved your life, Trish. There wasn¡¯t anything we could do, he mana burned himself to death. He held that monster at bay, long enough for you to land the last blow.¡± Blood dripping down her severed arm. The agonizing pain. The rainfall mixed with the red below her feet. She remembered it all. She remembered winding back and stabbing that demonic bastard through the chest with all the might of the Valkyries, and that man still hadn¡¯t died from it. Something about his armor kept him alive, some abhorrent magic allowed that man to endure, as she watched him stagger to a one-time-use teleportal pad. Blood loss had left her too weakened, and she¡¯d collapsed. When she woke up a moment later, Drenar and Evan had been hugging her, tear-struck, telling her to hold on. She¡¯d hold on for them, no matter what it took. Then everything turned blurry, after that. She gripped Kiera¡¯s hand firmly and wiped the tears with the sleeve of her truncated arm. ¡°Drenar, Evan, are they¨C¡± ¡°They¡¯re okay, Trish. I have them set up with Diane and Dave. They don¡¯t know you¡¯re alive." The moment gives her pause, and she looks at Kiera, looking somber. ¡°Eddard¡¯s obscurement spells failed. Someone who was an expert must have cracked them. I couldn¡¯t rule out one of our own. So, please, listen to what I have to say, first. Okay, Trish? I¡¯ll answer your questions, but you need to realize¨C¡± ¡°How long?¡± she slightly slurs the words, and she¡¯s still trembling from the loss. All she can think of now is how Eddard is gone¨Cand every bit of training, magical power, and prowess, and draconic fury had not been enough to keep him alive. Kiera bites her lip gently before continuing. ¡°One year, eleven months, twenty days. It¡¯s Halloween." ¡°Angela and James¡¯s birthday,¡± she says while leaning back, unable to take this sitting up. ¡°Why¡­so long¡­¡± ¡°That unsavory bastard coated his axe in a poison that works even on Maridian silvers. We almost lost you at the hospital. You¡¯ve been in a coma since then. Your body is atrophied, but I think you¡¯ll walk¨C¡± ¡°Start now. I have monsters to hunt.¡± Her voice is a rasp and she tries to pry herself out of bed, but Kiera gently guides her back down when the effort takes all of her strength. ¡°Kiera, don¡¯t stop me. They took Eddard. They¡¯re not taking my kids.¡± ¡°Trish, they¡¯re safe. They¡¯re not Awakened, yet.¡± Trish lays back, forcing in a measured breath to avoid straining like that again. ¡°The world¡¯s not gotten any better since you went to rest. It¡¯s gotten worse.¡± ¡°Who hired¨C¡± ¡°Davos is evading us. His clients pay good money to keep him hidden. Those we do manage to corner, have an uncanny habit of their heads being bullet magnets,¡± Kiera adds grimly. ¡°The trail¡¯s cold. The only heads-up we usually have is his next atrocity at the hands of his rosters of dictators and clandestine handlers. We have not stopped pursuing him or leads that¡¯ll take us to him. Now, no more questions, Trish. I¡¯m just happy to have my best friend back, among the land of the living.¡± She wraps her arms around her protectively, and Trish tries to return the gesture with her one good arm. She still feels the streaks of tears in her eyes, unable to comprehend losing two years. Drenar and Evan have probably grown so much in that short period. High school now, and they¡¯ve been alone for two years. ¡°I have to go back to them¨C¡± ¡°Trish, the world believes you¡¯re dead. Few outside the senior knights know of your demise, and that was by design. I had to act fast to make sure the leak wasn¡¯t on our end. I¡¯m sorry that I¡¯ve put you in this spot.¡± Now the tears come, and Kiera sobs. ¡°I lost Takoshi, Trish. I couldn¡¯t lose you, too.¡± ¡°You made¡­the right call.¡± She grips gently at the creases of her shirt with her hand, and takes this moment to appreciate that Kiera likely has had to shoulder the burden of command as had been discussed as her contingency from years past. A task that for most, would be impossible. ¡°You¡¯ve given me the one chance I need to make this right.¡± ¡°Trish, focus on your recovery. We need to bring you up to speed on a lot of things, and there will be more tears ahead.¡± ¡°I know. Theirs.¡± She holds on for dear life, tempered by determination as her voice firms up, and she digs deep into her soul for the resolve she will need for the task ahead. ¡°I will be the wrath of the Valkyries, and Davos¨Cand everyone who enabled him¨Cwill know what it is to face the prodigy of Gaia. We¡¯ve sat neutral for too long. It¡¯s time to pick a side.¡±
Getting up to speed was, indeed, more tears. Learning that Drenar had cut himself¨Cbadly¨Chad almost brought her to the edge of marching out of whatever recovery location she was in, but Kiera had dissuaded her. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I know you¡¯re upset¨C¡± ¡°You lied to all of them. Kiera.¡± ¡°I had to, Trish! We still don¡¯t know how Eddard was unmasked. I¡¯ve had the best arcanists in our organization scouring for information on who could pull off the level of effort involved to crack the enchantments that should have made him effectively a ghost to anyone who might ever present a threat to him.¡± Trish is in the middle of traction training, and forcing her success with every effort. Her draconic body would be better suited to healing, but that toxin had also, apparently, done a number on her body. She needed to be stronger before she could attempt to transform. The missing arm isn¡¯t helping either, as she shuffles along, sweating. The staff at this location¨Cwhich Kiera still won¡¯t tell her¨Care all unaware of who she is, and she¡¯s worked very hard to keep it that way. Her legs feel stiff, but she is moving. Slowly. It¡¯s progress. Because when she does get enough strength to get back to her draconic form, she¡¯s going to be doing some power healing. On that note, the toxin had also apparently dampened her natural healing¨Ca particular deadly chemical that she hopes she never encounters again. Davos had been exceedingly lucky to expect dragons¨Cor he just enjoyed using deadly toxins that were more hazardous to him, than to anything that he could possibly use them against. ¡°Just tell me how Drenar¡¯s doing,¡± she snapped. Kiera sighed. ¡°Therapy still. He took it hard, Trish. Do you think I¡¯ve forgiven myself for what happened? I won¡¯t. I still think it was just¡­an accident.¡± ¡°Pretty bad accident to have with Remari. That blade could have taken his wrist clean off.¡± She¡¯s panting now and refusing to give up, and is slowly walking. ¡°I¡¯m just happy he¡¯s alive and at least getting what he needs, he¡¯s rarely that emotional¡­unless it¡¯s me.¡± ¡°You were his hero, Trish.¡± ¡°Still am. I¡¯m not dead yet.¡± she pauses and wipes the sweat away from her eyes. This muscle atrophy is going to take ages to fix. ¡°I would go home right now to hug them both, but you and I both know that the people who tried to do me in need to be brought to justice, or removed off the face of the earth.¡± ¡°Easier said than done. Now, as for Evan, he¡¯s been doing okay. Julia is¡­starting to talk to Drenar again. James and Angela are nudging them along. I think they¡¯ll be on the mend¡­in time.¡± ¡°Any word on the Conclave¡¯s hands on that merc team?¡± Trisha presses, and takes a moment to stop and catch her breath. Kiera shakes her head. ¡°Money trails went dead. And the man who warned you¡­I think it was King.¡± ¡°Figures. I¡¯d heard rumors of that man. But why¡¯s he saving me?¡± she grunts and guides herself with the bars so she prevents falling. She is not giving up yet, she¡¯s got a body to retrain to her peak power. And it¡¯s going to take a long time. Kiera shakes her head. ¡°No idea. We¡¯ve had no contact with him since. The latest rumor is that he¡¯s working with someone in Magitech industries. A new client. We can¡¯t get a bead on whom. They¡¯re obscuring their movements heavily.¡± ¡°Davos? Is he working with him?¡± ¡°Not to my knowledge. He¡¯s operating mostly out of Africa and Southeast Asia. He keeps moving around, so tracking him is difficult. By the time we get there, he¡¯s already left a trail of horrors and war crimes. We need to establish a forward base out there,¡± Kiera grouses. ¡°It''s been on the ¡®to-do¡¯ list for forever. But there are not a lot of friendly governments to set up shop.¡± ¡°Set up shop in Johannesburg. I have a few friends there, maybe.¡± She can¡¯t continue and lends down, her good hand on her knees and panting. But she can at least stand on her own. ¡°We need to find that man, and before I kill him, I¡¯m going to get the names of what clients he¡¯s hiding behind.¡± ¡°You and me both,¡± she replies with an icy tone as frigid as the color of her eyes, and eyes a wristwatch with irritation. ¡°Damn. Julia¡¯s going to be home in an hour. Guess I better get back. If I dropped dead, that girl would have free reign over my armory, and that thought utterly terrifies me.¡± ¡°How¡¯s she doing?¡± ¡°Trying to be her dad. She¡¯s back to being a little ray of sunshine, but there¡¯s still some dimming on the edges,¡± she says with a soft smile. ¡°I try, Trish.¡± ¡°She could be a Valkyrie someday. She has the motivation and the strength.¡± ¡°Maybe. But, I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s what I want. I don¡¯t know if that is what Takoshi would have wanted for her, either.¡± she presses her fingernails into her arm gently at that mention, and shakes her head as if warding off a noxious fume. ¡°I¡¯ll be back, as soon as I can.¡± The door closes, and Trisha continues to rebuild her body. Nothing is going to stop her from tearing apart the whole mage criminal underworld to find who did this to her family, and those who threaten the lives of so many others.
It was nearly a year before Trisha was back up to fighting form and she felt like she was even close to her original strength, and testing out her dragon form. Davo¡¯s toxic weapon however, had left the transformation process as something of a painful effort¨Ca lingering side effect. Every time she transformed, it was an agonizing pain, not the gentle shift of bones, organs and muscles. But she powered through it every time, to get back to fighting form and sparring against Kiera, Gale, and Malena. How they managed to keep this secret of her survival was beyond her¨Cespecially with Kiera in such close contact with Drenar and Evan regularly. Maybe she has been asking too much of her. She¡¯s been testing out the prosthetic¨Ca golem arm that is made of flexible silver plating that sort of resembles the banding patterns of her own silver and azure-colored scales. And most importantly, it would ¡®scale¡¯ with her. She chuckled at the unintentional pun, and Kiera glanced at her with curiosity. ¡°Trish, was that a smile?¡± ¡°Briefly,¡± she said with a contented sigh. ¡°It has been frustrating to not be able to go onto social media of any kind. Or any digital device for this long. But I think I¡¯m back up to fighting form. Luminari is still stashed away?¡± ¡°In my armory. Why?¡± ¡°Because I think I need to find someone else to carry it.¡± Kiera lets out a sound of surprise. ¡°Kiera, King said things that I don¡¯t know if I fully understand them, but he knows things that no one else should, or can. We have two objectives.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Find out who is supposed to carry it next. Because I don¡¯t know if my sword arm will be anywhere near as good with the golem arm.¡± she flexes the limb uneasily, and the fingers press gently against her good arm. She gets some force feedback, but¡­it¡¯s not the same as the original. It might be possible to regenerate the arm, but it does come with some risks, and she doesn¡¯t want to be in another vulnerable state anytime soon. ¡°I need to think about that one for a bit. I don¡¯t know if I can be the Champion, in my current state.¡± ¡°Trish.¡± Kiera walks up to her, and puts a gentle hand on her shoulder. She¡¯s smiling faintly, like she always does. ¡°You are our Champion. You always will be. I will always be honored to know that my lifelong friend has taken on an impossible task with such grace, calm, and dignity. I¡¯ve done my best to act in your stead, but I¡¯ve just been keeping the seat warm for you. When this is all over, and the men who did this to you face justice, I think you¡¯ll find no one will object to you taking over the helm again.¡± ¡°Or I might retire and start a bakery.¡± Kiera laughs at this, and claps her shoulder gently to steady herself. ¡°Hah. Don¡¯t let Malena ever hear that one.¡± Kiera stops with her laughter, and firms up once more. ¡°So, what¡¯s our next move?¡± ¡°We turn over every stone we can to find an in¨Cto the Talons, to the Conclave, or both of them, if they¡¯re the same. Then I follow the leads until I find Davos, or whoever his clients are.¡± She grips the prosthetic fingers firmly, and makes a resolute vow. ¡°Then, I kill every single one of them, so they never threaten those we care about again.¡± She tightens her grip on the small crystalline shard that had been in the evidence locker. From the same place that the hard drive had come from, still not fully decrypted. Eddard had died for it. But this shard¡­it still glows after almost three years. It¡¯s unheard of. It has to mean something. But for now, she¡¯s going to double it as a message with the small emitter system that Kiera slowly sets up by the table. Kiera nods solemnly at her before stepping back, arms folded across her chest. ¡°Are you sure about this, Trish? What if we can¡¯t fix this world? What if it¡¯s already too late to stop what is in motion with the Conclave? Or whoever is pulling the strings?¡± ¡°Then we fight the monsters, like we always do.¡± She takes a calm breath, before glancing down at the recording device, now primed to etch this message in this crystal. ¡°Promise me that if they find out¡­you won¡¯t get in their way to find me. I know Drenar always has had a good heart, same as Julia.¡± ¡°Laresten is training Drenar and Angela. They¡¯re¡­talented, Trish.¡± She doesn¡¯t say anything more on the matter. ¡°I thought we promised we wouldn¡¯t let our kids have to fight our battles.¡± ¡°A promise I still hope to fulfill. Are you sure this man you know can get us an introduction to the Talons? Will they recognize me?¡± ¡°No. I had Gale run the best tech to ensure you¡¯re a ghost in every system. ID scanner systems and even magical detection systems won¡¯t pick you up, not with your golem arm. This, I presume, is going to have to be played carefully. So, make this count Trish. I don¡¯t want this message to be a final farewell. To them¡­or to me.¡± Kiera closes the door of the small home office in the safe house where she¡¯s been spending the past few weeks getting ready. She rubs at her temples gently, before pressing the activation button, and the crystal hums with life. She¡¯s made one small adjustment. She has a theory on the crystal. On why it behaves differently. She changes it so only one person will be able to access this memory. I hope I¡¯m wrong. I hope that it isn¡¯t her. She speaks slowly as the recording captures her likeness, and prepares for what may be her last recorded message to her sons. ¡°Drenar, Evan, if you¡¯re hearing this, then you¡¯ve found someone capable of retrieving the message from this shard of mana that you¡¯re holding¡­¡±
Click here for the next chapter on Patreon! Vol. 3, Ch. 142: Message In A Crystal Bottle Christmastime should have been filled with festivities, friends, and coziness. Drenar wasn¡¯t feeling any of that when he sat down with the rest of his friends in the living room of Nick¡¯s house, with the warm-colored woods and simple but comfortable furniture. Joey is sitting next to him, dressed in a sweater and jeans, her hair tied back. Julia is in her usual midnight black attire, and rubbing her hands together uneasily. James is¡­looking like a scarecrow, like usual. Angela is sitting looking calm and collected adjacent to him on the other couch. He glances out the windows, and sees snow falling for the second time this week¨Che¡¯d rather be snowboarding, training, fighting monsters, or engaging in a one-man army mission against Valosterla than doing this. And the object of his focus is the metal and brass-colored lockbox that Diane had given him earlier in the day, press-lipped and looking grim. She¡¯d told him only he and Evan could open it¨Cher mother had put some kind of magical contingency on it, and he kept hesitating to stand up and open it. ¡°You know this is gonna be bad news.¡± Evan, with auburn hair and green eyes dimmed by the prospect of one last message from their mother, is looking at the device with dread on the glass coffee table. ¡°We should just not listen to it. We know she¡¯s alive. And buried deep cover in whatever the hell she¡¯s doing, chasing the Talons and the Conclave.¡± ¡°She left it for us, Evan. We have to open it,¡± Drenar responded after a moment of hesitation. He hasn¡¯t felt unease like this since almost two months ago. Diane had tried to open it a few days after the events of Asqualia, but was unable to open it. Kyle had taken an arcane torch to it and it didn¡¯t even warm the metal. They¡¯d tried a few other efforts before giving up¨Cdamaging the contents would be a very bad idea. ¡°Maybe she left us last instructions on who was after her, or what she was working on, or¨C¡± ¡°Drenar, for all we know, it could be just a last farewell.¡± Evan has this deep haunted look on his face. ¡°Her last words, in case anything happened to her. You¡¯re hopelessly optimistic at times, you know that?¡± ¡°Someone has to be.¡± He clears his throat, why does this room seem so uncomfortably dry and warm right now? It¡¯s not because of the fireplace going in the background, either. He reaches for the lockbox and then pulls his hand at the last second. No one comments on it¨Cthey all must know how hard this is going to be. ¡°Drenar, you¡¯ve got this. We¡¯re all here,¡± Joey says firmly, and rises from her seat to put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Even if it was a last farewell before she went off on an impossible mission, she still loved and cared about you guys.¡± ¡°Yeah. I know. It¡¯s just¡­maybe not knowing this would be for the better.¡± But, he knows what is going to win out, eventually. He has to find answers. The lock box had glowed after his eighteenth birthday¨Ca sign that his mother had intended for it to only be opened at a certain time, and he knew that moment was there for over a week. He reaches for the small reader on the side, and there¡¯s a slight glow of arcane runes across the surface, shimmering blue lights that fade to motes of magical dust. The lock clicks open, and everyone leans forward in their seat as he pulls out a single, simple yellowed envelope, with bulky contents. It appears to be sealed, and he takes Remari, cuts the envelope open gently, and shakes the contents out. What surprises him is that it¡¯s a shard of mana crystal, glowing faintly in his hand. He glances at the strange blue shard in his hand, and he shows it to the assembled team. Even Kiera is here, along with Nick and Levine. Kyle is the first to speak. ¡°What the hell? Why¡¯s it still glowing?¡± ¡°Is this a problem?¡± Drenar asks hesitantly. Kyle lets out a soft exhale before pointing at it¨Che looks strange without his beard, and maybe one too many incidents of singing it with that hell-level oven of his had finally taught him some common sense. But his eyes are focused on the crystal. ¡°They should be inert within days. Why¡¯s it glowing?¡± Joey taps the crystal with a finger, and it makes a small, crystalline chime, calm and pleasing. ¡°That¡¯s not true. We¡¯ve seen one location where the shards didn¡¯t seem to fade, even after being severed from the main crystal growth. That weird growth over by Drenar¡¯s home. Strange that we run into another batch of it just like that, after all this time.¡± ¡°Either way, she handed us a magical rock and no instructions.¡± James finally finishes his pose with steepled fingers like he¡¯s been deep in thought, and throws his hands into his light-colored hoodie. He looks decently filled out for two months of nonstop training, though his hands are still not quite as hardened and calloused as his own. ¡°Drenar, anything else in the box?¡± ¡°No. Nothing.¡± He showed it to the team. ¡°Uh, is this a little anti-climatic, or is it just me?¡± ¡°Trisha told me nothing about what was in this box,¡± Kiera says while looking a little annoyed. ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to establish communications with her. The only sign I know that she¡¯s alive is that I know she¡¯s been sending out a covert heartbeat signal. One that only I know, from back when we were younger.¡± ¡°What signal?¡± ¡°A message for me that she hid within a small communicator. One-way only. Things that only she could know about me.¡± Kiera folded her arms and smoothed her raven-black hair. ¡°I can tell you this much, now. I think she¡¯s going after the big fish in the Talons or the Conclave. The danger is still there, it hasn¡¯t gone anywhere in six years. If anything, it has gotten worse.¡± ¡°Why would she give us a mana shard?¡± Angela asks. ¡°It makes no sense. Can you encode information onto them?¡± Levine closes the distance, takes the shard in his hand, and examines it with a discerning eye. He hands it back to Drenar after a second. Strangely, he can still feel a trickle of power from it. ¡°You can. But this is a raw mana crystal. Putting data, memories, or other information onto it takes effort and detailed imprinting magitech. You¡¯re not going to get much out of that sadly, if anything.¡± ¡°This is bullshit. She left us a freaking rock!¡± Julia fumes like he knew she would, and throws up her arms, eyes flashing light lightning. ¡°It¡¯s like the final insult of the adults not telling the kids shit and putting us in danger nonstop!¡± ¡°Julia, not to be nuanced, but you are quite good at putting yourself in danger.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t lecture me, Mom. I held off a couple of dozen Talons soldiers while firing a thirty kilo M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun and crisping a few of those black souled fiends.¡± She retreats further into her hoodie, and Drenar can¡¯t help but feel, she might have a point. He turns the crystal in his hand, looking for something¨Canything¨Cto indicate there¡¯s more to it than what he¡¯s seeing. ¡°It has to mean something, guys. Whatever she worked on was so important, the people she was up against were so dangerous, that she couldn¡¯t even name their names yet.¡± Angela rises from her seat and extends her hand¨Cfor some reason this caused the crystal to glow brighter. ¡°Uh, Angie, why''s it reacting to you?¡± She puffs a strand of brown hair away from her face, and gives him this quizzical look. ¡°I¡¯m the crystal queen or something, have you guys not noticed? Maybe that¡¯s my superpower.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a superpower, that¡¯s a title,¡± James counters softly. ¡°Also, I thought we all agreed that handling mana crystals was a bad idea, because we don¡¯t know what supercharging your body¨Cor whatever it is you do¨Cis good for your health. It could give you magical cancer.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Bite me, James. I spent the first five years of my life on the verge of death. Nothing can ever come close to that.¡± Drenar feels this sudden urge to test this out. Did¡­did his mother know about Angela¡¯s strange interactions with the crystals? Then again, her parents didn¡¯t¨C-though they are currently in lockdown and have been utterly useless, and press-lipped about that shard in her heart. They said it was a miracle and dumb luck. He doesn¡¯t buy that for a minute. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s try this. Angela, hold this for a moment?¡± ¡°I mean it¡¯s probably going to react like¨C¡± The second she picks it up out of his hand, light surges from the crystals, and glowing lines etch their way up her hand, and down below her shirt sleeve and the glow is visible through the fabric. She goes rigid and holds the crystal steady¨Cthere¡¯s that ringing again, and he can feel Luminari vibrating nearby on the equipment table. That glow intensifies, and a small leak of blue mana seeps out of the crystal and forms into a small silhouette of a human face. It forms a roughly humanoid head and upper torso, little motes of light constructing an image in three-dimensional space. When the form starts to finalize, he feels a pang of heartache when he sees his mother in the closest he¡¯s seen to her likeness in six years, apart from some old photographs and videos. Joey grips his shoulder firmly, lavender eyes wide in disbelief. Then, that familiar avatar of his mother forms. She doesn¡¯t look like she¡¯s aged a day physically, with her long, braided dark brown hair, or her gleaming green eyes, or even with the play of freckles on her cheeks and neck. But, it¡¯s the way she carries her presence, that she looks like she¡¯s aged a bit. Then, that small image speaks. ¡°Drenar, Evan, if you¡¯re hearing this, then you¡¯ve found someone capable of retrieving the message from this shard of mana that you¡¯re holding.¡± That sound of her voice¨Clike someone one with the spirit of the earth, deep and resonating, fills the room, and everyone looks on in silent awe. She looks out at an invisible audience and is smiling faintly. Even with the stump of her left arm. Though, it¡¯s not entirely accurate¨Ca metal and plastic prosthetic limb is attached at the point where Davos severed it in their last battle, and those little golem fingers twitch as she brings a hand up to her mouth, a soft sigh escapes on her lips. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I just¨Cthis is a difficult moment, even for me.¡± She pauses as if glancing at something in the background. ¡°I must have rehearsed this a hundred times, but it never prepares you for the moment when you have to make your choices matter. Just like this one.¡± Angela looks on in awe, holding steady as that slight blue light is now visible across her body, ever so faintly. But she doesn¡¯t appear in distress, as his mother continues to speak. ¡°For reasons you will soon discover, there are many things I can¡¯t tell you, for the risk of discovery of what information I can give you. It¡¯s currently October of 2021. I was in a coma for two years, and rehabilitation for another year. I am indeed alive. I was given a brief rundown of what happened from Kiera, and¡­¡± A soft sob escapes her lips¨Cit might be the first time he¡¯s seen her like this, so vulnerable, so unlike this unstoppable titan of a hero he¡¯d built up in his head. If anything, it only accentuated those moments more. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, kids. I put you all through hell, in the interest of taking care of the threat to us, once and for all. Now you¡¯re all left to pick up the pieces that we, the people that are supposed to keep the world safe, couldn¡¯t do for so many years.¡± No you didn¡¯t. You did exactly what I needed you to do, Mom. To survive. To give us hope. He looks on silently, and grips Joey¡¯s hand tightly. He doesn¡¯t know how long he can keep his composure through this, but it¡¯s not going to be for long. ¡°I love you two, so very much. I suppose as of this viewing if you¡¯ve managed to unlock it, then you will likely know from Diane and Dave that I kept secrets from my family, to protect them from the dangers of the mage world. You may already be Awakened by this point, so that dragon is out of the bag.¡± ¡°Way out of the bag,¡± Evan mutters, but Jackie gives him a gentle smack. ¡°What, I¡¯m not allowed to throw some shade?¡± ¡°Just listen,¡± Jackie states with thinly veiled irritation. Drenar¡¯s mother takes a moment to collect her thoughts, before gazing out at the unseen source of the image. ¡°Drenar, Evan, I am what you call a Valkyrie. A warrior of the mage world, part of a collection of brave women¨Cand a few men¨Cwho act as the guardians of our world against those who would destroy our world and way of life. Our order has been established for a long, long time. My grandmother was a Champion of the order, and though I carry her title, I will always feel like I could never live up to her greatness, or those who came before her. I may be a dragon, but I still have the same beating heart of humanity in me as everyone else.¡± He smiles faintly at this, before she continues. ¡°I left instructions with Kiera as a contingency, should anything happen to me. Know that you can be proud of the battles we have fought for a better world, to bring decency and untroubled dreams to all Kin, not just those in the seats of power. We have been doing so since the First Champion rose from the ruins of a destroyed dragon empire to lead us against the threats of the Outsiders¡ªour first challenge, of many, and possibly the one that has yet to be surpassed. ¡°I wish I could have told you all of this myself, but all our plans for a gentle introduction into the mage world¡­and who you are¡­were interrupted after the attack on your father and me. Your father did not survive it. I will not rest until the man who led to his death, and those who employed him, meet the justice due to them¨Cat the hands of the blade of justice. A relic of the Valkyries, dating to the time of Gaia, our first Chosen.¡± She pulls the blade of Luminari with effortless fluidity into view, and the blade¡¯s runes are lit up with a glowing green light¡­just like when he holds it. Almost as if in response, he hears the blade ringing faintly on the nearby bench. It¡¯s like it¡¯s still connected to her, even without her physical presence. ¡°This is the blade of the Valkyries, Luminari, the edge of justice for our world against those with dark hearts and darker minds. While its edge cut many a vile foe down, its powers to bring soothing healing to this world cannot be understated, either. I pray you never have to wield it, Drenar. Or anyone else who hears her calling. To be called upon her, is to hear the words of a Champion long since fallen, who stood for everything good and just in this world. ¡°In the month before the attack that left me badly wounded and in a coma, you said you could hear a ringing sound. A crystalline chime, and I had dismissed it as just something that happens from time to time, ears playing tricks on us. I should have known that you could hear the call of Gaia¡­just like I did, when the sword first called to me.¡± He did remember that, but only because she¡¯d prompted that memory. A low ringing that he heard from time to time, when he was listening to music. His mother pauses and flexes that artificial hand. It has surprisingly human proportions with flexing metal plating and rests her arms calmly on some working surface in front of her¨Cnot captured by the crystal. ¡°Drenar, your future is tied to this relic, now. I believe there is a reason it is calling out to you, and others. Danger is coming for us all, and only the Valkyries and those who share in their unwavering bravery stand a chance of putting a stop to it. But we have been held by inaction, an inability to grasp at the danger that comes for us all, because we didn¡¯t think such hatred and malcontent could come from those who should be our guardians and representatives¡ªthose who seek to control the mage world, and by proximity, everyone. ¡°Now, listen carefully. The mana shard in your possession, the person who can make the data on it visible¡­I think it¡¯ll be someone very close to you and Julia. And I have my suspicions of who it might be, but I cannot say with a hundred percent certainty. See to it that this blade finds its way to them, when the moment calls for it. Because if that person perishes, I believe the world will die with them.¡± All eyes are on Angela, who looks stunned. ¡°Uh, she must be confusing me with some other destined child, right?¡± she asks with a fake laugh. No one else is laughing. In fact, Drenar feels an unsettling rock in the pit of his stomach hearing, all of this. His mother lets out a soft exhale and shakes her head, eyes closed in concentration. ¡°The second thing I must impart: I know you are brave, and strong Drenar, and with the right plan and patience, you and Julia can do anything. I just wish this burden didn¡¯t fall upon you. No parent should have to ask so much of someone so young. But the call of Gaia is something even I don¡¯t understand yet. She is alive. She must be found. The key to her survival lies in the blade she once wielded, and it has been slowly getting more¡­vocal¡­in the past few years. I have a feeling I know why. Gaia herself is threatened by the actions of those who seek to control the mage world. They are looking for secrets that are best not unburied.¡± He can¡¯t even find it in himself to snark on this one¨Chis mother is tasking him with this? To find a goddess that he quite frankly can¡¯t even wrap his head around, or is fully convinced is real? Or, that she believes that Gaia exists somewhere? It¡¯s taking all his effort not to shout, or fold inward from this information. ¡°The last bit of information may not make sense. I pray it never does. But, should you chance an encounter with the man who calls himself a Kingmaker¡­¡± ¡°Trust him as if your life depended on it.¡± Those words shock everyone in the room, and his mother graciously looks forward, as if she¡¯d had the forethought to wait for reaction to take hold. She lets out a small laugh. ¡°I hope I¡¯m wrong on that one. I hope you never have to face these monsters, Drenar. This is not the world I wanted you to enter unprepared¨Clet alone, have to defend against those who make a mockery of justice and decency, and kill without remorse. I hope I have given you the insight that you need to do what it is I think you will do. ¡°Be a light to guide the way. Carry a beacon to a better tomorrow." Almost as if on cue, she reaches for something in the foreground, and the image fades into evaporating blue motes that drift through the air in an unseen wind. The silence in the room as everyone stares at Angela is deafening, and she blinks. ¡°Uh¡­that was something.¡± But her soft deflection doesn¡¯t hide the slight fear he sees in her eyes. Vol. 3, Ch. 143: Vision Quest Joey has to more than gently nudge Drenar to get a reaction from him. He decides a seat is a far better option than falling on the floor, and the couch no longer feels welcoming. He just stares at the lockbox, and then the crystal that is now dim in Angela¡¯s hand. The crystal clatters almost instinctively back into the lockbox, glowing a dim blue with an internal light highlighting its inner intricacies. ¡°Drenar? You alright over there?¡± Angela asks, looking warily at him. ¡°Nope. I am so far beyond not alright, Angie. I think you might want to take a seat, too.¡± He can¡¯t comprehend this series of information. His mother¡¯s sword was calling out to him almost seven years ago? There¡¯s a connection between Angela, and whatever is going on? Julia sets the tempo and rises up out of her seat to grab Angela and gently guide her to a seat. ¡°Okay, group therapy first, then a debrief, then I¡¯m gonna go grab Matilda and go hunting that smug bastard King. He¡¯s so dead.¡± ¡°Putting holes through all our problems doesn¡¯t exactly solve them,¡± Nick retorts casually. ¡°It¡¯ll solve mine,¡± she snaps. Drenar shakes his head, trying to process this. He¡¯s just going to have to do the impossible with the rest of his friends. Like usual. But for once, he feels like this challenge is within reach. And if it brings him one step closer to getting his mom home in one piece, he¡¯ll do whatever it takes to make it happen. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll start. What the hell, Kiera?¡± he demands. She shrugs lightly. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me. She kept this one so close to the chest, she didn¡¯t even tell me.¡± ¡°You guys suck with informational control.¡± He lets out a frustrated exhale. ¡°Look, I need to know if the Talons are my biggest problem right now, or the Conclave. We just confirmed that King is playing his own game, where he thinks he¡¯s coming out on top.¡± ¡°Could this all be tied to the Kilnstar¡¯noth?¡± Angela asks, and is uneasily examining her hand. The faint lines of mana have already disappeared, and Julia more than subtly guides her to the couch where she sits down. ¡°I mean¡­it could be a coincidence, right? I mean why would she leave such an impossible to decipher message in a crystal in a lockbox for several years? Surely, she must have been expecting someone else.¡± ¡°Weird shit happens around you guys on a routine basis,¡± Kyle comments with a surly look on his face, and he rubs at where his nonexistent beard is. Still a habit, apparently. ¡°Kiera, did you know about the shard in Angela?¡± ¡°No. That was not known to me, either. Though I do question if it''s related.¡± She rises up and keeps that composed look¨Cshe kind of has to, given that she leads the biggest group of badass warriors on the planet. ¡°Well, I think we have some more things to look at. Drenar, Evan, if you two need a moment, I would understand that¨C¡± ¡°We have work to do.¡± Angela is the first to snap out of it, with a hardened look on her face, and she turns to Joey. ¡°I know we haven¡¯t done a lot of bloodwork on me, but there is something about me that literally resonates with Luminari. She¡¯s going off like an alarm bell right now.¡± To her, it might be that loud. It¡¯s strange how he can hear it, too, but in a more muted capacity. ¡°Angie, are you sure you¨C¡± Joey stops when she sees Angela¡¯s determined expression, and the way she looks tough as nails with the way she ties back her hair. He kind of liked it when she let it down, though. Angela is already marching for the door. ¡°I¡¯ve got parents to go chew out. Care to join me?¡± ¡°Oh, I wouldn¡¯t miss this one for the world,¡± Joey says before she springs out of the chair, and is lockstep behind her. ¡°Drenar, you might want to hold onto that crystal closely. I doubt that¡¯s the only reason your mom left that thing to you and Evan.¡± ¡°Yeah, but¨C¡± he glances around and just thrusts it into his jeans pocket for now. He¡¯s sure that there must be more to this, mom would never leave such a shaky backup plan unless was sure there was a chance for them to pull this off. ¡°Alright, before I mentally lose it, let¡¯s get this done.¡± A minute later, a shouting match is underway from Angela with her mother, who is unapologetic in the face of accusations. Drenar just grimaces as she lays out every grievance¨Cthis house is not built to contain Angela¡¯s wrath, in the very few times she¡¯d invoked it, and she is furious. ¡°You haven¡¯t said anything for two months! Time to come clean!¡± she snarls. ¡°Natural miracle, my ass! You think you can repeat that line? Or are you more terrified of whoever made this happen for you? There¡¯s no way you two are savvy enough to have saved my life. If my heart was so bad off, why didn¡¯t you two use arcanist healing to take care of it? I did the research, Mom! So did Joey! You could have settled the matter easily!¡± Her mother¡¯s resounding silence quickly tests Drenar¡¯s patience, the same as her father. ¡°Nothing? You have nothing to say? Nothing at all?¡± Angela says, fists clenched tightly. ¡°I¡¯ve spoken on this matter, and I have no further comment,¡± her mother says coldly while sipping a cup of tea, and her father looks on like he¡¯s going to hit his break point of patience. ¡°You were miraculously healed by the surgery. It was a success.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re still going to live in denial? Typical. I shouldn¡¯t expect a word of honesty out of you. Working with the enemy,¡± she snarls, and more than a few draconic scales emerge on her hand. Drenar lets out a soft sigh, he should step in, but her mother deserves a chewing out like no one else. ¡°Prosthetics and medical research? Are you willing to hold out now? Screw it, I¡¯m done with you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s no way to treat your mother,¡± her dad, Alan, says with a brushing of his dark hair away from his temple. They¡¯ve been mostly in lockdown, same as Diane and Dave, ever since this whole endeavor began, and they haven¡¯t gotten out much. He¡¯s getting impatient as well. ¡°We explained this, we worked on some alchemical work for them that had other purposes within the industrial field. A way to decompose mana crystals in the body without causing harmful effects.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Wait. Why would that be helpful to them?¡± Joey snaps her fingers as if this is interesting. ¡°Look, standard mana crystal you find in the earth is one thing, but the structure is completely different when produced by biological sources. What chemical process is this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a chemical formula and a process far beyond the Talons¡¯ capabilities, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about,¡± Angela¡¯s father replies. ¡°We just know that MI has an ¡®in perpetuity¡¯ clause in their contracts, and when you were all on your misadventure, we erred on the side of caution and avoided them where possible.¡± ¡°Any idea why they would want to break down crystals?¡± James queried. ¡°I mean isn¡¯t there already a way to do that, with mana primer?¡± ¡°Mana primer is basically ground down mana crystals. It¡¯s like a blank slate, you can do whatever you want with it, whether that be runes, enchantment work, or magical crafting. Once imbued into other materials, its effects should be permanent, with an occasional recharge of mana energy,¡± Kyle explains. ¡°Still, I have a theory.¡± ¡°Lay it on us,¡± Joey says, snapping to attention. ¡°What if they wanted to liquify the crystals, make it something like a molten salt reactor? Emulsifying it might be possible at low temperatures with the right destructive agents. But, I¡¯m confused on what possible use they¡¯d have for it. Do you have any theories about the end use?¡± Kyle flips the question back to Alan. He shakes his head. ¡°No. I do not. I just know they pushed for it. And they were willing to spend a lot of money on it. Gross sums of money. We worked on that project for three years, and just completed it prior to the attack on Asqualia.¡± Angela leers at her mother, as if trying to put pieces together. ¡°Oh, I get it. I was a human guinea pig, wasn¡¯t I? Was that your plan? Is that what the secret is? You¡¯re both ethically and morally bankrupt! I¡¯m so done with you two.¡± Drenar is giving a long thought to this¨Cwhy does this mana shard resonate when Luminari is close? There must be connections here that he¡¯s missing, or there¡¯s a vital piece of information he¡¯s missing. Either way, he gets this feeling it¡¯s not going to be solved¨Cshort of coercing the information out of Celes. He gets the feeling that if even Kiera can¡¯t bully or threaten the information out of them, then he¡¯ll have even less luck. Still, it¡¯s time to try a tactic his mother wouldn¡¯t approve of. ¡°Joey, how many tests can you run for mana?¡± he asks suddenly. ¡°A lot. Why?¡± ¡°How long?¡± he presses. She tilts her head, then shrugs. ¡°A few days. Some of them take longer to get results than others,¡± she says and brushes a strand of wavy red hair out of her face. ¡°Celes, you have until these test results come back to tell me what I want. If you fail to come clean with us on what you know, you¡¯re out.¡± Drenar points to the front door for emphasis. ¡°Good luck hiding from the Talons, or whoever else you pissed off with this.¡± Celes stammers, eyes wide. ¡°You¨Cyou dare?!¡± ¡°Celes, If I have to repeat myself one more time, you¡¯re gonna see a side of me you wish you didn¡¯t. I¡¯m done being patient. I have no reason to hold you here if you have nothing to hide. Isn¡¯t that right, Levine?¡± ¡°Correct,¡± he says with a hint of a smile. ¡°I do believe that¡¯s within our power.¡± ¡°You¡¯d throw us out?!¡± Celes is up on her feet, grey-blue eyes narrowed and focused on Drenar. ¡°You are no son of Trisha, if you think you can threaten me like that.¡± ¡°And what kind of mother lies to protect her own ass? At least my mother came clean¡­in a way. I think you can do the same here.¡± Throwing some shade back at the parents felt like a guilty pleasure to him. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this!¡± Celes protests. James is fighting back a smirk, Angela looks like a menace, arms crossed and glaring at both of her parents. ¡°I-I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll report all of you!¡± ¡°Bold of you to assume I give a shit about that,¡± Drenar states calmly. ¡°You can¡¯t push around your kids, lead them blindly their whole life, and not expect consequences.¡± ¡°Celes, tell them.¡± Alan finally hits his break point. ¡°You never told me the details of what happened that day, and you knew I wouldn¡¯t agree with whatever you had planned.¡± ¡°What day?¡± Angela asked, eyes narrowed. ¡°The day you died.¡± He¡¯s unapologetic in his glare at Celes. ¡°Or, maybe we can lead with the other secret you¡¯ve been holding, Celes.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare.¡± She points upwards at her husband, and it¡¯s almost amusing to Drenar when he seems unphased by that gesture right under his nose. ¡°We are past the point where you should have come clean about this, and our kids deserve to know. Tell them, or I will.¡± His stern gaze is unflinching. ¡°Your call.¡± ¡°Fine!¡± Angela¡¯s mother snarls, and leers at her husband, not even bothering to turn while addressing the room. ¡°I¡¯m elven. And I¡¯m a lot older than my late thirties, let¡¯s just say.¡± James stammers a few words, Angela stands there as stoic as ever, and lets out a tsk sound. ¡°Hey Drenar, add it to our bingo card. Pretty sure we have every major kin species represented on the team now,¡± she states with remarkable calm, her eyes never leaving her mother. ¡°Who¡¯s the wargen?¡± Kyle queries. ¡°Most of them,¡± Joey corrects. Drenar does note that she glances in Nick and Levine¡¯s direction¨Cwait¨Cdid he just miss an important reveal? {Do yourself a favor Drenar, don¡¯t unpack that one just yet. I keep forgetting you¡¯re super observant with little details like that.} Joey¡¯s less-than-subtle warning causes him to roll his eyes. This girl has hair brighter than the Wendy¡¯s girl, and he has yet to switch out her cinnamon scent with something that smells like fast food fries. She whirls around and furrows her brow while he wears a calm expression. {I¡¯m doing that, by the way.} He tries to look at her innocently, but it falls flat. {Do it, and you¡¯re so dead.} Her acidic thought is interrupted when Angela throws up her hands in frustration. ¡°Great Mom, thanks for that, too! Holy shit, I would have lived to be...wait, how the hell long do elves live again? Is it a thousand years or something?¡± ¡°Two,¡± Joey adds with a sidelong glance at Drenar, and sends him a private message. {That girl is gonna need ice cream, and a hell of a lot of hugs after this. I¡¯ll get Julia to take care of those. I recall you two had¡­history?} {It was five minutes! I mean, she¡¯s always been¡­you know, there. We kinda grew together for a while. But then it got awkward.} Drenar gently pulls Angela away from grabbing anything sharp, heavy, or simply using her telekinetics to rip her mother in half. ¡°I think this is the time for her to stew, and come around to it.¡± ¡°That is no way to talk to the adults!¡± Celes shouts, and points at him accusingly. ¡°This is all your goddamn fault, you stupid, smug, arrogant teenager! You and Julia decided to wreck shit, and bring Angela along for the ride!¡± Drenar laughed in her face, because he knew she was rapidly losing sympathy from anyone in the room. ¡°Yeah, sure, blame me. Because that¡¯s easy. Let¡¯s ignore everything else that you have failed to bring up in a timely manner. Joey, let¡¯s go run some tests, you can chill here Celes¨Coh I¡¯m sorry, missus Shalinde, if you prefer that. I don¡¯t think you want to piss off the one person willing to extend an olive branch to you. So take, it, please?¡± ¡°Good idea. James, care to join?¡± Angela asks, already turning to leave. ¡°What, you have to ask me, sis?¡± he queries with a resigned sigh. ¡°Yeah Mom, you¡¯re being kinda psychotic. Fix that, please. You sound more dysfunctional than Drenar¡¯s family right now, and that¡¯s one hell of an achievement.¡± ¡°Oy, still standing here, Skeletor!¡± he retorts back, and Julia snickers at this comment, even as they all depart the room. Celes fumes and makes empty threats that he promptly ignores. He¡¯s done being pushed around. It¡¯s time to stop being driven, and time to lead, and that means he¡¯s getting answers. Vol. 3, Ch. 144: Amateur Engineer Hour Later in the evening, Drenar is still trying to process this all. Except he really can¡¯t. He¡¯s busy being an arcanist and trying to make use of one of a few crafts he¡¯s gotten pretty good at: Arcanist tinkering. With some trial and error efforts, he''s been able to channel his mana into a strange fluid that he could ¡®sweat¡¯ out so to speak, from his hands. Joey had explained that due to the crystalline lattice inside their bodies, dragons and most Kin could channel energy to become externalized in a form of fluidified mana. But usually, only a trickle at a time. Today¡¯s experiment: he¡¯s going to make a concussion grenade. An empty canister that matched the ones in Joey¡¯s alchemical hopper system is sitting disassembled, but he''s deep in focus, trying to will the mana to his hand. It¡¯s working¡­slowly. He feels a trickle of sweat across his brow. He¡¯s a freaking dragon, this shouldn¡¯t be this hard to get more than a few drops of the stuff! He lets out a heavy breath and flexes his hand when the strain of the process becomes too much. It¡¯s one thing to take his mind off of that final message from Mom that he¡¯s still trying to figure out what it meant. Whether she¡¯d meant some kind of coded ulterior message that only he could figure out. He¡¯s drawing a blank on this one. Mom had never been that subtle with things, coded messages weren¡¯t her style. A gentle knock on the bedroom door gets his attention, and a whiff of cinnamon betrays who¡¯s outside. ¡°Joey, come on in.¡± She walks in calmly while holding her hands tightly around a datapad. ¡°I¡¯m not being antisocial. I just needed a little while to focus on something.¡± ¡°Making non-lethal munitions, practicing arcanistry, trying to ignore that your mom dumped a ¡®save the world¡¯ scenario in your lap? Yeah, I totally get that one.¡± She sits down at the extended bench seat, shoulder more than subtly bumping into him. She''s at least looking a little less grim as she places the arcanist datapad on the table of strewn equipment, tools, spare parts, and the accumulated sweat¨Cfigurative and literal¨Cof the harnessed mana. He¡¯ll have to dilute it into that gel she uses for some of her alchemical reagents, it should be useful for a non-lethal blast that should knock people off their feet. She is also, surprisingly, in her kitsune form, with bright red fur, carefully trimmed claws, and that poofy tail of hers. She nudges him again with her shoulder while he¡¯s bent over the bench, trying to put a canister together. ¡°Hey, engineer at work,¡± he protests lightheartedly. She responds by pouting with her fox-like muzzle and narrowing her eyes at him. ¡°Oh, no. Don¡¯t give me the look. The look doesn¡¯t work on me.¡± ¡°The look always works on you! Julia¡¯s been doing the same thing for years, and you never noticed!¡± He hates how fast she is picking up on people, even without the psionic link. She nudges a component he¡¯s been looking for, and he hastily reassembles the alchemical cartridge blank. ¡°You know, it¡¯s strange, seeing your mom like that. So close, yet so far away.¡± ¡°She must be after really big sharks if she can¡¯t even name names or dare a trip home,¡± he adds while examining the triggering mechanism of the cartridge. It¡¯s just poorly designed, it opens too slowly. He needs a faster trigger to make effective use of a concussive round, where the distribution matters. A higher spring rate, or a faster piston setup should work. ¡°I¡¯ll bet it¡¯s some high-up official. Maybe the head of the Conclave. Because that¡¯s usually how it works. Person at the top is this corrupted official who got a taste for power, and then didn¡¯t want to let go.¡± Joey laughs at that, even as she hands him a screwdriver for assembling the munition back together. ¡°Drenar, seriously, you¡¯re so young! The problem isn¡¯t one of them, it¡¯s kind of all of them, to be fair!¡± ¡°You¡¯re part of a marginalized species. I was hoping the problem was only one person. One person I could just punch in the face repeatedly, until they saw the error of their ways.¡± She rolls her eyes at this. ¡°You¡¯ll run out of fists to throw before you run out of people to knock some common sense into, young dragon-wan.¡± ¡°Ew. I hate that nickname. It¡¯s so dirty sounding,¡± he retorts back. ¡°Oh, I need that set screw.¡± She passes the fastener to him before he finishes buttoning up the reusable munition, and he examines it intently. He¡¯s been able to mostly dissect her alchemical cartridges, a feat that she and Kyle had worked on for a while. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this contraption only took four months for you guys to put together.¡± She shrugs. ¡°Kyle¡¯s the genius on this one. It was kind of a half-and-half effort. I wanted to have a way to carry an alchemical bench without needing a full lab. So, we reached a compromise: a bunch of pre-mixed canisters I can activate with mana flow.¡± She taps at the hopper design, a boxy contraption that sits on her hip that looks like a gearbox casing¨Calmost. It¡¯s brass and silver plated, with a few small opening ports that open automatically when she passes her hand over a small iris-like opening. A light trace of blue mana emerges over her palm and briefly lights up the fur on her arm, and a small metallic canister casing with a plexiglass outer shell pops out. It¡¯s filled with a dull blue liquid that glows when it lands in her hand. ¡°All I have to do is think of the compound I want, and the rune matrix inside feeds that to the mechanism. It¡¯s built like a rotary hopper inside, and it¡¯s very compact.¡± ¡°Kyle showed me a prototype earlier. It looked complicated,¡± he comments. He looks down at the casing in his hand, and she hands him the cartridge, where he quickly compares the two. ¡°I made a tweak here. I can program in a delay timer with a small trigger rune. Kyle showed me how you can imbue simple magical commands on mage steel to act as triggers. I¡¯m surprised it¡¯s not that difficult.¡± ¡°Magical programming? It¡¯s just cause and effect, in essence,¡± she comments. ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan?¡± ¡°Area traps. I figure, with the way we¡¯re going, we¡¯ll be constantly at a numerical disadvantage, so we¡¯ll have to play this smart. Which means we play like we¡¯re rogues in a Pathfinder session.¡± ¡°Four rogues in a party? It¡¯ll never work,¡± she sighed, before examining the new prototype. ¡°Still, you picked up on this quickly. I¡¯m mildly impressed.¡± ¡°Well,¡± he said as he continued to assemble more of the small devices, ¡°between all the other drama of life, finding out more of what it is to be a half-dragon, and training¡­you need your hobbies in life.¡± ¡°Still thinking about earlier?¡± she asks. He sets down the completed canister, folding his arms while gazing out at the darkened window¨Cthe snow has drifted and accumulated on the sill, and small flakes continue to flutter down. He glances at her and nods after a moment. ¡°Yeah. Mom left a message in a bottle. And that message couldn¡¯t possibly have been made beforehand. Someone updated it, or she sent remote updates to the magical crystalline USB stick. Which is weird, right?¡± ¡°She could not have been happy to find out what Kiera had to do afterward,¡± Joey said quietly while leaning back in the chair, and errantly rubbing at her ear. He raises an eyebrow. ¡°Is that therapeutic?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Your ears.¡± ¡°Oh! Um, I guess, sorta?¡± she shies away her hand and looks embarrassed. ¡°I mean, uh, it¡¯s sort of like rubbing your temples, in a way? I just remember that my mom would do that for me, in the evenings, if I couldn¡¯t sleep when I was a kid. There was a lot of that.¡± ¡°Lack of sleep?¡± he asks. He¡¯s gotten to know her a little bit more at a time over the past two months, and it still feels like he¡¯s got plenty left to learn. ¡°I was reading from a book that Nick lent me that a kitsune doesn''t need as much sleep. And that you¡¯re night owls.¡± ¡°Well, partially true,¡± she says while looking at him with a warm smile. ¡°I think it has more to do with ADHD. I just am naturally allergic to sleep or something! I mean, I do need some sleep. But 5 or 6 hours later, I feel fully rested.¡± ¡°And springing onto my bed to wake me up at four in the morning,¡± he accuses playfully. ¡°You¡¯re like the world''s evilest cat. Or fox, as might be the case.¡± ¡°Oh, no. Cats are still more evil than me,¡± she grins. ¡°Anyway, mom would do that and it would get me to calm down, and after a while, it just became this thing I did, like a stimming mechanism. What else did you read in Nicks¡¯s book, anyway?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Do not think or say anything! Alex whispers in a panicked voice. You cannot be held responsible for the thoughts not¡­thunken? ¡°Yeah, hi Alex, we¡¯re adults now. We can talk about stuff like this.¡± He rubs the bridge of his nose when Joey laughs at this interjection. ¡°I was uh, just reading about kitsune biology. I had questions.¡± ¡°Okay, shoot!¡± ¡°So, you guys transform like dragons do. That¡¯s sort of how all the Kin work with shapeshifting powers.¡± He thoughtfully glances at her. ¡°So, why is it that kitsune in particular still have some subtle traits in their human form?¡± ¡°Like the scent? I dunno. I have to shower once a day. Still annoying,¡± she says with a huff. ¡°A few dragons do have some strange quirks. They have scales in their human form, even though they think they¡¯ve transformed all the way. Or abnormally long fingernails that look like claws. It¡¯s not rare enough to be unheard of.¡± ¡°Well, yes, stuff like that.¡± Does he dare to ask this question? They have gotten a bit closer over the past couple of months. He takes a sharp breath. ¡°So, why is it that um¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re gonna ask how the birds and the bees work, aren¡¯t you.¡± She swishes her tail playfully while smirking. ¡°Well, I can tell you how that works: it¡¯s the same way.¡± Well this was a bad idea, Alex. Told ya. Joey leans in, looking concerned. ¡°You can just ask.¡± ¡°Alright. Say that a dragon and a kitsune¨Cor any Kin, really¨Chave a kid. What usually governs which species their kid would be?¡± he asks in a daring voice, while feeling like his heart should not be going at this speed, ever. ¡°Not to imply that¨C¡± This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. She laughs and claps his shoulder gently as if to steady himself. ¡°You are so adorkable, you know that? You¡¯re getting all worked up over this, because you think it¡¯s embarrassing! It¡¯s not, it¡¯s just arcanist science. Or is it because it¡¯s just me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s you,¡± he says while trying his best to hide his embarrassment. ¡°Look, I am curious. From a purely academic standpoint. I¡¯ve uh¡­got a lot of stuff to catch up on in the mage world. Hell, I¡¯m still trying to figure out what I am, in essence.¡± Her smile softens a little. ¡°Yeah. Might have picked up on that a little.¡± They talk at length about it once he is no longer in fear of being judged, and after a while, the questions come naturally and without resistance. He is fascinated to learn that most Kin are compatible in that way, though which species any children will become is a bit of a random thing. He¡¯s surprised by this, and it does assuage his fears. Somewhat. What¡¯s more surprising, he finds, is that sometimes, they do inherit traits from both parents¨Cthere had been a few documented cases of dragons having psionic powers, but they had been so far and few between, that it was still considered exceptionally rare. Or a kitsune with the regenerative ability of the wargen. Or with the baked-in geomancy that dwarven had. Which, led to another series of questions. ¡°So, the fey are kinda bird people.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t describe it in that way, but okay. They have wings and feathers.¡± ¡°But they can¡¯t fly.¡± ¡°I know, right? They can glide, though. It¡¯s nice to have baked in feather fall. Literally, in this case,¡± she adds with a laugh while he¡¯s sitting at the alchemy bench, and adding his concentrated liquified mana. Which is weird that it¡¯s sort of a liquid, but not? It appears to follow some of the laws of physics, but when he drops it into a beaker for adding to primer gel, it almost forms a gaseous substance that glows with a silver sheen. She points to the beaker. ¡°Looks like it took. Good extraction.¡± ¡°That sounds like a euphemism for something.¡± She stammers for a few seconds, before setting her teeth on edge on her short muzzle when he smiles slyly. ¡°Two can play at this time, Miss Pyromist.¡± ¡°Just don¡¯t call me a magical fox girl like Julia does. Following this practice decreases your risk of accidental alchemical disincorporation,¡± she adds in an empty threat. Especially considering the previous week. She raises an eyebrow. ¡°Reliving a moment?¡± He nods thoughtfully at this. ¡°Yeah, a little bit. Alright, before I lose focus, let¡¯s finish mixing this.¡± A few steps later, he¡¯s got the prepared alchemical agent that he gently pours into the opening port of the canister, and the liquid glows silvery and white. He closes the small opening port, secures it, and examines the completed munition. ¡°You know what the weird part of this magic is? It feels very¡­personal. Intimate, even, to be crafting something that was created from something my body generates naturally.¡± ¡°Mana is mana. Doesn¡¯t matter where it¡¯s generated. But, with your ability of telekinetics infused into it by that extraction technique I taught you? It does feel like a personal creation, doesn¡¯t it?¡± she adds thoughtfully, before taking the canister in her hand. Her fingers more than linger on his hand before taking the canister and giving it a small swirl. The liquid sloshes and tiny blue motes emerge in the fluid, and her expression morphs into curiosity. ¡°Interesting. You extracted plasma elemental energy¨Ca tiny, tiny bit.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to use them too much. Why is that?¡± she shrugs. ¡°Dominant trait. You come from two dragon lineages. Hell, Evan has traces of three. Sometimes it feels like a big bag of dice rolls in life.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a hardcore nerd, aren¡¯t you?¡± he accuses with a smug smile. ¡°Oh yeah, there¡¯s no doubt about that. We should go test this!¡± He glances at the clock, and grimaces. It¡¯s past midnight, and they¡¯ve been at this for a while. And yet, he doesn¡¯t feel too fatigued¨Cit must be a dragon thing, because lack of sleep never seems to hurt him too much. He relents and gets up from the bench, his back feeling a little stiff. ¡°Alright. One test, then bedtime.¡± They work their way out of the decently furnished bedroom, and he looks at the small photo of the team clipped to a posting board, everyone gathered smiling and looking cheery, even in the face of adversity. One big, weird, family of misfits, he thinks with a grin. A short trek later, they¡¯re at the testing range, and Joey places a training dummy into position, and she springs back into position with a flash of red fur, and puts a on a pair of safety goggles. Except these aren¡¯t meant for kitsune, when she tries to place them over her ears and misses. He giggles at that, and she frowns at him. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s a thing. Body dimorphism. Sometimes you forget little things like that if you spend enough time in one form or the other. You keep trying to step like a human when you¡¯re in your dragon form.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t had that much time with it.¡± She does have a point though, and he puts on safety glasses at the range, which is matte concrete and steel reinforcement, and faint score marks are visible in some areas. They¡¯d had to do cleanup lately with their tests of magical abilities, weapons, and other mad magical science, courtesy of Kyle, and Nick had insisted they keep the range looking immaculate. ¡°I mean, it only happens for a minute before my brain remembers. Plus, you wag your hips a bit like you have a tail sometimes.¡± ¡°I do not. Kyle¡¯s lying.¡± He swears her fur gets slightly rosy on her cheeks, where a patch of white fur stretches from her face, down her neck, and along her arms. He glances at her skeptically before she growls. ¡°Let it go, Rashalda. I¡¯ll bite you.¡± ¡°You act like I wouldn¡¯t enjoy that.¡± She stammers for a couple of seconds in angry retort while he primes the munition with an activation of mana, the canister now glowing. ¡°Besides, I think you¡¯d just nibble. Gently.¡± ¡°Ooh, you are so¨Cooh! You are being so bold, you young drake!¡± she says angrily, her footpads tensed on the floor and looking at him with narrowed eyes. ¡°I think you¡¯re letting Alex influence your psyche!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a thing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s totally a thing! Drakensouls sometimes have a personality shift, from the few academic journals I¡¯ve been able to find reputable data on! He might be bleeding into your consciousness, which explains this boldness that you think I¡¯m into you in that way!¡± He laughs softly at that and winds back his arm with the canister readied. He¡¯s hoping this isn¡¯t going to make too much of a noise. ¡°It¡¯s not bold. You do like me in that way.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bond of traumatic events!¡± she protests, grabs a pair of earplugs out of her pocket, and puts them into her fox-like ears. ¡°Also, safety first.¡± ¡°Or, you¡¯re just making excuses for last week, there was no ¡®safety¡¯ there.¡± She growls at him, her tail tensed¨Cshe¡¯s just a little pissed at that one, and he might be pushing the envelope a tad too far, even as he flings the projectile. An easy toss, and this projectile should be a pretty tame¨C Being flung a few feet backward and skidding to the ground, along with Joey, was not a fun experience for him. Nor was that incessant ringing sound in his ears, and he rose unsteadily to his feet, and he glanced at the dummy. The target which is now in pieces on the far end of the room. His jaw drops for a split second, and he rubs at where he landed on his arm. That had been super effective. Joey springs up, fur frazzled and eyes lit up in delight when she surveils the destruction. ¡°Hell yes! That was awesome! Ow, my ears are still ringing, we need better hearing protection!¡± she exclaims as she rubs at her ear gingerly before drawing close to him. ¡°I¡¯ll make an arcanist out of you yet!¡± He smiles faintly at this, even though he can still hear a monotone ringing sound, fading into the background. ¡°Among other things.¡± He dips his head in, and their lips meet, and she looks surprised¨Cbut leans into it, claw points pressing into his back. ¡°Oh, you have gotten bold, haven¡¯t you,¡± she says in a silky voice before dipping back in¨Cand then they spring apart when there¡¯s a shout from Nick coming down the stairs. ¡°Guys! No more weapons tests past midnight!¡± he says angrily, looking distinctly frazzled and like he¡¯d been half asleep, then peers at them. ¡°Were you two¡­testing explosives, and making out in my firing range?!¡± ¡°I¨C¡± ¡°Admit to nothing!¡± Joey says with a panicked expression. ¡°A munition grossly exceeded predicted yield, yes! Totally not our fault!¡± ¡°Which ¡®munitions¡¯ are we talking about?¡± Nick asks, and Drenar struggles to respond while Nick wears that annoyed look he¡¯s always come to associate with him, usually when things are going sideways in training. ¡°Clean up the mess, and please, take the canoodling to the bedroom.¡± ¡°Nope, no canoodling going in here, just mad science!¡± It¡¯s funnier that Joey¡¯s fur is bristling on end like she¡¯s just been caught doing something she shouldn¡¯t. She is a bit shy, in that regard. ¡°Yes, keep the mad science confined to the lab, and not on my firing range,¡± Nick says with a groan. He spins on his heels and storms back upstairs, and Drenar lets out a breath he¡¯s been holding in for far too long. ¡°We should clean up,¡± he says at a quiet and rapid pace. She nods sharply. ¡°Yeah, we should. And then we¡¯ll make out, after.¡± ¡°Yep. Totally. And don¡¯t forget to lock the door this time.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one with telekinetics, you could have latched it from afar,¡± she counters with fire in her eyes. ¡°I was otherwise occupied elsewhere.¡± She points a sharp claw at his nose, brow furrowed in simmering anger. ¡°I hate not being able to hate you. Also, bold of you to assume I was enjoying it.¡± ¡°But you were, though," he counters without batting an eye. Her facade breaks, and she lets out a wicked grin. ¡°Decent start, but I think there¡¯s plenty for you left to learn. About women, not just kitsune.¡± She glances at the displaced items and the broken dummy. ¡°C¡¯mon, let¡¯s get this cleaned up, first.¡± Vol. 3, Ch. 145: The Great Ricksby Rick stares blankly at the mess in front of him. Half a dozen barrels of chemicals, with warning labels indicating corrosive materials, mana poisoning hazard, and, just because it wasn¡¯t dangerous enough, flammable substances. He glances at Bill Gadwall, who is scratching at his salt and pepper hair and peering at the barrels and pinching the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Bill, I thought our duties were guarding a door.¡± ¡°Oh no, Rick. We¡¯ve been promoted to hazard detail, on account of that complete cock-up in Asqualia. If those brutes down from that barracks on the third floor weren¡¯t already dead, I¡¯d be lining up to kill them myself for this.¡± Bill is now dressing himself in a power armor set with magical shielding to prevent most of the mana poisoning. Rick couldn¡¯t help but notice the fabric was frayed, the particle counter for free radical mana wasn¡¯t working, and the plating looked a little too thin to keep him from getting dosed with aetherial energy. Which was a gift from work that would keep on giving, in a way he didn''t want. ¡°Bill, this is bullshit. We aren''t hazmat detail.¡± He''s putting on his protective gear, nevertheless, because the dragon with an enthusiasm for murder has requested they perform this duty, after getting annoyed at the lack of disposal of post-processed ore. ¡°This isn¡¯t in my job description, and I¡¯m pretty sure I feel a tingling sensation already.¡± ¡°That¡¯s anxiety, not mana exposure,¡± Bill assured him. ¡°Besides, I¡¯m more worried about the not-suspicious leaking fluid these barrels are filled with,¡± he pointed at a dribble of a green fluid coming out of the top of the barrel and put his aether counter to it. It failed to detect anything, so either it was broken¡­or they weren¡¯t going to live long enough to collect on retirement benefits. ¡°Well, shall we?¡± Rick sighed reluctantly and grabbed the barrels with the forklift, while workers casually avoided the area on the processing area. Rick glowered at the indignity of this job. He was a security consultant. Working with a murderous diva dragon, who had just gotten herself beaten six ways to Sunday a couple of months ago, and weighed on her mood every single day. Luckily, his skill base was more than just guarding a door, and he guided the barrels onto a trolley for transport. ¡°So, the verdict on our new duties?¡± Bill shrugs lightly. ¡°Beats guarding a door and waiting for the dragon on the other side to torch me. You¡¯re so young Rick, this should be new and exciting! You smell that powdered mana crystal in the air, that¡¯ll clog your lungs and give you magical cancer? That¡¯s the exposure of vibrant life!¡± ¡°Magical cancer isn¡¯t a thing. It¡¯s like you were home-schooled, Bill,¡± Rick sighs as they guide the trolley through the factory, past busy workers, someone nearly getting crushed by a destabilized crystal falling from a cave wall, and three guards trying to contain a Narwellian shrieker. It looked like a bat, on steroids, and as big as a small car. They end up getting lacerated for their efforts chasing the bothersome critter away from the mithril deposits. Rick saw all this, and identified about twenty different MOSHA violations in the span of thirty meters. And it¡¯s probably an undercount. ¡°So, Bill, how is your life?¡± ¡°Rick,¡± Bill said with a contented sigh, ¡°Every day that I don¡¯t end up as a disposable minion or a faceless victim of the Talons army that throws guys at problems like they¡¯re cannon fodder, is another day I¡¯m closer to retirement on a tropical beach. Life is peachy. Life is grand.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem very grand for thirty Euros an hour,¡± Rick replies while guiding the trolley past a spill of a viscous substance. He did not want to get dissolved by an ooze sitting in waiting, and no sooner had they passed by, than there was a scream as a man slipped in it and the creature tried to strangle him. The nearby chemical shower, however, made short work of the dissolvable threat, with the worker offering a prayer to some strange deity. Rick carries on his cumbersome task as if this is completely routine. ¡°I mean, honestly, there¡¯s trillions of Euros here in this cavern section alone. Val could retire! We could all retire! Hell, we could solve all the world¡¯s energy problems with this mine, with the amount of crystal here.¡± ¡°Except, crystal doesn¡¯t grow on trees Rick,¡± his surly counterpart points out. ¡°It¡¯s getting harder to find. We¡¯re tapping out of easy places to find it. Now, if I believe King¡¯s nutty theory, it¡¯s all tied to the great Goddess Gaia. Ya know, the Valkyrie that died a few thousand years ago, and in her wake, she became one with the world. The crystals are her blood and essence, nurturing the planet with life and energy, and a load of other five-dollar words.¡± He even tapped a crystal jutting out for emphasis, and it made a slight ringing sound, and glows blue in the dim light of the tunnel. ¡°But, that part is true! There was a Goddess Gaia! A six-winged silver dragon who saved the world!¡± Rick protested. ¡°I read it in a book!¡± ¡°Was it a book with very few words, and very big, colorful pictures, and designed for a six-year-old at bedtime?¡± he responded with a smile. Rick stammered at this, he couldn¡¯t believe the old fogey could be so dismissive. ¡°Boy, you¡¯re young, Rick. You gotta understand, there are no gods out there to protect us. We are very much on our own.¡± ¡°But the crystal has to come from somewhere. Many academic journals suggest that sufficient aetherial energy can cause a mage to transcend! Gaia may have been the first, and she¡¯s not dead! Because the Followers believe she will return in a spire of crystal, spanning from the depths to the heavens!¡± Bill snorted as he guided them down a turn, across a bridge that had guardrails that were a little¡­loose. He shied away from the edge and tried to ignore the creaking metal sound as they crossed. ¡°Look, Rick, Gaia¡¯s dead. The gods are all dead. Or at least all the ones people think exist in some form or another. You should make peace with that fact.¡± he waited for another cart laden with crystal ore to go through an intersection and waved to a heavyset wargen who grunted and adjusted his hard hat and his protective suit. Poor bastard must¡¯ve been hotter than hell in that thing, why didn¡¯t he shift to his human form? ¡°Look Rick, want my advice?¡± Bill asked as they navigated down a sloped tunnel, with a flickering light making this place a trip hazard with the occasional power cables taped down on the floor. Yet another MOSHA violation with arcane conduits sparking nearby. ¡°Get out of this life. Go home to your kid and wife, and go back to academics. You¡¯re an egghead bigger than Nigel. This isn¡¯t the way you want to live your life. How¡¯d they rope you into this, anyway?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t laugh, please,¡± Rick sighed as he shook his head and pursed his lips before proceeding. ¡°Student loans.¡± He pushed the cart over a ramp, past the sparking wires. This place wasn¡¯t dangerous enough with the murderous dragon running the place. A cadre of Talons in their full armor sets jogged by, wheezing and out of shape¨Cthey¡¯d be in shape in a month, to replace lost personnel that quite frankly, would not be missed. Well, not by him and Bill, at any rate. He''s breaking out in a sweat in this suit, while Bill seems to not be affected. And he¡¯s awfully quiet. ¡°You didn¡¯t laugh. Thank you.¡± ¡°Seriously, student loans? That¡¯s how they hooked you?¡± Bill asked, his face tilted toward him with a glint in his eyes. "No, actually." He sucked in his breath. "My kid. There were...medical expenses." "Abigail? Ah jeez, Rick, of all the stupid places to work, to take care of that kind of thing," Bill sighed. "Well, better than the rest of the poor sods who bought into the ¡®we¡¯ll change the world, we¡¯ll make a sacrifice so others live better lives¡¯. Or some other sad jazz like that.¡± ¡°Well, you know, they¡¯re like marriage. ¡®Till death do you part¡¯ or something like that,¡± Rick grunted as he pushed the cart over another small hub of earth, toward the lower area of the tunnel. They should be just around the corner from the transport elevator, but Bill took a right instead of a left at the intersection. ¡°Bill, why are we going this way?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not driving this thing another half mile, dealing with inspections, or worse, having the off-chance to run into Davos over in the officer area,¡± Bill grunted as he took a turn to drive the heavy cargo transport. ¡°We¡¯re gonna take a shortcut.¡± ¡°Ah, shit. Davos is here?¡± That man was a monster and a half, and the fact that the Talons¨Cor Val¨Cemployed him now, meant that bodies would continue to pile up. That man wasn¡¯t human, and Rick had seen him once, and it utterly terrified him. The way he looked at you, like a predator, filled him with this crawling anxiety that made him want to flee in utter panic. ¡°You know what, anytime I can avoid the officer¡¯s area, is a day I don¡¯t court death. Where are we taking this?¡± ¡°To the teleportal.¡± Bill doesn¡¯t elaborate, but Rick can¡¯t help but notice there¡¯s a ringing in the air. He glances at the mana crystal veins dotted along the wall, and they¡¯re glowing eerily bright. ¡°I hate Davos. I hate that walking war crime with every heartbeat of my existence, Rick. I would happily kill that man, because he makes Val look like a saint by comparison. And Val is no saint.¡± ¡°No one¡¯s been able to kill him. You¡¯ve heard the stories. Some Valkyrie almost split him in half six years ago, and he still managed to survive,¡± Rick says worriedly. ¡°And do you want to be speaking that loudly about him?¡± ¡°Listen, Rick, Val can hear everything we say, so when I speak frankly, I don¡¯t mince words. She just laughs, because she knows I¡¯m not stupid enough to cross a line. She knows my stance on that psycho.¡± Bill clenches his fist as he punches an access code into the door panel, and the door slides open to the teleportal transport chamber¨Cnormally reserved for ore transport to locations unknown, and run by Magitech Industries in a very clandestine manner. ¡°There are two kinds of people in this world that worry me. The first, are people who want the world to change. The second, are people who want the world to burn, and smile as the ashes drift by. Val is the former of those two. Davos is the latter.¡± ¡°Yeah, but¨CI just don¡¯t get it. He¡¯s an utter demon. Why¡¯s she use him?¡± ¡°Hell if I know, Rick.¡± his associate guides him to place the cargo on the platform, but instead of dialing out, he dials a phone. ¡°Hey Darlene, I need a favor. Dial the platform down here on B6 in the mine. I got some stuff to get rid of.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. There¡¯s a loud explicative from a high-pitched woman on the other end, and even steadfast Bill flinches at this noise. ¡°You pain in my ass, William! You owe me takeout, I¡¯m already clocked out!¡± she roared over the phone. Bill just took a short, measured breath and waited for her to finish ranting at him. ¡°Darlene, I got hazmat stuff to get rid of. I¡¯ll do double takeout, okay?¡± ¡°Fine! And a movie!¡± she snapped. The phone clicked off and Bill smiled faintly. Rick let out a low chuckle. ¡°Girlfriend?¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± Bill said without breaking composure, and glanced over to the side, where something crumbled off the wall. ¡°Ah hell, there it goes again.¡± Rick walked over to see a gleam of bright blue¨Ca mana crystal had cracked off from a vein in the wall, literal money coming out of the walls, and he picked it up, and turned it over in his gloved hand. It was ringing. And quite loudly. ¡°Bill, what do you mean by ¡®again¡¯ exactly?¡± Bill walked over and tapped the crystal. ¡°Ever since Nigel and the genius wonder down in the labs pulled that funky artifact from Mount Syren and started tinkering, the mana has been acting funky around here. It''s been glowing, cracking, growing, like it¡¯s almost got a life of its own. It¡¯s a little spooky.¡± Almost as if in response, Rick could hear something faint. A crystalline chime sound, and he put his ear to the crystal. Bill abruptly pulled him back, and gave him a perturbed look, eyes narrowed. ¡°Rick, seriously, you¡¯re gonna get mana poisoning from that, don¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t hear that?¡± Rick asks. Bill raised an eyebrow. ¡°Hear what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s singing.¡± Bill made a surprised sound, and pulled the crystal away and put it up to his ear¨Cas if he hadn¡¯t just already chastised him for risking mana poisoning! ¡°Can you hear it?¡± Rick hasn''t heard it in years. But now, it''s singing again. ¡°What I hear, is in a few minutes, Darlene is going to make my problem go away.¡± Bill throws the latch to the cart, and the barrels slide out effortlessly onto the platform, while a small alarm goes off, something about a proximity alert. ¡°So, you don¡¯t hear a ringing sound?¡± Rick repeats. It¡¯s a hauntingly beautiful note, and he walks over to the crystal¨Cand Bill puts an arm out to stop him. The hard creases of his eyes softened a little, and his grim look melted. ¡°Rick, seriously. Get out of this place. Val is on a warpath with the Conclave, Crosomer¡¯s playing with fire, King is up to his Kingly things that I worry about, and Davos is someone trying to speed run every atrocity imaginable. You¡¯re too good for this place. Go home.¡± ¡°But¨CI can¡¯t. I need this job. For my wife and my kid¨C" ¡°Yes, you can, Richard,¡± Bill said sternly. ¡°As if that weren¡¯t enough, Val pissed off the wrong group of people in Asqualia. Two-thirds of her soldiers took a permanent dirt nap or were incapped. They were stopped by some group called The Luminaires. I¡¯ve been around long enough to know that when that group is around, people like us are gonna get caught in the crossfire. Because from what I heard from King, bad stuff happened, and one of the kids involved fought Val to a standstill.¡± ¡°A kid?¡± ¡°Some girl, no older than my niece.¡± Bill glanced at the crystal sitting on the cart, still humming away. ¡°I know we¡¯re trying to fix the world, but there are people out there fighting for a better life for everyone. Not just the divas up top. And what Val did, was start shooting the second they invaded.¡± Rick slumped. ¡°I can¡¯t, man, not right now.¡± Bill shook his head and grunted. ¡°Look, if I tell you to get out of dodge, you have to. Because once this is open war, all bets are off. Now, pay attention. Do you see the barrels?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Rick said irritably. ¡°Why are we waiting for an incoming portal?¡± Bill smiles. ¡°Ya know what happens to the area around an incoming portal?¡± ¡°It gets displaced, Bill, I know how a teleportal works,¡± he states with a huff. ¡°Nah, see, you¡¯re partly right. It creates a void. And when that void collapses back in on itself, anything in that radius simply ceases to be.¡± Rick furrowed his brow. ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t, Bill! It goes somewhere! Matter doesn¡¯t just magically get created or destroyed, it changes forms!¡± ¡°Yep, it changes to a form of nonexistence. Which means, deadly chemicals, inconvenient evidence, or annoying lawyers cease to be my problem,¡± Bill said with a smug smile, and promptly silenced the alarms going off on the control panel. Rick can¡¯t stand this flagrant misunderstanding of arcanistry, he can¡¯t let this go! ¡°Bill, it has to go somewhere. Which means, you¡¯re taking all this deadly stuff, and making a dumping ground somewhere else and¨Cwhy did you toss the crystal on the pile?¡± Rick asked while squinting at the fragment the size of his fist on the pile. All the while, the teleportal platform is charging and alarms go off. Again. And Bill turns them off again. ¡°Look, the crystals are acting funky, and I worry King will make it another science experiment. So I make the problem disappear.¡± ¡°But, what if something comes back?!¡± Rick shrills. His partner shrugs. ¡°Never had anything ever come back to haunt me yet, and to my knowledge, no one ever has. This is a practical solution to deleting life¡¯s many problems.¡± he claps his hands together and rubs them with enthusiasm. ¡°Now, if only I could get that gold and silver-plated monstrosity to sit around long enough on a platform to make him no one''s problem.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that murder?¡± ¡°Not if he¡¯s planning on killing you first. And Davos has a plan to kill everyone and everything that isn¡¯t him. Including those poor souls in the Luminaires,¡± Bill says while cracking his knuckles. ¡°I can¡¯t believe Val lost to a bunch of teens. She¡¯s either off her game, or they¡¯re that dangerous.¡± Rick sighs in resignation, there¡¯s no convincing Bill on this one. Then, he hears it. That crystalline chime again, louder and louder, over the low hum of an electrical charge. The crystal on the barrel pile lights up, even as the platform starts to activate, and the lensing appears above the rigging where the portal is projecting. Bill furrows his brow beside him. ¡°Uh, Rick, is mana supposed to do that?¡± ¡°Something is wrong, Bill, shut it down.¡± he can feel a cold sweat trickle down his back, something bad is about to happen, and he can feel it. Bill suddenly looks nervous. ¡°I uh, I can¡¯t. I locked out the safeties.¡± ¡°Bill, cut the power¨C¡± ¡°And fry everything in twenty meters when the capacitors discharge? We should run. Like now,¡± Bill is looking panicked, and Rick can hear something at the edges of his hearing. A voice. A whisper of something greater than anything he can comprehend. A champion rises. She must survive. ¡°I¡¯m gonna grab it!¡± Rick vaults over the control panel to the platform, even as the shimmer builds to a peak over the grid where the barrels are stored. He throws away the gauntlets and climbs past the safety barricade¨Cthe point of no return. ¡°RICK, STOP!¡± Bill screams out, even as he grabs the crystal, and that crystalline sound reaches a peak... Then the world goes white¡­and he drifts off to the sound of a chime, ringing faintly. *** The world is black, and Bill can¡¯t comprehend why¨Coh right, the debris pile sitting on top of him. He heaves with all his might to get the buckled metal off of him and ignores the bleeding cuts on his arms and cheek. He¡¯s lucky to be alive, and his arcane barrier barely even stopped the impact of the detonation of the portal. ¡°Rick! I¡¯m coming!¡± he screams out, and hoists with every bit of leverage, straining all his burning limbs to get the heavy panel off his back. He pulls free and collapses forward, gasping for breath. The room is a scene of utter chaos and destruction. Crystal is shattered on the walls, the barrels are gone, and so is Rick¨Cbut there is something very wrong with what he¡¯s witnessing. A crystalline structure is forming from the wreckage of the portal, and it¡¯s growing before his eyes. It¡¯s glowing brightly, and he can hear the mana snapping into place, a strange crystalline tree reaching to the ceiling before it stops, and there¡¯s a faint ringing sound. Or, it¡¯s tinnitus. But the fallout of what had happened is dawning on him: Rick is gone. Forever. But something had happened that should not have happened, and he hears the sound of footsteps and shouts¨Chalf the power is out, and emergency lights flicker on while he stumbles to the ground, leaning back and panting. He¡¯d killed his best friend. He¡¯d taken a shortcut that had finally come back to haunt him. That mistake had annihilated Rick--a father, and a husband, and he¡¯d destroyed him so completely, that a funeral would be pointless. ¡°William! William, what happened?!¡± King is the first person on the scene, with a flurry of brown hair and caramel eyes, and he gasps when Bill waves weakly at the totality of destruction. He has no words left and slumps, and feels tears welling up. ¡°Rick¡­was in there.¡± King, for the first time since he¡¯s known him, is without words, and takes one faltering step, hand reaching out to the glittering mana crystal. ¡°Mana crystal¨Cstarted shaking¨Cah shit King, I killed him. He dove in to grab a stupid fugging magical rock, why did he do it?!¡± he screamed. But King is not weeping. He¡¯s frowning, eyeing the console, the destroyed platform, and the crystals. He straightens up, and brushes a bit of debris off his vest. ¡°William. Rick is not dead. He has discovered a new gate.¡± King pulls a radio off his belt and dials a number while Bill stares at him, speechless. ¡°He¡¯s gone, King, you know what happens when a teleportal void forms¨C¡± ¡°Incorrect. The Kilnstarnoth has transformed the mana, and its interactions are different than before. It is exhibiting a new behavior.¡± ¡°King, for Fate¡¯s sake¨C¡± ¡°Nigel, I need the science team. Get Greg and Karl, all hands on deck! We have a new means to find the remaining translations. We¡¯ve opened the way¨Cif by accident. And bring a cleanup crew.¡± King clicks off the radio and helps Bill up, who is in an utter daze. He smiles. ¡°William, I believe we¡¯ve found the answer we are looking for.¡± ¡°He¡¯s¡­not¡­dead?¡± Hope returns to Bill¡¯s world. ¡°No. That said, I think we are going to need another platform to¡­replicate results.¡± A piece of debris falls to the floor, almost as if on cue. "If he''s not dead, then where is he?" King has no idea how close he is to getting shot, and Bill almost reaches for his sidearm, his body quivering in fury. King puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "The world between worlds, William. And we are going to find him." Announcement: New Fiction Launch, Newly Broke Heroine! [Cozy, Slice-of-Life, Fantasy Adventures] Yep, it''s that moment. I''m pulling out the stops. It''s time to formally announce the release of my new story, Newly Broke Heroine! Sorry if I''ve been a smidge delayed on responses, I have been going full tilt on this one, and I think you guys are gonna love this story. I''ll let the blurb do the talking for me. If you guys love slice-of-life, cozy storytelling with well developed characters, then Fiona and friends shall deliver! We are currently at nine chapters released, go check it out, add a follow, add a favorite, and give it the rating you think it deserves! Thank you so much everyone for your input and commentary, you guys are what inspire me! Everything I''ve learned while writing The Legend of the Luminaires has been incorporated, and this one is going for a rocket ride with a zany elf merchant, a kitsune mage, a by-the-numbers accountant, a sweetheart demon barista girl, and more! Now, for you guys sweating thinking ''Magius is chasing success, he''s gonna ditch us!'' NOOOOOPE. I''m still writing Luminaires. I''m not giving that up. I''ll be driving both at once, though Luminaires has slowed down pace a little bit, compared to my previous breakneck pace. One of the challenges of two full volumes is making sure I stick the landing at the end, and there''s plenty of plot left. See you guys on the other side, if you haven''t popped in your head already!
Newly Broke Heroine! This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Fighting monsters, getting loot, buying cozy clothes? All Fiona needed was her friends, fun times, and hobbies! Fiona Swiftheart was the hero of Fiefdala. She banished the evil dragon lord to the swampy wastelands, and returned to the capital of the kingdom she saved--and then got taxed for the loot she took from the oversized lizard?! Too bad that no one told her the King went on a long-term vacation, before she got back. He put his scummy son on the throne, who decided cuteness and heroics weren''t cool! Faced with either jail or paying up, Fiona traded in huge swords, armor, and the adventuring life to don a business suit and opened a merchant store, to try to sell off stuff that no one could possibly afford to buy! Except when she got her merchant license, she signed up for more than she bargained for! At least her business degree from her previous life won¡¯t be wasted. Join Fiona as she pursues a smaller life, builds hobbies, and makes friends who aren''t dead set on fighting the next great villain at the drop of a hat! And pays taxes. She hates taxes. More than lawyers or lawmen.
Vol. 3, Ch. 146: No Theoretical Resonance ¡°Joey, don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but you take dragon science to an unhealthy level, despite being an alchemical genius.¡± Angela is rubbing gently at where she¡¯d just taken a blood sample, and she¡¯s examining it with interest in the vial. She¡¯s also taken scales, her feathers, a few strands of hair, and saliva samples. She notes that there is something odd about her blood sample. Why is her blood so blue? She¡¯s definitely not cyanotic. So why does it look more¡­purplish? ¡°Joey, you¡¯re peering at my blood like something¡¯s wrong with it.¡± She sets the sample down into a centrifuge and gets it running. ¡°Uh, Angela, dearie, your blood is fine. If you are a mana-based organism. Which you are.¡± ¡°I sense a ¡®but¡¯ coming out of this.¡± She realizes that the last time she''d had her blood taken, that information had been fed to agents of the Talons, and her parents are now in the safe house and haven''t said one word about what had happened thirteen years ago, and her mother yesterday indicated she¡¯s willing to piss everyone off with keeping some secrets. Including being elven? That¡¯s a turn she didn¡¯t see coming. Julia had, and had promptly snagged more than a few prized Magic cards from James. Just when she couldn¡¯t hate her parents enough, this particular bit of information dropped, and they were already in legal limbo. Supposedly, they were feeding everything they knew about Magitech Industries, and based on the lack of arrests and sightings of murderous Siberian Hellkites, meant that their information was worthless. And through all of this, Thanksgiving has come and gone, and Christmas is only a week away. She''s eighteen now, same as James, formally an adult. It still sends flutters to her stomach. Their nascent adulthood has been anything but normal. They had been training after their ordeal in Asqualia, nonstop, and she¡¯d used every moment to full effect. And then a short reprieve at a tropical resort and¨C She blushes and tries not to think of that particular moment. That had been quite the scene. Sam, however, has different ideas and a mischievous laugh emanates from her drakensoul. Guess he made a lasting impression, Sam whispers coyly. Joey peers at Angela, an eyebrow raised. She taps her temple for emphasis. {Context, please?} She¡¯s gotten pretty good at keeping a tight bandwidth between most of the members of the team with her psionic communications, and Angela knows when she¡¯s tuned in. Usually. The ranger and the bard, sitting in the tree¡­K-I-S-S-I-N-G¡­ Samarina Aveerna, where on Earth did you learn that?! Even Joey recoils mildly from Angela¡¯s internal outburst. Her dragon chuckles politely. You, obviously. Joey tries her best to not react, but her eye twitches at this childhood nursery rhyme, and Angela¡¯s face feels heated more than before. ¡°Um, well¡­¡± {Oh, is that what happened? Oh, Angie, you have got to tell me everything!} She tries to block out that singing voice of Joey in her head, who is silently grinning at her lab bench¨Cand still holding a normal conversation. Keeping both going must take mental gymnastics. ¡°Anyhow, this phenomenon has been reported in many mages, dragons, and some kitsune. Blood color is related in part to the bioluminescent properties of organic mana.¡± {And I wanna hear all the steamy details!} She might still prefer to remain in her human form, but that grin on her face is the most fox-like thing she¡¯s ever seen out of her! ¡°Joey, instead of talking about this other thing, let¡¯s focus on weird blood samples. So, what¡¯s the verdict?¡± Angela asks calmly. Joey''s been twirling her hair¨Cgreat. She''s anxious. She isn''t saying a word through the psionic link, which means it''s either awe-inspiring, bizarre, or really bad news. She puts a sample on a microscope slide and takes a quick glance. ¡°Joey, you''ve gone awfully quiet, do I have an expiration date or a countdown to godhood I don''t know about?¡± She leans in, but Joey is singularly focused on the slide, and saying something whisper quiet. ¡°Or, eldritch horror.¡± Joey slides back on the rolling chair, rubbing the bridge of her nose. ¡°None of the above. You just have an abnormal amount of mana in the bloodstream. It''s a common thing seen in mages, and other Kin with high mana capacity.¡± She furrows her brow before grabbing a beaker, taking a drop of the sample and placing it in, then watching as the color turns purple, then a sky blue. ¡°Uh¡­very high.¡± ¡°So, is it bad?¡± She crosses her fingers hoping that this won''t be bad news. It probably is. Joey takes the sample, puts it in a metal probe, and plugs it into a small device on her belt. The small digital display shows an error sign. ¡°You know, we gotta work on these people skills, you like, lock onto a puzzle at times.¡± ¡°People aren''t puzzles,¡± she says while tapping the sensor display. ¡°Magic is a puzzle, though. This reading doesn''t uh¡­I can''t read this high of a reading. Wow.¡± ¡°So back to basics, mana is in the bloodstream and organs, and some of it crystalizes. Right?¡± She''s done her reading for this. ¡°Yep. A crystalline lattice network. It can be very pronounced in some individuals. You know. Like they glow at night. They have to take suppressants, so they don''t stand out like sore thumbs.¡± Joey grabs another sample, places it in a centrifuge, and waits a few minutes. ¡°Look, the mana in your body is perfectly fine. Raw mana crystal is different.¡± ¡°Um, Nick says I glow.¡± That evil grin is back on Joey¡¯s face. She awkwardly rubs at her arm in response. ¡°Must have been something¡­intense.¡± She¡¯s trying to hide her laughter, and Drenar perks up like he¡¯s been mentally alerted, and looks at the two of them in confusion. He¡¯s busy doing maintenance work at a bench, putting together a custom autobow, and he¡¯s got grease on his hands¨Cand a streak on his cheek? How does this boy get so messy? ¡°You guys better not be talking about me, I can sense it.¡± He taps his temple for emphasis. ¡°For once, we aren¡¯t,¡± Angela sighs. ¡°Alright, so back on track Joey. how does this relate to the crystalline scales that emerge on me?¡± She gazes at the far end where Nick and Levine are going over logistics. And more training. It''s a good thing that Drenar has learned fast and he expects everyone to pull their weight, and work together as a team. She glances down at her chest and rubs uneasily. ¡°It''s a little creepy knowing that thing inside of me was put there, I''m all but certain of it. But, my parents have decided they don¡¯t want to talk about why there¡¯s a crystal shard in my heart. Because of course, they don¡¯t. I can¡¯t believe Kiera hasn¡¯t tried to strangle my mom.¡± ¡°I still might!¡± Julia calls out from reassembling Matilda at a bench¨Cthat draconic hearing, again. She and Kyle have been busy upgrading that beast of a rifle. The new barrel and improved recoil suppression system would improve the impact of the weapon, and keep it from breaking her shoulder. ¡°We should just beat the information out of her. She''s had long enough.¡± ¡°Family is off limits to threats by Tsundere dragons,¡± Angela calls out with a contented sigh. Though I wouldn''t entirely oppose it. Joey catches the comment and tries not to smile. ¡°Alright, but remember, it''s free Angie! And it''s just practice, so I don''t have to flex muscle as my means to solve all the problems!¡± Julia assures her. She is so willing to go to bat for her friends¨Ceven if it¡¯s not always the most advisable move. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Noted. Now, where were we?¡± She directs the question back to Joey. ¡°Do we know what my scales are?¡± ¡°You mean before they decay to ethereal energy?¡± Joey had managed to get one scale and run samples on it before it disappeared. ¡°External crystallized mana with trace organic compounds. It''s almost like the on-demand armor scales from your Maridian silver background, but immensely more powerful. It¡¯s a shame the transfiguration is temporary. It''s kinda¡­well, kinda like switching between forms. I can''t really hold a shape between human or Kitsune, after about a minute, people usually revert to one or the other. It''s like a morphal elastic band.¡± ¡°That''s a mouthful, Joey.¡± She finishes with the centrifuge and takes more readings on the separated fluids. ¡°So dragons have superpowers? Like more powerful superpowers?¡± ¡°Bloodline abilities. They are in a league of their own when you compare them to draconic lineage. Drenar''s teleport ability? Totally crazy. Mages normally need teleport pads. Fast movement, sure, that¡¯s been documented But slipping into the aether? Totally nuts.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t possibly be tearing through realities with my ability.¡± Drenar with his messy hair like he lost a fight with a bird saunters over, looking confident. ¡°Are we sure that''s where I go when I do that blink thing?¡± ¡°That is a terrible ability name,¡± Joey counters. Something about the exchange triggers a memory. Of seeing something¡­someone. ¡°If you''re gonna announce your moves like it¡¯s a shounen comic, make it at least sound good.¡± ¡°Pfft. I don¡¯t call out attacks when I¡¯m in a fight for my life.¡± ¡°You totally did!¡± Joey points out. Sometimes, Angela has to remind herself that despite his oh-so-serious attitude at times¨Cusually when they¡¯re right in a crisis¨Che could be such a teen. ¡°Make it sound cool if you¡¯re gonna do it, like an aether strike!¡± ¡°Pretty sure the names have been taken,¡± he points out. He ponders something for a second. ¡°Guys, when I do that blink, all I see is a blank white space for a split second. But, what do you guys see?¡± ¡°Honestly? Same thing,¡± Joey responds. Angela still remembers that flash of silver scales and green draconic eyes, hauntingly beautiful, in that strange place. ¡°Um¡­should I mention I saw someone in there?¡± She decides to take the plunge on this one. Joey and Drenar look at each other, then back to her. And they both start talking in a low tone, with Joey going first. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m dealing with one existential mystery at the moment, I don¡¯t think I have the capacity for two. Or three. Or however many we¡¯re up to. What do you mean, you saw someone?¡± ¡°Joey, don¡¯t be skeptical. Remember what we saw?¡± Drenar reminds her. ¡°I¡¯m not convinced it wasn¡¯t a stress-induced hallucination, coupled with my psionics in overdrive,¡± she states flatly. ¡°Because if it¡¯s something other than that, we¡¯ve seen some really weird stuff.¡± ¡°You two mentioned something about seeing Lyssa. But¡­I get this feeling you saw something you can¡¯t understand.¡± Angela folds her arms and taps a finger gently. ¡°Come on, guys, we don¡¯t need to keep secrets. No one here is crazy. Well, except Drenar.¡± He rolls his eyes in response. ¡°Angela, who did you see?¡± he finally asks the question that¡¯s been gnawing at her for a while¨Cbut with everything else going on, it hadn¡¯t been given much thought. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if it was a who, so much as a what. It might have been a dragon. I saw a glimpse of silver scales and bright green eyes. And then¡­¡± she rubs at the residual scars just beneath her shirt. Why are they itching now? It hasn¡¯t bothered her for a long time, not on a physical level. Joey and Drenar lean in, and others haven¡¯t noticed. ¡°She said, ¡®It¡¯s not your time to be here.¡¯ Drenar, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re supposed to be ripping holes in reality.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not trying to rip holes in reality, it just comes naturally.¡± Angela joins Joey in giving him a scornful look. ¡°Okay, real talk? I think there¡¯s more to the aether than everyone lets on, or knows about. But who is lurking in the Aether? It¡¯s not exactly a place people go to chill out in. As far as I know, I¡¯m the only person that can do it. And maybe Mom.¡± ¡°You know, maybe your mom ripped a hole in reality and got stuck there?¡± Angela proposes. ¡°And it¡¯s why Kiera isn¡¯t telling us anything about where she is?¡± ¡°That would be¡­pretty bad, Angie,¡± he concedes. ¡°Joey, theory speaking, if no one has ever gone to the aether, then how could anyone describe it or infer anything about it? The lack of gravity is one consistent thing the books got right, now that I¡¯ve read about it.¡± ¡°You know what? I¡¯ll throw out a crazy idea. I say it¡¯s the guardian soul of our world, Gaia,¡± Joey says after tapping a finger calmly on the lab bench. ¡°Do you guys even know who she is?¡± ¡°Joey, people told us jack diddly. We¡¯re still learning.¡± Drenar is the first to chime in on that one. ¡°I know that Gaia was a real Valkyrie and that she died at the tail end of the Schism wars. She went down in the most badass way possible, and stopped the existential threat to our world pretty much single-handedly.¡± ¡°I thought Gaia was dead. Or, that¡¯s the mythology from the Followers of Gaia, gone but not forgotten, her soul lives on, keeping the planet alive,¡± Kyle chimes in from the bench nearby. Everyone is taking an interest now. ¡°Angela, why didn¡¯t you tell us about this?¡± ¡°We were in a bit of a crisis moment, and it sort of fell to the wayside in light of everything else? And I¡­forgot?¡± What¡¯s strange is that it almost felt like until Drenar mentioned it, it hadn¡¯t even entered her mind. It¡¯s almost as if it had been subtly obscured, that moment rescuing the hostages. It wasn¡¯t until she was thinking of the aether that it triggered what was missing Then, another memory crops up. Their entry into Asqualia. The mana crystals. ¡°Sam said something else about this.¡± Angela, this might not be the best time to bring this up¨C Sam. You said it yourself. The crystals ¡®talk.¡¯ What if they¡¯re one living extension of the source? What if you were right? That she isn¡¯t gone, but trapped? Joey freezes, her eyes widening. ¡°Angela? Are you suggesting that¨C¡± ¡°Gaia¡¯s trying to reach me. Through the crystalline shard in my heart.¡± A dull ache emerges from the faint scars, and she rubs at them uneasily. ¡°She¡¯s not dead. She¡¯s trapped. Someone hid her away.¡± Everyone has stopped talking and is paying attention. Joey is the first to take a stab at saying something in light of the mind-boggling theory. ¡°You¡¯re saying that the shard in your heart is some kind of conduit? Channeling power just like all the other crystals, even though it¡¯s not embedded in the earth like the rest of the crystalline networks across the world? And that conduit is plugged into what most people think is a goddess? Forgive me if I shoot a hole in this, but there¡¯s no theoretical resonance. There¡¯s no way. Unless all mages are idiots and just never imagined this possibility.¡± ¡°Hang on. Let me see if I¡¯ve got this right. Gaia has a connection to the crystals?¡± Drenar asks. ¡°One of the books I read once called the crystals the lifeblood of Gaia. I thought they were just using flowery prose. What if they weren¡¯t?¡± ¡°You are jumping onto this madhouse theory way too fast,¡± James interjects. ¡°I¡¯m saying, we have a new theory to test.¡± Angela glances around, and notes the small shards of mana that Joey had been using for testing. They need something bigger. Way bigger. ¡°Joey, that deposit of mana crystals by Asqualia. I know the reactor took damage and they¡¯re still making repairs, but I want to go test something with those raw crystals by the library entryway. ¡°Uh, there¡¯s one other site, much closer,¡± Joey suggests. ¡°One that I think might have a more important bearing. The small deposit by Drenar and Evan¡¯s house. It did trigger your first temporary overcharge.¡± ¡°Hang on, are we all delusional? Gods don¡¯t exist!¡± James protests. ¡°I know you guys have seen some really weird shit in the past couple of months, and mages have their own church of crazeology, but c¡¯mon! Trapped deities? And we¡¯re the first people to stumble onto this? No way. I think you guys are stretching for something that has a much more plausible explanation. Stress-induced mental trauma. We¡¯re walking basket cases, after the nightmare we endured!¡± ¡°James, what¡¯s the worst that could happen? Worst case, we prove that nothing happens,¡± Angela states adamantly. ¡°No, that¡¯s not the worst case. The worst case is you¡¯re all right, and that we¡¯ve got another world-breaking revelation to worry about. Apart from Drenar¡¯s mother being alive, the Conclave is rotten to the core, and King is playing a dangerous game with all sides.¡± ¡°No, I think King knows something.¡± Everyone turns to see Julia, wearing a somber expression. ¡°He called what¡¯s happening now as a battle for the soul of the world. He might have been throwing us a hint. We need to go test this, or do something!¡± ¡°Or, flowery prose, and he¡¯s screwing with our heads, yet again. Are you guys ever going to not fall for this?¡± She would chastise her brother for the millionth time, but there¡¯s one worrying fact: So far, everything that King has said has been the truth, or carefully veiled reveals. She¡¯s worried about when he actually tells a lie, because they¡¯ll never see through it. ¡°Nice being volunteered for this one,¡± Angela says with a contented smile. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s finish up here today, and get some kind of test planned. Joey, Kyle, what¡¯ve you got?¡± Joey purses her lips, and Kyle rubs his goatee for a second before his eyes light up with inspiration. ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea.¡± ¡°Ah, Fates. Here we go again,¡± James sighs. ¡°I¡¯m updating my bingo card. ¡®Piss off a slumbering goddess¡¯ just made my new list.¡± Vol. 3, Ch. 147: At Least Buy Me Dinner Before You Do Dragon Science That mess is on her side of the lab. Again. Joey turns slowly and gathers her ire as she glares at Kyle, hopelessly busy making armor from the newest batch of his new Valkyrian steel. He¡¯s completely oblivious to it while he finishes wiring the next armor sets that even she¡¯s going to get a workout in. While she prefers being light and fast, bullets do not respect speed nearly as much. Everyone has cleared out of the lab or is chilling back at the house after they discussed Angela¡¯s sudden revelations regarding the mana crystals¨Cincluding the one currently sitting in her chest cavity. It¡¯s staggering that girl dares to face that every day, and never bat an eye. She might be even more steadfast than that messy-haired teen busily perfecting his concussion canisters behind her. Wait, aren¡¯t we technically boyfriend and girlfriend? She doesn¡¯t mean to let the thought radiate out, but Drenar leans toward her from the bench, smiling. ¡°Oh, finally gotten to the scientific discovery of the month?¡± he says confidently. She narrows her gaze at him, hands on her hips. ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t, you starstruck teen. It has to be earned,¡± she growled. ¡°And it¡¯s earned with your blood, sweat, charm, and tears.¡± ¡°You already have three of those. Literally. And my scales. Seriously, I worry you¡¯re making a macabre collection of weird dragon stuff, instead of using our samples for alchemical goodness,¡± he says, looking smug. She opens her mouth to retort, and thinks better of it. Does he know how to push her buttons? Is he paying attention to Angela¡¯s uncanny ability to read people? Nah, he¡¯s not that talented yet. ¡°I mean, we are. I would be hard-pressed to say that we aren¡¯t. Because, you know, reasons.¡± She felt her cheeks flush and she stammers out a response. ¡°There you go again, you sound like Alex!¡± {Oh, don¡¯t throw that shade my way. My lad¡¯s all grown up, thank you very much, and I didn¡¯t say a word!} Alex counters through the psionic link. Drenar leans back, still wearing that cocksure grin. ¡°Okay, miss Pyromist, give me some refuting evidence that says we aren¡¯t¡­you know¡­a couple,¡± he adds, even as he finishes adjusting his canister. Suddenly, an idea crops up. She smiles evilly, and his confidence evaporates. ¡°We haven¡¯t gone on a date yet, by ourselves. The last couple of times we went, it was with the others. It¡¯s not a date unless it¡¯s just the two of us, and your wing ladies aren¡¯t around to keep you from stumbling.¡± She gives her most fox-like impression of a smile, even though she is currently very much a boring human at the moment. ¡°Checkmate, Rashalda.¡± He predictably sputters and tries to make an excuse, but she¡¯s already turned around. Someone still needs to get an earful for the mess on her side of the lab! ¡°Er-hem, Kyle, I need your attention for a second,¡± she calls out politely. He¡¯s still forging away, is he still utterly focused? ¡°Kyle, there is something in my lab that needs to be addressed.¡± But Kyle is still sticking his tongue out and sintering arcane circuits together¨Chow does he tune out the world so thoroughly? She taps her shoe on the floor impatiently. She needs to show how serious this violation is, immediately. ¡°Kylancer Edwin Bertance! Clean up your mess, young man!¡± she states commandingly, and he manages to strike his hand with the sintering tool, and he shouts and predictably sticks the offended burnt finger in his mouth while letting out a light groan. She points at the scrap mess on the bench, eyes etched in deadly intent. ¡°This is my lab bench, which you are contaminating with sinter, grease, metal particles, and sweaty grossness!¡± she calls out, and he just stands there, trying to come up with a response. ¡°I¨Cit was¨CI was just gonna clean it up¨C¡± ¡°Dude, she called you by your middle name, she¡¯s pissed,¡± Drenar states while trying not to crack up. As if he¡¯s forgotten about his own shortcoming just fifteen seconds ago! ¡°If a woman calls you by your middle name, you¡¯d better take care of whatever request she¡¯s got, or you might find yourself poisoned, dissolved, clawed, or all of the above.¡± ¡°Oh she¡¯s got you in a mood,¡± Kyle grumbles. ¡°Psionic piggybacking. Sheesh.¡± She let the slightly unfair comment roll off for now. ¡°Kyle, I swear, you are a genius when it comes to systems engineering, but when it comes to cleaning, you are the worst!¡± ¡°Alright, fine, I¡¯ll take a knock on the nose. Drenar, pro tip, when you ask her on a date, make sure you¡¯re presentable, or you¡¯re gonna get chewed out,¡± Kyle states acidly, even as he slides the scrap into sorting bins for recycling. ¡°Also, don¡¯t be afraid to split the bill.¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t it the guy¡¯s responsibility to¡­¡± Joey sighs while Drenar takes the hint from Kyle¡¯s haggard stance and look of exasperation. He turns back to her. ¡°Alright, I''ll trust you on this one. Joey, let¡¯s go on a date. You and me. I pick the food, you pick the entertainment.¡± She lets out a beaming smile. ¡°Aha, see, you can be educated! Alright, I accept, but this entertainment might not be your style. As it were, I had an appointment to attend to later this afternoon.¡± He arches an eyebrow and leans in. ¡°What would that be?¡± ¡°Getting a piercing.¡± She already has two on each ear, but she figures, the third will probably be the last for now, and Drenar blinks in surprise. ¡°Sure, I¡¯m game, it sounds important to you. Wait, you have two on your ears already, aren¡¯t you gonna run out of ear space?¡± he adds with a laugh. ¡°Unless, you¡¯re planning on elsewhere?¡± The nerve of this drake, yet I can¡¯t help but applaud his confidence. ¡°Oh no, just one more on my ears, then I¡¯m done,¡± she responds and tries not to blush at his comment. This star-struck teen outmaneuvered her? Oh, there will be pain in store for him later! But not the bad kind, as she prepared her response. ¡°I don¡¯t think you have the pain tolerance for¨C¡± She wants to say something a little more flirty, and feels her cheeks burning as a particular moment comes back, and he tilts his head quizzically as she goes silent. ¡°Uh, hey, I know you don¡¯t have the psionics running in the background, but you¡¯re looking a little rosy? What¡¯d I say?¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Nope, nothing, nada! Let¡¯s just get wrapped up here and make sure we don¡¯t, you know, get shot at by lurking Talons agents for date night! And comb your hair!¡± She turns away to hide the fact that she¡¯s embarrassed the lewd thought even crossed her mind, now of all times! Kyle, however, seems to know something is up, and sends her a private note, and a roll of his eyes only accentuates his irritation. {He must be really good in the sack, for you to put up with this awkward teen charm of his, and not on account of his limitless bravery under fire.} She gives him the tsundere special glare of doom, just to make it clear she does not approve of that. {Give it a rest, Kyle! We dated for five minutes!} She shoots back in a private message. He shrugs. {Besides, how would you know that?} {When I wake up at one in the morning, and have to take a liquid oxygen shower to clear a mood? That might be a sign that your psionics are on transmit mode, just a wee little bit.} She claps a hand to her mouth, eyes wide. This is mortifying on such a profound level, that she doesn¡¯t have a response. A tiny squeak manages to emerge from her lips, and Drenar still is standing there, looking confused. ¡°Are you guys sending private messages? You¡¯re both making a weird face¨C¡± ¡°Nope, not at all, gotta go clean up, lots to do!¡± she says animatedly and tries to not think of what Julia and Angela might have heard. Or seen. *** Josephine waits anxiously by the teleportal platform at Nick¡¯s barn and checks her wristwatch for the third time in a minute. Okay, he''s still not late. I''m a couple of minutes early. She checks to make sure she doesn¡¯t have a mess on her shirt. Or any unseemly scents from the laboratory. She takes a deep breath and leans on the railing, making sure there¡¯s nothing out of the ordinary. Okay, no fur on my clothes, this is my cute long-sleeve I like. I¡¯m good. Wait. Did I brush my teeth? It couldn¡¯t have been that long ago. She sighs impatiently, she¡¯s an organized orchestra in the lab, but here, outside of it, she¡¯s an anxious ball of energy. Am I pushing him a little too hard? Am I too old for him? Is my status as an arcanist genius genuinely intimidating to him? For once, a resounding silence is her answer. She¡¯s far enough away from the others that the psionic link doesn¡¯t seem to take. She finds it odd, however, that the range she can talk to the others over this connection is growing. It used to only be a few meters distance, at best. Now, they can be several meters apart and she can ¡®hear¡¯ them very distinctly from one another. It has easily doubled in range, and she hasn¡¯t even run a proper test to calculate the range increase. Then again, they¡¯ve been quite busy, the past two months. ¡°Hey, sorry I¡¯m late. There was a disagreement with Alex about the attire.¡± Drenar half-jogs back into the barn in a jacket and a black, long-sleeved shirt, and his typical jeans and sneakers. And he finally combed his hair, instead of looking like a wild beast! She instantly snaps to attention and grins. That¡¯s further than I ever got with Kyle. he can be presentable, after all! ¡°You¡¯re right on time. Shall we?¡± She offers an arm, and he plays along by locking elbows as they enter the now active portal. The SAF official that looks up at the pair of them raises an eyebrow but says nothing when they show him the access badge Nick had handed out to the team in the weeks prior. ¡°Uh, any armaments or customs declarations?¡± He asks casually. Drenar did make a subtle motion to the holster where Remari is discretely hidden, and she has the alchemical canister rotary that she waved to. Given what he¡¯s capable of doing with the dagger alone, and Luminari getting strangely cozy with Angela of late, it¡¯s still an incredible armament. The SAF soldier takes note of the small emblem on his jacket, and his face widens in surprise. ¡°The Luminaires? The group from legend? That allows you guys to carry weapons? I thought Barry was kidding!¡± What he¡¯s referring to is the emblem that Angela designed for the team, working away at creating a design that carried the spirit of what the Luminaires stood for. A massive silver dragon, spreading her wings resided in the upper portion of the shield-shaped badge. Below her, each of the major kin was represented in a silhouette: humans, fey, wargen, kitsune, dragons, dwarven, and elven. The dragon gently clutches in her hands a runic sword, representing Luminari. A small inscription at the bottom reads ¡®Be a light to guide the way¡¯. Joey smiles quietly at this, Drenar had received the first one that she¡¯d made, and she was busily making the rest. If there was anyone who was the embodiment of what this team meant, it was those two, with their steadfast determination. It did make her question why they drifted apart from the romantic standpoint. But, seeing him talking quietly with the soldier, able to talk calmly about their ordeal as a calling to do something important without asking for a thing in return, made her realize he was always going to be a part of her life. Not just for the immediate crisis. ¡°Wow! You were the guys that stopped the Talons here, two months ago? Barry would¡¯ve been mowed down if you guys didn¡¯t show up!¡± the dark-haired soldier said, before waving them through. ¡°Go on, they got some little festival going on, luckily no snow tonight. Have fun!¡± A moment later, they¡¯re at the Mercadian Promenade, and work their way down the busy street. It¡¯s lively here today, with vendors shouting out advertisements on the street, and many Kin walking around¨Ceven a few dragons padding forward, talking as a group. It sounds like they¡¯re arguing over a sports team. She ignores the commotion and points Drenar to the right direction. He¡¯s still new to this, the sense of wonder, of being in a whole other world, has not dulled for him. And the way his face lights up as he takes in the sights, it brings a smile to her face. He¡¯s such a kid. I mean, yeah, he¡¯s almost my age, but he¡¯s making up for a childhood that got thrown on the rocks at the direction of one giant murder lizard. She hastily discards the thought. Time for a night on the town, and toss all this saving the world stuff aside for one day! Vol. 3, Ch. 148: Sir, We Dont Sell Bombs, Shields, Or Regen Potions One quick stop for coffee later, they¡¯re outside the parlor, and Drenar politely opens the door for her¨Cit¡¯s adorably old-fashioned of him, and she leads him inside. The parlor is well furnished, looking more like someone''s living room than a commercial shop, and there¡¯s incense smoking ever so slightly nearby. Something earthy and warm, when Joey focuses on it. A woman comes out of the back past a colorful bead curtain, ear piercings, and one small cute piercing on her nose that catches the light, and it stands out compared to her dark hair and amber eyes. She''s dressed neatly in a light shirt, vest, and slacks. She immediately comes over to Joey and hugs her, looking excited. ¡°Joey, darling, how are you?¡± she says with enthusiasm. ¡°Sierra, oh my goodness, you look fantastic! I¡¯m doing well, I brought a friend,¡± she announced as she waved Drenar over. Sierra eyes him with genuine curiosity. ¡°Drenar, this is Sierra, she runs the place. Sierra, this is Drenar, you might have heard of him.¡± He politely shakes her hand, but Sierra isn¡¯t letting him off that easily, and wraps him in a bear hug. Joey tries not to giggle when Drenar makes that very familiar ¡®deer in the headlights¡¯ look of his and he very gently returns the gesture. ¡°Might have heard of you? You and your friends sent the Talons packing and saved a lot of lives! I¡¯ll never forget watching a silver and azure scaled dragon tanking machine gun fire outside my shop!¡± she said with enthusiasm. Drenar blinked in surprise. ¡°You saw that?¡± ¡°Of course I did! The teleportal is right up the street, I saw you guys beating the ever-loving crap out of the Talons! SAF had their dick in their hands that time around,¡± Sierra added with a laugh, and Drenar had that cozily awkward look on his face, like he didn¡¯t know how to react. ¡°Then, a birdie told me that the Luminaires were re-established. Guess that made some waves in the Conclave, and ruffled some feathers. And here you are!¡± ¡°Oh Sierra, come now! Us, running headfirst into danger? Nah, it¡¯s not our style,¡± Joey tried to playfully deflect, while Drenar gently took position by her side. ¡°Wait a second. How do you figure it was me?¡± Drenar asks casually. ¡°A silver dragon with a messy feather mane, and bright green eyes? Yeah, not too many of you around, plus, the silver strands in your hair are a bit of a giveaway,¡± Sierra grins. Drenar scrunches up. ¡°I¡¯m not old!¡± ¡°Yeah, I can see that. Joey probably told you that can happen with dragons, tiny little things bleed through to your human form. Anyway, thanks for keeping a bunch of people safe!¡± she beams. ¡°So, how did you run into this kid?¡± ¡°Uh¡­when he was burning down a school.¡± She couldn¡¯t help but get an evil grin in on Drenar, who scowls. ¡°Hey, I was trying to put the fire out, and throwing a beating at a pyromaniac who currently is in prison.¡± Sierra looks like she wants to melt on the spot while clutching her hands up to her heart. ¡°Also, you were golem stalking us for a bit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true, you guys made so much noise, that Kyle¡¯s golems spotted you! You know, you weren¡¯t the only ones concerned about the Talons and their hijinks!¡± she shot back. The nerve of this drake, indeed! ¡°Oh, my fates. Joey, I¡¯m gonna steal him if he¡¯s not yours,¡± Sierra says while looking utterly delighted, and Drenar gets flustered. Even though Sierra probably would be his type, given what she knows from Julia. ¡°What else have you been up to, dear? I haven¡¯t seen you since October, when the Talons launched their ill-advised invasion!¡± ¡°Oh, you know, training. Asqualia kinda got wrecked, if you hadn¡¯t heard. We uh¡­there were some losses,¡± she added quietly. Sierra nodded her head solemnly, and she rubbed at the gold bangles on her wrist. ¡°Yeah, I know. Someone told me that one of my regulars, Winston, died defending the facility. I can¡¯t believe you came out of that alive, you or Kyle, or dozens of other people,¡± she said before clearing her throat. ¡°Anyway, sorry to bring the topic up, you¡¯re here for your appointment, right?¡± Dearie, thank you for changing the topic, Joey thought as she smiled faintly. ¡°Yeah, just like we talked. I wanted to get one more piercing, you know, to celebrate! We¡¯ve been training for close to two months, we¡¯re just trying to make the world a safer place.¡± ¡°Darling, all you need to do is just yell loudly enough, and the world will fall into order,¡± she replies before beckoning her over to take a look at the case of products. "Okay, so, I was thinking on this one. I was looking for a gem that would add some flair. I think I have just the right one." She withdraws a simple oval-shaped earring with a silver clasp, and she can see the topaz. To her trained eye, it looks very high quality, and not synthetic¨Cshe can see just a few almost imperceptible occlusions in the crystal. ¡°So, what do you think? You like it?¡± ¡°Oh it¡¯s perfect Sierra, you¡¯re such a doll!¡± Joey is excited to try this one on, so she sets it on the display case, and Sierra beckons her over to a chair. ¡°Let¡¯s get this underway!¡± ¡°Uh, okay, I¡¯ll be just over¨C¡± Drenar starts to say, then Joey beckons him forth. ¡°Uh-uh, no way, you get to watch! It¡¯s not that bad! I already did this twice!¡± she points to her ears for emphasis. ¡°Besides¡­it might help if you observed, in case you wanted to get one as well,¡± she adds with a smirk. Drenar goes blank for a second. ¡°W-what? Me? I mean, um¡­¡± he¡¯s stumping for an answer, and Sierra coos like this is an amusement park event. ¡°Told ya kiddo, she¡¯s a handful. You know, it¡¯s kinda cute when couples get piercings on the same day, so I¡¯ll knock off ten percent if you convince him,¡± She adds with warm regard. Drenar glances at Joey, then at Sierra. He has no idea how to respond, and it¡¯s almost hilarious. Joey realizes he might need one more nudge because she figured this was a low chance of him doing this anyway. ¡°Hey, let¡¯s let him watch first, then he can decide if he wants one.¡± Joey sees the warmth return to his face just a bit, like he''s just been granted a stay of execution. {And don¡¯t make the decision based on whether I teased you on it. Do it if you want to do it for yourself,} she adds while dipping her head lightly ¡°W-well, I¡­alright, I¡¯m game.¡± he quickly shuts up and firms up his voice. ¡°I¡¯ll watch. Mind if I check out what you have?¡± ¡°Oh, of course, take your time. This won¡¯t take too long.¡± Joey gets a little anxious as Sierra prepares the site where she¡¯s getting the next piercing. It¡¯ll be the last one for now¨Cshe didn¡¯t want to have that many piercings. ¡°So, Joey, does he¡­you know, know?¡± she asks quietly while Drenar is browsing through the various earrings, and not particularly paying attention to them. He waves a hand lazily in the air while smiling faintly in a surprise move. ¡°Yep, draconic hearing, and yep, I do. Which puts me in a realm of very few people who actually know,¡± he says. She pouts her lip in response, if only to feign annoyance. Sierra stares at her, gleaming amber eyes etched in surprise. ¡°You must love this guy for you to tell him that, from what I know of you girl. My goodness! Do you have any idea who you¡¯re dating, kid?¡± He peers up from the case and does that smirk again. ¡°An alchemical genius kitsune who threatens to set me on fire about once a week, which is a baseless threat because, you know, dragon.¡± ¡°Twice a week,¡± she corrects. ¡°Sierra here is¨C¡± ¡°An enlightened kin who thinks humanity needs a good kick in the head sometimes,¡± Sierra growled before examining the jewelry. ¡°I uh, stumbled on this discovery by accident, sorry Joey. I¡¯m glad I mentioned the alchemical silver coatings on that first pair of earrings, otherwise, that could have been a scene.¡± ¡°What happens when people are exposed to alchemical silver?¡± Drenar asks. ¡°For most people, nothing,¡± Sierra says with a shrug. ¡°For certain species of Kin, it¡¯s a little more dramatic. You haven¡¯t mentioned this one?¡± ¡°Surprisingly? I haven¡¯t,¡± Joey answers. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s a little obscure, but alchemical silver can force a transformation,¡± she explains. ¡°It also inhibits active regeneration on some species. That¡¯s only for the untreated material. When it¡¯s alloyed with other stuff, it¡¯s harmless. Honestly Sierra, the earrings probably would have been fine, now that I think about it.¡± ¡°Fair, fair,¡± Sierra replied. ¡°Alright, just like last time, I¡¯ll add the mimetic enchantment. It¡¯ll never get lost or pop out by accident from your ears. Now let¡¯s get this done dear, shall we?¡± A few minutes and one sharp pain later, Joey winces when the job is done. Drenar watches observantly, and he taps his fingers on the counter. Not nervously, but in tempo, like he¡¯s getting his thoughts in order. Joey takes a glance in the mirror when Sierra helps her put the new piece in. ¡°Oh, my, goodness. I love it! It stands out, it¡¯s very distinct from your hair, what a bright green color. I knew I picked the right one!¡± Sierra says triumphantly. Drenar leans on the counter, and smiles lightly. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. It¡¯s a good fit, Joey. I like it.¡± Inside though, he had so many other strong things to say, and she couldn¡¯t help but turn away and blush, and play it as if trying to see the new earring in place. But regarding his thoughts on what he was going to do, he was deceptively drawing a blank. Or was he trying to save a surprise for her? ¡°So uh, that wasn¡¯t such a bad process. Doesn¡¯t look too harmful for my health. You do enchantment work, Sierra?¡± he asks. Oh. You did surprise me. What are you up to, Drenar? Joey thinks with an amused expression while Sierra ushers him over to a desk filled with arcane devices. ¡°Kid, there isn¡¯t an enchantment I can¡¯t do. The price will be set by raw materials, my talent comes as part of the package. So what are you interested in?¡± Sierra explains, and she sees Drenar looking over pages of script. He finally settles on a line, and Sierra lets out a sound of surprise. ¡°That one? You sure?¡± ¡°Yeah. Absolutely.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a little pricey¨C¡± ¡°Mom left me something.¡± He says it with a much quieter tone. ¡°Before she passed. I can cover the cost.¡± that subtle lie, having to be one of only a handful of people who knows she''s still alive, must be hard on him. "Anyway, I figured, I want something useful." ¡°Which one are you getting?¡± Joey¡¯s excited. ¡°You are getting one, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. Alarite metal backing. Teardrop ruby gemstone, with the aerial sigil enchantment.¡± Joey¡¯s stunned¨Cthat¡¯s pricey for him. And though she never mentioned it, her alchemical work along with a few of Kyle¡¯s inventions had her earning a pretty decent paycheck. Most of it she just put in the bank in a very cushy reserve for pretty much anything she could want for the foreseeable future, but she also knew when to splurge. ¡°Alright, let me just check¨C¡± ¡°Feel free to count.¡± He places a small stack of the platinum currency mages used for their day-to-day business, and Sierra nods, looking impressed. Joey narrows her eyes at him. {Did you read my mind?} {Joey, if I¡¯m going to continue this suicide-mission level of an impossible task, I¡¯m doing this in style. Besides, I¡¯m not as normal as I profess myself to be.} Sierra sees them looking at each other, puzzled. ¡°You¡¯re both doing that silent stare thing. I know when a kitsune is private messaging,¡± Sierra coos. ¡°Joey he¡¯s a treat! Now, why does he need to be able to hover for a few seconds?¡± ¡°Oh, if you had seen him in action, you would totally understand why.¡± Joey gets a warm fuzzy feeling, and slaps Drenar on the shoulder. ¡°See, I told you it would be fun!¡± ¡°She says, before they bring out a needle to put a hole in my ear,¡± he retorts lightly, but he¡¯s such a champ about it! ¡°Also, am I going to need some kind of enchantment for when I transform? I uh¡­am half dragon,¡± he adds as if the words were foreign to him. ¡°Piece of cake, it¡¯s super easy to layer that enchantment, just like with Joey. That part is easy. Any special reason why the green-tinged metal and bright red gemstone?¡± ¡°Well, the green¡­makes me think of my mom. She had green eyes, like me,¡± he answers quietly. ¡°As for the ruby¡­well¡­It¡¯s a very striking fiery color. A color of passion.¡± Any relief Joey had enjoyed went out the window when she felt herself blush something fierce, and Drenar¡¯s wearing that slight smirk of his when he realizes he¡¯s got the one-up on someone. Sierra sees right through that and lets out a squeal of delight. ¡°Joey, Joey! Stop what you¡¯re doing, go to town hall, and marry this guy!¡± Sierra gives her a massive hug, and Joey suddenly feels like she¡¯s melting into the floor faster than the last time Kyle had a lab accident with the quenching materials. Drenar plays along and laughs. ¡°Well, I think that would be a very fast, very sudden thing. I¡¯ve gotta be careful. I might get burned by that passion.¡± She gives him a smoldering look like she wants to melt him now. ¡°Alright, before I lose my courage, let¡¯s get on with this, shall we? My bravado is gonna wear off real quick if I stare at that industrial equipment for too long.¡± ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s get this underway. Now, where did you want it placed?¡± ¡°Uh¡­right here.¡± he points to a spot on his earlobe. Just far enough away from where his ear crest ridge would be, in his dragon form. He did think ahead, Joey thinks with measured respect. ¡°Here we go, on three...¡± It turns out, getting cut, bludgeoned, hit with elemental plasma, and toasted by James on a semi-routine basis paled in comparison to the tiny puncture for the piercing, and he winced from the effort. Sierra quickly hands him something to cover it up for a bit, then gets to work on the jewelry. ¡°This won¡¯t take long. Last one in stock, you really have a good eye for craftsmanship, Drenar!¡± ¡°Oh, I did learn a thing or two from my friend,¡± he replies with a gentle nudge of his elbow to get Joey¡¯s attention when he leans on the counter next to him. She won¡¯t give him the satisfaction of a blush this time. A short time later, Sierra is ready, and Drenar puts the earring on. There¡¯s a brief pulse of light from the ruby as it attunes to him, and the alarite metal is set in place. He glances in the mirror, and then nods lightly. ¡°Sierra, it¡¯s fantastic, thanks. Now, if I charge my mana into this, how long could I hover?¡± ¡°Depends on the mileage. For you, given your physical aptitude, you could probably hold it for twenty, or thirty seconds without breaking much of a sweat. What are you planning on doing with it? You know dragons have wings already." "There are some practical uses where being a dragon in close quarters might be a hindrance. With this, I don''t need a running start to get airborne. World''s first VTOL dragon," he adds with a grin. "Plus, it gives me some surprises when maneuvering in flight. No one''s gonna expect me to dead stall in mid-air," he adds confidently. "Just don¡¯t come back dead, you or Joey. The world needs more people like you in it, and not sitting in a lonely grave,¡± Sierra scolds him. ¡°So you protect her, yeah? And send the rest of your team my way! I wanna meet the rest!¡± ¡°Uh, that¡¯s not how we¨C¡± Drenar starts to say. ¡°Listen, anyone who is willing to fight against deplorable human beings at great risk to themselves is alright in my books! Joey if I¡¯d known you were this involved, I¡¯d have volunteered my services!¡± she counters, feet spread wide and arms crossed while examining the two of them. ¡°I mean, I can¡¯t do it for free, so if you or Kyle get me raw materials, bring them to me!¡± ¡°I¡¯m fuzzy on enchanting. I know we put some runes on that beast of a rifle Julia lugs around, but, how¡¯s it work?¡± Drenar ponders. ¡°Runes are like magical programming. You draw it in the right shape, the right size, the right materials, and the right magical charge, and it prescribes an effect,¡± Sierra explains. ¡°That¡¯s the short version, if you didn¡¯t know. Which I find it mighty weird, how you don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°There were some deliberate efforts to keep me in the dark about the mage world. Me and my friends,¡± Drenar replies with a grunt. ¡°I''m not exactly a fan of the reasons why, either. So, I¡¯m fast-tracking my magical education.¡± ¡°Ah, gotcha. Alright, I¡¯ve talked off your ears, but if you guys need help, get me signed up! I¡¯m so tired of people trying to smash my shop, the next time it happens, someone¡¯s getting set on fire, or a slew of magical maladies that¡¯ll make them regret their existence.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be in touch, of course, Sierra,¡± Joey says before giving her a parting hug. They head out to the street, and Drenar keeps rubbing at his ear. She nudges his shoulder. ¡°Do you have some kind of magical charm?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not magic, that¡¯s just my personality. Ow. never thought I¡¯d get a piercing, but, here it is.¡± ¡°Did you do that for me?¡± she teases. He shakes his head and smiles in the warm way he always does. ¡°Nah. I just realized that I got the whole rest of my life to live, if we somehow pull this off. So I want it to be of my choosing. I mean it¡¯s not permanent, permanent, right? I wonder what Julia will think of it.¡± She lets out a contented sigh. ¡°Knowing that girl, she¡¯s gonna get jealous. And get a few piercings in places I dare not mention aloud, to be edgier than thou.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not edgy.¡± then a slow horror dawns on him, and his mouth opens slightly. ¡°Do you think she would? I mean, get piercings on¡­¡± ¡°Drenar, she¡¯s practically your twin soul. You know the answer,¡± she says with a grin. He grimaces and runs his fingers through his hair. ¡°Oh, what have I done,¡± he groans, and then firms up his expression. ¡°Let¡¯s go get some dinner, yeah? I saw a place up the street that I wanted to check out. Victoria¡¯s. It looks like it serves some really good food.¡± ¡°Oh no, it¡¯s not good food. It¡¯s divine food,¡± she says with a melting feeling in her heart. It¡¯s her favorite place in the world to eat, and Drenar utterly nailed it. Vol. 3, Ch. 149: Dinner and a Prophecy Oh, my, goodness. I love this place. I am so at home here! Joey lit up the second they arrived at the Victoria¡¯s, a converted warehouse on the other end of Mercadian Promenade that was a strange fusion of oldtown, Opechea Falls, and a mage-designed building. The rough-hewn rafters were a visual delight with twirling lights hovering above them, giving off a spectrum of colors. Drenar is still looking around in awe at the various kin species¨Cand this place attracts all sorts. Dragons were dining at oversized booths, with what appeared to be a yakaniku grill setup. Except, the Nevarran Red sitting at the table was using a controlled flame burst to cook food on the grill, with the azure silver pair across from him cheering him on, and enjoying drinks from large pitchers. Off to the right, a pair of wargens are chatting with a dark-furred kitsune with a tawny face and body accents, all dressed in casual wear, and laughing about some joke. If she wasn¡¯t in public, she wouldn¡¯t mind being in her true form¨Cbut she also sees a few humans leering at the merry group from a table in the back, and one of them tosses back a drink with little restraint. She¡¯d seen that look before. That silent, baleful look people gave to other Kin, when words might bring too much attention. Though, that didn¡¯t stop everyone. It¡¯s a reminder that it¡¯s going to take an awful lot of work to undo a culture. However, she has friends who would never give up on that endeavor. ¡°Joey? Joey, are you gonna order? You¡¯re doing that thing,¡± Drenar calls out to get her attention, and she blinks, and comes back to a less unkempt Drenar peering at her with curiosity. ¡°You alright?¡± ¡°Yeah, just taking in the sights. I love Victoria¡¯s place. She¡¯s a wargen who runs the place, and opened it, eh, like a few years ago? And honestly speaking, I think their loaded fries are the best. Not everything has to be magical to be appreciated,¡± she adds with a sly wink. ¡°Uh huh, like you, Miss Pyromist? He says with a smirk and leans in. ¡°What do you say we put these tests off tomorrow, take a weekend, and go somewhere? There¡¯s been nothing on the Talons for weeks, and the Conclave seems to have given us a really wide berth. Probably due to Levine and Nick stern talking everyone down, and no one wanting to mess with the entirety of the Valkyries.¡± ¡°Are you taking a break from work? Young man, you have studies to finish!¡± she teases, and is grateful that he didn¡¯t pry too deep into that link between them. Then again, She has a feeling that he knows the limits of how far to listen in. Some thoughts were in the moment¡­and didn¡¯t always need to be aired out to the world. She taps her menu and finally decides on a plate. The waitress stops by in an instant, and Joey peers up at that spry fey the greeted them. Drenar tries not to stare, but she also realizes something: he has never seen a fey up close, before now. Where there was a mostly humanoid body, there were some not-insignificant differences. The fey had feathers across their bodies in various iridescent colors of blue, white, and green. Two large wings of similar color banded feathers came out of her back, and her face was mostly human, but with long, pointy ears¨Calmost like an Elven from the fake fantasy books she¡¯d read as a kid. The fey have disproportionately large eyes compared to normal humans. She smiles warmly at the two of them, a pen and pad ready. ¡°Hey Joey, it¡¯s been a while!¡± she announces with interest. ¡°And uh, who¡¯s the kid?¡± Before Drenar could get offended, Joey takes the initiative and heads her off. ¡°This is Drenar, we¡¯re currently working together on a joint venture, let¡¯s say. He¡¯s looking to study at London Academy.¡± She also passes on a private message. {Play along, remember: we don¡¯t want a target on our backs, but Sierra I¡¯d trust with my life.} Drenar blinks and then slowly nods. ¡°Yep, I¡¯m looking to further my studies. I¡¯d heard great things about the place when Joey was talking about it, earlier,¡± he added a slight smirk. She loves how he can roll with it and not put up too much resistance. ¡°I hadn¡¯t decided on a major, yet. I do have a draconic background, so, magic isn¡¯t an issue. It¡¯s picking a specialty that suits me.¡± ¡°Joeys¡¯ the mad genius with the alchemy. Oh, I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mention my name, I¡¯m Figs, Joey¡¯s been a regular here since we opened! Though, where¡¯s Kyle?¡± Figs asked with a wide-eyed look of curiosity. ¡°Working. The attack left him a little uh¨Che loves the comfort of his workshop, let¡¯s say,¡± she added on a quieter note. Almost no mage in the town didn¡¯t know someone who hadn¡¯t worked at Asqualia at one point, even given its security. ¡°But, he''s doing better now.¡± ¡°I would say I worry about you, dear. In here it¡¯s one thing, but there¡¯s an unease going through the town. Conclave guys are ramping up soldiers everywhere. Lots of crackdowns on anyone even remotely infracting on veil protocol. It¡¯s getting a little ridiculous, isn¡¯t it? Anyway, you having the usual, Joey?¡± ¡°Figs, of course I am! Drenar, whatcha having?¡± she asked with a smile. ¡°You know me¡ªa bacon cheeseburger with caramelized onions. I hear great things about it,¡± he replies warmly. Figs takes off in a flutter of wings, and Drenar does track her motion a bit. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t stare,¡± she teases. He stammers for a second, then frowns at her. ¡°You told me to engage my academic curiosity,¡± he shoots back, and she sighs. ¡°I wasn¡¯t staring. I didn¡¯t realize the fey were so¡­birdlike. When I think of fey, I think of things from Irish folklore. Definitely not that,¡± he added as an aside. ¡°Man, I feel like the straight man in a world filled with craziness.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You¡¯re not, though. Plenty of people have been late arrivals on this front, Drenar. Besides, a few more trips to the Promenade, it¡¯ll be plain and routine,¡± she assures him. ¡°Nah, it won¡¯t. Despite the danger we find ourselves in, that little bit of figurative magic is never going to fade out for me, that sense of wonder, and all these little secrets of the world that have been hidden in only one doorway from me. It kind of makes me wonder what would have happened if I hadn¡¯t gone to Mount Syren, how different things would be.¡± ¡°That would be impossible to predict. But I can tell you this: no one in Asqualia would likely be alive,¡± she stated quietly. ¡°I don¡¯t think I would¡¯ve seen the danger in time if you guys didn¡¯t cross paths with us. Alright, Now onto brighter topics!¡± ¡°We can do bright?¡± he asked while leaning in. ¡°Alright, whatcha got?¡± ¡°Well, assuming we ever get out of this mess, what are you going to do once we¡¯re out of danger? Saving the world sounds like a one-time deal,¡± she says with confidence. He folded his arms across the table, and gave it a good thought. ¡°I don¡¯t know. There¡¯s so much I haven¡¯t seen. Magic I never even knew existed, people and cultures that are completely unknown to me. I suppose, getting caught up with that? Academia? Kiera let me know that mom was sitting on funds that she set aside for myself and Evan.¡± ¡°Oh! You could go to London Academy, like I said before! Sorry, I really didn¡¯t want to lead Figs astray. Because, you know, the Talons might get ideas,¡± she said with a hand wave around the room. ¡°Well, we didn¡¯t come unprepared, is all I¡¯m saying.¡± he rubs at the watch on his wrist, but¨Che¡¯s put it on his other hand. On his left hand? She has never asked him about that scar on his right wrist, and she has a feeling she knows what it is--from before. But, perhaps now isn¡¯t the time to ask about it. He continues before she lingers on the idea. ¡°Anyway, I think I¡¯d like the idea of going to the academy. But then, I wouldn¡¯t be with you guys.¡± ¡°Teleportals exist, Drenar,¡± she laughs. ¡°Oh, right. I keep forgetting that part,¡± he adds with a contented sigh, then smiles at her. ¡°You want me to go to your alma mater? I mean, could you put in a word? And not because we¡¯re dating, either.¡± ¡°I think to be fair, Amaranth could put in a good word for you. Weirdly, we haven¡¯t gotten a mention from him, yet. I thought for sure he¡¯d make contact with us.¡± She pondered this, why was he being so elusive? It¡¯s not that he hadn¡¯t spoken to her briefly, but he had been very brief and hadn¡¯t given any details on what he had been doing lately. Maybe it¡¯s some kind of special field research? They eventually drift off to talking about the academy, and Drenar shows a keen interest in it¨Che might be a tad older than most of the mages, but he has more than made up for it with his tactical acumen and fast learning. There¡¯s nothing in the last two months he hasn¡¯t been able to handle, and academics should be an utter cakewalk for him. Dinner is eventually brought over by Figs, and they dig into the meal¨Cshe has to laugh, and Drenar has to bolt down his food because he constantly fears Julia might steal it! She laughs at some of his commentary on the food. Sometimes, there¡¯s magic even in the mundane! A ping goes off on her phone, and she glances down at the message. It¡¯s from an unlisted number, and she debates just letting it go to voicemail. But then, she feels a twinge. Something is setting off her danger sense, just at the edge of her ability to sense it. She¡¯s learned that it¡¯s only as useful as you can pinpoint the source and that sometimes it can be set off by relatively mundane things, especially if you¡¯re a skittish kitsune who is afraid of people unmasking you. She answers the phone while Drenar glances at her in curiosity. ¡°Good evening, who may I ask is calling¨C¡± ¡°Joey, it¡¯s me.¡± She almost drops the phone when she hears those three words, and she feels both immense relief and instant tension. ¡°Amaranth? Why are you calling me on¨C¡± ¡°Joey, you have to listen right now. Malena sent word to me that you were in town earlier today. I had to ditch my phone and I¡¯m on my backup one. I¡¯m being tracked.¡± She taps Drenar¡¯s arm to get his attention, and he leans in subtly, while she keeps the phone on normal speaker. He¡¯s focused now and taps Remari out of instinct. ¡°Professor Amaranth? How bad is the situation?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got first-hand information that I think bears grave concern for you two, and the rest of your friends. I don¡¯t dare to give this information over the phone. I need to meet with you two, immediately. I came in by one of the maintenance entrances of the Promenade, can you meet me somewhere private?¡± ¡°What about Nick¡¯s house?¡± Drenar asked quietly while snapping his fingers. ¡°Amaranth, who¡¯s tracking you?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know, but my guess is it¡¯s the Talons. Where are you two currently¨Cwait, no, don¡¯t tell me. I don¡¯t want to give these opportunists a chance to take you two out. Rashalda, if you¡¯re as sharp as Joey¡¯s made you out to be, then you understand you may have studied previously undiscovered phenomena a couple of months ago. Malena forwarded me the report, but I made a connection no one¡¯s found yet.¡± Joey can hear him walking at a hurried pace. ¡°Danger sense is going off. Damn. Guess I need to get to ground, fast.¡± ¡°Meet us at Victoria¡¯s, you must be right nearby if you came in by Broad Street,¡± Joey instructs him. ¡°It¡¯s down the street, a big converted building on the left, meet us inside.¡± She flags down Figs, who looks puzzled. ¡°Figs, we need a private room for a late arrival, think you can get us something?¡± ¡°Sure thing Joey. I¡¯ll go clear one for you guys, no problem.¡± Figs takes off in a flash of feathers, and Joey looks back to her phone. This is bad news, no matter which way this is going. ¡°Amaranth, without getting into detail, we¡¯ve seen some very strange things lately. What do you think you know?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll risk a hint. She returns to the cradle of Kin.¡± Joey has a vague idea of what he means, but then there¡¯s a shuffle of feet on his end. ¡°I¡¯ll be there in two minutes.¡± The phone clicks off, and all their plans of normalcy just went out the window. ¡°Joey, what did he mean by that?¡± Drenar asks, and she sees that look on his face, like he knows they¡¯re already back in the thick of it. ¡°Someone else thinks Gaia is alive.¡±
Want to support my author efforts? Go check out my patreon, where I host both The Legend of the Luminaires, and my new story, Newly Broke Heroine with advanced chapters past public release! Every little bit helps guys, and keeps me driving to deliver awesome stories! The image below takes ya there! Discord | Ko-fi Vol. 3, Ch. 150: Doctor Vertimer, I Presume? Of all the things that Drenar could have anticipated, it was this absolutely bonkers idea that Vertimer was showing up with hostiles on his heels, right in the middle of dinner. He leaves the bill and a generous tip at that table as Figs motions to the back. ¡°Now, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on with you two, but when you get skittish Joey, I worry a bit.¡± ¡°Figs, do me a huge favor. We need to start clearing people out of here, immediately. Drenar, get the others on the line¨C¡± ¡°Already done.¡± He¡¯s already dialing Julia''s number, and cursing the fact that trouble has found them yet again. I just wanted one date. One! I guess this one is going to be hard-earned! He thought as he pressed the phone to his ear, already on the way to the side door where he figured Amaranth would be arriving. The alleyway looks for the moment, and he edges to see if there is anything out of the ordinary. The phone continues to ring. ¡°Damn it, Julia, of all the times to not pick up!¡± he curses. He glances down and dials Angela, of course, she should pick up at the drop of a hat. Has anyone mentioned you have such utter knockout female friends, Drenar? The thought rattles Drenar, and he feels Joey glaring at him without him even needing to see it. {Ignore this guy! He showed up in my head one day, and now is squatting somewhere between my Id and Ego!} he shot in a rather unsubtle rebuke at Alex. Angela picks up on the second ring, much to his relief. ¡°Drenar, how¡¯s it going, are you guys having a fun time¨C¡± ¡°All hands on deck. We¡¯ve got a situation. Amaranth Vertimer is coming to us, at Victoria¡¯s by downtown, at the Mercadian Promenade. Come armed and armored, let Kiera know, too.¡± He decides the threat limit on this one could be sky-high. ¡°Amaranth knows something big, Something about Gaia. he was pretty cryptic.¡± He hears Angela call out to the others on the other end of the phone. ¡°Drenar, something¡¯s been happening here, too. The mana shard in my body has been¡­um¡­glowing. It¡¯s kind of doing that right now.¡± Joey peers over his shoulder, bewildered. ¡°Girl, can we leave you alone for six hours without weird stuff going on with any of you?!¡± she asked, her purple eyes wide with fascination. ¡°I¡¯m getting samples! I mean, after I¡¯m done beating Amaranth over the head with a tsundere dragon.¡± ¡°Cool, I¡¯m a blunt force weapon? I knew you¡¯d see it my way!¡± Julia says with glaring endorsement. ¡°Guys, shit is about to go down. I need you here right away, and Amaranth might have unfriendly company. We¡¯re in a busy place with a lot of people. Expect trouble.¡± ¡°We¡¯re there in five minutes, hold tight, Drenar!¡± Angela responds, and he sets it up to a headset he carries in his jacket. ¡°Alright, what¡¯s this about Gaia, exactly?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Joey, what¡¯s this about the cradle of Kin, exactly?¡± ¡°Short version, it¡¯s like the origin for mages, where all kin originated from Gaia. Which is a load of tripe, because everyone knows that all Kin, minus dragons and humans, are genetically spliced together through magical means. I mean, I think so, the documentation is pretty thorough.¡± ¡°Then, what is he prattling on¨C¡± Drenar spots someone coming up the alleyway, walking at a hurried pace. He eases the door shut, and waits for them to approach. He hears footsteps coming up the stairwell leading to the side door, the sound of¡­boots? Worn boots¨Cat least to his trained ears, because there isn¡¯t that hard snap on the ground like the sole has gotten thin. This man has traveled a lot. He times it and thrusts the door open, grabs the man, and brings him inside, He then slams the door shut. His hand is already on his dagger, and he peers at this newcomer. ¡°Easy Drenar, that¡¯s Amaranth.¡± Joey¡¯s reassurance causes him to quickly take his hand off his weapon, and he loosens his grip on the vest of Amaranth Vertimer, a medium-length auburn-haired, caramel-eyed man with a short goatee, lightly tanned skin, and wearing what appears to be some kind of expeditionary outfit and jeans. It¡¯s a jacket not unlike the armored jacket that Joey has from her days at MBPS, with powerful enchantments and a mithril weave that reinforces it. ¡°Professor Vertimer. Sorry for the jump scare. You can imagine how the last few months have gone.¡± He gives a firm handshake, and Joey also gives him a quick hug. Then a scolding. ¡°What the hell, Professor Vertimer! You call me on my cell phone from a shady number, you tell us you¡¯re being followed¨C¡± ¡°Hold that thought.¡± Drenar can feel that tingle of danger going down his spine. Out of all of them, he seems to be most in tune with it, and he knows there is trouble coming. ¡°Amaranth, were you followed?¡± ¡°Four guys. Plain clothes, but I could see the armored vests under their clothes. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re Talons. The talons would have gone to extreme violence by now,¡± he said with a smooth voice that sounded¡­awfully familiar. He peered at Amaranth, noting the facial features. He looked like Malena. But, something else was familiar. He just knew something was uncanny, but he couldn¡¯t put his finger on it. ¡°I presume you¡¯re armed?¡± ¡°A dragon is always armed,¡± he says nonchalantly and edges the door open ever so slightly¨Cand sees the four men. Heavy jackets, holding their sides. Their clothing is too bulky, and he can see flashes of armor at their collar. But no insignias. All short hair, cleanshaven, but looking utterly savage nonetheless. They''re waiting outside, talking into a radio. He can''t quite make it out. ¡°How many?¡± Joey asks. ¡°Four. Figs, we need a way out of here, fast,¡± he says to the fey, who looks startled. ¡°If this breaks out into a gunfight, I do not want civilians anywhere near us.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a delivery truck bay, past the kitchen.¡± She¡¯s already in motion with her wings fluttering and boots clacking against the tile floor, and guiding them along. ¡°Joey, how serious is this?¡± ¡°Serious enough we called in the cavalry. Keep people at the front of the building, and call SAF,¡± Joey insists. Drenar pushes the door and motions the staff with a flash of the Luminaires badge he¡¯s been wearing on his jacket. He loves Angela''s craftsmanship, and it felt like the team had a true identity, now. ¡°Ladies and gents, we have a situation, drop what you¡¯re doing, and head to the front of the building. Everyone walks calmly, and orderly, do not push. Arcane barriers up, if anyone can''t cast mage barriers, get a buddy who can, and stick with them!¡± he barks out, and the staff quickly hurries out¨Cand even calmly, with a low murmur of nervous voices. Spoken like a dragon, hell yes! You¡¯re learning! Alex declares proudly. He swears he can feel that dragon grinning, inside his head. Figs steps ahead, pulls at the door, and peeks outside. Drenar brushes past her wings, now tensed, and he peers out¨Cno one in sight, just a stray cat that jumps up onto a trash barrel. ¡°Coast is clear. Amaranth, keep your spell barrier up. Figs, Thanks¨C¡± Drenar knew by the way the van pulled up in the alleyway that trouble was coming, and he saw a flash of weapons and armored personnel coming up. Someone immediately pointed at him, and he saw the armor inserts inside the dark jackets, and holstered weapons on the inside. Pistols, wands, or possibly submachine guns? ¡°Unmarked. Not Talons.¡± He latched the door and used his telekinetics to shove an oven in place, and waved Figs back. ¡°Get everyone out the front door as fast as you can, Figs. Tell them it¡¯s¡­a gas leak or something. Keep them calm, and keep them moving.¡± ¡°What¨Cwhat¡¯s going to happen?¡± she asked with her eyes edging on panic. ¡°What¡¯s going to happen is, you don¡¯t want to be here for this.¡± He draws his dagger and activates his armor, with the metallic, slightly green-tinged metal and steel sliding over his body almost effortlessly. He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a concussive canister. ¡°Looks like these are getting a field workout.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Drenar, we don¡¯t know if they¡¯re hostile¨C¡± Joey started to say. ¡°Six more just showed up, concealed weapons and no markings. Assume they don¡¯t want to be friends.¡± He motions Amaranth to a walk-in freezer and opens the door. ¡°Get inside¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯m no pacifist, Drenar. I can fight.¡± Azure-colored, metallic scales spread up Amaranth''s arms and face, and he grabs his jacket and tosses it aside as his transformation completes. He''s now an amber-eyed azure skimmer, though he has to scrunch a little in the confines of the kitchen and catches a hanging light with one horn. ¡°Joey can attest to this.¡± Joey grimaces, and not in a good way. ¡°He knows his way around a fight, Drenar. But, only when necessary.¡± she also activated her armor, and her alchemical hopper seamlessly merged with the plating and contoured to it, making it seem like almost one seamless contraption. ¡°We need to keep the civilians protected.¡± ¡°Then we take these guys out, and keep civilians out of the line of fire. We can¡¯t risk drawing them into a crowd.¡± There¡¯s a thud at the door, then a hammer blow. He gently sidesteps and ducks behind a cabinet, and Joey ties back her hair and does the same. ¡°Until we know who these guys are, non-lethal.¡± ¡°Are you worried it¡¯s SAF?¡± she asked with a hushed voice, even as another hammer-blow hits the door. ¡°I¡¯m worried about if it¡¯s ¡®none of the above¡¯ in this case,¡± he replies grimly. ¡°Amaranth, watch the door we came in. Keep them funneled in the hall.¡± The door, and the oven, are blown backwards by a roar of fire and a concussive blast, and Drenar¡¯s ears ring from the blast¨Che really needs to start packing hearing protection! Four men and two women armed with pistols and submachineguns instantly funnel into the room in a tightly packed formation and take cover by the cabinetry and the walk-in closet. One man steps forward, eyeing the massive dragon leering at them. ¡°You¡¯ve given us no small amount of trouble, Amaranth. We¡¯ve been chasing you for a while. We need your expertise.¡± ¡°I know. A thresher beast ate what was left of your tactical team in the Boreal forest mage zone, where you almost killed two of my students.¡± Amaranth¡¯s claws crackle with energy, and Drenar and Joey are just out of vision. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°An interested party, let¡¯s just say.¡± Drenar notes the man¡¯s position, and prepares the concussive grenade. "by the way, in case it wasn''t obvious, this is one of those ''Or else'' offers." The man laughs subtly, and Drenar clenches his fist. One liners are reserved for heroes and teens with attitude! ¡°Work with the Talons? I¡¯ll work for that murderous bitch, over my dead body,¡± Amaranth snarled, and his feather mane is on edge. Drenar counts off the amount of time it would take for the others to get here, and judging by the shouts in the other room growing distant, Figs has gotten everyone out safely. That, and a lack of gunfire from that direction. ¡°You are severely under-armed for taking out a dragon.¡± ¡°Hey, we work with the Talons, but we ain''t crazy. Except the guy in top. Now, about that classic blunder, being underarmed...Oh, right! Biggs, would you kindly?¡± the man hollers out, and Drenar dares a peek at the door. His eyes go wide at this new level of bad news. A heavyset man in full armor is carrying what appears to be an anti-tank rocket launcher, and levels it at Amaranth. The leader continues to speak. ¡°Look, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. I need you alive, but, no one said in what ¡®alive¡¯ condition you need to come in.¡± Drenar swears he can hear that creeping lips creasing into a grin right about now. ¡°Kinda dangerous, firing those at point-blank range,¡± Amaranth glowers, and tenses his legs in the close quarters. ¡°Also dangerous, is your bold assumption that I came alone.¡± Drenar takes that as his cue and throws the concussive grenade over the cabinets. Joey fires off an alchemical round with her compact launcher, just as he slips around the corner. The foam coats the heavily armored man and gums up the launcher, and the grenade goes off and blasts four the mages off their feed, clattering into a currently active grill, into a rack of cutlery, or skidding on the floor. ¡°Joey, targets right, I¡¯ll take the left!¡± he calls out as he feels a surge of energy and blinks into position. The one that was upright fired a submachinegun at point-blank range, and the sound was deafening in these close confines¨Cbut his aim was way off in the panic. Bullets shattered brickwork and drywall as Drenar grabbed the man, sliced through his armor and arm, and the weapon in one quick swipe. The man screamed in pain and Drenar gave him a courtesy slam into the wall that cracked the tiling and moved on to the next target. Joey threw out an alchemical canister as he was mid-step, a controlled flame burst that sent two more into a panic, stopping to roll and put out the fire. She¡¯s already in motion with her staff clicked to full length, and smashes them aside, just as they extinguish themselves. She¡¯d hand-waved about her strength as being on par with dragons, but hearing those bones crack made him realize she wasn¡¯t kidding. He¡¯s busy with the next target, who is drawing a backup pistol and trying to fire at his face. He grabs Drenar¡¯s dagger hand to keep him from doing the same thing he just did to the first target, and he¡¯s immensely strong. The pistol goes off laterally and pings off some hard metal surface. Drenar kicks a leg at the man and forces him out of position, twisting him and jarring the arm holding the pistol, which clatters to the ground. What¡¯s more shocking is the man doesn¡¯t even register the pain who tries to grab a dagger wrapped in dark flames off his belt, and Drenar grabs it with his free hand, putting it between their bodies as they dance in close quarters, smashing into the cabinets, Drenar getting slammed into the wall, but unwilling to let this bastard perforate him. He channels a charge of energy down his arms¨Ca discovery thanks to Joey¡¯s insistent expertise! He can use telekinetics--and plasma, now. A surge of plasma surges into the man from his grappled fists, and the man goes limp from the shock. Drenar lands a heavy blow to his head, knocking him out, just as he sees the remaining two slammed with immense force into a wall, with Amaranth zapping the remaining attackers, and they scream from the pain¨Csinged hair and clothing prevalent in the air now, and Drenar is panting, rubbing at an errant cut on his face. Joey has an instant bruise¨Che must have missed that, on the side of her face, and Amaranth¡¯s scales are bleeding at a few spots. ¡°You guys alright?¡±Drenar panted, and heard distant shouts, and a door being slammed open. ¡°We¡¯re good!¡± Joey calls out, panting and rubbing at her face. ¡°Ow. I think we need helmets next time.¡± ¡°Cuts into my peripheral vision. I¡¯ll only use them if the risks outweigh the costs. We need to get these guys to chase us to someplace that isn¡¯t crawling with innocent bystanders!¡± He grabbed a radio off the unconscious leader with brutal force, tearing at his vest covering the armor. He frowned and saw an insignia on the dull steel plating. It looked like some skull-like monster with glaives for arms, with blood dripping off the blades and standing hunched over some faceless victim. ¡°The hell¡­¡± ¡°Drenar, we need to run!¡± Joey insists, and Amaranth grunts as he folds his wings and points to the destroyed door. She taps at the display on her wrist, which flashes red. ¡°Guys, we¡¯re coming in hot, we¡¯re headed to the SAF outpost, meet us en route! Unknown assailants and heavily armed, they''re working with the Talons!¡± A distant door being blown open is the only cue he needs. ¡°Let¡¯s move!¡± He shouts out as they dart out the door, and Amaranth has to add to the property insurance bill by tearing the opening wider. He hopes he doesn¡¯t need to be licensed and insured for this militia, because there is probably going to be a lot of damage by the end of this debacle. Vol. 3, Ch. 151: Blink, And Youll Miss It! It took barely a minute for the party crashers to show up and start shooting again¨Cthis time it was the plain clothes that were taking pot-shots at them with submachineguns and a fire orb Drenar hastily deflected up in the air, and airburst to little effect. With the lack of shrapnel in the devices, it was more like a firework going off. He still felt the sear of heat from the explosive on his face. Where the hell was Angela and company?! They should have been here by now, and he¡¯s busy trying to scream at everyone to get off the street while bullets are flying, and Joey flings several canisters that erupt into expanding foam. Those rapidly hardening barriers serve as cover for people pinned down by gunfire. Amaranth is tanking hits with his barriers, and there¡¯s a scarlet up the street that has one of those ominous dark orbs in their claws, and preparing to launch it. The idea of being crushed by a singularity is not appealing. ¡°Joey, Scarlet is about to send a bad time our way, how do we counter it?!¡± he shouts from behind the cover of a large van, while she reaches to her dispenser. A plastic and metal canister with a silvery fluid pops out, that looks almost like liquid mercury. ¡°Standard counter is aerial dispersal of heavy magical elements! As luck would have it, charged magical ferrite!¡± Joey calls out as she loads it into the pistol-sized launcher. Amaranth charged plasma across his scales and rounds bounced of the barriers, and Drenar saw that ominous black mass firing forward. ¡°Joey, now!¡± With a snap of a reaction, she shot the canister at the gravity well, where the canister dispersed into a cloud of fine particles, and the singularity stuttered and flickered before popping out of existence. The scarlet snarled and tried to form another singularity but Amaranth was already bounding forward to deal with the bigger threat, plasma surging across his body and wings. ¡°I think you need to switch to assault mode Drenar, this fight is a little overwhelming!¡± she called, out, even as plasma surged across his limbs. ¡°Much as I like the idea of murdering these fools so horribly the Talons think twice before messing with us again, stacking bodies is not a cool thing!¡± He realizes that this might be the time to go hulk out, and summons his transformation in the form of splitting skin, scales emerging through¨Cand the armor shifting and accommodating his new form?! Kyle didn¡¯t mention this part! ¡°That said, who the hell are these guys, anyway?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen that insignia on the armor before! They¡¯re Ravager Company!¡± she called out with a bit of fury, and the way she set her teeth on edge. ¡°Picture that horribly named US merc company that had unvetted contractors that murdered a lot of people a few years ago. Now, add a dose of magic, third-world oppression mentality, and add a dash of crimes against humanity!¡± ¡°Sounds like a bunch of winners. It¡¯s not like we had enough enemies already,¡± he groaned as his teeth itched and his dagger-like dragon set came in¨Cand extra ones, too. This truck was getting too small to hide behind, and Joey took an errant round that pinged off her arcane barrier. ¡°We need to get these bastards down, Joey, we¡¯re doing that thing!¡± ¡°Dragon gunnery platform!¡± She cheered with a roar of triumph, and she grabbed a hold of his armored collar with one hand and his neck with the other. He sprung upwards with a blast of kinetic energy directed behind him, and he gave a shake of his head to activate that earring that Sierra had given him. Now was a perfect time for a test! His body felt light¨Clighter than it did when he was in flight, and the single pounce into the air got him skyward and flying over the heads of the Ravagers now trying to aim their fire at the airborne dragon, bullets and firey rays bouncing off his barrier. ¡°Drenar, vehicle at the far end, machine gun emplacement!¡± She called out and tapped his left shoulder. That was a big problem that needed to be addressed right away. He was already charging plasma across his claws, and threw out a blast that knocked the vehicle on its side, the weapon bending as it impacted into the road. The occupants were thrown like dice at a casino and are out of commission. Joey stepped on his shoulder between his wing blades and flung several canisters at the targets¨Celemental blasts that concussed the targets, or superheated their weapons and armor on contact, and they went down, incapacitated. A bright orange and yellow-tinged dragon with spines coming from its forelimbs and back takes to the air, and then his danger sense goes into overdrive. ¡°Hold on!¡± He swerved and kept Joey upright with a mental tug of telekinesis, just as something incredibly fast shot at him¨Che didn¡¯t register it for a split second, but that dragon had shot a metallic spine at him, like a high-speed javelin. He dodged another while he closed the distance, but the third skimmed by and drove into his arm and completely bypassed his barrier. He roared in pain and prepared to give this attacker another dose of beatdown, and light surged around his body. This isn¡¯t how his teleport normally¨C Blink. ¡°Uh¡­what the hell?¡± Drenar blinks and feels like he¡¯s weightless. The great, encompassing white is all around him, again. He peers around and sees Joey looking around in confusion. He knows this place. ¡°Drenar? Are we in the aether?¡± she whispered, as he glided through nothingness¨Cand yet, he still felt the current of air breezing by his wings. ¡°Did your teleport do something?¡± ¡°I have no idea.¡± He cranes his neck around, looking in that white light, trying to find a landmark, something that doesn¡¯t blur into this impossible blank space. He looks at her, and the concern on his face is apparent. ¡°Joey, did you do something?¡± ¡°Uh, no. Weren¡¯t we just fighting Ravagers?¡± she asked, then furrowed her brow, a slight breeze ruffling her hair. ¡°Alex, your input?¡± Something pulled us here. Alex¡¯s determined voice breaches through both their minds, and Drenar is at a loss for why this is happening. Drenar, quickly, try it again. He tried to focus but felt no surge of energy across his body. He gritted his teeth, and tried again, and let out a gasp¨Cthe focus reminded him of the spine still in his arm, like the world¡¯s deadliest needle. ¡°Uh, having some performance issues,¡± he uttered anxiously. Joey gave him a sidelong look. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°As an academic, I would respectfully disagree with that. No need to be embarrassed,¡± she responds coolly. She sees his wounded arm, and grabs a field compress. ¡°Drenar, you¡¯re injured, take care of that¨C¡± ¡°Hang on. I see something.¡± He narrows his eyes and focuses on the depths of the aether, then, he sees it. Something moving. Or falling? He points it out with a claw, and Joey follows his direction. Alex takes an interest, and he feels that mental nudge from his companion. Drenar, fly closer, I think that¡¯s someone else in here! Maybe another drakensoul? ¡°Drenar, you never explained this the first time. You got pulled into the aether when you first merged with Alex?¡± she asked as he banked right, and followed that distant yellow speck. Flapping his wings proved difficult with the lack of gravity, and Joey held on gently, and braced against a ridge on his back, between his wings. ¡°You know, that¡¯s a good question, Joey. The first time I was here, was right before my theoretical merge with Alex. Except I brought reality with me. Sort of. Until it disintegrated. But this is a whiter shade of pale, like what I saw when I first held Luminari.¡± This place made no sense at all, how was he even breathing here? He looked at his arm, and that spine was still there, having worked its way past his armor scales, and embedded. He yanked it with his other arm and spun mid-air from the recoil of sheer pain, and he gritted his teeth. ¡°Ow. Yep, injuries are still real here. I¡¯ll take that field compress, now.¡± ¡°Here, this will help. Regen salve and field bindings,¡± she added as he made a few loose wraps at the injury¨Ca clean hit, and he examined the spine in his hand, a narrow trickle of blood on the end ¡°Marigold spiker spine. Nasty. They can fire them off like an armor-piercing sabot.¡± ¡°Dragon scales are not invincible. Noted.¡± He kept flying toward that distant yellow speck that was getting larger. And he could make out something. A low, distant sound. ¡°Joey, do you hear that?¡± ¡°Sounds like someone crying. Really distantly.¡± She narrowed her eyes to look at that distant object, and she gasped. ¡°That¡¯s a person!¡± ¡°Better hang on!¡± He flapped his wings with increased speed, and used his tail like a rudder to angle in the lack of gravity. There did seem to be air resistance though, and he could sort of ¡®guide¡¯ himself using his wing flaps, and he extended his tail and arm feather flaps to adjust course. ¡°You know something? Remember that lady we saw that you claimed was Gaia when we were in the aether last time, assuming both of us aren¡¯t crazy? What¡¯s the deal with her, exactly?¡± ¡°You heard Kiera talk about her. She¡¯s the guardian goddess of our world. Or she was, until she was killed during the end of the Schism war, and went down like an utter boss and saved the world. But, the Followers of Gaia have a different theory.¡± ¡°Wait, that sounds like some kind of...religious following," Drenar sighed. ¡°I am immediately wary of anything that sounds, you know, divine. Because my agnostic status has been body-checked repeatedly by reality lately.¡± ¡°Want my official viewpoint?¡± she asked with a soft breath. Alex chimes in again before he can get a word out. I do. Also keep a heads up, if we pop back into reality, we still have a dragon to deal with that was charging at us, Alex commented with a sharp bark to his words. Joey took a deep breath, and Drenar strained his ear crests to barely make out that exceedingly distant wail for help, from extreme distance. ¡°The followers of Gaia believe that the mana crystals are her legacy. Her lifeblood. They believe she isn¡¯t dead, and that someone stole her away at the last second. Without her presence, the mana crystals have been shrinking, not even including mining for them in the intervening years. Which dovetails with what King said, but I think that was him trying to play us along, like usual." ¡°Okay, but what is Gaia? Because ¡®who¡¯ sounds academic, ¡®what¡¯ does not,¡± Drenar pointed out. Joey nodded sharply at this. ¡°The presiding theory is that she¡¯s a Kinsgard, a member of an ancient, god-like race. Kyle was obsessed with the subject for a while, you should have heard him during our time at the academy.¡± she took a breath and peered at that growing speck which seemed to be flailing. And Drenar could make out a distinct word or two. ¡®Help¡¯ is one of them. The other being ¡®mommy.¡¯ ¡°Okay, so, ancient god race, and then what?¡± he asked. As if this is anything they can talk about like it is normal.¡± Joey frowned and rubbed at a bruised hand, and adjusted her position to be closer to his head. ¡°They created or nudged all life on earth. Some buried settlements do not match draconic historical records. No one has an answer for them, and what little magitech they found in them, couldn¡¯t be explained. It was broken, but far too advanced for dragons.¡± ¡°Intelligent design?! Ah for Fate''s sake, if this theory pans out, it¡¯s gonna make all the nutters back in high school sound sane,¡± he groaned. ¡°Let¡¯s suppose for the sake of curiosity, it¡¯s true. Is mana the source of all magic?¡± ¡°There isn¡¯t a magic out there that isn¡¯t tied to it, in some way or form. At least, as far as I know,¡± she added with a huff. That distant figure now had a distinct form, and she peered outward, fighting against the glare of everything around him. ¡°Uh, I think that¡¯s a guy. Draconic boyfriend, I need your eyes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a guy. And he¡¯s wearing a hazmat suit or something. He has wild hair. Worse than mine,¡± he added with a frown. ¡°He¡¯s also praying to Gaia or something, can¡¯t quite make it out because he¡¯s sobbing. And calling out to us?¡± ¡°How¡¯d he get here? Unless your magical, world-shattering teleport isn¡¯t an exclusive,¡± she added with a sigh. ¡°Seriously, Drenar, you and the rest of our friends are weirdos.¡± ¡°Oy, says the kitsune with an increasingly unlocked psionic suite,¡± he grumbles. ¡°Pay no mind to my intrusive thoughts. There¡¯s about twenty of them a day, and half of them inspired by Julia.¡± Would you two please focus on the rando falling through the world between worlds?! And check to see if he has a linking book, you know! Alex let out a sound of exasperation. This is why I can¡¯t have nice things, isn¡¯t it? You two nerd out so hard. ¡°Did you just make a pop culture reference, Alex?¡± Drenar chuckled. Hey, it¡¯s your head. You were thinking it first. Seriously Joey, see what I¡¯ve been given to work with? ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go get our mysterious visitor,¡± Joey said as she grabbed a loop of rope out of her purse¨Cwhy did she have that in here? He had wings, rope was now a redundancy. He could also make out the man with brown hair, a yellow protective suit, and strangely, holding a glowing mana crystal. He¡¯s sobbing and waving at them. ¡°Thank the Fates you¡¯re here, I¡¯ve been teleported into the great beyond, and I saw a goddess, and then I found a jungle, giant monsters tried to eat me, and¨C¡± Drenar groaned. This guy has been here a while, because he sounds utterly hysterical. ¡°You know what, theory number two. We no-clipped into the backrooms, and so didn¡¯t this guy,¡± he growled. ¡°What level is this, anyway?¡± ¡°How do you have so much time to waste on useless drivel?! Yet, you still run a cracking good mage team, fighting all nefarious mages of the world?¡± she bellowed out, her eyes lit with anger. ¡°There¡¯s always time for useless nerd stuff, Joey.¡± He banked to adjust his angle to grab the man, still flailing about as if he couldn¡¯t move. ¡°Hang on, I¡¯m gonna grab you, so don¡¯t panic!¡± ¡°I was past panicking two teleports ago! My wife is gonna kill me, because I¡¯m late for dinner!¡± he screamed in outrage. Drenar puzzled over that telling statement. He reached out a clawed hand, and the man reached with his free hand, and that brilliant blue crystal surged with light. ¡°Um, thank you for rescuing me¨C¡± As soon as Drenar grabbed him, the entire world flared to an impossible white color, and then reality popped back into existence, and his eyes widened. That Marigold spiker was still there, flying over the darkened street of Mercadian Promenade with a look of sheer shock, and they collided in mid-air. As they tumbled to the pavement, Drenar also noted that their plus one, a young twenty-something male was still there in his outstretched arm, holding on for dear life, and Joey let out of shout of panic. That ground is coming up at them, fast. Vol. 3, Ch. 152: Frequent Aether Miles Hit the air brakes! Alex shrilled in both his and Joey¡¯s heads as Drenar activated his hovering enchantment, and came to a jarring halt about two meters off the ground, while the Marigold impacted the ground with a crunch of scales and a scream of pain¨Cone wing was bent at an awkward angle, and he wasted no time landing on the creep and landing a massive plasma blast into his face. Dragon or not, a system shock of that magnitude hurt the dragon beyond belief, and they flailed around while Drenar cranked up the juice. Eventually, the dragon went slack, and not before one last swipe of a spine cut him across the face, and a narrow stinging sensation ran across his cheek. ¡°Drenar, heads up, still more hostiles!¡± Joey shouted out and fired off another canister using her pistol launcher. A starburst of brilliant light dazzled and blinded the hostiles, and Drenar heard a flap of wings coming from the opposite direction and he turned¨Cand he felt immense relief as his eyes went wide. ¡°Calvary¡¯s here!¡± Julia roared out as her scales crackled with energy and landed with a perfect five-point landing¨Cincluding the tail! James dismounted and was in the new armor and took aim with a heavy autobow, leering at the now staggered foes. Julia tensed and her feathers bristled. ¡°You look a little rough guys, and, who¡¯s this guy?¡± Drenar had almost forgotten about their plus one, who was cowering behind a car, hazmat suit and all, and screaming. ¡°Would people stop teleporting me to random places across the planet and pulling me into a firefight?! My wife¡¯s gonna kill me if I come home in a pine box!¡± he shrilled. Julia looked at him with an edgy smile, and she glanced back at Drenar. "Why does weird shit happen to you on a recurring basis?" ¡°Uh¨Cwe¡¯ll explain later.¡± He¡¯s already surging forward to deal with the foes who are trying to fire blindly and missing the broad side of a barn, and he and Julia make short work of them. Less than a moment later, they¡¯re beaten into the pavement or zapped to incapacitation. Drenar rubbed his claws at that subtle tingling sensation, and Julia sent an errant shock down his arm. ¡°Ow. You¡¯re like that evil cat that shocks you on a cold winter day,¡± he accused her, and she tousled his feather mane lightly. The Ravagers didn¡¯t have any commentary to add, except for the one who was bleeding and groaning. Julia had body-checked him into a car, and the glass had cut his face and arm. ¡°Where are the rest?¡± ¡°On the way, I kind of took off without them. You¡¯ll see why in a second.¡± She grabbed the wounded soldier and propped up up, where he gazed upon the tsunderedragon in sheer terror. ¡°Field interrogations okay?¡± ¡°Yes, we should,¡± Joey snarled. ¡°After these guys are in cuffs, where the hell is SAF?!¡± ¡°Haha, don¡¯t you know?¡± the man laughed. ¡°You think we just breezed in here without a plan?¡± Drenar glared at the man and smashed him in the stomach, and he crumpled. ¡°Oh. Oops. I saw you reaching for a hidden weapon. As luck would it, a boot knife,¡± he added with a malicious grin. ¡°Pretty dumb thing to do in front of a three-meter-tall dragon. Or me.¡± He relieves him of his weapon, and the man wheezes. ¡°Julia, make sure the street is clear, and find out where the hell SAF is.¡± ¡°Well, at least the air support is coming in,¡± James offered as Nick flitted down, shouldering what Drenar suspected was a heavy machine gun, along with Kelly and Jackie, all in their dragon forms and armored. And¡­ He stopped to stare when Angela touched down, and she was different. Blue light is glowing across her scales, and her face, and even her feathers seem to have a glimmer of light, as well. Joey turns and makes that awkward nerd face he has seen on her a few times, and she lets out high-pitched, nervous laughter. ¡°Drenar? Weird shit is the new norm.¡± Angela¡¯s feathers ruffled at this and glanced around at the destruction. ¡°You guys were busy. Damn Drenar, were you trying to one-team army this?¡± Angela asked with a smile, then glanced at Amaranth. ¡°Are you¡­professor Vertimer?¡± ¡°I am. And are those¡­crystal scales?¡± he stammers, and she nods slowly. He peers at Drenar and Joey as if they had a better answer. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me, Vertimer. This is new for me, too,¡± he stated with a shrug of wings. He took note of how support was bounding down the street, and saw a flash of brass and silver armor. Kiera had brought in her immediate Valkyrie support team, and they were mopping up the rest of the Ravagers. Most of them laid down their weapons, though a few chose the hard way¨Cautobow shots and screams followed shortly thereafter. ¡°Angela, are you¡­okay?¡± ¡°Um, yeah?¡± ¡°So, not going to comment on the crystalline scales at all?¡± he asked with a raised eye crest. ¡°Nope. I haven¡¯t even begun to unpack this one.¡± ¡°Long talk later, then. James, Nick, and Levine, go make sure these killer mercs are inclined to co-operate and try not to brain-bash too hard! Kelly, Jackie, get on medical priority, check in Victoria¡¯s to see if anyone¡¯s hurt, Kyle, I want you and Joey setting up triage here on the street!¡± He called out like it was instinct to him. These strange circumstances would have to wait, and he smoothed out his feather mane. ¡°Guys, thanks for the quick arrival.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll handle the hard stuff¨CDrenar, where did this young man come from?¡± Kiera asked with a pointed claw at the man he¡¯d temporarily forgotten about. He was shivering and looking twitchy. Which was understandable, considering he was surrounded by no less than seven dragons dressed to kill. ¡°Uh, yeah Kiera, stuff happened.¡± Drenar knelt and tried to get the man¡¯s attention, who looked at all of them warily. ¡°Sorry for the lack of introductions. Are you hurt?¡± The man shakes his head, hazel eyes slowly coming down from what must by the worst day of this man¡¯s entire life. ¡°N-no. Are you going to hurt me?¡± ¡°As long as you¡¯re not an eldritch abomination I picked up from crazy-town, no,¡± Drenar quipped, and the man looked up at him, frowning. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Richard Waterson. People call me Rick.¡± He won''t stop trembling, and he notes he is scuffed up, his suit is torn, there are bramble bits in his hair, and he¡¯s still clinging to that crystal shard. ¡°I¨Cam I dead?¡± ¡°Pretty sure you¡¯re not. Look, we need to move this discussion off the street, Kiera, let¡¯s check to make sure the SAF garrison is still standing. These jackasses had artillery and dragons, and a lot of people almost got killed.¡± Then, he hears it. And it¡¯s not Luminari, either. A crystalline chime emanates from somewhere close by. He twists his ear crests and can feel the sound emanating from the crystal in Rick¡¯s hand, and even their new arrival looks in awe. It''s what Rick says next, that gets his attention. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°She¡¯s calling out again. You can hear it too, can¡¯t you?¡± Rick whispers as Drenar leans in, and reaches to touch the crystal, but Joey pulls his arm back¨Can impressive feat for someone who isn¡¯t a dragon at present. ¡°Rick, how did you get this crystal? How did you get into the aether?¡± Joey asks slowly, as she kneels, and puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. ¡°I think this crystal led me to her.¡± All eyes are on Angela, who glances at the new arrival with a perplexed expression. ¡°You know something, Drenar? I liked it better when you were the one with destiny slapped on your back.¡± He can¡¯t even find a retort to Angela¡¯s sardonic response this time around, but he knows one thing: Mercs with deadly firepower, Amaranth, Angela, and a guy floating through the world between worlds all added up to big trouble. ****** Kiera led the interrogations of the Ravagers. She was not pleased to find the SAF garrison had been glaringly slow to respond to the violence, and had only just got to the scene a minute after they arrived. Drenar, however, has a different task: Figuring out where Rick came from. The second they cleared the street of enemies to be rounded up and treated the injured, he beelined it to the teleportal and told Nick that they needed to debrief Amaranth, and the new guy. He knew it in his bones it had to be related. He just didn¡¯t know how. He rubbed at the raw wound on his arm¨Cthat dragon¡¯s spine had pierced right through his scales, and reminded him that he is most certainly not invincible. It¡¯s late at night in the study, where Nick has turned the place into a veritable command center, given recent events. Drenar sips from a cup of coffee in his human form, as does Rick, whose hand is trembling as he lifts the drink, and everyone is gathered to listen in. He¡¯s finished thinking of his list of questions. ¡°Rick, first question. Why are you wearing a magical hazmat suit?¡± ¡°Uh¡­I was disposing of hazardous materials?¡± he proposes. Joey glances his way and gives him a mental affirmation he¡¯s telling the truth. ¡°Your name is Rick Waterson?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Who do you work for?¡± ¡°On my grave, I can¡¯t say.¡± Rick slumps forward, eyes gazing toward the wooden table between the two of them. ¡°I can¡¯t go back there, now. I¡¯ll be dead the second I step through the door.¡± ¡°Well, that narrows it down.¡± Drenar sets down his coffee and leans in. ¡°Do you know who we are?¡± ¡°I know who you are.¡± his gaze doesn¡¯t lift from the table. ¡°You¡¯re the kid who curb-stomped the invading army at Asqualia. Word has gotten around.¡± ¡°The good kind, or the bad kind?¡± Drenar asks pointedly. The deafening silence from their new guest sets it in stone that he¡¯s likely either a Conclave super spook, Talon minion, a Ravager who wanted an out, or someone who was doing something he shouldn¡¯t have been when he had the misfortune of being cast into the aether. ¡°I¡¯ll assume the bad kind. Yeah. Me and my friends stopped a bunch of killers during a home invasion.¡± ¡°Not the way I heard it. You guys killed a lot of people.¡± ¡°We killed a lot of mercenaries with a proven track record of shooting first, asking questions later,¡± Drenar politely redirects. This is not a topic he wants to linger on. ¡°Rick, first, I need to assure you of something. Your continued existence might hinge on me figuring out a mystery. I would very much like to get to the bottom of this one. Where do you work?¡± ¡°You know I can¡¯t mention it.¡± ¡°Onyx Talons, then? Or maybe The Conclave, because hey, they haven¡¯t screwed up the mage world enough yet. Or a third, stranger thing like the Ravagers.¡± Rick glances around the room, and at Joey¡¯s piercing gaze, and Julia subtly cracks her knuckles behind him somewhere. Levine is also singularly focused, writing notes. Rick does the math, and shakes his head. ¡°Security contractor for Magitech Industries.¡± he is slow with the words, and Joey sends a silent thumbs up mentally. ¡°Above board, or way below the board, like your formerly deposed CEO, Valosterla Roshanikov?¡± Drenar asks, and he can tell the way the man doesn¡¯t hesitate to tell that part, that he can be coaxed for more. ¡°Val is¨C¡± Rick sucks in his breath, and realizes he¡¯s made a mistake. ¡°Was a creature of chaos.¡± the way his hand trembles on the mug suggests a different story. ¡°Here¡¯s what happened. I had waste disposal duty. It¡¯s in my job title somewhere. We dumped some stuff into a teleportal that quite frankly, probably veered slightly right of ethical, and I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s how I ended up in the aether.¡± {Bald-faced lie.} Joey¡¯s sharp assessment confirms his suspicions, and he isn¡¯t the only one, judging by the room of people. He gives a deliberate pause for the lie to sink in. ¡°Nah, Rick, see, I know how teleportals work¨C¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t.¡± the sudden aggression in his tone is strange to hear from this otherwise timid man. ¡°You don¡¯t know what I saw, Rashalda. I saw things that I would get killed over a hundred times over. Everyone in this room is a dead man, woman, and dragon walking, because I¡¯m still alive. The Followers of Gaia, if they ever get word of this, the mage world will be bathed in blood. It will make everything that has happened in the past few months seem like a minor inconvenience.¡± {I¡¯m gonna throw this out there Angela and Drenar, don¡¯t mention Luminari or the fact that we¡¯ve had some strange encounters with the aether. Let¡¯s see what he¡¯s got to say with a lack of facts.} He glances at Joey for just a split second before nodding his head, ever so slightly, before turning back to Rick. Joey is still gazing at Rick intently while working on a data pad. Drenar smiles politely before taking another sip of coffee. ¡°Those are some fancy words, Rick¡ªbig, scary words. I know a thing or two about taking on foes above my weight class. If you think I¡¯m scared about what some religious cult¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a religion, and it¡¯s not a cult,¡± he snapped. The reaction is immediate and sudden. ¡°People believe Gaia still exists and that she¡¯s alive. That she didn¡¯t sacrifice herself for our world. I think your fellow Valkyries have all lied to you, or aren¡¯t sure of the facts, themselves.¡± Drenar taps the mug calmly, while mulling how to approach this. He¡¯ll have to revisit this one, later, because it¡¯s quite disturbing. ¡°That crystal in your hand? Where¡¯d you get it?¡± Rick sits there, silently, and suddenly wants to clam up again. ¡°Protecting your boss? Yeah, I don¡¯t blame you. If I had to work for the titanic walking war crime who tried to kill Victor One a few years ago and succeeded? I sure as hell would be terrified of him.¡± ¡°Davos Renshrak? I hope that bastard steps on a landmine,¡± Rick snapped. Another clue that Drenar has narrowed it down to. He is not part of the Ravagers. And it also suggests a casual relationship, the way he came up with a name the second he mentioned ¡®walking war crime.¡¯ ¡°Let¡¯s just set that part aside. I found a mana crystal, it reacted strangely to the teleportal. I saw a bright flash of light, I heard something like a crystal violin, and then next thing I know, you¡¯re there in the aether. How¡¯d you get there, anyway?¡± Rick edges in, eyes narrowed. ¡°More telling is that you agree it¡¯s the aether, without me mentioning it. Why are you so sure that I¡¯m right?¡± ¡°Because of her.¡± He points right at Angela, brown haired and fortuitously normal-looking at the moment, though Drenar swears he sees a slight glow beneath her sweater. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a dragon with crystalline scales before. And I¡¯ve never met anyone else who can hear the crystals sing like it¡¯s a chorus of chimes.¡± {It¡¯s okay, Drenar. I think we can push to ask him now.} Joey gives him a subtle nod, and Drenar leans in, while the others are in close attention. ¡°Rick, let me ask you this. Why do you think everyone in this room is a dead man walking?¡± ¡°Because someone trapped Gaia. She¡¯s looking for a way out. She¡¯s calling to her children, Rashalda. I saw her, and I don¡¯t mean that in a delusional way. She was there. Trapped. Trapped in prison in a world that doesn¡¯t exist. Someone imprisoned her there, someone who is a far graver threat than the Talons, or Ravagers, or the Conclave, the Menazari.¡± ¡°Then why don¡¯t you stop lying, and tell me everything that happened, Rick? Because you might have answers to some of my questions. And Amaranth, who is the expert on dragons in these parts, was almost killed today about something to do with Gaia¡¯s cradle.¡± Rick¡¯s eyes lit up with recognition. ¡°It¡¯s real, isn¡¯t it?¡± Drenar shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know the answer to that one yet. But maybe you can help me fill in the gaps.¡± Rick spends a long, thoughtful minute tapping that nearly empty mug of coffee, and he furrows his brow, gazing at the silver ring on his left index finger. ¡°I need a favor, first¡ªa big one. I need my family out of harm''s way. Do that for me, and I¡¯ll tell you what I know.¡± ¡°Drenar, we need answers.¡± Angela¡¯s solemn words get everyone¡¯s attention, and she glances down at herself. ¡°The shard in my body? I think it activated at the same time that Rick activated that shard sitting on the table. They¡¯re connected.¡± ¡°Miss Shalinde, the mana crystals in the body are chemically similar but not the same,¡± Amaranth starts to say but stops silent. She shakes her head. ¡°No. They¡¯re not. That crystal over there? Is identical to the one that Joey pulled from from that small deposit a stones¡¯ throw from Drenar¡¯s house.¡± Drenar spends three seconds processing this, and motions to Rick. ¡°We¡¯ll get your family. Then we need answers, Rick.¡± Vol. 3, Ch. 153: Oh Richard, Where Art Thou? This is not how I expected to find our alternate strategy. King stood there with his hand resting on his chin, on the ruins of the now destroyed teleportal console, and pondering how to approach the crystalline tree growing through the fragmented remains of the teleportal. The first thing he did was call Crosomer. The second thing he did was cordon off the area, and inform everyone who responded, that Valosterla was not to be involved in this, on pain of death. He hated to use such a distinct threat, but this time, the stakes were higher than ever. ¡°Hey, King, you have that far-away look. You want to tell me what you¡¯re thinking?¡± Crosomer stood there, looking more draconic than ever, and his tail tapped the ground impatiently, along with a click of his talons on the ground. He too, was leaning on the console, while several workers cleared the debris. William was next to him, being addressed by a medic they¡¯d had on hand. ¡°King, this does not happen to teleportals. This is unprecedented.¡± ¡°So I¡¯ve been told.¡± He doesn¡¯t answer Crosomer¡¯s question, and weighs the evidence before him. He is left with too many blanks to confirm his initial eureka moment from earlier, and turns to William. ¡°I need to know exactly what happened, William.¡± ¡°You said Rick isn¡¯t dead. So, where is he? You''re being spookier than usual today, King, and that¡¯s terrifying.¡± King drummed his fingers on the ruined console, while normally calm and collected William is frazzled, and rightfully incensed. ¡°I¡¯m not spooky. I¡¯m very controlling of information.¡± ¡°Dude, sometimes, you scare me more than Valosterla, or Fates forbid, Davos. Out of the four of you¨CSorry Crosomer¨Cyou are the enigma wrapped in a mystery, with a candy coating of ¡®choose your own adventure¡¯,¡± William growled, and flinched as a medic wrapped gauze around his injury on his arm. ¡°For starters, tearing the Conclave apart is one thing, but Rick started acting squirrely right before he jumped onto the platform. Said he could hear the crystals singing. So explain to me, how he¡¯s not dead.¡± ¡°First, tell me what you were doing here, in hazmat armor,¡± King asked with a wave of his hand. William sighed and rubbed his scuffed cheek, which had already been bandaged. ¡°We were uh, taking a detour on waste disposal. I didn¡¯t want to haul a bunch of ethically dubious barrels of who-knows-what to the proper waste disposal, or walk by Davos, because I heard he was on site.¡± ¡°You have a problem with him?¡± ¡°Who doesn¡¯t?¡± William snapped. ¡°Val is legitimately insane for bringing him into the fold, King. I will tell you this to your face, because the man is a blight upon all Kin. At some point, given enough time, he will kill you. He will actively seek your demise because someone¡¯s offering a bigger paycheck.¡± ¡°So, you decided to ditch norms, because¡­you wanted to avoid him, and we''re not in fact, cutting corners.¡± ¡°Well, that wasn''t my motivating reason,¡± William stated flatly. King raised an eyebrow at this. ¡°Alright, fine, partially motivated. Waste duty in subpar hazmat suits didn''t seem like a great way to die.¡± ¡°I don''t run the mine. Val does. As for Davos, his residence here is temporary.¡± If he had the last word, that man would die in agony, sometime in the future. But King doesn''t have a plan that attains that. Yet. ¡°King, our beloved and currently disincorporated Rick is a fragile bird. Exposing that kid to that monstrosity is like putting a cute, adorable, baby bird, into a cage with a giant, unholy demon cat. Do you get my drift?¡± William edged to a point of rather tense and black-tinged humor. ¡°I understand the animosity¨C¡± ¡°You don¡¯t,¡± William growled. ¡°Not even you know this one. Before I started working for Val, I did merc work of a dubious kind. I did things that included cleaning up unsightly messes. Do you know which mess I cleaned up, one time?¡± ¡°No.¡± This is an oversight King hadn¡¯t counted on. ¡°Elaborate.¡± ¡°Cape Town.¡± It is all William needs to say, for King to instantly regret this query, and his associate picks up on it. ¡°Yeah, I was there. I was picking up body parts, King, because someone has to make sure the Veil Protocol doesn¡¯t collapse like a house of cards in the middle of a hurricane. Your half-ton menace butchered people. By the hundreds.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware of the¨C¡± ¡°You know what I found?¡± William quivered in rage. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you because I had to burn, dissolve, or bury bodies. I know Davos thought he was hot shit, back then, before he became a liability for the Conclave. He was busy solving a problem of a little warlord in Cape Town who wanted to get rid of Conclave control. It was ¡®his¡¯ territory. Anyway, the rumor mill had long thrown warning signs that Davos was unstable. He had a messed up upbringing thanks to his old man. His brother is a fiend of a subtler nature in the Conclave. But no one cared about all those signs. Don¡¯t get me started on his twin sister. She¡¯s broken.¡± William waves away the medic, who takes that as their cue to leave. ¡°So, the Conclave tasked a bunch of mercs with the clean-up. Myself included. They told us to get rid of the evidence. You know what I found, along the way to the main clean-up? An orphanage for various Kin, in a veil-free zone, east end of town, by the slums. It used to be a decent place, considering the area. When I got there, my reaction, as much shady stuff as I¡¯ve seen, was to vomit right then and there, at what I saw.¡± King motions for him to stop. ¡°I believe I know where this is going¨C¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t just for you, King. This is for Crosomer, who needs to know who he¡¯s working with,¡± he spat, and pointed at Crosomer, wearing a disturbed expression on his snout, and clenching his lab coat, with his claws creasing the fabric. William picks up on that, and points to him. ¡°Ask me, what I found.¡± ¡°What did you find?¡± Crosomer dares to ask. ¡°I found a trail of kids¡¯ bodies.¡± King winced¨Che¡¯d heard rumors about some of Davos¡¯ more unsavory pastimes, but getting confirmation on them had been difficult, at best. Crosomer¡¯s citrus eyes are widened, his pupils like barely visible slits. ¡°Tell me this isn¡¯t true.¡± ¡°Robespierre? You are dangerously naive, for someone so smart,¡± William says caustically. ¡°He had a thing in particular for kitsune¨Cthey were the ones who suffered the most. I know, because I was tossing their remains into a hole to dispose of. You know how I know it was him? The axe. It always leaves these twisted, corroded injuries. I found them all over their bodies¡ªwounds to injure. Not kill. Not at first.¡± William clenches his uninjured hand, the other one now wrapped in bloodstained gauze. ¡°Others had gunshots. Others¡­I will take what I saw to my grave, Crosomer. I can¡¯t ever unsee that. And you King, should have voiced opposition.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. King had a keen knowledge of most events, but this? This was one he did not. Even given his prior experience of seeing all the worst of humanity consulting him for his intelligence, this sickened him. William continued. ¡°So earlier today, when I got word that Davos was walking around and being a sin of humanity, under Val¡¯s direction, I decided I needed to spare Rick the displeasure of seeing that monster, and we decided to toss toxic waste into the void bubble that forms on an incoming teleportal connection,¡± William stated with contempt. ¡°Then, Rick chased a magical rock, and then the portal blew up. Portals don¡¯t blow up, grow crystalline trees, and then start singing like its a chime chorus. What the hell did you eggheads do to the mana?!¡± William snarled and gripped at his injured arm. ¡°Clear out.¡± King¡¯s directive is abundantly obvious to everyone in the room, and they slowly work their way out. Crosomer taps a claw impatiently on his arm, and regards the veteran guard with a more somber expression. He waits until the bulkhead door slams shut, then presses the bridge of his snout, as if this whole day has become a headache for him. ¡°King, can we¨C¡± ¡°I trust William understands that we can speak in blunt terms with no one else present. So, I¡¯ll lay out my theory.¡± He takes a moment to think, and walks to the destroyed portal, with William limping along. How he managed to take a broadside of debris and walk away from it with only a scuffing, is beyond him. He motions Crosomer and William to it. ¡°You are correct. A void bubble forms on a receiver portal. However, the mana has changed. and I believe it is directly related to the device. It is converting the mana to a different form--and allowing it to grow." ¡°How?¡± Crosomer asked. ¡°I recall your report from the Asqualia efforts. You told me that one of the arcanists found an unusual mana crystal.¡± ¡°Miss Pyromist found a primal crystal deposit.¡± Crosomer looked at him, eye crest raised, and jaw slightly agape. ¡°I see your confusion. Essentially, a piece of mana charged with a slightly different aethereal energy.¡± ¡°Wait. Is this another effect of that funky device your egghead junior team is working with? Nigel, Greg, Karl?¡± William asked. ¡°Correct,¡± King affirms. ¡°The device incidentally triggered opening up a door we did not intend¨Ca door that we could not have known was there.¡± ¡°Okay, English there, King. Because I know you know more than you let on.¡± William folds his arms across his armor, while glancing at the crystalline tree amidst the ruins of the teleportal. He could see the trace of energy extending into the metal, now. It was taking root, here? ¡°Alright. How¡¯s your kin history?¡± ¡°Serviceable,¡± William grunted. ¡°What does history have to do with this? Or primal mana? I¡¯ve never heard of it.¡± ¡°Then you are aware that there is a bit of a controversy of the history of the Schism wars, and where Kin originated from initially.¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯m with you. What about it?¡± ¡°Are you aware of the connection to Gaia and the organization that was spawned after her demise?¡± King questioned. William ponders this for a second, and shrugs. ¡°They theorize she¡¯s not dead. That her soul lives on, protecting our world against those perennial boogeymen, the Outsiders. Or the theory that she wasn¡¯t a goddess but some super advanced draconic race. Or an alien. I dunno man, I¡¯ve heard lots of crazy stories in my time.¡± ¡°When she died, a crystalline tree grew where she fell. Her body disappeared. Few believe this, of course. But that crystal was said to have unusual properties.¡± King waved his hand to the tree, which even now, he could hear small sounds of crystalline chimes. He¡¯s always heard it, but now, it is louder than ever. ¡°The lifeblood of a goddess. The mana itself runs like veins through our world, but this one, it was special. But it also disappeared from history. The tree disappeared shortly thereafter.¡± ¡°Okay. I follow. What¡¯s this one doing here?¡± William asks as they survey the debris. He pokes at one of the crystal spines, and shivers. ¡°This thing is eerie, for reasons of simply not knowing what to make of it.¡± ¡°The Kilnstar''noth was used by the dragons to attempt to get off-world, much like the now-destroyed astral gates. But it went wrong. Horribly wrong. They destroyed their bodies, but their souls remained intact. Crosomer was tinkering with it, during research that was widely surveilled by the Conclave as encroaching on secrets that should stay buried.¡± ¡°I know this part,¡± William stated with a sigh. ¡°But I bet you don¡¯t know why. And not for the reasons you¡¯d normally think.¡± he peered at Crosomer, eyes narrowed. The expression is puzzling, and King suspects it must have meaning. ¡°Didn¡¯t know about the device, till Nigel wouldn¡¯t stop yapping about it at cards night, and how it triggered some kind of global relay, then, poof! Total draconic disintegration. How is this related, exactly?¡± ¡°The dragons went to the world between worlds. Nigel confirmed this when Drenar Rashalda claimed to have seen it, on his initial Awakening. Dragons came out. But, we left a door open.¡± ¡°Eh? Okay, before I call both of you eggheads crazy¡­¡± William sucked in his breath, before daring to continue, ¡°You¡¯re saying, there¡¯s more than dragons in there, when they went and ghosted themselves.¡± ¡°Miss Pyromist, now a member of the Luminaires, and from what I gather is now closely involved with Rashalda, found a primal crystal deposit. I haven¡¯t been able to risk a survey team to go back to Opechea Falls to find out where. Especially given the immense Valkyrie and SAF presence there,¡± King explained. ¡°It was the same thing, the same crystal when I observed it through an Arcanlink. Val killed an immense research opportunity¨Cand may have opened another, unexpected avenue.¡± ¡°King, what is the short version?¡± Crosomer sighed, ¡°Because even I¡¯m getting lost, now.¡± ¡°What would destroy the veil faster than an ugly scene in the middle of the public?¡± King asked. ¡°I don''t know. Awaken a long-dead goddess?¡± Crosomer proposed. ¡°Which wasn¡¯t my aim, other than undoing Volkir¡¯s screw-up. Which is also technically mine.¡± ¡°Closer to the mark. Find a long-imprisoned goddess, and heal the world,¡± King answered succinctly. ¡°Oh, and bring back two million dragons, as a bonus.¡± ¡°Okay, now tell me when your punchline drops,¡± Crosomer stated deadpan a few seconds later. ¡°You¡¯re right, it¡¯s too lofty. It¡¯s all theory right now,¡± King stated with remarkable calm. William narrowed his eyes¨Che¡¯s too good at reading his poker face, he realized. Very few could, except maybe Nigel. William points to the crystalline tree. ¡°You¡¯re saying that thing right there, is the desperate call of a goddess trapped in our world? Going by that deadly line of questioning, who is powerful enough to entrap a goddess? The not-a-goddess Gaia, who couldn¡¯t possibly be more than flesh and blood, who has been theoretically imprisoned for four thousand years, assuming the history isn¡¯t a complete and utter crock?!¡± Each word notches higher in disbelief, and King motions for him to lower his tone. ¡°Would you like to know the answer¨C¡± ¡°Oh piss off, King,¡± William cursed, and edged closer to him. ¡°You know things. You know things that nobody should. I take it back, you are scarier than Val. Because the only time you lie is when you bluff on poker night. And it isn¡¯t Friday.¡± Even the sound of crystalline chimes can¡¯t break that uneasy silence between the three of them, and Crosomer coughs to get their attention. ¡°King, be straight with us. Is this discovery important?¡± ¡°Yes. It is proof the Kilnstar''noth has cracked into the aether. And the dragons are dripping out, slowly but surely. But we need to crack it wide open with the next phase. And it might have some¡­other effects,¡± he adds while glancing at the tree growing another crystalline limb. William looked at the development warily. ¡°You know something, I¡¯ll take my chances with the slow-burn apocalypse of global warming, overpopulation, and deforestation, on second thought.¡± He winced and put his palm up to his face. ¡°Shit. that still leaves Rick floating through wherever the hell he is. How do we find him?¡± ¡°We need to replicate the means of egress. If we are to believe that there is a connection to the aether, then we need people with direct connections to it, to enact the same effect, to follow him.¡± ¡°And how do we¡­¡± Crosomer trailed off and frowned. ¡°Val said that Rashalda seemingly teleported like a jackrabbit during her encounter. And you reported to me that there was something unusual about one of Rashalda¡¯s friends¡­¡± he stopped, and his eyes went wide. King smiled politely. ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°You are out of your goddamn mind, King. They¡¯ll never agree to this.¡± ¡°Robespierre, I¡¯m a man with a perpetual plan,¡± King sighed contentedly before grabbing an errant crystal shard that was still glowing. ¡°We just need to offer them something they can¡¯t live without, to find our dear Rick.¡± ¡°Do I have a say in this?¡± William asked exasperatedly. ¡°What is the plan here?¡± ¡°We need the Luminaires.¡± Vol. 3, Ch. 154: Draconic Superheroes ¡°Alright, here¡¯s the play.¡± Julia drummed her fingers impatiently while she committed notes to memory, as did Angela next to her, and Joey was doing her eidetic thing again. Levine was speaking now and had pulled a personal best on getting information on one Rick Waterson, whose records were squeaky clean, other than a listing for security consultation for Magitech industries, and other than that, nothing. She drummed her fingers on her knee while Drenar asked pointed questions. ¡°Let¡¯s not overthink this, guys,¡± Julia states, after having run out of patience one gunfight ago. ¡°We go down to Jersey, pick up Rick¡¯s wife and daughter, and zoom out of there. Piece of cake, twenty minutes, in and out.¡± ¡°Except for one problem. They¨Cmeaning Magitech industries, and who I presume are probably Talons operatives¨Cknow Rick is missing,¡± Drenar states calmly. ¡°We are not trying to attract attention on this one, which is why half the team is going in on the extract, half the team is on reserve. Angela, seriously, your chest is glowing again, what¡¯s up with that?¡± ¡°You mean, I didn¡¯t explain this one?¡± she asked. ¡°You didn¡¯t,¡± Julia interjected. ¡°Look, the clocks¡¯ ticking guys, in more ways than one. So let¡¯s just go do this, and then we get Rick¡¯s information, in a way that doesn¡¯t involve batting him around, like a cat would bat around at a rat.¡± ¡°In Jersey, there¡¯s rats bigger than cats,¡± Nick muttered. Angela elbows him and he doesn¡¯t even flinch. ¡°No seriously, you¡¯ve never seen gilded rats? They¡¯re big, and they¡¯re docile. Until you accidentally hurt one, then your ass is a corpse.¡± ¡°Ahem,¡± Levine interjected. ¡°We¡¯re taking Rick with us. This is the only way to keep the extraction subjects in a calm mindset. If we¡¯re lucky, we get them back here without any fuss.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t count on it. The Ravagers are on the move. And Amaranth, you still haven¡¯t explained how you play into this,¡± Drenar added with an accusatory tone. "How about, we wait to deal with this crisis first? I think the urgency stack favors helping a father protect his family," Amaranth interjects. "Sorry Joey, I know you all didn''t plan on this, but I think my bit might be related if what I suspect is going on is true." ¡°You went on one date, and the world went to shit, Drenar. That might be your sign on how fragile things are,¡± Julia states deadpan. She can hear that frown emerging on his face. ¡°Me going on dates does not make me a harbinger of the apocalypse.¡± ¡°Nope, just more crazy stuff involving dragons, dragon science, and our perennial favorite murderers, the Talons!¡± Joey chimed in. ¡°And the Ravagers, too. By the way, you should make them kill on sight, if they show up.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Just trust me on this. Levine?¡± Joey asks as she shoots a glance his way. ¡°It¡¯s your call, Drenar. But if we engage hostiles, be mindful the Ravagers are run by Davos Renshrak, and this suggests they are working with the Talons,¡± Levine answers to her query. ¡°They have a track record of brutality.¡± Julia can see the calm expression get torn off his face violently. ¡°You mean the man who caused my father¡¯s death, and battered my mother to the verge of death? Yeah, that asshole is kill-on-sight, and not for my own reasons for despising him.¡± He turns to face the rest of them. ¡°The priority is the safety of Rick¡¯s family. I doubt there¡¯s going to be trouble, but you never know. Anyone who takes a shot at them, don¡¯t hesitate to answer the threat definitively.¡± ¡°Great. Looks like Matilda is getting swapped out for something a little lighter.¡± Julia is already in motion with an autobow, compact and light, for the close quarters. ¡°Seriously, let¡¯s just do this, before more weird stuff goes on.¡± ¡°Weirder than getting pulled into the aether at random? Nah, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m topping that one for a while. And will someone please tell me why Angela keeps giving off this glowing aura?¡± Drenar asks impatiently. ¡°It uh¡­the crystal started humming, and lit up,¡± Angela answers anxiously. If she¡¯s anxious, Julia figures, it¡¯s out of whack, even for them. ¡°It started at random when you and Joey went out. It started doing that superpower thing, where I get crystalline scales.¡± ¡°Question is, are you still good to go?¡± Julia asks. The idea that her bestie, who has fought side by side with her numerous times, is anathema to her existence. Angela nods firmly¨Cnothing can stop her, it seems. ¡°I¡¯m good. Let¡¯s get this done.¡± ¡°Alright, bring Rick in,¡± Drenar calls out and is already prepping equipment, while Nick and Levine get the teleportal dialed in. ¡°This should be a simple in and out, we¡¯re taking one-time-use pads with us, just in case this gets dicey. Joey, you¡¯re with me, Angela, Julia, and Nick on team one, along with Rick. Team two, be ready to come in swinging.¡± ¡°Jersey¡¯s not that bad, Drenar,¡± Kelly sighs. ¡°Look, why would we think that the entirety of the Talons¡¯ army would come after Rick¡¯s family? For all they know, he¡¯s dead and buried.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not leaving it to chance, Kelly.¡± Drenar¡¯s calm tone has returned, if not for his own sake, then for the sake of the team. Julia had been initially worried about Kelly¡¯s enthusiasm for joining the Luminaires¨Cbut, Drenar had been willing to hear her out. They both had been keeping a close eye on her, especially in the wake of her father¡¯s death. Still, she can¡¯t help but worry. Kelly hasn¡¯t been tested like the rest of them, even Jackie has seen some combat, and James is no longer a slouch with his basic mage combat and tactical acumen. Drenar continues and glances at Julia. ¡°Not that I want to add to the drama, but, your mom should be on standby. She¡¯s briefing the Valkyries right now.¡± ¡°I know. Well, at least if this goes to shit like usual, we¡¯ll be well-armed and armored this time. I don¡¯t feel like fighting through two secret underwater fortresses in a lifetime underequipped.¡± ****** ¡°I hate Jersey. It smells like garbage.¡± The fact that Rick lives right next to a veil-free zone, means this should be an easy in and out, and they quickly notify SAF of the situation with a flash of their badge. Julia can¡¯t help but notice that SAF is more keen on helping them here than back at home, and Levine does the talking quickly, along with Nick. They¡¯re only a few blocks away from Rick¡¯s apartment, and he¡¯s protected in subtle body armor, but no weapons. ¡°Hey, I live here, and no, it doesn¡¯t. You¡¯re just used to the great whole lotta nothing in¨Cwhere the hell were we?¡± Rick asks. ¡°Colorado,¡± Julia answers him. This guy must have been bounced around a lot for him to not know where he ended up. ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered what happened to you. As far as I know, only Drenar has been popping in and out of the aether. And it¡¯s tied to his weird ability.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not weird. It¡¯s my blink,¡± he answers. ¡°No, it needs a snazzy name. Like aether jump! Hah! It has a name now, I am queen of the ability naming thingy!¡± Julia declares. ¡°I like Aether Strike,¡± Joey comments. ¡°Sounds like me jumping between realities to stab murderous Kin in the back. Not exactly something I¡¯d like to give much thought to,¡± Drenar sighs. He tries to not add to a body count, which she finds admirable. She¡¯s grown quite comfortable in putting killers in the ground, as awful as that sounded. Drenar glances at Rick. ¡°So, you picked up that mana crystal, and then got shanghaied to the Aether.¡± ¡°I should have been annihilated. The void bubble is uh¡­pretty total in its destruction,¡± Rick answered shakily. ¡°I ended up one other place, but um¡­we¡¯ll talk after I¡¯m sure that my continued existence doesn¡¯t cause my family harm.¡± ¡°Admirable. Jeez. it¡¯s like half the Talons treat this like a day job, and are affably evil,¡± Julia interjects. ¡°Security contractor,¡± he insists. She continues to insist on cracking her knuckles to let him know he¡¯s full of shit. He glances down the block, and motions for them to stop. He must be very wary of his thoughts, with Joey around and not getting much out of him other than what he¡¯s saying. ¡°Okay, so a few things,¡± Rick says hurriedly. ¡°Don¡¯t tell my wife where I work.¡± ¡°Where do you work Rick? You haven¡¯t answered that one,¡± Drenar states calmly, even as his hand keeps drifting to his weapon. The street is mostly empty in the veil-free zone, and once they hit the threshold for a small utility tunnel, he motions for everyone to stow their gear, so that no one outside the veil sees anything unusual. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Rick sighs. ¡°I told you. Magitech industries. I¡¯m a security contractor.¡± ¡°No, the real story. You want me to trust you, and this is not, in fact, some ruse by the Talons?¡± Drenar again insists, but Julia shakes her head. She¡¯s got an idea on this one. ¡°I told you¨C¡± ¡°Drenar, we can sort that out later. Tell me about your wife and kid, Rick,¡± Julia says after Drenar makes that subtle motion of his to let her take the lead. Rick scratches at his short hair after their weapons are concealed, and the armor tucked away in regular civilian wear. She¡¯s glad this armor can deploy in seconds, should a crisis emerge. ¡°We could use some information on them, just in case.¡± ¡°Alright. My wife¡¯s Marlene, my daughter is Abigail. She¡¯s seven. I had a kid quite young. She¡¯s mine and Marlene¡¯s world,¡± he states with passion. ¡°She loves dragons. Got pictures of them everywhere.¡± ¡°Uh¡­can she draw one of me?¡± Julia asks. Rick stares at her blankly. ¡°We have like, a bunch of dragons on our team. It¡¯s Team Dragon! We also do dragon science!¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t advertise the dragon science,¡± Angela sighs, and rubs at her coat uneasily. ¡°I keep feeling my danger sense going into overdrive, and I¡¯m wondering if I¡¯m just being jumpy.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll scout out,¡± Nick offers before flinging in a small drone into the air, that quickly takes off and shimmers with a refractory coating that makes it blend into the night sky. He puts his phone on his wrist with an armband, keeps it affixed, and makes a low grunt a moment later, as they continue onward. ¡°Alright, the coast is clear, but the lights are on. When were you supposed to be home?¡± ¡°Hours ago,¡± Rick grunts. ¡°Front door should be fine.¡± ¡°Levine, take team two, run them to the other side of the block,¡± Drenar relays into his arcanlink. ¡°Looks like the coast is clear for now.¡± A moment later, they¡¯re approaching the two-story apartment, and Julia can hear the hum of a TV and low commotion. Someone fretting, talking to someone in a low tone. She taps Rick, and smiles. ¡°So, anything we should know? Is your wife prone to shooting through doors, blasting people as they come inside? ¡°No,¡± he states with an eye roll. He grabs his keys and opens the door gently¨Cand is instantly pulled inside, to the sound of curses, and his yowling protests. ¡°The hell, where have you been Rick, it¡¯s two in the morning, and I¡¯ve been worried sick¨C¡± ¡°Marlene, I¡¯m just¨C¡± Julia nudges past the frame to see a tall woman with dark brown hair and hazel eyes laying into him, still cursing. ¡°No, don¡¯t you dare pull that! You¡¯ve been gone for hours, didn¡¯t call, I put Abigail in bed, she¡¯s worried, your work called¨C¡± ¡°If I may miss, Rick¡¯s with us,¡± Julia interjects and slides in. The presumable wife gasps and tries to grab a coat rack, but Drenar eases it down with telekinetics. Julia continues without skipping a beat. ¡°We found Rick and brought him home. It¡¯s a long story. It¡¯s so long, that we really should sit down and talk. He¡¯s not in trouble, we¡¯re the Luminaires.¡± ¡°The who?¡± she asks, looking like a storm is brewing in her eyes, then screams at Rick. ¡°You¡¯ve been gone one day, and you bring some floozy old enough to be jailbait? Your ass is dead, Rick!¡± ¡°Marlene, I almost died today!¡± he shouted. ¡°Let me get a word out, please!¡± ¡°Oh, you did. And it¡¯s gonna be followed by lots more words like ¡®Sorry¡¯ and ¡®I¡¯m an idiot¡¯ before we even come close to that! And again, who are you people?¡± Marlene demanded, hands on her hips and looking more upset than apprehensive. ¡°We¡¯re the good guys.¡± Julia shows them the insignia on her jacket. ¡°You remember hearing a couple of months ago, about the attack at Asqualia?¡± Marlene nods animatedly. ¡°We¡¯re the people that put the Talons out of commission. We¡¯re the Luminaires.¡± ¡°Oh-kay¡­¡± she trails off, then looks at Rick, a little less angrily at least. That¡¯s at least one beating averted for this poor guy, who is having the worst day in his life, most likely. ¡°But, why is he with you?¡± ¡°Rick has had an¡­interesting day, and we found him. Uh, in a magical teleport accident. He¡¯s lucky to be alive,¡± Drenar answers. Can we come in?¡± Even though he¡¯s not got the whole story either. ¡°I¡¯m Drenar, this is Julia.¡± he introduces the rest of them, and Nick is frowning, too focused on the drone feed. ¡°Still not hearing why big shot heroes are here at our house,¡± Marlene growls, while motioning to Rick. ¡°are you going to tell me what this is about?¡± ¡°We can, but not here. Marlene, we need to go. It¡¯s not safe here,¡± he answers. ¡°We need to get Abigail and go. They have a safe house for us to talk.¡± ¡°Can we just¡­Rick, what did you do?¡± his wife gasps. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Marlene. I just don¡¯t know.¡± He slumps and lowers his chin down to his chest. ¡°Today was supposed to be just another normal day. It has been anything but.¡± ¡°Can I just¡­you guys want coffee? Can we do that, first?¡± Marlene asks. ¡°You guys made this trip out here, but why aren¡¯t we safe?¡± ¡°Uh¡­I may have accidentally found a keystone fragment that could lead to the discovery of a long-entrapped goddess residing in the aether,¡± Rick said uneasily. Julia sighed, this guy could not read a room. ¡°Richard cut the bullshit. Just say you did something illegal, and you got busted for it,¡± his wife sighs. ¡°How about that coffee first, then we need to run?¡± Drenar states impatiently. Marlene regards him for a few seconds, then waves them in. ¡°Don¡¯t mind the mess,¡± Marlene calls out as they walk through. Julia doesn¡¯t really note much of a mess, this house is quaint, with well-loved furniture, and a few kids'' toys left out on the living room floor. They walk to the tiled kitchen with bright-colored accents, a kitchen island, and pans hanging in a hooked linkage in the ceiling. It¡¯s small, but well laid out to maximize the space. The fridge is covered in kids¡¯ artwork. Before she can pay attention, there¡¯s a call of a small child¡¯s voice. ¡°Dad, you¡¯re home!¡± A little girl with brown hair and bright green eyes bounds down the stairs and wraps herself around Rick. all the apprehension melts off his face, and he smiles as she holds her tightly. ¡°Hey munchin, I¡¯m home. I had to take a long way home today, I uh, kind of missed my flight,¡± he adds with a laugh. ¡°Guys, this is Abigail, my daughter. These young people are the Luminaires. They uh, they helped fight off some bad people a while ago.¡± ¡°Oh you did?¡± she asked with wide eyes. ¡°Did you fight dragons?¡± ¡°A few,¡± Julia half-answered. Never mind that the most deadly dragon of them all was leading the Talons. ¡°I¡¯m a dragon, too! Well, half.¡± ¡°Oh, my!¡± she beams, and squeals with delight. ¡°What color are your scales?!¡± ¡°Well, mine are gold, with some black and teal feathers,¡± she explains, and an emergent smile forms. ¡°Drenar is silver and blue¨Cthe messy-haired kid over there,¡± she points, and he frowns. ¡°Angela has silver scales and seafoam feathers. Nick¡¯s a big green guy, like your stuffy.¡± ¡°My hair¡¯s not messy. Also, time¡¯s ticking guys,¡± Drenar adds calmly. Julia promptly ignores that and focuses on the girl in a long-sleeved pajama set, holding onto a stuffed green dragon that did look like Nick¡¯s Hinterland form. ¡°Oh my gosh, dragon superheroes!¡± Abigail squeals, while Drenar and the others talk. Just as well, because moving this family is not going to be pleasant. ¡°Have you flown? Dad says his boss flies a lot! And she¡¯s big and scary!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve flown, and not all dragons are scary,¡± Julia assures her. ¡°Wish I could show you, but the house is too tiny. I only just became one, myself. I had to wait a while.¡± ¡°Ooh, I know, I could sketch it!¡± she said with glee. ¡°I¡¯ll go get my pencils!¡± She darts over to a small console with a bunch of papers and other art supplies and rummages for a minute. Julia sighs contentedly, she wished that her mother had been willing to share this at a much earlier age. Before everything started falling apart for her and Drenar. He was sitting at the table, explaining very calmly the risks, and Marlene looked shocked, but, not panicking. Drenar¡¯s got that impact. He knows how to get through to people, even when things are awful, all around them. He¡¯s faced awful things his whole life, almost. Even the dark parts of him, that almost took him from her. She sighs softly at that wayward thought. He¡¯s fighting for all of them, now. And the world might very well be riding on their shoulders, combined But this girl needs assurances, not grim tidings. She walks over to the fridge, and sees a bunch of really detailed dragon sketches. She smiles, such pretty artwork¨C Her blood freezes when she sees one on the far right, and her mouth gapes open for a second. She steps closer and puts her hand to the page. It¡¯s a massive, midnight-blue scaled dragon, with a red feather crest and feathered wings, and ruby red eyes. Under it, Abigail had scrawled ¡®Dad¡¯s scary lady boss! Rawr!¡¯ ¡°Uh¡­guys¡­¡± she trails off, but no one¡¯s paying attention. This is bad news. Abigail bounces back, one missing tooth accenting her grin. ¡°Ooh, you like my art?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­pretty,¡± she says with an edged smile. She hopes it¡¯s not who she thinks it is. After all, how many Siberian Hellkites could there be in the world? Dear Fates, tell me that isn¡¯t Val. Abigail follows her gaze, she pulls the artwork off, and snaps the fridge magnet back in place. ¡°She¡¯s my favorite! Dad talks about her, says that she might be scary sometimes, but she¡¯s got a good heart, buried waaaaay down!¡± she says with a giggle. ¡°Not all dark-scaled dragons are evil, or so he tells me!¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s great.¡± She¡¯s got this sinking feeling this is about to be an awkward reveal. She knows it¡¯s coming, because, how else could this get more screwed up? Nick is frowning and tapping at his phone in the distance, but Abigail puts the big dragon artwork under her nose, practically. ¡°And uh, who is this, exactly?¡± ¡°My dad¡¯s boss. He guards her door! She doesn¡¯t like it when people snoop on her stuff, and he works in a big underground cavern, protecting her special things!¡± {Joey, we have a problem.} She sends the mental alarm bell directly to her, and even though she¡¯s in her human form, she swears her ears perk up, all the same. She walks over to her, frowning. ¡°Okay, Julia how big a problem do we¨Coh crap.¡± Her eyes light with recognition at that image. ¡°Um, tell me that¡¯s not who I think it is.¡± ¡°It¡¯s my daddy¡¯s boss, Val! She¡¯s the bestest girl dragon, she¡¯s super strong and fast!¡± Abigail beams. ¡°You said a bad word though, she might not like that if you heard it.¡± ¡°Yes, absolutely. Abigail, I think we need to pack for a little dragon camping trip, can you lead me up to your room?¡± Julia asks with a nervous smile. She looks to Joey, who is trying not to freak out, either. {Val is Rick¡¯s boss. We¡¯re in deep trouble.} Joey nods while trying not to let on that this is bad news, and quickly relays a note to Drenar, while she follows Abigail upstairs¨Cto pack and get the hell out of here, as fast as possible. ¡°So, Abigail, I need you to pack this bag with your favorite clothes, and maybe a stuffed doll that¡¯s your favorite,¡± she assures her. ¡°Your dad¡¯s boss might be mad at him for disappearing. So we have to¨C¡± ¡°She¡¯s a big softie. It¡¯s the demon in her that makes her bad.¡± The change in tone in Abigail freezes Julia''s thoughts mid-sentence. Abigail''s'' eyes are bright¨Calmost like Angela¡¯s eyes, and her expression dims while holding her stuffy dragon tightly. ¡°They did bad things to her. Awful things they did to little girls. The little crystals said it. The ones people say can¡¯t talk. But I hear them.¡± She ignores the pending crisis. She ignores the fact that mana can¡¯t talk. She ignores her danger sense going into overdrive. There is something new at work, and she puts a reassuring hand on Abigail''s shoulder. ¡°What bad things?¡± she hears the commotion downstairs as Nick calls out that something is going on up the street. ¡°They put the monsters inside her.¡± Vol. 3, Ch. 155: Rumble In The Urban Jungle, Part One Julia thought she¡¯d heard it all¨Cancient dragon civilizations, her becoming a dragon, a literal magical superhero organization that her mother, of all people, currently ran, and that true evil existed in the world in the form of hulking magitech menaces, and murderous divas. But this scared her. ¡°Valosterla is a monster of her own choosing, Abigail¨C¡± ¡°No, she isn¡¯t. She only thinks she is.¡± This little girl sounds absolutely certain of herself, which is why she¡¯s still ignoring the commotion downstairs. ¡°There¡¯s a bright light in her that rings like a fellow kindred, shrouded in a veil of ugliness.¡± Okay, we have officially gone places I never expected. Val is possessed? Someone¡¯s making her do things? This is one crackpot thing I really hope isn¡¯t true. She firms up and holds Abigail gently. ¡°What else do the little crystals say?¡± ¡°Julia, we need to go, right now. Nick¡¯s powering up the one-time pad, he thinks there¡¯s either Talons, or Ravager plain-clothes agents on the way.¡± Angela storms into the room, already geared in her armor and Luminari strapped to her shoulder. She pauses to stare at Abigail. ¡°Um, hi, were your eyes blue before?¡± The girl squeals in delight. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re the new one! She knew she could trust her to find the right one!¡± Julia gasped, and Angela stared blankly. This was just too much stuff to be hit with at once, and right during a crisis. Angela is the first to react. ¡°Yep, remember when I said I was glad Drenar was the destined one? Wishing that were still true. Has our precocious seven-year-old now started hearing crystals talking?¡± ¡°Yep. We just hit full-tilt crazy,¡± Julia said shakily. ¡°Okay, the crisis is brewing kiddo, we need to go.¡± She hastily grabs a few clothes for the poor girl and stuffs them in a little toy backpack, that she quickly slings over her shoulder. ¡°Angela, I know I asked before, but¨C¡± ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t want to know what¡¯s going on right now,¡± Angela states warily. ¡°Uh, should we tell her?¡± Abigail asked, as if to the air. Julia warily looked at Angela, and her veins across her face seemed to be lighting up with a faint blue. ¡°Okay, so, someone did a good thing, and put a crack in a wall! She¡¯s not happy about being cooped up for so long!¡± ¡°Abigail¡­are you talking about Gaia?¡± Angela dares to break this mystifying moment, and Abigail nods. ¡°My dad, too, he hears it. But he¡¯s older. He tuned out the sounds a long time ago. She had to speak louder.¡± Julia knows that whatever is happening, is important. ¡°Damn it, get back, they jammed the signal¨C¡± There¡¯s a sound of what sounds like a blast, and the house shakes. Julia instantly wraps around Abagail from what could be the blast-wave¨Cbut it¡¯s just a burst of air. Drenar and Nick are shouting, and the sound of bootsteps running up the stairs is apparent. Joey bursts in, hair frazzled and she¡¯s in her Kitsune form, and her tail looks like a bottle brush. Abigail does not seem to be deterred by the sounds of probable explosives, and squeals. ¡°Oh my, I knew it from the eyes, another soul-touched!¡± Joey puts a single claw up, then thinks better of it. ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t know what the hell is going on, but our one-time-use teleportal pad shorted out, and we¡¯re about to have contacts. Julia, grab Abigail, we¡¯re meeting with team two down the back alley, we need to get back to the garrison! Weird shi¨Cmean um, stuff, seems to be quite popular,¡± she hastily corrects. ¡°Okay, Abigail, I need you to stick with me, I¡¯m going to put a barrier around you to keep you protected. It might sting a little, okay?¡± Julia assures her as she slings her backpack around her, and her skin tingles with energy. The little girl salutes and Julia feels that flow of energy she¡¯s gotten increasingly good at channeling wraps around her and Abigail, and she keeps her close by. ¡°Does it hurt?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯ll be okay.¡± She shakes her head, and they dash down the stairwell. The sight of the living room is a disaster, with furniture strewn waywardly. The mobile teleportal is fragmented and smoking, and Drenar looks like he¡¯s pissed off. ¡°They''re jamming us,¡± he states as he waves to the ruined device. ¡°Well, this is par for the course." Abigail sees him, and grins. ¡°Oh, now I know why you look familiar! You look just like her!¡± Drenar ignores the brewing crisis and Nick is already slamming the back door open, with Rick and Marlene¡¯s arcane barriers up. His green eyes are lit up like a deer in the headlights. ¡°Uh, I''m sorry, I look like whom?¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Drenar, questions later! Rick, keep your head down, Marlene, stay with us, we''ll keep you safe. We''re not in a veil-free zone, we can''t do magic¨C¡± The sound of shouts on the street is audible, and then there''s a banging at the door. Everyone freezes. Bad guys don''t knock. ¡°Nick, who''s outside?¡± Drenar asks. Nick looks pale. ¡°One murderous diva, and about thirty men that pulled up in several vehicles, and armed to the gills. The diva is the one knocking.¡± That thudding noise comes again, and Rick looks petrified. ¡°I¨CI don''t understand. How is she here?¡± As if on cue, there''s the ominous knock at the door, again. Julia curls her nails into her palm and grabs Matilda Mark II from the weapons bag, aims it down the hallway, and chambers a massive round. She puts Abigail in Angela''s care and aims by a wall corner. ¡°Julia, we¡¯ve tested that thing. That¡¯s not an anti-material rifle, it¡¯s a rail gun,¡± Joey whispered. ¡°Great. That should take care of the murderous diva,¡± she whispered back. ¡°Are they advancing, Nick?¡± ¡°She¡¯s just¡­sitting there. Rick, why is¨C¡± ¡°She¡¯s Rick¡¯s boss, and apparently, they figured he wasn¡¯t dead,¡± Julia hisses, and out of the corner of her eye, Rick goes pale. ¡°Get them out of here, now.¡± ¡°Great. Who got a bingo on this one?¡± Nick called out. ¡°Not the one I wanted,¡± Drenar sighed, even as he leveled an autobow at the doorframe, too. ¡°Let¡¯s parley, then.¡± ¡°Gladly. Hi, Rick''s residence, how can we help you?¡± Julia calls out while preparing to put a round through Val¡¯s skull. She answers in turn with that God-awful rhyming. ¡°Ricky indeed, where did you go? I had to search, both high and low! I had to fly to foreign land, when I was told you turned to sand. Someone fibbed, surely they lied! You called in dead? tough luck, nice try!" That unnerving sing-song is as horrible as it is disturbing. ¡°Uh¡­. it''s called a sick day! The husband will get back to you, he''s had a rough day!¡± She tries to deflect. In a low tone, she called out, ¡°She''s still at the door, right Nick?¡± ¡°Uh, yes, but if you fire that, you will blow a hole through a block of Jersey,¡± he cautioned. "Demolition of this place can only increase the land valuation," Julia growled. "How the hell did she get here so fast?" "Forget the how, we need to get out of here, now." Angela was already moving with Joey, escorting Rick¡¯s family, while Drenar and Julia held the door. Julia took that advice as don¡¯t miss. ¡°Surely you don¡¯t think I recognize you, Miss DeVerdra?¡± Val called out through the door. ¡°This song is at an end, this demand is absolute! Give me my dear Rick, Or I¡¯ll turn your scales into boots,¡± she crooned. ¡°Yeah, gonna go with ¡®no¡¯ on this one,¡± Drenar shouted out, teeth gritted in fury. ¡°You gonna make a scene in the middle of public, Val, with a garrison a few blocks away? What¡¯s Rick worth to you, he¡¯s a nobody!¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you open the door? We¡¯ll talk,¡± she purred. ¡°And listen to more of your insane singing? I¡¯d rather get eaten by a dragon!¡± Drenar retorts. Which is ironic, because he is one. ¡°Hold up.¡± Julia, out of everyone here, wants to put a giant crater into Val¡¯s body with this deadly new firearm. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you barnstormed the place like normal?! What¡¯s your angle, Val, everyone on our team wants to make you into a carcass, in what universe do you think we¡¯ll talk to you?!¡± ¡°Because I¡¯ve heard the crystals. They¡¯re calling out now. I heard them when your dear Angela fought me inside the power core,¡± she announced. This also bore grim tidings, ¡°And now, anyone who hears them, I need them alive.¡± ¡°Gods damn it,¡± Drenar hissed. ¡°What is up with the damn mana? Tell Crosomer¨Cthat giant dickbag that he is¨Cthat he¡¯s gonna kill the planet if he keeps messing with that device of his!¡± ¡°Much as I want all of you dead, you also have something of mine¨C¡± A gunshot rings out, followed by several more¨Cbut they¡¯re all coming from outside, hitting Val¡¯s position. ¡°Shit, who¡¯s firing?!¡± Drenar called out over the arcanlink. ¡°SAF just showed up, and started shooting! Why is this guy so popular?¡± Levine called out, as a bullet bounced inside and ricocheted close to Julia¡¯s head. The return fire from the Talons cut off their chance for chatter, and she shouldered the rifle. ¡°Hey Val, time to meet the Matilda Mark II!¡± she screamed out as she fired a round through the door¨C ¨Cand was promptly flung back a full meter and fell on her ass, her shoulder throbbing from the recoil of the round that turned the door to kindling, and was blown backward by the miniature concussive blast. Her ears were ringing, too, and she hauled herself up as Drenar winced, and returned fire out the door. ¡°Everyone regroup at the SAF garrison, stick to cover, and try not to draw any fire on civilian buildings!¡± Drenar called out. She grabbed him even as he kept firing and they pushed out the back door, where more firefighting was going on, on the other street. ¡°We¡¯re boxed in! Multiple Talons operatives in heavy armor just showed up in a big rig truck!¡± Nick called out over the radio. ¡°SAF command, friendlies in the open!¡± if there was an answer, Julia didn¡¯t hear it as they ducked past an inflatable pool, and the gunshots were too close for comfort. She threw a wave of plasma at the first man to peek through the door and zapped him with enough current to leave on the ground, smoking. She leveled the massive rifle again, just as Val pushed past her underlings¨Cwith just a dent in her ebony armor?! ¡°Oh, this is bullshit. The enemies upgrade gear, too?!¡± She fired again and managed to not fall on her backside, and the concussive round burst the inflatable pool , smashed cinder blocks in the backyard market wall, and sent Val crashing back into the house. This was becoming a run-and-gun battle in the middle of suburbia with hundreds of witnesses, and she rounded the corner past a brick wall, before a fireball detonated and washed over her and Drenar, flaring their shields, just as they dove to the ground. ¡°For the record, I filled in my bingo card, in case I die,¡± Drenar coughed. ¡°If we live through this, I¡¯m gonna kill Rick,¡± she growled. The fight was still going strong, and they needed an exit plan, fast. Vol. 3, Ch. 156: Rumble In The Urban Jungle, Part Two ¡°Drenar move your ass!¡± Julia screamed out as she she hauled him to his feet, and shouldered the rifle. ¡°We can forget about Veil Protocol, it''s morphing time!¡± ¡°We¡¯re in the middle of suburbia!¡± he shrilled but also didn¡¯t hesitate to start on his own transformation, while the others fought their way against a hail of autobow bullets, and a few alchemical surprises from their foes. ¡°We¡¯re gonna be dead in the middle of the Jersey suburbia! Which is only slightly worse than having the veil busted!¡± she was partway into her dragon form when she shouldered that rifle¨Cwhich now felt someone better-sized for her, and opened up on Val who had just rounded the corner, looking incensed. ¡°Oh bring it, bitch! I got ammo for days!¡± She still managed to wobble on her digitigrade legs as the round turned Val into an almost comical ragdoll¨Cexcept this Disney villainess reject with a musical note to back her up was also turning into a dragon at the same time. Drenar grabbed Julia by the shoulder and worked their way through the back alley, toward the street. ¡°Your pitiful weapon is sad, all bark and missing sheer trauma! You should just fly like a coward, and not engage in this drama!¡± Val cackled, even as she threw out a lasso of that infernal purple energy that tore part of a brick wall, just as they rounded the corner into the street. It was utter chaos. SAF had pulled up in discrete vans had opened fire on Val¡¯s soldiers, who were down a few men and taking cover. SAF agents had no issue in losing their own, and the soldiers were barking out orders and pointed to the group emerging from the alleyway. ¡°Friendlies in the open, we have civilians we are extracting!¡± he barked out to the headset now wrapped around his earcrest, and Julia fired off a salvo of plasma at Val, who just seemed to be eating this punishment. Matilda was proving utterly worthless against this superpowered freak, and a few other Talons operatives were trying to claw their way past the alley into the open, with a Nevarran red, a hinterland, and a snow-white dragon that Julia hadn¡¯t seen before. Drenar continued to drive forward along with the rest of the team, and protect Joey and Abigail with his barriers. Angela had picked up the cue and was shielding Rick and Marlene, with Nick trying to get the SAF soldiers rallied. ¡°Team two, where the hell are you?¡± Julia barked into the headset. The talons are numerous and making a scene in the public that is going to be the evening news across the entire universe if this is kept up. No response came from them. ¡°Drenar, I can¡¯t reach team two, where the hell are they?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know! They should have met us right here, and there was no gun battle!¡± Drenar surveyed the situation while keeping Joey and Abigail shielded against unfriendly fire. ¡°SAF, we need to extract high-value targets, we have to go!¡± he barked out one of the helmeted soldiers, who looked up at the very angry-looking dragon glaring at him, then back at the foes bottlenecked at the alley. ¡°Go! We¡¯ll cover you! Watch your fire team bravo, we¡¯re in a civilian no-go zone!¡± he barked out, and Drenar took that as his cue to motion to the rest of the team. Julia in the meantime dug into her ammo pack and grabbed another hefty magazine to slap into the massive rifle. Kyle had been thinking ahead to keep the trigger guard very large, and able to be wielded by dragons. ¡°Radios are out, something is jamming them!¡± ¡°Damn it!¡± Drenar roared. ¡°Julia, we¡¯re making a break for it, back to the teleportal hub! Angela, hold onto those two for dear life, Nick, find out where the hell Levine and company are!¡± ¡°Done!¡± Nick barked out. Meanwhile, Julia fired at the first unlucky bastard to pop his body into firing range with something she hefted using her plasma grapple: A very heavy dumpster and the man saw it and tried to fire. He might as well have been firing a foam dart gun, and she flung the projectile with astonishing speed. She had to angle low¨Ca higher trajectory could go through the houses, and the dumpster steamrolled the man, and cracked the brick wall. She was not sympathetic this time around, they¡¯d open fire in a crowded civilian zone, and she hoped to draw them away. ¡°Oh that was unkind, my dear drake! He was¨C¡± Julia flung a second dumpster at Val as soon as she broke past the alleyway, tumbling that draconic bitch as she smashed through the walls. People were panicking inside and trying to flee¨Cwhile a few idiots were trying to get this on camera, in the middle of an arcanist gunfight. She now fully appreciated the meaning of the term ¡®too stupid to live.¡¯ She advanced towards Val, having seen how to fight her last time, and shouldered the rifle while she was staggered and let out round after round¨Cpopping the barrier and finally scoring a superficial hit on her flank. ¡°Drenar, get the civvies and go!¡± she roared out and reloaded the magazine while throwing her low-grade plasma to stun the dragons trying to fan out and flank them. One got cute and tried to close¨Cthe snow-white one that she figured would be icy cold. They were not, in fact, an ice dragon, because it tried to spit a viscous goo at her¨Cthe nerve of that fiend! She blasted him backward with a jet of plasma that scorched his scales, and instantly popped his barriers. ¡°Julia, fall back and cover us!¡± she heard Drenar call out, with Joey already on his back, holding on for dear life, and Abigail letting out some kind of sound of joy. Angela was hoisting both Rick and Marlene and bounding up the street, away from the gunfire. ¡°Drenar, Levine¡¯s team is engaged with reinforcements from the Talons, far side! Get the civilians out, I¡¯ll hold it here!¡± Nick shouted out as he reached out to his draconic form, green scales and poofy feathers emerging across his body and the SAF soldiers made room for him. Julia took that as her cue, and leered at Val, still trying to recover and striding forward. She hated the idea they were just letting the monsters walk off, but the Talons were going all-in on getting Rick. Whatever happened if she got to him, was anyone''s guess, but she figured it was all bad news. Seconds later she was airborne in a thrust of gold and teal feathers, and cursing the fact that this was happening again. She saw her mother taking flight from nearby, having been engaging the Talons a block away, and giving her assuming nod. ¡°Protect Drenar! I¡¯ll hold off this bitch. She and I have an unsettled score,¡± she said in a menacing tone.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Don¡¯t get killed mom, she¡¯s freakishly strong, and there is something really wrong with her!¡± She watched her mother break off to distract Val, who had bulldozed through the gunfire and seemed to be utterly unstoppable. There are terse words heard distantly, but she knows one thing: if there¡¯s someone as steadfast and as unkillable as Val, it¡¯s her mother, or Drenar¡¯s mom¡­wherever she is. She focused on getting in a flight formation with Drenar and Angela, and everyone looked grim, but not badly hurt. They weren¡¯t particularly high, and the garrison was only a stone''s throw away¨Cabout a minute, at best. ¡°You guys okay?¡± she called out over the sound of air rushing past them. At this distance, all they needed to do was glide back down. ¡°We¡¯re so screwed,¡± Angela said with a panting breath. ¡°Val knows we have Rick. She will do anything to find him. And Abigail, if she puts two and two together. Rick, you lied to us.¡± ¡°I¨CI didn¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯re not having this argument here, we get back to Nick¡¯s base of operations, and we wait for the others,¡± Drenar called out over his wing. He¡¯s got that look again. That haunted look, that even Joey sees and feels. Her concern is radiating through the link again. She can¡¯t blame her. They¡¯ve been in two gunfights within twelve hours, are beaten up, lacking answers, and now, a new crisis is brewing that could mean something truly horrible is happening. And they needed answers, fast. But, Abigail, being held on tightly by Joey, breaks the mood. ¡°You¡¯re confused? So am I, big dragon kid. And I¡¯m only seven,¡± Abigail said with a sniff. ¡°Dad, we need to tell them.¡± Julia sees that resigned look on his face. Whoever this man is, despite keeping a loving family, he has secrets that could have dire implications. *** *** *** The good news was, everyone was in one piece. The bad news was, no one knew how Val had managed to track down Rick¨Cor perhaps, she had been expecting to get information from his family. Every single individual in this room was looking mighty pissed, and Levine was taking charge of this one. He¡¯d had enough, and Julia worried that he was about to blow a fuse, especially considering SAF had randomly showed up, and claimed they¡¯d heard about the Talons operatives being spotted. She wondered if someone sent them there to collect Rick, too. And all eyes were on Rick¨Cand Abigail now, who was sitting close by to Joey and Angela. They kept giving glances to each other¨Cnervous exchanges that Julia could almost pick out like the link between them was changing. Levine points at Rick, to set the pace. ¡°I need a no-bullshit assessment, Richard. You lied to us about your employer¡ªthe number one villain of the planet at present. We are fortunate that Val and company withdrew using one-time teleportals the second the Valkyries showed up, but we may not have that luck next time. She will send an army after you. And she will not care about how many bodies she has to pile up to do it. I was there in Asqualia and watched that monster¨C¡± ¡°I get it! She¡¯s done awful things!¡± Rick shouted. ¡°I sit and guard her door all goddamn day. I know awful things. She keeps bone piles of people who pissed her off. I have been one hair-trigger bad mood away from being a dragon¡¯s snack for two years! And I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m important¨C¡± ¡°Stop. If you don¡¯t care about yourself, then care about your family,¡± Levine said sternly, as Drenar nodded, looking even more scuffed up than usual. ¡°Rick, weird stuff has been going on for months. Above and beyond what¡¯s normal for the mage world. I need to know one thing.¡± Drenar gives it a pause for a second. She knows that narrow-eyed gaze. He has a theory. She¡¯s got one, too, based on what Abigail has said so far. It is an utterly horrifying theory, and she hopes she is wrong. ¡°I care about my family. You think I don¡¯t?¡± Rick shot back. ¡°Rick, you need to answer one question, right now. Joey, let me know if he¡¯s lying, I¡¯m pulling out the stops,¡± Drenar stated with measured calm. He takes a deep breath, and shakes his head as if he knows what he¡¯s about to ask is going to sound insane. If she were in his shoes, she¡¯d probably feel the same. ¡°Do you hear the mana singing?¡± Rick looks at his wife and kid, then back to Drenar, who has gone solemnly quiet. After a second of hesitation, he nods slowly. This is a confession he¡¯d hoped he would never have to make, a secret he likely would have protected at all costs. ¡°I¡¯ve heard it since I was a kid. People told me the mana could make weird noises, for a few people. Some trick of the mana in the air, they said. I¡¯m not sure why, but¡­I think it tuned it out, after a while. Muted, indecipherable whispers became white noise. After a while, after¡­months of therapy, I didn¡¯t hear it anymore. I grew up, got stiffed on an education with no prospect of a job, and worked dead-end jobs in the mage world while trying to raise a family.¡± Rick looks up, and gazes at Nick¡¯s study room, all eyes on him. He continued after a slow pause. ¡°My parents were followers of Gaia. they thought I could hear the calling of the goddess. They said it was a blessing, a sign that she was still protecting our world, and alive, hidden away, somewhere. I told them they were liars, and they were crazy. That I was crazy, even, it got easier when I could just¡­pretend I didn¡¯t hear it. Convinced myself it was some neurodivergence or some oddity of mana in my body.¡± Julia notes her mother leans in, eyes etched in curiosity. Does she know something, too? If so, it must be pretty far out there. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s be real, ignoring a problem is always the best way to solve it,¡± Drenar states deadpan, and Julia groans softly. He could sometimes be just off the mark, a little bit. ¡°Rick, do you know why you can hear the mana?¡± ¡°Or why do the crystals talk to your daughter?¡± Julia sees the opportunity and goes for it. This is too important to leave to later, and all eyes are on her. ¡°Rick, Abigail can hear the crystals, too. And so can¡¯t one other person that we know of. ¡°I can. Or, Samarina¨Cmy drakensoul, can,¡± Angela states quietly. ¡°There¡¯s a piece of mana crystal embedded in my heart that we don¡¯t know where it came from, or if it¡¯s a natural occurrence. And I am worried it¡¯s a ticking time bomb to something horrible. So if you know anything, you need to tell us, for Abigail''s sake, and mine.¡± Rick slumps, all the wind out of his sails. ¡°Marlene and I¡­we thought she would be fine. Perfectly normal birth, she¡¯s our healthy baby girl, everything was going right for us, just...we didn¡¯t have a lot of money. But¨C¡± ¡°Dad, please tell them,¡± Abigail said softly. ¡°They want to help her, too.¡± ¡°Rick, you have to tell them. Just like you need to tell me, why you worked for such dangerous people, and never said a word to me,¡± Marlene said, tears in her eyes. ¡°We could have found money elsewhere¨C¡± ¡°No. I don¡¯t think we could have.¡± Rick exhales softly, and cups his hands to his mouth, briefly. ¡°Three years ago¡­Abigail started to hear the mana singing. The leylines are pretty close to the surface in Jersey, for some reason. But¡­then, she said she said she could hear it talking. Whispering to her. The same way it did to me, and it took me years to tune it out, to convince myself I was just crazy, and not¡­not in touch with something so far beyond my comprehension.¡± ¡°When, exactly?¡± Julia presses. ¡°October. Three years ago.¡± A piece of the puzzle clicks together. It could be a coincidence. But, she suspects, it probably isn¡¯t. That was the same time the Kilntstar''noth was first activated by Crosomer in his rounds of tinkering. And three years ago, was the approximate age of the strange mana crystals that Joey and Kyle had discovered. Crosomer might have accidentally set this ball in motion, and put a discomforting crack in reality. And that wasn¡¯t their only problem. ¡°Rick, what do the crystals say to you?¡± Julia demands. ¡°Because Drenar and Joey didn¡¯t find you floating through the aether by chance. Drenar¡¯s ability¨Cwe think¨Cputs him in direct contact with that funky place." ¡°Gaia is awakening. She¡¯s pushing back against the prison that was placed over her, while the monsters bled the world dry. And that her champion is in this room.¡± Julia didn¡¯t need to follow his gaze, to know that Angela¨Cdown-to-earth, brave, best friend Angela, was suddenly wishing she wasn¡¯t the focus of this discussion. ¡°I wanna say I filled my bingo card, but¡­gods damn it,¡± James sighed. Vol. 3, Ch. 157: Pulling Out The Stops Angela sees that breakpoint on Drenar¡¯s expression and feels it before he clenches his jaw, and points to Nick. That look of being beyond pissed off. And that twinge of mana in her heart shifts. Sam, we are about to see some violence, and we have problems. She should be more worried about alien magical crystals in her body, hearing a crystalline chime getting louder and louder, just at the edge of her hearing, or that Luminari seems to have taken a liking to her and is adding its own input. You might want to stop him, Sam cautions, but she gives a slight head wave¨Cone that Joey picks up on, next to her. ¡°Get Celes in here, now,¡± Drenar growls, and Nick instantly jumps up and heads out of the door, and Angela rises to motion to him. ¡°Don¡¯t do something stupid¨C¡± ¡°Angela? I think we are getting answers this time around. Kiera, mind if you come along? It¡¯s probably better if both of us go,¡± Nick states as stiffly as any other statement from him. Kiera is already at attention, with several scorch marks and claw rendings on her armor¨Cbut still mostly in one piece from her brief skirmish with Valosterla. ¡°Stay tight, Angie. We¡¯ll be back.¡± The doors closing behind the two of them are almost deafening, and Angela walks over to Drenar, seeing that twitch on his wrist again. ¡°I know what you¡¯re going to do, and this is not the answer. They have¨C¡± ¡°Crossed an ethical line. I have a theory. And if you want to help me on this one Angela, it¡¯s persuading her that the truth is necessary for the survival of everyone in this room.¡± He stands there at attention, gazing at the door sternly, and doesn¡¯t even look her way. ¡°So what are you going to do? Taze her, until she gives us the answer?¡± ¡°I might,¡± he answers with a slight shrug of his shoulders. ¡°Angie, what has been going on with you lately? I might have lost track in the last couple of firefights.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s hold off on that one for a bit while you chew out my mom. Try not to go right to violence, okay?¡± He rubbed a bruise on his face, and grunted. ¡°This is me we¡¯re talking about. I¡¯m the poster child for patience. So are you, but if I were you, I¡¯d be trying to rip your mom apart. They put that shard inside you. That¡¯s my theory. And they got it from someone who has a background in knowing what those crystals are.¡± ¡°Wait, who?¡± she stumps for an answer, but it¡¯s when Joey chimes in, red-furred ears straight at attention, that it instantly clicks. ¡°King knew what it was. He recognized the sample I took near Dave and Diane''s home!¡± She pulls what¡¯s left of the crystal sample, a few glittering fragments sealed in a canister. ¡°But, hang on, I thought that deposit was new. What are you trying to fish for, Drenar?¡± ¡°Where it came from. These weird crystals are connected. Joey, where¡¯s the sample Rick brought in?¡± ¡°I put it in the lab, why?¡± ¡°Bring it here. I have an idea.¡± She springs to motion and heads out the door, with Kyle going with her, asking her if she has another mad-hat idea. Which is starting to leave the room, a little bit empty ¡°Drenar, I am really questioning your judgment here. Playing science with magical rocks that seem to give me superpowers, is a bad idea,¡± Angela insisted. He lets out a sigh of contentment, and she scowls. ¡°Are you cracked in the head, or are you just channeling maximum calm right now?¡± ¡°The latter. I¡¯m getting my answer, one of two ways.¡± He taps his boot calmly against the floor. Meanwhile, James has walked up, and points to Rick, still consoling his family. ¡°How do we know that he didn¡¯t give up the location on us at his house in Jersey?¡± ¡°When would he have had time? Val¡¯s soldiers show up, then SAF? Something else is going down, James. Levine¡¯s following up that thread. We need to establish a timeline. And I need to confirm a theory.¡± James points a finger at his armored breastplate, fury etched in his eyes. ¡°Yeah, sure, act calm when it¡¯s my sister on the line! How are you¨C¡± ¡°James, stick to logic, it better suits you.¡± The fact that he has no patience for James is quite telling. ¡°Rick floating through the aether is just one more puzzling element, and I got sucked into the minus zone, too, along with Joey. Val says she hears the crystal singing. SAF looking for Rick, too. I saw those soldiers, they were eyeballing him as we took off and looked infuriated.¡± ¡°Whoa. Why is Rick a high-value target? Unless of course¡­¡± She trailed off. A horrible thought came up, and spun around. ¡°Amaranth, question for you. You''ve been awfully quiet here lately. What is Gaia¡¯s Cradle? Drenar mentioned it briefly.¡± ¡°Gaia¡¯s cradle is a theory, it''s a myth,¡± Levine scoffs, and is looking rough around the edges with a bit of 5 o¡¯clock shadow¨Cwhich is unusual for him. ¡°Supposedly, it''s the origin place of all Kin, crafted by Gaia herself.¡± ¡°It''s real. I saw it,¡± Amaranth stated with gritted teeth. ¡°I found ruins in southern Peru, on my last venture.¡± ¡°The hell were you doing in Peru?¡± Drenar demands and finds a new target for his ire. ¡°I''ve been in two gunfights against numerically superior foes, who go out of their way to cause chaos and destruction. I have Rick, the favorite chew toy of Valosterla, in my custody. There is no way these events are not linked¨C ¡°Rick was there. I saw him briefly, running out of an intact temple so old, it predates the dragons,¡± Amaranth answered succinctly, and Drenar¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°I saw him disappear into thin air when the crystal let out a brilliant surge of light. When I saw that, I called Joey about phasic creatures and other strange phenomena. She mentioned you and your unique teleport, hence I came running.¡± Rick peered over at him, eyes wide. ¡°Holy Gaia, was that you?! I was busy running away from something with too many mouths, and that gem yoinked me before I could get to you!¡± Everyone starts paying attention again, and Angela wishes Joey had not high-tailed it¨Cno pun intended¨Cout of the room. Rick points at Amaranth. ¡°Wait. What were you doing there, exactly? That place was a ruin, that funny crystal brought me there after the portal should have rendered me atomized, and dropped me in a monster nest. And there was this huge spire of crystal next to it.¡± Drenar looks like she''s doing math¨Cas is she¨Cand the answer she comes up with is absurd.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Rick¡­have you had any other weird interactions with the crystals?¡± He¡¯s painting in the corners of the mystery, she can feel it. These events must be related. ¡°No. Just that one time, but I heard them long before that, and then I tried to tune them out.¡± Rick looks at Angela and notes the crystalline traces on her arm. ¡°It affected you differently, didn¡¯t it? When did you first hear them?¡± ¡°Shortly after I Awakened. Everything with a substantial mana component affects me or gets enhanced. Drenar¡¯s dagger, Luminari, the sword of the Valkyries, and those odd crystals that don¡¯t seem to fade.¡± Rick nods softly ¡°You guys don¡¯t have any easy job in the Luminaires, do you? Val¡¯s fixing to kill every one of you, your name got mentioned a lot. More like screamed at.¡± ¡°Yeah, surprising isn¡¯t it?¡± Angela asks smugly. ¡°Weird shit happens all around us. I liked it when my biggest challenge was my finals from high school. How could you work for her?¡± ¡°The Talons picked up the tab for Abigail¡¯s tests,¡± Rick sighed. ¡°That¡¯s why. Don¡¯t judge me for trying to do the right thing for someone I care about.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. I¡¯m just amazed you¡¯re still vertical.¡± He lets out a deflating sigh. ¡°You got my family out. I owe you the world, so, whatever I can do to help, I will.¡± ¡°You and Volkir need to fill us in on the details of this mad escapade as soon as we¡¯re done here, Rick,¡± Drenar instructs him. ¡°I need to know what it is we¡¯re dealing with.¡± ¡°They¡¯re gonna save the world, Dad!¡± Abigail giggles. ¡°Well, I mean, we have to, or Gaia will die, and then the monsters will come back, and¨C¡± Angela knows there¡¯s crazy, there¡¯s trauma, and then there are kids who just do not know how to drop a truth bomb. Everyone turns to stare. ¡°What? That¡¯s what I heard!¡± ¡°I take it back, I¡¯d rather be dealing with the rhyming, murderous dragon again. At least that was a problem I could wrap my head around,¡± Drenar sighed. ¡°Where are Kiera and Nick?¡± Joey bounds in in a flash of red fur, and hands Drenar the crystal. ¡°Look, Drenar, playing secret messenger is a little bit of a bad idea, I think we should¨C¡± ¡°Trust me on this,¡± he says softly. ¡°I do, but I worry we might be miscalculating,¡± Joey says while biting her lip gently. Angela can hear the crystalline shard chiming quite loudly, and she forces herself to not reach out for it. ¡°What if this does the same thing the other one does?¡± she asks. He looks at her, looking concerned. ¡°What if it doesn¡¯t?¡± he responds. The door to the room clacks open loudly, and her mother is livid at being wrangled into the room. ¡°The nerve of you two, Kiera, this is house arrest! You call yourself Valkyries?!¡± she screamed. ¡°Celes, shut up for a minute,¡± Drenar calls out coldly, and she turns her ire toward him. ¡°I¡¯m gonna ask you one question. You need to answer it truthfully.¡± ¡°You arrogant dragon, I have told you everything you need to know¨C¡± ¡°Ah, see, there¡¯s the rub. Everything we ¡®need¡¯ to know,¡± he catches in an instant, as does she. She folds her arms and regards her mother. ¡°Okay Mom, we are done playing around. You tell me where the hell the shard in my chest cavity came from, or I take this crystal into my hand and see what happens. We¡¯re gonna get nuts!¡± Angela declares with an evil smile. Her mother¡¯s face goes livid. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare try to threaten me, Angela,¡± she snarls. ¡°Uh, did we switch roles, Angie?¡± Julia laughs nervously. ¡°That could be a bad idea. And it¡¯s even worse that even I know it¡¯s a bad idea.¡± ¡°Okay, pop quiz time, Celes,¡± Drenar states, and pulls the crystal gently out of the enclosure. It seems to arc and pop in his gauntleted hand, and he points to Celes. ¡°What bargain did you make to save Angela¡¯s life? She was dead for fifteen minutes. What are you not telling us?¡± ¡°Is this a normal day for you people?¡± Rick asks, looking aghast. ¡°That¡¯s also mine!¡± ¡°Thanks for the donations dedicated to dragon science, Rick! Truly a blessing in disguise! Drenar says with a beat of humor but turns stone cold again when he looks at her mother. ¡°Who¡¯d you make a deal with? I would say maybe the Conclave, or someone from the Followers of Gaia, the little I know of them. Val made a comment Angela even looked like her, which I found a little odd. Are you so deluded that you were willing to play science experiments with your daughter, not knowing what could happen?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s kinda not cool to put magical artifacts inside dying kids,¡± Angela quipped. Her mother went stone-faced and set her lips tightly pressed. ¡°No? Okay then, Drenar, let¡¯s see what happens. Maybe it¡¯ll be another isekai trip like our dear Rick here!¡± ¡°Sure, make light of it, why don¡¯t you,¡± he groans, even as he cautiously takes a few steps back. She reaches for the crystal, and those chimes are now a chirping sound. Like a chorus of birds, almost. She can almost even hear a voice, hidden in the sounds. Something hauntingly beautiful, the way the sound wraps around her. ¡°Last chance, mom.¡± ¡°Nothing will happen. You¡¯re foolish, all of you,¡± she snarls. This is typical for her¨Cjust once, she wants to rub something in her mother¡¯s face, even if this might be a monumentally bad idea. ¡°Oh, well then, I guess I¡¯ll borrow this for a second¨C¡± ¡°DON¡¯T!¡± Her hand stops millimeters from the faceted crystal, little motes of light emanating from her hands, almost as if in anticipation of her touch. Her mother has her hands reaching out, as if to ward her way. And she is terrified. ¡°Don¡¯t do it. Please.¡± ¡°Start talking, mom. Right now,¡± she uttered venomously. ¡°I was dying. What did you do? Dad¡¯s been out of the loop on this one, so that can only mean this was only your decision. What was the plan?¡± ¡°I¡­I needed you to live. I would have done anything to make it happen.¡± she stands there, looking devastated. ¡°I would have even done something desperate, if the right person came along, with a solution to save your life. You were always special, Angela. By some fluke of circumstances, James didn¡¯t get the same¡­condition¡­that you did.¡± She knows with a sinking feeling what¡¯s coming. ¡°Someone came to you with a solution. But they didn¡¯t tell you all the details, did they?¡± The tears do come. Angela has never seen her mother cry, not before this. It was almost as if she¡¯d walled her emotions away, the ones that made her capable of being able to feel. She speaks in strained words, tinged with heartache. ¡°He promised me that he could keep you safe. He held his promise. They barely got the surgery done in time, but you were¡­empty. Gone, already. He told me you might be different when you woke. He was mostly wrong. But you had something more, something greater within you. A fragment of something longing to be whole again.¡± That weight in her chest isn¡¯t just the tension. It¡¯s the wail of her drakensoul echoing in her mind. Warning her, that the answer on this one might carry a cost too high to bear. The room is dead silent, save for those chimes, now, and her mother sobs as she breaks down. ¡°A fragment carried from the source. She was supposed to be the next aspect of Gaia. but then she disappeared. And I was left alone, with nothing left but the fragment she left behind when the Ascension Events occurred.¡± More pieces of the puzzle clicked together. The dragon''s disappearance. Gaia¡¯s disappearance. Kiera had spoken of a crystalline tree, demarcating the site of her demise. A formation no one had been able to explain. ¡°She¡¯s always been here.¡± she puts a hand to her chest uneasily. ¡°Through time and space.¡± I¡¯m sorry, Angie. This was not supposed to be your burden to carry. She feels the anguish in Sam¡¯s voice, and she forces back that clenching feeling in her own throat. ¡°But why? There were other solutions¨C¡± ¡°Not to this one,¡± her mother sobbed. ¡°I was told, that the person in the right place could make all the difference in the world.¡± ¡°And who was this man?¡± Drenar asks quietly. ¡°Because if it¡¯s who I think it is, we need to find him, and fast.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t name his name. If they knew what he did, they would kill him, they would kill every person that has ever known that man.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to throw out a name, Celes. Don¡¯t answer it. Because all trails seem to lead to him, with everything he knows about current events, I¡¯m willing to bet the world that he¡¯s part of the solution.¡± Her mother says nothing to Drenar¡¯s comment, and he closes his eyes and shakes his head, cursing under his breath. ¡°A man called a Kingmaker.¡± She feels that small pang of shock reverberate through her entire being when her mother dips her head, ever so gently, and she lets out a loud explicative. ¡°Lovely. Looks like round two with our nefarious advisor just made our ¡®to do¡¯ list,¡± Angela states unhappily. Vol. 3, Ch. 158: Cards On The Table ¡°Call King? Are you out of your goddamn minds?¡± James shouted five minutes later, once the initial uproar across the room had settled down. ¡°This is a stupid idea. King is looking for the same keys to godhood as Val! Us bringing Angela, or possibly Rick, to him, is terrifying! That puts Val one step closer to her not-so-delusional goal of taking the power of a goddess!¡± He''s suffered through Drenar''s batshit crazy plans, physical punishment, Kyle''s zaniness with all things magitech, and he''s held up, so far. Angela rolls her eyes at him, knowing that for once, she and Drenar are in the right. ¡°Brother, we are in uncharted territory. Our mother decided to completely and utterly screw with my life, without even asking me! Am I happy to be not dead? Yes, I am! Dead is a permanent problem, even in the mage world. We need answers.¡± ¡°This guy has been playing us for six years.¡± She peers at him unflinchingly and points to her chest for emphasis. ¡°Samarina has been warning me other stuff was going on. And she was right. I don''t think even she knew about all the details, because when I first heard her, she was a broken mess,¡± Angela explained. I didn''t. I was fragmented. The crystal shard seems to have¡­grown, in a way. And as it did, so did my consciousness. The fact that she has to relay this on Sam''s behalf, is annoying. Except for Joey, leaning in and looking more perturbed than usual. ¡°Eight years. King has been playing cards for longer than we know, and if he intervened in Angela''s demise, it''s even longer than that. What is his end game? Did he know about all this beforehand?¡± Joey raises unsettling questions, and even Drenar is weary of it. ¡°Add it to my bingo card, King¡¯s a rival to whoever wanted Gaia out of the picture. And I think they partially failed to wipe her out, as intended. Whether that''s outsiders, the Conclave, or some other shady group. Maybe even the Followers. Damn, I don''t have a grasp on this one yet.¡± Drenar looks exhausted, because it''s now approaching closer to morning than it is midnight. ¡°Fates on a stick, the aspect of a goddess? Reality is body-checking my agnosticism.¡± ¡°Sounds like a medical condition,¡± James grunted. ¡°Dude, several civilians almost lost their lives because of this stuff tonight. We are lucky that Kiera and company were on standby.¡± He rubs the bridge of his nose, while her brother continues to glare at him. ¡°You¡¯re pissed that your date night got ruined.¡± That barb from her brother sets Drenar off, with the way he focuses on James, with deadly intent. ¡°Oh, do not go there,¡± Drenar warned him, and even the kitsune was edging her teeth out a little. ¡°When it comes to protecting lives, that is our number one job. Period. Now, let¡¯s focus back on details. Where the hell is Volkir?¡± ¡°Still here, little dragon,¡± Volkir calls out in a bemused way, while peering at an arcanist data pad. ¡°Not like I haven¡¯t been busy for the past month and change. I warned you that there might be repercussions for the device being active. But, this behavior of the mana is quite unusual.¡± ¡°I observed the same thing in Peru,¡± Amaranth chimed in. He pointed to Rick. ¡°We need to establish key facts, first, before we consider trying to find this King fellow.¡± ¡°Listen, Professor Dragon, dealing with King is the most dangerous move we can make,¡± James counters flatly, while Angela glares at him. ¡°There is no outcome in dealing with King where we come out ahead. None.¡± ¡°And yet, my mother said to trust him with our lives,¡± Drenar states through gritted teeth. ¡°I despise the guy, and he clearly has ulterior motives that I¡¯m not sure Val and Crosomer know about. Well, maybe Crosomer, but Val is the Kefka wannabe out of the three of them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pretty bad day when we get to make fun of our villains for being batshit nuts,¡± Julia sighed. ¡°Look, let¡¯s lay the cards out on the table. We need to know what we¡¯re up against. First, Rick. then Amaranth. Then our dragon sage.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a sage,¡± Volkir grumbled. ¡°Dragon youth these days. So uncouth.¡± ¡°We¡¯re teenage dragons with attitude, what were you expecting?¡± Julia asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Look, the night isn¡¯t getting any younger, and we might need to pack up soon. Chief reason? Val is the kind to burn the world, if she thinks she has a chance of getting Rick. It won¡¯t take them long to figure out where we are.¡± ¡°Asqualia?¡± Kyle proposes. ¡°Renovations are almost done. Even as loathe as I am to go back to the place I know people died in.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll sort that out in a bit,¡± Joey interjects. Angela can feel the dread emanating off of her¨Cgoing back there, will not bring good memories. Drenar takes the cue to change the subject. ¡°We¡¯ll need someplace more defensible soon. Rick, meeting room. Miss Waterson, we¡¯ll need your husband to answer a few more questions, if you don¡¯t mind,¡± Drenar redirects, and Rick¡¯s wife nods after a brief pause. ¡°You and the little one should get some rest. We¡¯ll make accommodations.¡± ¡°Please, my husband is a good man¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯m not here to judge him for his career choice," Drenar assures her. ¡°I¡¯ve learned very quickly in the past few months that not every decision is straightforward. Angela, I need you on this one, too, and the rest of the team.¡± ¡°Yeah, kinda not feeling a lot of love in this room, on account of the actions of some people here,¡± she utters between gritted teeth, and looks right at her mother. She has not even attempted to hug her once, after this devastating reveal. ¡°Let¡¯s get this done.¡± Five minutes later, Rick is sitting in a large room that Nick had set aside in the downstairs facility. He looks even wearier than before, and a cup of coffee chatters in his hand. Angela looks at him, and at the rest of the occupants¨CLevine and Nick are busy still chewing out SAF to figure out who jumped the shark, back at Rick¡¯s house. Or how Val got there, too, and then vanished in an instant. ¡°First, Rick, I need to know one thing. When you went to the aether, you did so, twice. What happened, exactly?¡± Drenar asks calmly. ¡°Thought I was dead, to be honest. Unlike my peer Bill, I knew the void bubble on the back end of a portal link does connect to places. But¡­no one¡¯s ever come back, which is why people assume it just deletes reality,¡± he added with an eye roll. ¡°I thought I could get off the platform in time. That crystal started saying a Champion had risen. That she had to survive. Next thing I know, I¡¯m floating in this off-white place, tumbling through space. I think I blacked out at one point.¡± ¡°Okay. Any signs of a two-meter-tall, draconic woman?¡± Joey asks pointedly. ¡°Or anyone with green eyes, and silver scales?¡± Angela asks pointedly, from her own brief flash. She wonders if she and Joey saw the same thing¨Cwas it possible? This place wasn¡¯t a physical place. It seemed to be a very un-reality. Like a dreamscape, even. Rick shakes his head. ¡°Not at that time. Not that I could see. I come to, and I¡¯m on the floor, inside some ancient temple, and a circle of that glowing mana is sitting over my head. It was like¡­I was teleported.¡± ¡°Describe the structure of the crystals.¡± Kyle tunes in, arcanist pad in hand. ¡°Was it the normal hexagon structure of the mana crystals? Similar to what you saw in the mines you described?¡± ¡°Yeah. but brighter. And louder. Well, louder to a guy like me,¡± he added with a shrug. ¡°It formed some kind of tri-point hoop, like someone built an ancient teleportal. But, there wasn¡¯t a platform. It was all a natural formation, I think. The temple was built around it, tan and grey slab, jungle vines, hot as hell, when I was in that hazmat armor. I think that was¡­I don¡¯t even remember when that was. What¡¯s today?¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°The twenty-second,¡± Drenar inputs. Rick nods. ¡°So, a day, total. I started exploring, holding on to that crystal for dear life. The phone was inoperable when I got there, stopped working or something. Anyway, there were glyphs. The whole temple seemed to have this chill vibe. Old, forgotten, but it still stood. It stretched up high. But when I saw the sky, it wasn¡¯t blue. It had this golden sheen.¡± ¡°Pocket plane,¡± Volkir murmured. ¡°You find them everywhere across the planet, but getting in and out of them is usually by magical means. Perhaps it can only be entered by that crystalline gate?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t be. I was there, watching Rick get chased by a Kryn''gaxx that he disturbed. Must have set up a nest in the temple,¡± Amaranth countered. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a one-way entry? It¡¯s possible.¡± ¡°Still haven''t explained why you were there,¡± Joey reminded him. He put a hand gently on her shoulder and nodded solemnly. ¡°I know, Josephine. When I saw Richard here disappear in a flash¨Cand left me running from a very confused Kryn''gaxx, I knew I was onto something massive. Please, continue.¡± Rick takes a moment to finish detailing his explorations, and Kyle sketches out the descriptions of what he had seen. ¡°The place was ruinous. Big enough for dragons, sort of? But the stone seats¨Cthey were humanoid sized. There was a central chamber, of stone pews, and there were arcane lights still dimly lit. The place must have been thousands of years old. I saw little birds and small magical creatures scurrying around,¡± Rick closes his eyes, as he tries to recollect it. ¡°In the center was a dais. There were thirty-something symbols. When I touched one, they unfolded and rotated. The structure of the runes changed as I tapped the symbols. They unfurled, rotated, reconfigured. Each tap seemed to change the runic language.¡± ¡°Were the symbols familiar to you?¡± Volkir asked, leaning in attentively. Rick shook his head. ¡°No. Except for one. May I?¡± Volkir lent him his notepad, and he slowly sketched out a symbol. One that Angela recognized, as well as Joey. ¡°That was in the center, and it was the symbol that stayed constant. I¡¯m not sure the thing was working, because it didn¡¯t do anything. It looked like it was missing some big component, below the dais. There were sockets where you could plug something in. and mounts. It was made of some strange metal that looked organic. I¡­I¡¯m not a metallurgist, but it could have been¡­¡± he furrowed his brow. He pointed to Drenar¡¯s armor. ¡°That metal.¡± ¡°Valkyrian steel?¡± Drenar asked, and Kyle shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s chemically close, but different manufacturing means. Real Valkyrian steel takes a core temp the heart of a star to forge. I wish I were exaggerating,¡± Kyle responds while jotting more notes. Angela leans in, and taps the notepad. ¡°Joey, you know what this is, right?¡± that depiction of a simple draconic stick figure, with six wings, was all too familiar to her. ¡°The old glyph of Gaia,¡± she answered, eyes alight with recognition. ¡°What else?¡± ¡°That metal matches the device we saw the Talons teleport out of the Mount Syren Mine. Coincidence?¡± Drenar asks, and Kyle shakes his head. ¡°No. this metal that Rick describes? You won¡¯t find many other close matches. Maybe adamantine, but that is already a component of Valkyrian steel. But it¡¯s not quite a match.¡± Kyle pointed out to Luminari, still sitting by Angela¡¯s side. ¡°But that is a much closer match.¡± ¡°Luminari is the same material?¡± Angela asks, and gently shows the material to Rick, who nods animatedly. ¡°Very close. The luster, coloration, the way it just¡­whispers. It¡¯s like there¡¯s a lattice of mana in the metal itself,¡± Rick says, and reaches out gently for the sword, but hesitates and pulls his hand back, rubbing it uneasily. ¡°Anyway, I didn¡¯t get to tinker long. I heard a loud sound nearby, almost like some kind of predator. So I high-tailed it out of there. Then I uh, stumbled over some reptilian creatures nest in my haste, and it saw me as a snack.¡± ¡°Kryn''gaxx are highly territorial. You¡¯re lucky you¡¯re still in one piece, Rick,¡± Joey said with a slight tone of admiration. ¡°How on earth did you outrun it?¡± ¡°Slipped into some narrow side tunnels. I lost it for a while, but I could hear it bounding around in the main corridors. I figured my options were either wait it out, or run. It didn¡¯t give up, so tossed my cell phone and played music as loudly as I could, as a distraction. It bought me the opening to escape, crystal and all. I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t drop it in my haste,¡± he added, and glanced at the sample that was sitting back in a container, now. Rick continued and rubbed at his scuffed-up face slowly, and winced at an all-too-painful bruise. ¡°I ran through the temple, and most of it was intact, minus some vines and some magical plants that occasionally grew inside. The brickwork was just¡­no human could have built that. Maybe not even dragons. That center spire, the place was a tower. I looked up and saw dozens of openings. But, I don¡¯t have wings, so, I couldn¡¯t get up there. "That¡¯s when the Kryn''gaxx caught up with me. I managed to give it the slip after it bashed into a wall, trying to eat me. I¡¯ve learned to be very fast on my feet. I found another chamber, smaller, where I could hide. It felt like¡­like a church, or a small prayer room. I dunno why I got that feeling, just that there were a few stone pews, and an altar. There was a book there. It was written in some kind of runic language.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the book now?¡± Angela asks. Rick grunts, and pulls open his jacket, where he had stashed it in a pocket. The tome was pocket-sized and looked to me made of various glinting dragon scales. But the scales were much smaller than her own. They must have been individually weaved into a silky fabric that, showed no age. Several runic symbols were etched on the scales in a pattern, and Volkir lit up at this discovery. ¡°Kinsgardian? The same language is on the machine. But this¡­¡± Volkir breathed, the amazement apparent in his emerald-colored eyes. ¡°Rick, this is a big find.¡± ¡°But, what does it mean?¡± Rick asked. ¡°Sorry I didn¡¯t mention it till now, I kind of forgot it was there. It¡¯s uh¡­it¡¯s been a weird day.¡± "It is a big deal--once I can get a translation. Sorry, I didn''t mean to interject." Volkir motions for Drenar to continue. ¡°So what happened next?¡± Drenar presses, leaning in and eyes attentively focused on the book that Volkir gently examines, and traces with a line of mana. ¡°Is it dangerous?¡± ¡°At a glance, no. But, reading it will take time. This is not paper, either. This material the pages are made of is of the same organometallic substances you find in dragon scales. Fascinating.¡± Rick took that as his cue to continue. ¡°I backtracked. I couldn¡¯t stay there forever. My wife was gonna kill me if I was home late, so I focused on finding a way home. I Tried to get the crystal to get me to go back, but it didn¡¯t trigger by itself. Then I made the mistake of getting chased by that damn lizard that was trying to make me into a tasty snack. I stumbled down a hallway that was broken apart, slid down, and came out by some massive entrance. I felt something tug on me like a magic magnet once I broke outside, and the crystal started vibrating in my pocket. I was running for dear life, and I saw an azure dragon in survival gear peering at the place, and then, poof, back to the Aether!¡± Rick expanded his hands outwards for emphasis. ¡°We don¡¯t go ¡®poof¡¯ into the Aether, Rick,¡± Drenar states dryly. ¡°Yeah, we call it the aether slip,¡± Angela added. Drenar looks at her, frowning. ¡°You know someone¡¯s gonna make that a dirty phrase here, at some point, Angela.¡± ¡°Dibs! Giving the baddies the slip!¡± Julia declared. ¡°Or, slipping it to them, bow-chica-bow-wow!¡± ¡°Oh for shit sake, Julia,¡± Drenar groaned, and there were more than a few laughs in the room¨CAngela included, and his mood instantly tanked. ¡°Okay, so that brings us mostly to current events. You said you saw a goddess when you were flailing in the aether when I and Joey found you.¡± ¡°Oh, right, that part. I saw someone in there, for a brief moment¡ªa woman. Very tall, draconic features, but I only got a glimpse. But, I saw something else¡ªa sphere. Energy tethers connected it to¡­dark points in the space. I don¡¯t know what they were. But they filled me with utter terror, Drenar,¡± Rick said warily. ¡°I heard a woman inside my head, pleading for help. To find her children. I think that¡¯s what she said? When I saw Angela here, crystal scales, I just assumed that¡­I dunno, it must be related, to when I got thrown right into a meat grinder. What were you two doing?¡± ¡°Dealing with Ravager Company,¡± Drenar stated flatly. ¡°They were chasing Amaranth. Which, I believe, dovetails into your story, professor.¡± ¡°Amaranth, how did you even find that place?¡± Joey asked. Amaranth took a deep breath, and closed his notebook. ¡°After you told me about the events of Asqualia, I went seeking answers, about the drakensouls. And what you call those strange crystals. They are primal crystals. They are different, as you¡¯ve ascertained. Joey, those runes on that dais? They might be able to help me figure out what the Kilnstar¡¯noth is. And maybe, a way to permanently render it inoperable.¡± ¡°Except for one problem,¡± Drenar states hesitantly. ¡°A seven-year-old girl¨Cand my mother, the head Valkyrie hero, think that Gaia is not dead, and I''m all but certain that device cracked open her prison, and someone is not happy about that. Not only that, but she is being imprisoned by someone so dangerous, that they¡¯re willing to send Ravager company to stop you, and I think that¡¯s just the start. How on earth did you get their attention?¡± ¡°I got careless. And Davos himself is involved. I saw that metal-clad bastard before I gave them the slip.¡± Angela sees Drenar¡¯s fist curl tightly, and his stern face of his is tense. ¡°That walking war crime is involved?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got history with him?¡± Amaranth asks. Angela puts a firm hand on Drenar¡¯s shoulder, because he needs all the courage in the world to face that monster. ¡°He¡¯s the one that killed my dad by proxy. He left my mother minus one arm, and in a coma for two years,¡± Drenar states with dead calm. ¡°Yeah, he and I have business, Amaranth. The fact that that Davos and Val are working together, is not good news. Start laying out details. After that, we need to get rested. I have a feeling we¡¯re going to be very busy, soon.¡± Vol. 3, Ch. 159: Wearing Your Soul On Your Sleeve Amaranth sat down at the table, and this time, he brought visuals with his arcanist pad, which he was using to project images above the table. A small remote in his hand allowed him to shift between the images and manipulate the three-dimensional interface. Angela noted that, in essence, he was treating this as he would as his lessons London Academy¨Ca place she hoped to visit with Joey, and the others, once they had a chance. ¡°I¡¯ll give a brief recap. Joey filled me in on the details of the Asqualia events, and what our nefarious foes in the Talons have been up to, in that intervening time. I have been in touch briefly with Volkir while we silently followed up on leads in our research, to figure out what it is we are dealing with.¡± He took a measured breath, and clicked on a series of images rendered into a three-dimensional display. Images that Angela thought looked familiar. ¡°I found details of the Kilnstar¡¯noth, buried in now blacklisted research journals of Crosomer, in addition to the ones from Asqualia. There is a big piece of the puzzle missing that Volkir noted, and something he did not follow up on, on the advice from a few close friends, to not draw attention after his presumed demise.¡± ¡°I simply didn¡¯t correct the records,¡± Volkir grunted. ¡°Suffice to say, one thing bothered me: that device went missing shortly after the Ascension events, and it is not fully documented where it was moved to. It is a product of what we believe are the Kinsgard, an ancient draconic race that predates the dragons. We have only found a few samples of their magitech over the years¨Cin fact, there were significant efforts to destroy their records, presumably to cover what it was, exactly, the device did, and how to manipulate it.¡± ¡°Hold on. You¡¯re saying that Sam, and Alex, their souls were sent to the aether because of that thing?¡± Angela interjected. Amaranth nodded. ¡°We believe so. The crystals used for their ritual were a medium to carry out their misguided process. I now believe that the process they used was sabotaged. Because guess what? You can traverse traditional three-dimensional space using it. It just takes a little extra math to figure out where you¡¯re going to land, that isn¡¯t in the hard vacuum of space.¡± ¡°That¡¯s unsettling,¡± Angela said while rubbing at her arm. That tingle of mana was ever-present across her body, something she hadn¡¯t felt before her test with the new armor Kyle had prototyped¨Cor maybe, because of her constant contact with Luminari? ¡°I¡¯ve asked Sam if she recognized the device. She does not.¡± ¡°Hang on. Speaking of which, one little bit that I¡¯ve researched on, Angela, to cut down on middleman time.¡± Amaranth pulled open a case that Volkir slid to him. ¡°Volkir, you¡¯re sure it¡¯s working?¡± ¡°In theory. But I haven¡¯t tested it. Given current events, we need to cut down on the intermission time. I need Alex and Sam¡¯s input, and we can¡¯t play telephone all day,¡± he grumbled. ¡°Uh, wait. Why do you need Alex and Sam?¡± Drenar asks with a raised eyebrow. Angela hasn¡¯t seen him this apprehensive since¨Conly since yesterday. Which highlighted how off-the-rails life has become lately. Volkir cleared his throat. ¡°It is tied to the device. Drakensouls are something entirely different compared to traditional dragon species. I¡¯ve made a small device that should be able to render a ¡®projection¡¯ of a soul. It''s been done before, similar to the way information can be embedded into mana crystals. Alex is, technically, imprinted in the mana in your body. Just like Sam is imprinted on Angela¡¯s mana lattice, though hers is¡­¡± he paused, and she glared at him. ¡°Looking a little more developed lately.¡± ¡°Yeah, Volkir, I glow. Stealth is no longer an option. Seriously, shouldn¡¯t I be dead from mana poisoning?¡± she asks impatiently. ¡°Because I don¡¯t think I can take any more surprises.¡± ¡°It is not quite like that. Expenditure of the energy is where the ¡®burn¡¯ comes from, or from free radical mana in high concentrations,¡± Volkir explained. ¡°Dude, that was a lot of five Euro words from you eggheads, just give me the thing, and I¡¯ll test it out first. I¡¯m used to being the guinea dragon,¡± Drenar added while shooting a glance at Joey, who nodded proudly. ¡°He¡¯s such a good sport. Seriously though Volkir, if this breaks him, I will have Jackie turn you inside out.¡± ¡°I thought we agreed imploding people is both barbaric, and above my skill ceiling,¡± Jackie protested with an anxious face, and picked at her chipped nails. ¡°Okay, crushed into a singularity, close enough.¡± Drenar short-circuits the diatribe by reaching for the silver band that has a hinge and a clasp, and a small dial adjustment that allows him to fit it around his wrist snugly. ¡°Do you feel anything, Drenar?¡± Joey asks softly. ¡°No. I mean, should I?¡± He asks hesitantly. A silvery trace of light wraps around the band, and solidifies into a mist that seems to wrap around his body. ¡°Uh, okay, it feels like someone just dunked me in a shower. Volkir, this thing better not extract my soul, or there will be imploding,¡± he added testily. ¡°Oh, relax. Like I would ever risk lasting harm on you guys?¡± Volkir countered. That soft silver light seemed to be drawn to the bracelet, condensing into a thicker and thicker form and glowing brighter. It slowly took shape into the rough shape of a humanoid. No, that wasn''t it. Angela peered closer, watching the formation of a roughly dragonoid shape, with the strange vapor condensing into an almost solid form. Little scales and feathers started accenting the form, horns grew in, and the wings took shape, as did the rest of the limbs. ¡°I feel a little¡­dizzy,¡± Drenar said shakily, and Joey forced him to sit down, reaching for the bracelet. ¡°It should pass, it¡¯s mostly passive. A small mana trace is used to power the device, and forms a bridge of the mana lattice network. This should work,¡± Amaranth said as he crossed his fingers. This is dragon science taken to unhealthy levels, Angela thinks unhappily. Yeah, I¡¯m not keen on this either, Angela. But let¡¯s see how this plays out. Sam gives her a reassuring mental nudge, while that dragon condenses to the size of a cat, now sitting hovering just over Drenar¡¯s wrist, and it opens its eyes with a swirl of vapors, and lightly glowing green eyes are seen on the projection. ¡°Did¡­did it work?¡± a new voice projects out of the vaporous figure. It¡¯s different than Drenar¡¯s voice, brighter, more aloof. It is a distinct separate voice, in the same way, that Samarina sounds distinctly different than Angela¡¯s own internal ¡®voice¡¯. ¡°Can you hear us?¡± Volkir asked quietly, and leaned in, green eyes gleaming in the darkened room. There is a slow pause as the projection blinks, and feels themselves with their hand claws, as if to confirm that they do, indeed, exist. After a few seconds, the dragon nods, with a light stretching of their wings and limbs. ¡°Audio is working. Can you see us?¡± ¡°I¡­I see. And not through Drenar¡¯s eyes, either,¡± he says almost excitedly. ¡°I am¡­I¡¯m me. I mean, what I think I looked like. It¡¯s been so long, I don¡¯t remember¨C¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Steady. Can you see Drenar?¡± he asks, and he cranes his neck to look back at him, and Drenar nods weakly. ¡°I can.¡± ¡°State your name, please,¡± Volkir asks with the measured calm and restraint of one who has handled extraordinary things before, and Amaranth also looks on with a modicum of awe. ¡°Alexander Sandrick Rashalda, former head of the Luminaires, wielder of Luminari. Husband and lover of Lyssa Rashalda, Fifth Champion of the Valkyries,¡± he answers, and exhales heavily, as if all the weight of the world were bearing down upon him at the moment. ¡°My host¨Cmy bonded person is Drenar Tiberus Rashalda, Leader of the Luminaires, a great grand-son of mine¡­and despite your insistence, no, he hasn¡¯t taken too many hits to the head,¡± he added in a shrug and ruffled his vaporous feathers. Drenar smiles faintly, but he sways a little bit. ¡°Oh, this is a bit trippy. I mean I¡¯ve got my vision, but then I¡¯ve got this other vision of what Alex is seeing. This is going to take some adjustment.¡± ¡°Soul tether works, Volkir, looks like you are quite the sage you made yourself out to be,¡± Amaranth said proudly. The senior man nodded softly, and gestured to Alex. ¡°Alex, we created this device as a means to communicate with the drakensouls. I believe this is a key component in solving this mystery, as they have connected to the same place where Gaia may be imprisoned. A one-way trip, that has now become a round-trip, instead. Just separated by seven hundred years, and a hell of a lot of experimentation,¡± Volkir said proudly, and Alex nodded excitedly. ¡°Ah, it is a delight to have my voice again! And eyes! And ear crests, though, the body needs some work,¡¯ he added with a shrug, as his ¡®claws¡¯ seemed to pass through him when he set them down on his digitigrade leg. ¡°Yeah, Drenar has issues, thought you should know that, being cooped up in there for the past few months. He needs a good spa treatment, among other things,¡± he added in a slow grin aimed at Joey. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s Alex alright. I have the overwhelming urge to set you on fire. And now that I have something physical to aim at¡­¡± Joey pulled out a canister, glowing orange. ¡°Do not be testing my patience.¡± Angela couldn¡¯t help but smile when Alex¡¯s lecherous smile faded into one of sheer anxiety, and his wings drooped. ¡°Why am I so small?¡± ¡°Because that¡¯s the limits of the projection,¡± Volkir shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s based on passive mana circulation, so it doesn¡¯t eat up too much physical energy on Drenar¡¯s body. ¡°And, that¡¯ll work for me, too?¡± Angela asks finally. ¡°Whoa, hold up. First another test or two,¡± Volkir cautioned. ¡°Alex, do you recall the day you died?¡± ¡°Stabbed in the back by some grunt, after I beat the ever-loving piss out of Crosomer,¡± he added with a growl. ¡°Not much I remember after that, this I¡¯ve already communicated to Drenar previously. Seriously, get this kid a therapist, he¨C¡± Drenar put his hand up, teeth gritted nervously. ¡°Alex, we can still talk internally. Thanks, I do not need to wear my literal soul out on my sleeve,¡± he added. Julia took this moment after holding in a gleeful smile for the past minute, and couldn¡¯t contain herself. ¡°Oh, he is so cuuuuute! I will hold him and squeeze him, and call him George!¡± she declared as she tried to go for a hug on the tiny dragon. Except as soon as she touched the vapors, the form went discorporate and melted around her hand, before roughly reforming just adjacent to where he was a second ago. Alex looked on, a claw plastered against his face. ¡°Please don¡¯t do that again, tsundere. That feels¡­weird when you do that. I don¡¯t know how to describe the sensation of a hand passing through my literal essence.¡± ¡°Essence? Is that what we¡¯re calling it?¡± James asks, glasses perched on his nose and he looks at Alex pensively. ¡°So you¡¯re the little dragon sitting on Drenar¡¯s shoulder, huh? It¡¯s one thing to hear Joey and Drenar relay it, another thing to hear it. You guys sound nothing alike.¡± ¡°I know, I keep telling Drenar to forget about restraint, and charge against his enemies with berserker frenzy. He has not listened to me once on this, Alex grunted. He looks her way, eyes puzzled. ¡°Angela, a query for you. Do you hear a ringing note, at present? Because I do.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Luminari. She''s been doing that nonstop lately, and I don¡¯t know what it means,¡¯ she says warily. It had been on a low note before, but now, it was higher pitched, more urgent sounding. ¡°Alex, I need to know something. This is going to be a crazy question, that I didn¡¯t really give much thought to, because I have no idea where it came from.¡± She takes a deep breath, and asks the question that has been bothering her for a week ago. ¡°When you held Luminari, did it ever warn you about a demon?¡± Alex looks at her, pressing his claw-points together, before he lowers his head, shaking back and forth. ¡°No. I never experienced anything like that when I held her. Neither has Drenar.¡± I think it¡¯s time, Angela. Put the bracelet on. There is another piece to this puzzle that I have only just started putting together. Joey¡¯s ears perk up when Samarina speaks, sounding resolute. I am all but certain it is tied to the pending danger that I think Luminari is warning us about. ¡°Give me the bracelet. Sam has something to say.¡± Amaranth opens the case, and pulls out another bracelet. She doesn¡¯t hesitate to fasten it to her wrist, knowing that she should prepare herself for anything when this thing activates. As soon as she closes the clasp, she feels a draining sensation across her limbs and down her neck, as if all the energy were leaving her body. The room grows dark, and the light across her veins fades just a little bit. But then, the sensation stops, and the vapors form around her body and coalesce around the bracelet, forming a familiar dragon shape. Except, something is different. There is not a single set of wings. There are two sets that form across Samarina¡¯s body, and her scales are the purest silver she has ever seen. Her projection is nearly the size of Angela, and Angela has to stand up from her seat, steadied by Joey as that dragon with green eyes forms. She can see and feel Samarina, able to see from two positions at once. She can feel Samarina unfurl those phantom limbs, and can feel the trace of divinity through her, and then¨Cthe crystal scales form across her body, almost in tandem. ¡°Uh, what is happening?¡± Joey asks nervously. ¡°It is alright, my fellow soul touched.¡± Samarina turns and regards the apprehensive kitsune, and Angela feels like she in awe at the power of Samarina¡¯s voice, it seems to carry so much more weight here than it ever did in her mind. And it is hauntingly beautiful, Not unlike the voice she¡¯d heard in the aether. ¡°I¡¯m here, now.¡± ¡°Sam, you sound¡­different.¡± She¡¯s still feeling dizzy¨Cshe can see from her point of view, but it¡¯s being juxtaposed with what Samarina is seeing, as well. ¡°A little trippy. Um, this is¡­¡± she trails off and turns her claw over, examining, and sobs. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Angela. I haven¡¯t seen myself since I resigned myself to leave with the rest of the dragons. And was¡­utterly annihilated as a result.¡± ¡°I would give a hug, but, um¡­we proved that didn¡¯t work,¡± Julia says quietly. Her soulbound counterpart nods, and smiles faintly. ¡°I appreciate the gesture, though. It is the first time I have met you, Julia. And the rest of you. It is a pleasure to meet you all. And Alex,¡± she adds with a sidelong glance at Drenar¡¯s drakensoul, who puts up a hand hesitantly. ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re stunning.¡± It¡¯s like Alex doesn¡¯t have words to describe it, and then Angela has to remind herself that he fought a war, lost the love of his life, watched his best friend descend into darkness, and then got banished from existence for seven hundred years. ¡°Um, hi.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Alexander? Drake got your tongue?¡± Samarina laughed. Angela still is trying to ignore that juxtaposed double vision, because it is certainly disorienting. Samarina folds her vaprous wings and takes a stance beside her. ¡°Hmm. Why am I a larger projection?¡± ¡°Because Angela¡¯s mana shard is hella powerful, and she¡¯s the new chosen one, now that Drenar¡¯s tapped out of crazy shit to bring down on our heads?¡± James suggests with more than a hint of vitriol. ¡°I thought dragons had only one set of wings. Am I missing something here?¡± ¡°A few have had lesser, secondary wings,¡± she states. ¡°But, that trait did not carry over to Angela.¡± She peers in Volkir¡¯s direction, her expression etched in curiosity. ¡°As for your predictive query, dragon sage, I am Samarina Baraghast, Mate of Halandar, and I am a former Valkyrie of that ancient and mighty order. As I have been returned to some semblance of life, My only focus is on the survival of Angela, her friends, and those she allies with. You must have grave questions, to dedicate time to crafting such sophisticated magitech to speak with us.¡± ¡°It''s been theory until Joey got us more data,¡± Amaranth explained. ¡°We¡¯ve been working this on the side, between everything else going on. My query is specifically to Alex, then you. I need to patch some holes in our understanding of this device, the Kilnstar¡¯noth. And, your encounter with Valosterla.¡± ¡°We have a theory,¡± Volkir inputted. ¡°But, absent recent events, we weren¡¯t sure it was a solid one. ¡°Very well, then. Ask your questions, sage. I hope we can shed light on this one,¡± Alex chimes in quietly. Vol. 3, Ch. 160: A Dragon Out Of Time ¡°Alright, let¡¯s focus on what I know, first. Sam, do you remember the ritual at all?¡± Volkir asks, and Angela can feel the thoughts of Samarina running across her mind. This was different than before, she normally couldn¡¯t see that stream of consciousness. She kept silent, for the time being. Samarina nodded slowly and glanced at Volkir. ¡°I do. There were specific instructions. I remember why I was there. I failed my wards. I rationalized, that¡­going someplace else, was the right thing to do. It was not a popular choice among my fellow Valkyries, who insisted that I should stay. But, I did not.¡± ¡°Okay. Your recollection might be the first of reliable records, then. I know for a fact that they used large formations of mana crystals¨C¡± ¡°They used an unfathomable amount of mana crystals. They formed a gate. A tri-point hoop. The dragons all gathered, all walks of life. Clans, families, former enemies. We all stood as equals. There were no witnesses to this event, because this was to ensure we were not followed¡­and to let our legacy not stain the records of human history. Or so we were told,¡± she added with a vein of anger. Amaranth and Volkir are busily scribing notes while Samarina continues slowly. Angela could feel her thoughts as readily as they emanated from the projection. ¡°I remember we gathered the crystals onto an expanded teleportal field. Not unlike young Mister Bertance¡¯s harebrained attempt to teleport the denizens of Asqualia to safety not that long ago.¡± Kyle nods solemnly at this mention before Sam continues. ¡°We gathered the crystals into a pyre at the center of the platform. It stretched for hundreds of meters, an expanded field of effect, unlike anything the world had seen since the old astral gates were demolished. A transport between worlds. We were attempting to travel to one world we thought, from the old records, might be safe. The ancient world of Remaria.¡± ¡°What¡¯s this world? I¡¯ve never heard of it,¡± Levine interjected, but Volkir put up a hand to speak. ¡°It was an old world we lost contact with. We are not sure what happened, but, a small colony of dragons was there. It was a world completely unlike our own, let¡¯s just say. Very few records exist of what exactly the world was like, but it was hollow. A nested world.¡± Angela blinked in surprise¨Cafter all the stuff they¡¯d been through, hollow worlds were one that genuinely caught her off guard. ¡°But, why would they go there?¡± Samarina shakes her head. ¡°I do not know, but I know the decision was reached by the senior dragons , those leading these efforts. I stood there, alone, having watched my wards die, torn apart by that monster who seemed to disappear off the face of the earth, after Crosomer¡¯s armies capitulated. The crystals were joined in the center, and we stood there, wingtip to wingtip, and told to channel our mana into the teleportal platform, and to not lose focus.¡± She bowed her head. ¡°I did as I was instructed. I wanted to escape the heartache of what had happened. I would have done anything to try to stave off that clench of pain in my soul that time had not healed.¡± Angela could see it. Not in the sense of seeing it with her vision, but in her mind, when she blinked. She looked around and saw silver scales covering her body, in her dragon form. But, it was Samarina¡¯s words she heard echoing as she looked around. A crystalline spire. Spanning to the heavens, morphing and growing in size as more crystals were laid at the foundation, and several dragons checked on it as the crystals merged. They formed into a series of three towers, arching toward the heavens, and meeting at a single tri-tip, like a dragon¡¯s claw. The air was chilly in the mountain valley they were in, and she saw thousands of dragons, all around her. All around. Below her lay the rune traces of the expanded teleportal pad. She glanced to her right, and a family of Nevarran reds were there. Two smaller drakes clung to their mother, who gave them an assuring stroke along their feathered manes. The air was still, and the voices of so many dragons were unnaturally muted. Angela could feel in her heart¨Cin Samarina¡¯s heart¨Cthat this was it. This was the end of one life, and the start of another, in a faraway world, unburdened with the grief of a mage war that had wracked the war, and the ruins of a dragon civilization that had barely clung together. All she could feel was not a sense of relief, but of grief. Of a failure that time could not heal. Samarina¡¯s words continued even as she looked at this wooded vale, and the somber mood built. The dragons at the center drew runes, and traced mana through the air in simple patterns. Angela looked at the very center, aligned just under the tri-tip point¨Cand gasped. The Kilnstar''noth was sitting in the middle, with its alien runes being manipulated by a gold-scaled dragon, with blue eyes and black and teal feather accents. It looked almost like¡­ Julia?! But, that, was impossible. Julia wasn¡¯t born seven hundred years ago. Before she could focus on it, she heard a voice call out¨Ca voice from a plain woman with brown hair, tall stature, in ceremonial robes by the platform. The only human there. She peered around with piercing blue eyes, at the thousands of dragon-kin in this vale¨Cherself included. ¡°I bid you farewell, dragon-kin. I wish this departure were under better circumstances. I wish you did not have to leave under such conditions. The world will mourn your loss. Let me bear witness.¡± The woman regarded this assembly of the greatest creatures of the world, and Angela noticed something off. She was smiling. The mood did not match the words. Who was this woman with the high cheekbones, and the look of old-world nobility? Why did no one seem to think something was off? The woman continued to speak and tapped the device gently, and put one last rune into position. ¡°Remember: you will need to channel all your mana into this effort. It will take everything you are, but you shall be triumphant in your efforts. The ancient retreat of Remaria is waiting for you. Godspeed, children of Gaia. We shall tend to this world in your stead.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Angela tries to call out. Something is not right. There is something vile about this woman that she can feel in her heart, but no one else seems to notice. She walks to a small group of three other people¨Ctoo distant to make out, at the far end of the clearing, where a one-time teleportal is set up. She doesn¡¯t know who that woman is, but she must know, what is about to happen, and what is about to go horribly wrong by design. But her body doesn¡¯t react. Her body isn¡¯t her own, it¡¯s Samarina¡¯s, and this is a playback that even she, too, seems to be reliving. The device in the center of the field hums, and her body reacts with mana arcing off her scales, as it does for the dragon species of all sorts around her. They take a stance on their clawed feet in unison¨Callies, lovers, friends, families. They join together, wingtip to wingtip, some hugging their loved ones in anticipation of their exodus off of the world, and the machine spins and splits. A globule of pure white and black appears¨Cscintillating, warping her perception of reality. It hurts to even look at that incomprehensible globule like it¡¯s an unreality. Something not meant to be observed by any mortal mind. She staggers her stance while locking eyes with that woman with the ice-cold gaze. She smiles, before disappearing in a flash from the disposable teleportal. She also saw a flash of someone else, briefly¡­someone with bright red hair. Her heart freezes in recognition. Val was here. At this event. Seven hundred years ago. Angela screams but her mouth doesn¡¯t move. They¡¯ve been tricked. This plan was that infernal woman¡¯s design, all along. She wanted the dragons gone, or to harvest their power. But there is no time for warnings. There is no time to undo the past. This already happened. Energy arcs from the massive crystalline spires, energizing that unreality void, and it strengthens. The Kilnstar''noth, that ancient machine built by people older than the dragons, unfolds and builds the brass plates fly out, forming panels that the energy arcs too, floating in mid-air. A breeze has built to a gale, and her heart is like a jackhammer in her chest. She tries to warn them. Sam tries to warn them. Energy arcs across her body, stinging, searing, jolting her very existence. Her instinct is to bow with the pain, staggered on the ground, as many others do as well. She looks up at that scintillating sphere, feeling her very existence being pulled toward it. She knows the foregone conclusion: Samarina dies here, along with countless thousands, tricked by two people playing games with people¡¯s lives. That pain becomes agony as mana arcs across her body, and she sees bits of her existence becoming that energy. She feels like her scales are peeling apart, the core of her existence exploding into pain. She gives one last fleeting glance to the family of dragons next to her huddling in one last embrace, gleaming red scales melting to flesh, bone, and dust. Her own existence feels like it flies apart¨C ¡°Angela, snap out of it!¡± She gasps and is out of breath, with Julia shaking her shoulder, looking worried. ¡°Angela, are you okay?!¡± she asks in an elevated tone. She¡¯s on the ground, feeling a throbbing feeling in her back from where she landed, and her eyes dart to everyone gathered around her. ¡°Angela, you started screaming. What happened?¡± ¡°I¨CI¡­I saw it. I saw the moment they died.¡± She clung to Julia with all her might, mana tracing just below her skin. ¡°Thousands of them, rendered to dust. The Kilnstar''noth was there. The scintillating sphere, the hole to the aether. It was awful, Julia." She hasn¡¯t cried in a long time, but now, she can¡¯t stop, and shudders uncontrollably. ¡°They were all there, oblivious. Sam knew something was wrong, she could feel it. She tried to warn them.¡± ¡°I¡­I tried¡­it was too late. The device that your sage, splitting off my essence seems to have knocked loose a¡­powerful memory.¡± Angela turns to her right to see Samarina, looking mournful. ¡°I did not think it would impact you so badly.¡± ¡°Okay, deep breath, Angela. You¡¯re okay,¡± Julia whispered, while the rest of them gave the two of them space. ¡°Just breathe, okay?¡± ¡°Val was there.¡± Those are the most important words that she needs to get out, and the room is instantly set alight with this shocking revelation. ¡°I saw her, bright red hair, only a glimpse, but she was there. Or someone that looked just like her.¡± ¡°Val was there?! How? She was numero uno on everyone¡¯s hit list!¡± Drenar exclaimed. ¡°Including mine, but hey, it doesn¡¯t count as murder if they plan on killing you first.¡± ¡°Drenar¡­someone else was there.¡± She is still hugging Julia awkwardly tight. ¡°I would have sworn she looked like your mom, but, no. It was someone else, piercing blue eyes, brown hair, regal, tall. She was the only human there, besides Val, and someone else I couldn¡¯t get a glimpse of.¡± ¡°Amaranth, did you get all¨C¡± Volkir starts to say. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I was recording all of that. Fates. Is that who I think it is?¡± Amaranth said while looking startled. Volkir¡¯s face was utterly livid. ¡°It can¡¯t be. Why would she have been there?¡± ¡°She spoke in ancient draconic. Sam¡¯s language,¡± Angela said, and still felt her body trembling. ¡°She knew what was going to happen, whatever it was, and Sam knew something was wrong. This was planned. They were all doomed to die, and she was at that site, presiding over their future funerals. Before she teleported out.¡± She finally caught her breath, peering at Volkir intensely. ¡°I thought the device was secured. Why was it in their hands? Why didn¡¯t you say it was there?!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know, I thought it was under Conclave control, under lock and key¡­¡± Volkir trailed off, a look of horror on his face. ¡°That¡¯s what they did. No witnesses, they went site to site, to set up shop, used the device, committed genocide, rinse and repeat. All across the world. The Conclave did, indeed, wipe out the dragons." ¡°Damn it, stop filling out my bingo card in the worst ways possible,¡± Drenar groans. Angela wipes the mist from her eyes¨Cthis was awful in all the worst ways, and she swears she can feel that searing pain through her existence, still. ¡°Angela, that looked awful. Do you need a few minutes?¡± ¡°Um¡­we might want to start acting with haste,¡± Volkir stated deadly calm. Everyone turned to look at him. ¡°Because if I¡¯m right, we have big enemies who might know about Rick and Sam.¡± ¡°Dude, you¡¯re gonna throw more shit at us? We already are courting death with Val, Davos, and Crosomer,¡± Julia snaps furiously, after helping Angela to her feet. ¡°Who could be worse?" ¡°Zacharias Fellwoven.¡± The way Volkir said it, drove a moment of utter cringe in half the room¡¯s faces, and Angela vaguely recalled the name. ¡°The who, now?¡± Drenar asked. ¡°The head of the Conclave drove the genocide of the dragons,¡± Volkir explains. Meanwhile, Angela clutches her chest, where that mana shard feels like it is vibrating like a hive of stirred-up hornets, and Drenar wears that infrequently used look of despair he wears when things have gone really badly. He¡¯s not the only one feeling that, either. ¡°This job sucks in all the worst ways,¡± Drenar sighs. ¡°Are we sure there isn¡¯t another dark-haired, tall, blue-eyed, nordic-sounding woman out there that isn¡¯t the head of the Conclave?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just gonna go preemptively collect my bet now, Drenar, because if this one pans out, I¡¯m not gonna live to collect it later,¡± James interjects sourly. Vol. 3, Ch. 161: No Rest For The Weary After the events of the day, Drenar instinctively called for a break, and said that this discussion needed to be wrapped up after everyone got some much-delayed sleep. Because even he was fatigued now, and this series of crazy bullshit was becoming too much for him to keep track of. He was busily looking through all of the notes he¡¯d been jotting down, trying to figure out why and how of too many things. This job did, indeed, suck in all the worst ways. Joey¡¯s clawed fingers on his shoulder broke his focus, and she handed him a cup of coffee in the room he was calling his own in the downstairs bedroom that was doubling as his lair. Wait. I don¡¯t live in a lair, I¡¯m not that much of a dragon. ¡°This has been a crap day, hasn¡¯t it?¡± she says after a few seconds after smiling faintly. ¡°Yeah. something like that.¡± He took a sip of the still-hot liquid and nearly burned his mouth; Joey tended to drink hers piping hot, and even as a half-dragon, this was a bit too much for him. ¡°How did we get in this mess, Joey?¡± ¡°It was always there, Drenar. No one did anything about it. Not for hundreds of years.¡± She sat down on the small futon, looking wearier and scuffed up from the day¡¯s events. ¡°Angela is the toughest person I know besides you and Julia, and even she cracked a little on this one. I¡¯m glad Julia is hanging out with her, tonight. And her mother, I personally want to strangle her for doing this to her.¡± ¡°Get in line,¡± he grunted, before giving up and tossing his notepad aside. ¡°I just can¡¯t believe this. Were the dragons that collectively stupid? Or desperate? They just marched right up to a teleporter that was pretty suspect, and if the head of the conclave, who has been alive since before even then was there to preside over the events? She¡¯s a criminal architect of the highest order. And I can¡¯t help but feel that it¡¯s tied to the events of keeping Gaia suppressed, or removing her from the equation entirely." Joey sits down next to him, hands folded tightly, and deep in thought. ¡°You know something? The way things have gone lately, I wonder if we were all brought together for reasons beyond our understanding. Your mother knew something about Angela. Or suspected it. King has been behind all of these plays. Even me. He knew about my run at academia at the London Arcanist Academy. And Sam¡¯s comments about the teleportal¡­I have a theory we need to try out.¡± ¡°You still want to try out that primal crystal deposit,¡± he concluded, before he shook his head. ¡°This could be dangerous on so many levels, Joey. Above and beyond what we¡¯ve faced collectively.¡± ¡°But someone has to do it. Even Kiera needs evidence to pin on a foe. And I hope it¡¯s not the head of the conclave, either. I think this one is a reach from Volkir, who is carrying a grudge. She does look like what Angela was describing.¡± ¡°Here, show me.¡± Joey pulls out her phone, and makes a quick connection to the Arcanet browser before looking up an image of her. Drenar looks down at the face. ¡°Angela looked at this, too, right?¡± ¡°She said she wasn¡¯t sure. Too far away to really discern much else, in a fractured memory from a dead dragonness from seven hundred years ago,¡± Joey replies quietly, before clicking the phone off. ¡°Did she look familiar to you?¡± He shakes his head. ¡°Facial features look a bit like my mom, but, no, she doesn¡¯t look familiar to me. How long did you say she has been running the Conclave?¡± ¡°Since its modern inception, almost. She hasn¡¯t been the Chancellor the whole time, but she has been the de-facto head of it in some capacity, shifting between that position, or one of the senators on the upper and lower panels of the house of the senate. The real power players of the Conclave,¡± Joey explains, and pops open her phone again to show off more photos. Drenar lets out a tsk sound. ¡°Kiera mentioned a few names that my mother swore were involved, but proof died with the merc team they turned into worm food. She said if the Valkyries had definitive proof, they¡¯d have burned all those bastards to dust, neutrality be damned.¡± ¡°That¡¯s some bold words, even for Julia¡¯s mom,¡± Joey admits, before setting her phone on the table, and leaning on his chest. ¡°I¡¯m just an alchemist who stumbled into a world spanning crisis. Why isn¡¯t your mom leading the charge on this, and leaving it to us?¡± ¡°I wish I knew, Joey. If it¡¯s the head of the Conclave, or someone else in a very high seat of power, I now understand fully why she didn¡¯t want to bring that kind of burden back home with her.¡± He glances at the wristwatch holding his magitech armor, and pulls it off slowly, and rubs at the faint scar across his wrist. Joey picks up on it, and glances at him. ¡°You¡¯ve never talked about that one. You had it before, and I¡¯ve seen you rubbing at it a lot.¡± She furrows her brow, and runs a finger over the scar tissue gently. ¡°I think I know what it is, given recent events.¡± ¡°Care to take a guess?¡± he asked softly. The fact that so few people knew about this one, was something he could take comfort in. and those who did figure it out¡­knew him well enough to understand why. ¡°Your world fell apart not that long ago,¡± she answers, barely over a whisper. She doesn¡¯t have to say it, for him to realize, she knows. ¡°That¡¯s why you kept Remari, all these years. It was your reminder¡­wasn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Julia¡­walking in on me, in a moment when I was hovering on a knife¡¯s edge, on a decision in my life. Pun, not intended,¡± he answers with a soft sigh. ¡°At the last second¡­ I decided I wanted to keep living. And when Julia screamed, not realizing I was about to pack it in and dry my tears, I forgot my spatial awareness for a split second. That earned me a hospital trip.¡± ¡°I had a feeling that¡¯s why you always closed off that memory. It¡¯s hard to not think about something that hurts.¡± She held him close for a minute, and he realized, he¡¯d been needing that all day.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Me keeping Remari, afterward, was my reminder, yeah. To do better by my mother, in my own way,¡± he answers quietly. ¡°Two years in therapy helped. But it¡¯s like filling a void, and there¡¯s nothing left to fill it with. That''s who my mom was. This wonderful, brave woman who I looked up to, who was plugging in holes in people''s hearts. She was doing that, long before I was born.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re worried our world is going to fall apart again, with all this going on.¡± ¡°Not if I have a say in the matter,¡± he vows solemnly. ¡°That''s what Alex died believing in. That¡¯s what Kelly¡¯s father died believing in. that the Luminaires are the answer to this crisis. Me, not dying because of a stupid mistake I made, six years ago? This means the world has a fighting chance, now. Because we¡¯re here, fighting for a better world, against the monsters who want to turn it into an ash pile, whoever they are.¡± ¡°I had a bad experience, too,¡± Joey said, and leaned against his chest, fingers running gently across his torso and arm. ¡°I almost drowned someone.¡± ¡°You did?¡± He doesn¡¯t move, even at this shocking admission. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°My psionics went into overdrive. It was different than the link I¡¯ve got between you, Angela, and Julia. This was¡­not friendly.¡± She sighed and rested against his shoulder, after finding a comfortable spot, purple eyes looking weary from all the hurt. ¡°You don¡¯t have to talk about this one, if you¡¯re not ready for¨C¡± ¡°If we¡¯re going to be fighting the monsters I think we¡¯re up against, then yes, you need to know, Drenar. And the others, too. But, I think I¡¯d run this one by you first. Not even Kyle knows this one,¡± she said, barely over a whisper. ¡°Psionics has two levels of potency, both of which I discovered by accident. Even my mother, the record keeper of our community, has never spoken much about the psionics some kitsune possess.¡± He glances at her, with that weary expression, and strokes her hair gently. ¡°I¡¯m guessing one of them, or even both of them, haven''t¡¯ seen a lot of practice, then.¡± Ever since he¡¯d nearly drowned at Asquaila, that line of hers had been stuck in his head. But, she never brought it up afterward. Possibly, to not have to relive that trauma? He put his hand firmly on hers, fingers lacing gently between her clawed fingers. She nods softly, and winces. ¡°Curtis was the first person I put an end to¡­but I almost killed someone. I had just gotten a letter from London Academy of the Arcane, saying that my academics were exceptional and singularly noteworthy. They wanted to bring me in on scholarship, a full ride.¡± Her tail sways back slowly, and he nods with barely a motion. ¡°That must have been a great, to get that kind of news.¡± ¡°It would have, except for what happened afterward. I had a friend, another kitsune in the community. His name is Blake. I had the letter in my hands, and we were at the small lake, not that far from where I grew up. It was a little distance from my parent¡¯s house. So, we were walking, I was telling him the news. He¡­didn¡¯t take it well. He told me, he wanted me to stay. I told him, I didn¡¯t want to rot there in Bixby for my whole life, and go nowhere.¡± She clenches her jaw tightly, and closes her eyes, looking anguished. ¡°He called me a traitorous rat. Which, as you might have picked up¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s a slur,¡± he interrupts, knowing what that sounded like, on the rare occasion someone had dared to say something horrific to Julia at school, a long time ago. ¡°It¡¯s a dehumanizing word. But¡­did he mean it?¡± She opened her eyes, and after a reluctant pause, she nodded. ¡°He was super jealous. Blake was never as good at academics, and his parents were dirt-poor. He didn¡¯t know how to envision something better, and¡­he took it out on me. He threw the papers on the ground, got right in my face, and screamed that was all I¡¯d ever be. A traitorous rat, who ditched her community for bigger and better things. That I¡¯d never fit in. That Kitsune were always going to be on the bottom of the pecking order, when it came to the magical Kin community. I shouted at him, shoved him away, out of my personal space.¡± ¡°Then, he hit me across the face with an open-palm slap. And after that, I saw red. I screamed at him, and rather than beat him bloody, I told him to go jump in the lake, and go cool off.¡± She winces when she says that, fingers clenching tightly against his. ¡°That was when the horror show started. I felt something of a connection to him, the same way I could feel my parents probing my surface thoughts, but much stronger. And I pushed on it, thinking I could scare him. Instead, his eyes went glassy, and he moved in a stupor along the dock. I had no idea what was happening if he was pretending, but I knew something was wrong. When he got near the end of the dock and kept going, I realized something happened to him, and I screamed for him to stop.¡± She let out a soft shudder, ears laid back tight against her skull. ¡°He planked right in, and I saw bubbles coming up. I¡¯m sprinting to the end of the dock, realizing I must have done something by accident. No one ever told me this could happen, at the time. I dove in, and grabbed him, and he¡¯s already taken a lung full of water by that point. So, there I was, soaked, doing chest compressions to get the water out. I was at it for two terrifying minutes while I was shrieking to anyone nearby who could help me. My parents finally came out of the house by the time I got him breathing. And I will never forget that look of utter terror on his face, Drenar. Never.¡± He wrapped his arms protectively around her, and she shuddered under the terrible burden of this truth being laid bare. ¡°It was an accident, Joey. No one told you.¡± ¡°I still feel responsible¨C¡± ¡°Joey. Parents keeping secrets is what caused some of these wounds. Talking about them, is what helps them heal,¡± he whispers and holds her tightly, and can smell that slight scent of cinnamon in her hair¡­along with something else earthly. ¡°We might have dangerous powers, but they can be used for good. You say you can do that, either inspire us, or control people? Use it only when it can save a life.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not even sure I could replicate it. I¡¯m not sure I want to. But, I see your point. I¡¯m a deadly alchemist with knowledge and use of the deadliest substances on the planet. But I can also bring a person back from the brink of death.¡± Tiny claw points press into his back, and she rests her head against him. The tension in her face has lessened, somewhat. ¡°Let¡¯s hope we never have to go down a path where we have to do awful things to do the right thing.¡± ¡°Moral quandaries? Yeah. We¡¯re going to get to that point, if the bitch on the lofty throne is responsible for sending that hulking killer after my mom and dad. Davos is a symptom of a bigger problem with this world.¡± He lets out a quiet breath and notes how incredibly late it is, on his watch by the nightstand. ¡°Think we can get some rest, before we jump back into a firefight?¡± ¡°I hope so, Drenar. Because I get this feeling, we are going to need to go back to Asqualia as a fallback haven starting soon. Val¡¯s going to be looking for us, and she won¡¯t have to look very hard, given how unsubtle we are.¡± They lay there together, and within moments, Joey was fast asleep against him. He reaches out, hesitantly, before stroking her ear gently. She murmurs but doesn¡¯t wake. You brave woman. I wish I''d met you sooner. Alex, you¡¯ve been pretty chill. Nothing to say at the moment¨C Get some rest, lad. You¡¯re going to need it. For once, he doesn¡¯t disagree, and within a few more minutes, he feels himself drifting off to sleep, as well. He knows one thing for sure before his thoughts fade to black: Angela will not be facing these monsters alone, in whatever happens. Vol. 3, Ch. 162: Deal With A Dragon--Devil, Whatever! Part One ¡°You not doing this, Drenar. This is insanity.¡± James glares at his rival, who looks like he¡¯s been staving off sleep for far longer than should be possible. ¡°You aren¡¯t thinking straight, you¡¯re under the influence of an overpowered psionic, and you have trauma coming out of every inch of your body right now. We are not going to look for King to help us with this. Out of the question. We¡¯re going to put this in the hands of the Valkyries, let them handle this, and then, we are done! I can¡¯t believe you even think this is a remotely good idea.¡± He¡¯s also extremely worried about Drenar. He¡¯s known for a long time that he¡¯d tried to kill himself¨Cor had some extremely unsafe weapons handling¨Cand stayed silent on the matter. Even Julia had kept quiet on this one, but then again, it hadn¡¯t been difficult to read between the lines on his hospital stay, six years ago. He¡¯s either stupid, suicidal, or truly believes this is a good idea. None of those outcomes ends up with Drenar staying intact. Drenar firms up his tone and glares at James. ¡°We¡¯re doing this. I¡¯m going down to Tertanna penitentiary today, with Joey, and I¡¯m getting answers from Jonaleth on how to find King. Unfortunately, the arcanlink that Kelly¡¯s father used was destroyed when the teleportal hub imploded. So, guess what option that leaves?¡± Julia rolled her eyes at this idea. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I find myself agreeing with James, but, holy shit, doomsday is very much upon us, there are living mana crystals, Angela is the inheritor of a dead goddess, and Val ate my fifty caliber rail gun fire , and laughed at me!¡± ¡°I think you have put those in the wrong order of impending dread,¡± James points out. ¡°Val eating the business end of the Matilda Mark II and not taking a scratch, is troubling. Are we sure it wasn¡¯t the armor protecting her?¡± ¡°Nah James, no spell barrier was active. That bitch tanked several rounds through sheer hatred of existence. I need a bigger gun,¡± she concluded. ¡°More pressing, is that Drenar wants to make a deal with a dragon who tried to kill both of us!¡± ¡°A lot of people have tried to kill us, by this point!¡± Drenar stated with his hands up in the air in utter exasperation. ¡°Does that mean I worry about it? No. I¡¯m still breathing, as is everyone else. We need Jonaleth to find King. We need King to get the device, and to figure out how Angela fits into this. We need Angela in one piece, because if Val gets her, or Rick, or Fates forbid, both of them, we¡¯re toast. So we need Jonaleth to make all the other things happen.¡± ¡°Dude, this is a chief example ¡®A¡¯ of why I think you¡¯re cracked,¡± James states angrily while examining the bustle of activity in the barn. Everything is being put in crates and shipped to Asqualia, the place they all almost died in. He is not keen on reliving this experience, and Kiera seems adamant that this is, at best, a temporary accommodation. ¡°Kiera, can you smack some sense into this teenage dragon?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a practical approach,¡± she rebuffed sternly to Drenar, as if on cue. ¡°There is one fundamental problem that you are not aware of.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± Drenar asks crossly. ¡°Dude, do you not remember anything about Jonaleth, and what he said?¡± James hates the fact that he has to spell out the obvious, but in this case, he has to. ¡°Jonaleth¡¯s parents were wiped out by Valkyries.¡± ¡°And removing them from the face of the earth, sounds like they did the world a favor,¡± Julia interjects. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m done with this. Your mother killed his mother, Drenar,¡± James uttered with gritted teeth and pointed to Kiera. ¡°Victor one?!¡± Watching Drenar¡¯s face melt into an utterly aghast expression did little to cool his mood, and he is going to further drive the point. ¡°He will never help you. You can¡¯t undo how completely, utterly messed up that is. It isn¡¯t your fault, but you are the last person that should be in that room, man. I mean, does he know that it was her?¡± ¡°No. At least, I don¡¯t think so. But he seems to suspect something,¡± Drenar admits, and James groans. ¡°Let me do this, Drenar. For you. Because the only person who Jonaleth won¡¯t kill on sight is probably me, the second we get him into a room to talk. And we are not making deals with him. Got it?¡± ¡°James, we might not have a choice.¡± Levine is loading ordnance crates onto the teleportal staging platform on a trolley, where a portal is active in a new, just-finished platform, set deep into the bowels of Volkir¡¯s subterranean lair under Asqualia. He¡¯s already moving his equipment and making arrangements, with the Valkyries helping move items, and SAF agents Levine and Nick vouch for. The veteran agent wipes the sweat off his face and adjusts his glasses before regarding the group. ¡°We need him. We give him what he wants.¡± ¡°We can at least talk about it before we give that bothersome winged lizard anything remotely resembling a break,¡± James counters. ¡°He¡¯s in jail, where he deserves to be, for almost killing Drenar and Julia. And beating Evan bloody. Oh and arson, attempted murder, destruction of property, and more.¡± ¡°Still not the most extensive rap sheet I¡¯ve seen for someone his age,¡± Levine replies flatly. ¡°Do you think you can get him to help us, James?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll need Joey to tag along,¡± James responds calmly, as he comes up with a plan. She airs her confusion on this one. ¡°Why¡­do you need me, exactly?¡± ¡°Trust me on this one,¡± James answers, before grabbing his armor set. He hates the fact that he''s¡¯ the literal straight man of the team, with nothing but nascent mage cantrips and a bit of tactical knowledge. But that¡¯s all he needs for the moment. He¡¯s still thinking of what this all means for Angela¡­and how awful his sister is having this, as she¡¯s been packing crates quietly, saying little since last night''s revelations. His gaze returns to the rest of the team. ¡°If we¡¯re going to do this, we absolutely need to be sure that we kill King.¡± ¡°That is not an option we are considering, James¨C¡± ¡°We kill King, his knowledge dies with him. Their plans for the Kilnstar¡¯noth fall apart. Val can¡¯t beat her head against a problem of that scale,¡± James concludes. ¡°It¡¯s the safest play.¡± ¡°We are not murdering King, you giant asshole,¡± Drenar snarled. ¡°You have a beef with him, because you think he¡¯s outplaying us. You are also not safe to be in that room.¡± "Then who the hell is, Drenar? You and Julia are out, Angela I don¡¯t want anywhere near these freaks, Kyle doesn¡¯t know how to interrogate, and Nick and Levine are SAF. That leaves me and Joey,¡± he states as he goes through the logic. ¡°And not Kelly or Jackie, either. Now, do you want me to help on this one? I¡¯ll get him to talk.¡± ¡°You get him to talk, and we find King? He is subject to laws of conduct per SAF protocol. That means no extrajudicial barbeque,¡± Drenar states with vitriol. ¡°And that goes double for you, thunder dragon,¡± James added before glancing at Julia. She feigned annoyance at this. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t go there, James. We¡¯ve made it clear that these guys are better off dead, but we don¡¯t turn into murder hobos on principle,¡± she pushes back, fury etched in her ice-cold eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s just get this done fast. I don¡¯t want to be here if the Ravagers, or the Talons, get a bead on this place,¡± Nick says from the platform and gets another set of weapon bags and tosses them onto the far side of the teleportal, currently running.
¡°You know, James, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve really talked much, have we?¡± Joey asks casually as they¡¯re waiting in the off-white room of the penitentiary where mages are housed and detained, with every safeguard in place. ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°Because I am the most vanilla person on this team, and I¡¯m not even talking about my skin tone,¡± he sighs. He just does not know what Joey sees in Drenar, and he¡¯s not about to air that to her anytime soon, considering she''s psionic. He hates this place on principle. It¡¯s sterile, and clean¡­squeaky clean. And the guards here that are a detachment of SAF give him due concern. The way they look at him and Joey, with their visitor badges. A gaze of hostility, as if weighing the threat they possess. He did not like the little suppressor devices that sit in recessed pockets in every corner of the room. ¡°Joey, how do those suppressors work?¡± ¡°They only dampen magical effects. They aren¡¯t foolproof. Most inmates are wearing suppressors on their persona to interrupt their mana flow,¡± she explained. A group of inmates walked across a courtyard, from all slices of life in orange jumpsuits. All of them wore a black and green collar around their neck, and one thin wargen rubs at it uneasily. He did not look like he belonged here, James noted uneasily. Every other prisoner was eyeing him intently. Joey gently nudged him to focus on the collar. ¡°For the average magical kin, that¡¯s usually enough. For dragons, or powerful individuals¡­¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°They do worse than that? That¡¯s so undignified, being collared,¡± James growls. Then he glanced at Joey¡¯s face¨Cthe way she clenched her fingers into her palms, looking at the courtyard, where he noticed something rather¡­unsettling. Most of the Kin here are non-human. And they are all in their base forms¨Ckitsune, wargen, and dragons. Even a few fey, now that he¡¯s paying closer attention. ¡°Does¡­something about the populace about this place seem a little off to you?¡± he asks hesitantly. ¡°You noticed it, too?¡± she narrows her eyes at a guard prodding one of the kitsune along, even though they had been doing nothing to warrant attention. ¡°Wanna know how bad off a population is? Go check the prisons, first.¡± He scuffs his shoe uncomfortably, and glances her way, while they wait for Jonaleth to be brought to the visitor station. Drenar, Nick, and Levine are on standby in the waiting area. He had been very adamant they keep their weapons, as allowed by the Glasgow Accords. The guards had been nonplussed until Levine pulled out the papers. James worried Drenar might have pushed it too far, until the guards relented and let them wait. ¡°Joey, I know you and Drenar are¡­together¡­but he can be dangerous to himself, more than anything else. You know that, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not even accounting for what he¡¯s been through, James¨C¡± ¡°I have. And he¡¯s still being reckless. This is a bad play, with tons of risks, and little upside,¡± he responded calmly. ¡°I mean this is my sister¡¯s future at stake, possibly. It¡¯s all lives in his hands, with his decisions.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t make decisions in a vacuum, James. I don¡¯t like it either. This kid almost killed Drenar the day I met him.¡± She turns to face him, wearing a grim face. ¡°I would do anything to ensure we all live to see the end of this. King is the key to all of this, and I think that involves something with Valosterla. There is something seriously wrong with her, beyond her malevolence and violent history. And, she can hear the crystals, too? Does that mean she¡¯s related to you guys in some way?¡± ¡°Fates, I hope not. I got too much drama on my plate, as it were.¡± A door clicks open, and a female attendant in a white uniform looks at them, short brown hair and mild-mannered. She addresses them with a polite wave and a gesture to a few seats, by the cordoned-off room where prisoners could speak to visitors. ¡°The interim guest will see you now. You all signed waivers as you came in, yes?¡± ¡°A lot of them,¡± James said with irritation. Even the magical world is buried in paperwork, he concluded. He notes the camera watching them, and knows this is far from a private conversation they¡¯re about to have, and tries something that Angela probably has mastered, when he gets Joey¡¯s attention. {We¡¯re being monitored. Back left of the room. Don¡¯t pay attention to it, but keep it in mind.} She tilts her head, before nodding. Then, she squints softly, lips pressed in concentration. {James, can you hear me? I¡¯ve been testing this out a bit with Drenar and the others. It¡¯s like our secret communicator. I can sort of act as a psionic switchboard. Just nod if you got this.} He feels a tingle on his brain the whole time¨Clike someone was sitting on the shoulder of his consciousness, and he nods quietly before gesturing to the seat. {Joey I¡¯m getting a bad feeling. When we came in, extra guards showed up. For a place this size, it seemed excessive. I have my power armor, you?} {They can¡¯t confiscate what they can¡¯t detect. Kyle planned this one well.} She gazes forward as a young, dark-haired man enters the room in shackles, looking healthy, if disgruntled. James tightens his grip on his seat when he sees Jonaleth and those ice-cold blue eyes, like little glaciers. {Tell me if he gives up anything good internally.} {Got it. I¡¯ll have to only focus on one of you at a time.} Meanwhile, the guard unshackles Jonaleth¡¯s wrists, and the cordon opens, before the man heads back into the rear corridor, and locks the door closed. It¡¯s on, now. Jonaleth leans forward, eyeing Joey with curiosity. ¡°You¡¯re new. Didn¡¯t know they did booty calls in prison.¡± She says nothing but gives him a piercing gaze with her lavender eyes. Jonaleth shifts his focus to himself and smiles. ¡°Shalinde, what a surprise. I heard through the grapevine that you survived Asqualia. Congrats, man. I didn¡¯t think you had it in you, considering you were always a weakling.¡± {Don¡¯t give him an inch. Don¡¯t react. We need to make him sweat.} James goes into his zen calculation mode. He opens up an arcanist datapad silently, and browses through the notes hes prepared in advance. ¡°I¡¯m not here for pleasantries or gloating, Jonaleth.¡± ¡°Oh? Then why are you here?¡± Jonaleth asks with a glimmer of curiosity. ¡°And who is this delicious-looking slice of red, exactly?¡± ¡°We work together,¡± he deflects lightly. He is not giving Jonaleth any information at all about what it is they¡¯re working on. He does not need Jonaleth feeding information back to his likely chain of contacts, back to the Talons. ¡°So. Let¡¯s take a tally. You¡¯re in here for a long time, Jonaleth. You¡¯re not a juvenile. You¡¯re in the doghouse with people harder and more dangerous than you.¡± He places the listings of the charges. Jonaleth doesn¡¯t even gaze at the writing, and instead peers right at James. ¡°You know something, James? You¡¯re still a weakling, doing another weakling¡¯s bidding. Drenar didn¡¯t have the balls to come in here to talk to me, face to face? He sent you?¡± ¡°I came in here because I¡¯m of a gentler persuasion,¡± he replies, and taps the display calmly. Jonaleth is clearly fishing for a reaction he¡¯s not giving him the grace of. ¡°I want to know how to reach out to the Talons.¡± ¡°Have you looked around? They¡¯re everywhere. Your stunt out in Jersey last night made the news here in the mage world, and people across the rest of the world are asking questions,¡± Jonaleth sneered, fingers tensed on the desk. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t come to me with just to try to find the Talon''s bases of operation. You want something more.¡± ¡°We can start by finding a lair of scum and villainy to wipe out, with a well-placed air strike,¡± James responded. ¡°See, here¡¯s the thing. Compared to others in here, you have a shot of getting out of here while you¡¯re young. Cooperating with authorities, makes those odds go way up.¡± ¡°Talons tried to gut me twice in here, I know things,¡± Jonaleth sighed. ¡°I know things important enough they¡¯d try to kill me. Guess Val wasn¡¯t screwing around with cleanup duty this time.¡± ¡°Let me pose a question for you, Jonaleth.¡± James closes the tablet, waiting for a signal from Joey. so far, she hasn¡¯t said a word. And Jonaleth gazes at her in curiosity, then back at James. ¡°Do you want to be on the right side of history?¡± Jonaleth smirks at that comment, and leans back in his chair. ¡°I have something you want. No. I have something you need. Don¡¯t I? I can take an educated guess on what it is. And the price on this one, is more than you can bear.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t heard me offer anything yet, Jonaleth¨C¡± ¡°But your presence speaks louder than words.¡± He leans in, across the table, and whispers softly. ¡°I know where King is. It¡¯s the only reason you¡¯re here. It¡¯s the reason you¡¯re so desperate to get an answer. How¡¯s your sister, by the way? Is she doing alright? Not being rendered as a corpse, right now? I heard Val tried to do her in at Asqualia. People talked. She¡¯s kind of a freak, isn¡¯t she? And she¡¯s on a time limit now.¡± Joey grabs his arm before James lurches across the table, and James never stops glaring at Jonaleth, with that stupid smirk on his face. ¡°Yeah, I thought so. You need me.¡± ¡°You seem well informed for someone in prison,¡± Joey interjects, and James takes the cue to calm his instantly rushed heart rate. ¡°Yeah. I was also told an orphan boy had picked up a psionic. I guess that¡¯s you, since you¡¯ve been sitting there calmly the whole time,¡± he shrugged, and James internally cursed. Jonaleth was too many steps ahead of them. He needed to regain control of this. And he was going to do something he absolutely despised, and throw the calculus out the window. ¡°Jonaleth, you want to live through this crisis? Join the Luminaires.¡± Vol. 3, Ch. 163: Deal With A Dragon--Devil, Whatever! Part Two ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± Joey gasped. Even Jonaleth was taken aback at this bold move by James, as he rapidly did the math. ¡°If you want to understand why, Jonaleth, tune in, shut up, and pay attention. Joey, relay me,¡± James stated flatly and motioned for instant silence. {Try not to fry Jonaleth¡¯s brain, either. At least we know the suppressors don¡¯t impact your psionics.} {Uh, I¡¯m pretty sure that I can¡¯t do that. Maybe I could give him recurring bed-wetting tendencies?} She messaged back. James scowled at her. {Okay, snark time over. SAF is about to roll on us, or they¡¯ve been paid off by the Talons. I am getting heeby-jeeby bad vibes. Joey, reach out, and see how many people are outside the door right now.} He glanced over to the courtyard, which was empty now, and he knew something was wrong. Jonaleth raises his eyebrow in the two seconds. Joey¡¯s eyes widen. {Six guys. They¡¯re waiting for us to open the door. I¡¯m out of range of Drenar, shit! We¡¯re on our own!} ¡°What are you two doing?¡± {Joey, relay to him that Talons soldiers, or corrupt SAF, are about to roll in on us. And we need to move fast.} He focused on Jonaleth and slid the pad to him. ¡°Give me a map.¡± ¡°What?! What kind of game is¨C¡± he stops, and his eyes widen as Joey relays the information, and Jonaleth groans. ¡°Are you two serious?¡± {Alright, I¡¯m trying to relay to you both,} Joey relays to them, and Jonaleth gapes his mouth, but stays silent. {James, we need to armor up. We need to get that collar off of Jonaleth if we want a shot out of here.} ¡°You two are out of your mind, why would I help¨C¡± {Dude, shut your pie hole. The calculus has changed, and there are definitely SAF who think giving us to the Ravagers, is killing two dragons with one stone.} Joey¡¯s intense glare at Jonaleth got him to shut up, and all his plans of trolling them instantly fell on their face. Jonaleth put his finger to the tablet and started tapping out a rough sketch. After a few seconds in this now awkwardly silent room, Jonaleth finished his hasty trace, and pointed out the spots. James made sure the camera was obstructed by looking at his back, and he talked in a hushed whisper. ¡°Jonaleth, I¡¯m gonna ask you one profane question. Can you live with taking directions from Drenar?¡± ¡°Because if you don¡¯t, I will personally melt your scaly hide to organic components, and I have the knowledge for it,¡± Joey bristled. James wisely put up a hand of restraint. Jonaleth sighed and signed the rooms. ¡°Check gate, thirty meters down. Mage steel bars, three guys manning it. You aren¡¯t busting out of here alive, they have autobows. Suppressor systems will keep me from transforming¨C¡± ¡°And we have a deadly alchemist and power armor, and Drenar is in a shit-kicking mood down the row. The lack of alarms and relative peace indicates that the fireworks haven¡¯t started yet,¡± James whispered. ¡°Did King leave you a contingency?¡± Jonaleth spends three seconds looking back and forth between the two of them, ice-cold eyes doing ice cold math. He looks toward the table and lets out a quiet exhale before nodding. ¡°I know how to find King. Or at least, reach him. But why?¡± ¡°We think he¡¯s on his own side with some calling to a greater good, even if he¡¯s working on team villain. And I hate myself for saying that,¡± James whispered. ¡°You in, or you gonna take your chances with the kill squad outside?¡± ¡°Third try¡¯s the charm,¡± Jonaleth whispered back. ¡°How¡¯s red here with her grace?¡± ¡°It ain¡¯t my first party killing Talons scum,¡± Joey responds quietly. ¡°James, if they¡¯re SAF, and they¡¯re corrupt¨C¡± ¡°Light ''em up. Anyone who takes a shot at us is fair game. Regardless of uniform¨C¡± James stopped when he heard an intercom click. ¡°We¡¯re going to need you to put your hands on the table. You¡¯re being detained,¡± the female attendant from earlier spoke into a hidden intercom. But, James spotted it, and pointed to a narrow observation window. ¡°Bold of you to assume you have any grounds to detain us. Explain.¡± Internally, he relayed an idea to Joey. {Adhesive sticky on the window port. Fuse the lock on the door. I¡¯ll fry the suppressor system to get our war dragon out of here.} ¡°Someone has been waiting for you to make this move, Luminaires,¡± that woman said, with a chilly voice. ¡°Someone keenly interested in finishing the job he started, six years ago.¡± ¡°Let me guess. The hulking titan who kills people for money or fun,¡± James stated acidly. He could hear shuffling outside the door. ¡°Wow. I guess at the rate we¡¯re going, we¡¯re going to have to fight the whole goddamn world, to pull a win out of this.¡± The woman wiped away the makeup on her face to reveal a manic, Glasgow grin, and James could see a smear of blood inside the room¨Clikely, where the real guards were probably dead already. ¡°Yeah, we got here a little while ago. Getting meat for the meat grinder is actually pretty easy. All we have to tell these pathetic vermin, who are desperate to get out, is a good fight against a corrupt system. But with you on the menu, Davos couldn¡¯t resist breaking some norms. The staff here weren''t as keen on rolling over this time. So, they had to go."Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. {Well, at least they¡¯re making it easy to justify violence,} Joey thinks with an internal huff audible to James and Jonaleth. He hits his armor at the same time as Joey, and puts a spell barrier up. The woman inside laughs manically as James charges the armor with plasma energy¨Cone he¡¯s been able to start using for tactical options. He was at a disadvantage compared to Drenar, Julia, and Angela. He didn¡¯t have intricately powerful abilities baked in. He¡¯d learned how to channel and manipulate mana through two months of studying Levine¡¯s books, who had relied on such efforts himself, and preferred conventional enchanted items¨Cincluding his collection of firearms enhanced with magical imbuements. But he has a versatility they don¡¯t, having practice this mightily. ¡°Alright bitch, I¡¯m gonna lay this out in simple terms for your murkvine-addled brain: get out of our way, and you don¡¯t get stomped like the rest of your bloodthirsty killers.¡± The woman pulled out a pistol from a case, and grinned with yellowed teeth. ¡°The axe man will not be denied. Dragons and foxes will all die. We are legion, your fate is doomed. Your fate is sealed¨C James had heard enough of this manic singing from one deranged dragon already He lashed out with a coil of plasma energy at the suppressor device embedded in the wall. It would have been ineffective, if it was just his power¡­but with Kyle¡¯s magitech armor and the mana crystal-powered core, it shorted out the device in an instant. The woman frowned. ¡°That wasn¡¯t supposed to happen¨C¡± Joey blasted the door with a concussive canister that the doorframe off the hinges, and pinned the woman between the now bent frame, and the wall, out cold. She threw a binder agent at the door and fused it, and there was a banging at the door. ¡°Drenar, party¡¯s hot, enemies in friendly clothing! Check your fire, we need an extraction right now!¡± James barked into the radio, now that alarms, and mercs, were right upon them. He hauled Jonaleth to his feet to go into the adjacent room, down the hallway, and into a small service room. ¡°Jonaleth, I need your ass transformed, or we don¡¯t walk out of here!¡± ¡°The collar¨C¡± he pointed to it. ¡°It¡¯ll kill me if I try to tamper with it.¡± ¡°Yeah, really shitty design, too. Oh, would you look at that? Designed by Magitech Industries. What a revolving door industry,¡± Joey growled before James thrust as much stuff as he could against the previous doorway, to funnel the foes in. Joey in the meantime grabbed a canister and opened it slowly. ¡°Jonaleth, I need you to grow scales, can you do that?¡± ¡°I¨Cit¡¯s gonna hurt, the collar suppresses¨C¡± ¡°Just do it, so I don¡¯t melt a hole through your neck.¡± Jonaleth started shifting form, and spasmed, crying in pain as dusty red scales emerged. ¡°Fates, hurry up!¡± he pleaded, even as she worked with the chemical agent to separate the plating from the rest of the device. James clicked the radio again. ¡°Drenar, say again, we have Jonaleth but Ravagers are masquerading as SAF! They must have snuck people in or they were waiting for a sign!¡± He was greeted by the sound of autobow bolts and crackling plasma. ¡°James, get Jonaleth out of there! Ravagers just pulled up in multiple armored transports outside and SAF just let them waltz through! I¡¯m gonna mount skulls on walls by the time this day is done! Radios are only working locally, we can¡¯t reach the rest of the team!¡± ¡°Drenar, Davos is on his way!¡± James shouted. There was a pause while Jonaleth shouted in pain. ¡°Okay, two things, is Joey torturing Jonaleth?¡± ¡°Not intentionally,¡± James groused, while preparing for that incoming wave of soldiers with a rune trap on the door. One that should activate one of Joey¡¯s deadly alchemical canisters and make a barbeque out of anyone pursuing. ¡°What¡¯s the second thing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m killing Davos before we leave here. That bastard does not leave here alive.¡± ¡°Drenar, do not let your hatred of this man cloud your judgment! Your mother split him in half, and he walked it off!¡± James screamed into the radio. The door finally gives way distantly, and Jonaleth is digging his claws into the desk, shredding into the cheaply made fiberwood as Joey melts down the collar. It finally pops, and he flings it off and grabs his neck, groaning. ¡°Fates it burns¨C¡± ¡°Jonaleth, move your hands!¡± Joey shouts out before tossing a powder against the liquid, instantly neutralizing it, and he collapses on the floor, utterly spent. ¡°James, cover me! We need to follow up on the access hallway and find a way out! Levine and Nick have one-time-use pads, I¡¯ll get Jonaleth moving!¡± ¡°Do not let that savage asshole die, before I can kill him for this mess,¡± James shoots back with more acid in his tone than her alchemical rounds. He takes cover and waits for the inevitable blast. He doesn¡¯t have to wait too long, because shrapnel and debris pepper past his cover, and there are a few blood-curdling screams. ¡°Luminaires are not contained, send backup, east accessway!¡± someone shouts out, presumably one of the more competent men. James prepares a blast of frost and builds an obstacle course along the narrow hallway, dodging autobow shows and feeling a few rounds ping off his arcane barriers. He¡¯s somewhat envious of Drenar, who can eat machine gun fire when he¡¯s in his dragon form, but a few rounds almost fully burst down his barrier before he dives into the connecting hallway, papers flying from a small office area that is being given an impromptu demolition, and he fires back a blast of fire that cooks one person too slow to dodge past his icicle course. The resulting steam blast sears additional foes behind him, and James feels the heat even at this distance. Joey is hobbling Jonaleth, still feeling the effects of the collar, and he¡¯s trying to transform. ¡°James, that collar did more damage to him than I thought, he¡¯s not gonna be useful in a fight for a bit!¡± ¡°Just give me a regen potion, and I¡¯ll walk it off,¡± Jonaleth groaned in a throatier voice, with crimson wings emerging from his back. That¡¯s when James heard the clank of metal boots. Heavy boots. Prisoners were running about, now that the firefight had both distracted the corrupt SAF guards, and Ravager company agents were in the mix, shooting at everything that moved But that sound of boots filled him with dread like nothing else did, and he realized he''d froze for a split second. Just up the hallway, two guards were in a melee with a Ravager¨Capparently, not all of them were corrupt. But, it mattered little. There was a scream and a sound of fire¨Cand a metal-clad man with a thruster on his back cleaved through the two of them, and split them completely in half. A man easily over two meters tall, and wielding that axe. James hit the control on his mana crystals for a dangerous overdrive attack. Joey gasped, hand to her mouth at the extreme violence. Jonaleth grimaced as he tried to finish transforming. And Davos grinned, as he pointed his bloodied axe at Joey. ¡°I was looking for the bitch with the sword. But you¡¯re a worthy consolation prize, Joey.¡± Vol. 3, Ch. 164: This Just Became A Horror Film Five minutes before things go wrong, like usual¡­ Drenar knew something was amiss. Something was not right with the way the guards were lurking around. And his danger sense had been tingling in overdrive ever since they got to the prison facility, a hop, skip, and a beat away from Washington, DC. He knew that his current global travels were setting some kind of speed record he was not proud of, and he eyes Levine peering around. At the guards at the booth in the waiting area, to the surveillance cameras, to the auspiciously quiet courtyard of prisoners. He paced by the window, in his armor, and glanced outside. ¡°How many are in here?¡± he asks finally. Levine grunts and stands beside him, peering out at the row of inmates being filed back in after a brief recess outside. ¡°About twelve hundred. Give or take. Overcrowded, actually. I think this facility is only meant to take about eight hundred.¡± It¡¯s the way Levine keeps doing casual glances out of the corner of his eyes that sets Drenar off. ¡°Something¡¯s wrong, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Guards rotated in, just after we were cleared at that facility entrance. I see additional vehicles parked on the far side, outside the gate. And they¡¯ve been here since before we got here.¡± He taps impatiently on the strap on his sidearm holster. ¡°And, they let us keep our weapons. The first rule of any prison facility is, that you never let weapons in.¡± ¡°We¡¯re the Luminaires, and we get to keep our guns. I¡¯ve been in two firefights inside a day, Levine,¡± he states impatiently and rubs at a bruise on his cheek. ¡°This is getting so messed up, how bad are the optics on our stint in Jersey?¡± ¡°Bad. I was led to believe that the containment team was not able to contain all the witnesses, there¡¯s going to be follow-up work,¡± Levine explains. ¡°We didn¡¯t make that scenario. Val did. This kind of chaos, works in her favor. Because they can work regardless of the blowback on exposure of the magical world to the masses.¡± ¡°Feels like we¡¯re playing with a distinct disadvantage.¡± he lets out a measured exhale, trying to ignore the stinging sensation of partially healed wounds. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m cut out for this, Levine. All our plans fall apart in an instant.¡± ¡°If we had arrived any later at Rick¡¯s residence, we would have missed that opportunity forever and lost Rick¡¯s trust for good. We did the right thing. We can¡¯t plan for the Talon''s every move, or their disregard of safety or rules. But we must react accordingly, and proportionally. Dragons flying through the sky was probably not a great move. Even in the dead of night.¡± ¡°Like I care. You guys have been living under a delusion this was ever going to stay under wraps. And the conclave¨C¡± he glances at the guards, still paying attention nearby, and pauses for a moment. How many were there now, lingering around? He clicks the radio on his armband. It should function, even with Joey¡¯s and James¡¯s sets not activated. ¡°Guys, give me a sit-rep. Do we have Jonaleth talking yet?¡± Silence was his answer. That tingle of dread is still present. He clicks again. ¡°Guys, pick up.¡± Now it¡¯s discomforting silence. He glances over to Levine, who has his hand on his sidearm, and Nick is tuned in and walks over calmly after Drenar does a subtle nod. Levine speaks up first. ¡°Drenar, this move could have been anticipated. King is either baiting us with this after getting Rick. Or Val knows Jonaleth is a direct link to them, and is cleaning up. Why she waited this long to kill him, is beyond me.¡± He speaks barely above a whisper. Drenar notes the guard''s weapon holster is unbuckled now, on his thigh. And he rubs at his neck uneasily, and then, Drenar sees it. A hint of a tattoo on his neck, just below the opening of his uniform. ¡°Hey uh, I¡¯m about to do something really stupid, or something really genius. Follow my lead.¡± Nick also is clued in with a subtle head nod. There¡¯s a sense of dread building. How had Val gotten to Rick¡¯s place so fast? How had the Ravagers trailed Amaranth so quickly? It was like they were anticipating their every move, somehow. Amaranth had been dumb luck, maybe. But Rick¡­if someone in their organization was spilling information to the Talons¡­he shuddered to think about it. Not a single one of his friends would have ever done that. Every single one of them was united in a common cause: they¡¯d all suffered loss at the hands of these monsters. There was no way it could be them. Nor, the Valkyries¨C He froze for a second. Kiera¡¯s warning. That she suspected one of their own had given up his father¡¯s location. Kiera had dismissed it as impossible, that the Valkyries were incorruptible¡­but were they? Either way, he¡¯s about to find out something, based on what he saw earlier yesterday. Alex. I need you to go do your ghosty thing. See that guy? He has a tattoo partially obscured on his neck. One slightly disenfranchised dragon, at your service! The device instantly powered up and Drenar felt the lightest of breezes on his skin as Alex materialized, and spooked the guard, who jumped backward. ¡°Whoa, what the hell is that?¡± he screamed, and the other guards took notice as Alex swooped around on the short range of the tether, while Drenar drew close. ¡°Oh this guy is a giant pain, he gets out sometimes. Alex, you¡¯re in the doghouse!¡± Drenar feigned with annoyance, while the guard followed Alex twirling around. ¡°It¡¯s aether energy, a projection. Utterly harmless! That said, this drakensoul of mine, is a bit more harmful to my nerves. He sings when I¡¯m trying to sleep.¡± Alex flashed a toothy grin. ¡°He¡¯s just a poor boy, from a broken family, spare him his life from this monstrosity! Now where¡¯s my vocals?! I was promised backup singers for this one!¡± ¡°The hell you say?¡± the guard stammered, turning his back to Drenar for just a second too long. Drenar could see it. That skeletal sigil on his neck, that he had seen just last night. Remari flew into his hand by his telekinetic retrieval, and he grabbed the man, kicked out his knee, and put the knife to his throat. The guards had been too distracted by Alex, who was now wearing a furious glare. ¡°Looks like you were right, Drenar.¡± ¡°Ravagers, stand down,¡± Drenar stated with ice-cold contempt, as the men scrambled for their weapons, and the man in his grasp squirmed. He was no match for his strength. ¡°Guessing you¡¯ve been waiting for the right moment, huh?" One man had been reaching for a pistol tucked into a boot, and froze after Levine and Nick drew their weapons. He leered at all of them, hand hovering over the weapon, his other hand on a radio. ¡°You have no idea who you¡¯ve pissed off, you goddamn lizard. You should have died in the depths of Asqualia, because it would have been a mercy, compared to what¡¯s coming for you.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Where¡¯s the rest of the staff? You kill them, too?¡± Drenar demands, icy fury running through his veins. That man grinned madly, and laughed in a mocking tone, shrill and uncontrolled. ¡°We¡¯re everywhere, Rashalda. We¡¯re the guys who get the jobs done that the Conclave can¡¯t be seen having hands-on. When an atrocity is called for¡­we deliver,¡± he grinned. ¡°We knew you¡¯d come for Jonaleth eventually. We left him alive for this purpose.¡± ¡°So Ravagers, Talons, and the Conclave are all sides of the same demonic dice, huh?¡± He growls. ¡°That tracks. You think I won¡¯t tear apart the mage world, until I find the person on top? For what they¡¯ve done to my friends? To me, personally?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t have to look far,¡± the man grinned, clicked the radio, and screamed out a distress call. ¡°Luminaires uncontained, send¨C¡± He never finishes his statement because Drenar flings Remari dead-center for his throat, stopping the man¡¯s warning a smidge too late, and delivering a plasma shock to the one right next to his temple, dropping the man. The man gurgling on Remari doesn¡¯t have to hold onto the dagger for long as he grapples it back. Nick and Levine had already taken cues and fired on the two remaining men, who dropped onto the floor, dead from effective shots. Distantly, Drenar hears an alarm going off, joined by several more. ¡°Fates damn it if I find out someone¡¯s been reporting our movements, their ass is dead,¡± he snarls before hopping over the counter and finding a healthy stack of weapons. He unfurls his autobow and loads a magazine. ¡°Close quarters, we get Jonaleth, we get out!¡± ¡°Radio¡¯s are out¨Chang on.¡± Levine leans down to grab the radio, and pries open the casing to pull out a small SD card and inserts it into a port on Drenar¡¯s wrist display. ¡°Try now.¡± What he got as a response was that Joey and James were in a panic situation, and they were rudely interrupted by more corrupted staff that had no qualms about adding themselves to the growing body count, while he was trying to make a call. All he does know is that after they care of nasty business and that the Ravagers were indeed in the building, and likely killed several guards and taken their uniforms, or were undercover agents. After telling them to get Jonaleth the hell out, and that Davos is here, Drenar is dashing up the corridors, fighting past panicking inmates, who he disperses with telekinetics and plasma at a low capacity so he doesn¡¯t fry the poor souls. ¡°Drenar, slow down!¡± Nick screams out. ¡°We need to wait for backup!¡± ¡°Joey and James can¡¯t hold their own in a firefight of this scale, even as good as they are! We need to move!¡± More guards get in his way, with hastily stamped ravagers markings. Now that stealth is out of the picture, they are making sure they don¡¯t kill their own. It makes it easy to pick them out of a crowd and know who he can put in a body bag without remorse, considering a few guards with slit throats he dashes past. He can¡¯t help them, now. But he can get Jonaleth out of here. This prison campus is sheer chaos. The sterile white walls, black tiles, and prism-shaped and uninspiring walls and black bars are now stained with violence. Craters where violent impacts occurred. Mage fire. Bodies being left in poses indicating they¡¯d been subject to the worst hands of humanity, battering their physical forms. All the while, he keeps pushing. A burst of gunfire nearly mows him down when he skids backward¨Cthe Ravagers are setting up gunnery positions, and trying to hold the fort. He decides that the area¡¯s big enough for a size upgrade, and he shifts to his dragon form, and clamps down the quick-fold helmet that came with the armor. Getting shot in the head is still going to hurt, armor scales or not. ¡°Stay in cover wait till I draw fire!¡± he barks out before charging into the fray. He has to applaud the Ravagers only a tiny bit¨Cthey are efficient killers, judging by the strewn bodies on the floor, they were a cut above the Talons. When he teleported into their midst, he was a fury of claws, a smashing tail, and surging plasma that left no men standing. ¡°Drenar, you¡¯re being reckless!¡± Nick screamed out and nearly got his head taken off by an autobow bolt pinging so close that it flared his arcane barrier from a distant corridor. ¡°Don¡¯t run off and be in a hurry to die!¡± But he can hear Joey and James nearby with his sensitive ears, amidst the chaos of the firefights. They¡¯re in a large area smeared with destruction, and the Ravagers are thinner in number, and fall to return fire by a few of the noncorrupted guards, who amazingly, don¡¯t shoot at the pissed-off azure and silver-scaled dragon. ¡°SAF, we¡¯re friendlies! I need a sit rep, where is the visiting area?¡± ¡°You guys Luminaires?!¡± one woman with short blond hair gasped. ¡°Some of the guys started marking their uniforms, I knew something bad was going down. There are more of us pinned down in lockdown areas! Radio has been spotty, I think the Ravagers are using some kind of jamming magitech!¡± ¡°They have SD chips that allow them to communicate. Our radio''s are hindered but it works for the moment. Stay here, radio for backup, and call the Valkyries!¡± Levine barked out. He picks up a discarded long rifle, and gives it a grim look. ¡°How long were the Ravagers planning this?¡± ¡°Must have been several weeks. New guys were showing up, after the attacks two months ago across the global teleportal platforms. I think some of our guys were trading prisoners for cash,¡± the woman snarled. Even a few of the inmates were now cowering and trying to stay out of the fight in this room. ¡°Booths for talking with inmates was down and to the left, whoever you¡¯re here for, get them out of here, fast!¡± ¡°Will do!¡± Drenar straightened his lithe body and kept his armor powered up with maximum barriers, and proceeded to clear a path through the remaining Ravagers, who were firing everything they had. It wasn¡¯t until he got to a large cafeteria that he saw Joey and James rounding a corner on a monitor, very close by. But, before he could call out to them, screams and a gruesome slice of flesh interrupted him. Just ahead, on the monitor, he looked on with horror as a metal-clad man over two meters tall, and wearing massive armor, shredded through two people with a single swing of his axe. Every bit of fear was realized when Davos called out to Joey and James, still trying to drag Jonaleth to safety. ¡°I was looking for the bitch with the sword. But you¡¯re a worthy consolation prize, Joey.¡± ¡°Joey, get out of there and run!¡± Drenar screams out into the radio, pushing past resistance and rioting prisoners alike, with Levine screaming for him to not rush headlong into danger. He rounds the corner in a skid of talons and sees Davos stalking toward James and Joey, and he flings out a telekinetic lasso that should crush that man easily. But it barely budges him, and Davos swerves to face the new threat, with Joey calling out to Drenar. But he ignores it. He charges telekinetics to his claws, and levels the dragon-sized autobow he¡¯s been waiting to use. ¡°Davos Renshrak. Drop the axe.¡± That man with the coal black eyes gives him a haggard grin, and hefts the axe to a readied position. ¡°You have the look of someone I''ve orphaned, little lizard. It''s in the eyes, you know." "Must happen a lot, for the amount of people you slaughter on daily basis." Something reads wrong with this man, in the same soul-sickening way that Valosterla does, but worse. "Drop the weapon. Last chance." Davos laughs mockingly at this. "You know what? Come to think of it, I¡¯ve seen one other azure and silver mix in my time. You happen to be related?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the son of Victor One, Davos. I''m the leader of the Luminaires. The one who went up against Valosterla, and came out alive." He raises his weapon. Davos has a theoretical mages arsenal housed inside his armor, he is by far the most dangerous foe he''s ever gone up against. ¡°The son of Trisha Rashalda? The woman who put me at deaths'' door?" That feeling of malice increases in the room tenfold, and Drenar can feel that crawling sensation against his scales. Something twists on Davos'' face that looks like something is wearing him. A shadow that defies light. "That fucking whore signed the death warrant of every child she''s ever sired, so why don¡¯t you take your best shot¨C¡± He does take his best shot, with a supercharged, plasma-enhanced bolt from the massive autobow that he¡¯d pulled out of Nick¡¯s pack. It skewers through Davos¡¯s barrier, and punches a hole through his armor¨Cand him. Drenar waits for the man to fall¡­ ¡­and doesn¡¯t. Davos looks at the wound, eyes darkened. And then, something comes to life in them¨Ca grim, bloody aura surrounds that hulking menace, and his eyes alight with a dull crimson color. Davos grins maniacally and takes a readied stance. And speaks with a maddening slither to his words, which is an affront to the world itself. ¡°Valkyries and Luminares, my oh my! Just squishy flesh and strained screams, as you die!¡± ¡°Drenar?! This just became a horror film!¡± James screams out. He¡¯s not inclined to disagree, for once. Vol. 3, Ch. 165: A Monster Masquerading As A Human ¡°Well Drenar, this plan failed,¡± Alex commented angrily in a wisp of silvery light. ¡°Watch the axe, you can¡¯t afford to take a two-year coma!¡± ¡°Get Jonaleth out of here and run! Nick, Levine, clear out the minions while I deal with Davos!¡± Drenar barked out, and everyone swung into motion. But Davos had already settled on his prize, and leered at Jonaleth, a manic grin behind that pale blue magitech visor. ¡°Should have known we should have killed you when we had the chance. Val didn¡¯t want to piss off King again after she murdered one of his best agents. But this will make for a cleaner story!¡± Davos pulled the oversized bolt from his chest, blood dripping from the wound, and threw the projectile to the floor, and those glistening red eyes bored into Jonaleth, who was terrified. ¡°We¡¯re all gonna die¨C¡± ¡°Shut it, naysayer!¡± Joey pulled out a compact launcher from her belt and fired off a canister at Davos. The canister air-bursted and coated that hulking menace in resin that rapidly expanded and hardened, and immobilized him in sticky foam. ¡°Drenar forget heroics, we need to run! Focus on the mission!¡± ¡°What about the prisoners, the guards¨C¡± ¡°If we don¡¯t find King, everyone dies!¡± She screamed out in fury, and he almost felt that forcible psionic impulse from her. She reloads the launcher while Davos struggles to move, and the resin cracks with one massive heave. ¡°Drenar, don¡¯t¨C¡± He¡¯d already made his decision. This man needed to die, or countless others would be slaughtered in his wake. He had already made it abundantly clear that the violence would continue until someone buried him. Drenar bowls into him, while Levine and Nick rush over to Joey, covering them quick-deploy spell barriers from a few devices they toss down. Davos crunches against the concrete wall, his axe clattering to the floor as the resin snaps and breaks with crumbles of that material. Drenar doesn¡¯t let up and uses his kinetically charged talons to cut through the armor, jarring his hand. That material is tough to cut through, and this man grabs his arm, holding him at bay. Drenar looked on in disbelief as that man in oversized armor leered at him, that face slithering with something vile beneath the skin. ¡°Wanna hear how your dad died? Protecting his woman. Toughest Valkyrie bitch in the world, and he thought he could slow me down.¡± He grabs Drenar¡¯s other arm as he tries to claw at that monster in a metal can, and holds him at bay. Drenar felt the talons on his feet skidding and tearing trenches into the floor. ¡°Your father cooked himself alive trying to slow me down. It was utterly pathetic. He bought her maybe a handful of seconds as he burned his organs, destroyed his nerves, fragmented his crystalline lattice inside his body, all trying to save her.¡± Davos flexed inhumanly strengthened muscles. Hydraulics lifted with the arm, and crushed down on Drenar¡¯s arm. He put out a kinetic barrier to try to keep that crushing force from crunching through scales and bone, and Davos leered. Small arms fire continues in the room, as more Ravagers pour in. Drenar swept the man''s leg with his tail, trying to stagger him, but Davos was immutable and insanely strong. His hands burned from touching that metal armor, like there was something wrong with the way his claws gripped around that bright gold and silver armor, hiding the core of an utterly despicable human. He reared back his frost breath, and Davos seized the opportunity, breaking his grip and slamming Drenar through a support pillar. His blast of frost exhaled harmlessly into the ceiling, and part of the structure collapsed as he tumbled past the pillar, screeching in a scrape of talons. This man was not human. He flings out an arm, now that he¡¯s freed of Drenar¡¯s grapple, and that crimson, bloodied axe flies to his outstretched hand. ¡°And then, when your dad was on the ground, cooking in his own juices, I chopped your whore of a mother¡¯s arm off, and crushed it beneath my boot. I stood there, while I watched her lie on the ground, screaming.¡± Davos laughed maniacally, while gunfire and autobows flew through the air. "She never begged for mercy. Toughest foe I''ve ever fought, her title is well earned." ¡°Drenar, stop it!¡± Joey screamed out, even as Nick and Levine unfurled the one-time-use teleportal pad behind some makeshift cover. ¡°Get out of there!¡± Davos leered and pointed his axe at Drenar. He was going to need to go all out here against this monster, there was no choice. Davos could kill every single person in this room, and he knew it, as he spoke. ¡°Then, that bitch damn near sliced me in half, from my balls to my throat. While missing an arm. That is the true peak of power, Rashalda, something you¡¯ll never have!¡± Davos hefted that axe with all his might, and Drenar barely deflected it in time with telekinetics. The massive blade sliced through another support column and the ceiling groaned from the overload reaching a critical state. Drenar skidded to the side as the debris rained down, pinging off his scales, and Davos reached out and the axe flew back to his hand, like the worlds most demented boomerang. ¡°I had Valkyries scouring the world for me for a long time, kid. That bitch was not worth the trouble I was paid to manage, and killed almost sixty of my men. Four dragons, fifty-plus personnel, and a bunch of vehicles, she slaughtered them with the same zeal I did! Your mother was a ruthless killer, just like me,¡± Davos snarled, eyes alight with malevolent intent. He was done listening to this monster and lashed out with a plasma grapple, trying to overwhelm that man¡¯s armor and trying to bind him in place. He heaved with all his superhuman might and used his telekinetics to smash that man into the ground, skidding across the floor, and through a support column. Davos merely laughed like a demon through the partial collapse of the floor above, and sunlight started filtering through the massive, twisting debris as part of the room collapsed. The prisoners had been lucky to avoid the area, but a few of the Ravagers had not. Debris piled down on them, and they screamed.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Drenar knew there was only one way to kill this man¨Ctear the bastard¡¯s head off. But Davos would not be easily deterred, and ignited the thruster on his back, screaming at Drenar like a human missile armed with a deadly blade. He pivoted and smacked Davos mid-air, deflecting the blow so that it was just barely deflected by his arcane barrier, but it still left him reeling from the impact. If his arcane barrier hadn¡¯t held, it would have taken his arm clean off. Davos rolled across the floor and was up in an instinct, and nimbly dodged another plasma grapple. ¡°Drenar we¡¯re almost set! Fall back now, you stupid, stubborn teen!¡± Joey shouted out, even as she opened fire on more Ravagers in the hastily spray-marked armor. Blood and ammo casings were littering the floor beneath Drenar¡¯s clawed feet, and the violence of this increasingly devastated room was sickening. The prisoners had fared badly, and he regretted that backup wasn¡¯t coming. Davos was there in an instant, cleaving down with all his might, and Drenar, even with his telekinetics, barely held that axe at bay, with his claws, grappled around the haft. A man his size was stronger than a dragon, and blackened spittle frothed from his lips. ¡°You¡¯re nothing like your mother, kid. And when I¡¯m done with you? Your friends are gonna die, one at a time. You, the Luminaires, those pesky Valkyries? Everyone will bow to the Gilded Empress, or be crushed before her!¡± Davos landed a kick that nearly toppled him, with his tail barely keeping him from falling over. He used the maneuver to swipe laterally, keeping him at bay. Joey was still pleading not to die for a lost cause, and he was grimly aware he needed one weapon to end this man, one that was in Angela¡¯s hands right now: Luminari. Davos opened a port on his arm, and Drenar swerved to avoid the glowing flechettes. They impacted errantly into the wall and the floor, and detonated in bursts of blue energy. Shrapnel pinged off his scales and one lucky piece bit into his flank. Davos smashed him aside with inhuman strength, bearing down with the axe, even as Drenar raked a lucky blow that tore through the armor on his shoulder and neck, shearing through it. Blackened blood dripped from the wound, and Davos was undeterred, bearing down with all that armored weight, while Drenar scrabbled to keep that deadly execution axe away from his body. It glowed with an unnatural light¨C Just like Val¡¯s sword. Davos leaned in, putting all his weight in, and autobow bolts and fireballs pinged off his armor, in a desperate attempt to dislodge him. Those broken, stained teeth break into a leering grin, while he desperately tries to keep from becoming a dead dragon, despite his strength. Davos bore down, bleeding, and leered at him with a manic grin. ¡°And after I¡¯m done with you, I¡¯m going to go kill that little slip of red that wandered in here, against monsters who can eat her in one whole bite. I¡¯ll carry a memento of Joey, when I strip her down for all the world to see in her furry, mangy, ugliness, and I¡¯m going to make her into a pelt. The humiliation will be televised, and when I¡¯m done having my fun with her, I¡¯m going to feed her to my dogs. They sure do love their meals with an extra dose of rats¨C¡± Fury coursed through Drenar in an instant, his blood boiling with a surge of mana the likes of which he¡¯d never felt. He screamed in rage and charged everything he had into his telekinetics, shoving the axe aside at the last second, and it clipped into his shoulder, shearing through scales and muscle. But Davos had made a fatal error, and Drenar capitalized on it by grabbing him, and piercing through him with his kinetically charged claws into that narrow, exposed section by his neck, and tore him open brutally. A spray of blackened blood gushed from the wound, and Davos staggered back. It was enough of an opening for Drenar to blast him backward with a charged kinetic burst, collapsing another pillar and sending him through a wall, where a pile of debris fell onto him. He grasped at that cut on his shoulder, and could feel the fiery might of something burning through him already. ¡°Joey, teleportal, get it running¨C¡± She dashed over to him past the gunfire, meeting him halfway as his arcane barrier pinged hits from small munitions, and coated the wound with a canister of green liquid. He nearly retched, the pain was so intense, and screamed. He hadn¡¯t screamed in pain in a long time, but this was bad, and he staggered. ¡°Just a scrape, if it was manticore venom like I think it was with your mom, that should neutralize it!¡± Joey insisted, and had to guide him to the spinning teleportal where Levine, Nick, and the others were waving them on urgently. ¡°C¡¯mon Drenar, keep moving, we¡¯re almost there!¡± A shattering of stone and twisting metal got Drenar¡¯s attention, and they both looked on in horror as that metal-clad menace shoved aside the debris. An eerie slithering sound filled the air, and Drenar held his head. That maddening noise spiked through his brain like hot daggers, and even Joey almost fell to the ground, screaming. But that wasn¡¯t the worst part. Drenar dared to look at that fatal wound stitching together with shadowy black tendrils that erupted from the flesh like a tumorous mass, and the partially lopsided neck of Davos righted himself, and grinned. ¡°You can¡¯t kill me, dragon-kin. Not even your fates-damned mother could kill me, Rashalda.¡± The words Davos uttered were an affront to reality, screeching nails on a blackboard, and Davos grabbed his axe, stalking toward them. ¡°You and your pathetic friends can run, but me and Val will find you. We¡¯ll find your hidden goddess, and we¡¯ll drain her dry, and the Gilded Empress won¡¯t have to hide in plain sight anymore.¡± He drew a ragged breath and pushed Joey aside. ¡°Get Jonaleth out of here alive¨C¡± A thud of talons scraping across the ground and burnt orange scales caught Drenar¡¯s eye, and he turned to stare at Jonaleth, staggered, and winding up with a closed, clawed fist. ¡°Drenar, get back.¡± He could feel the charge of mana in the air, and the earth rumbled and cracked. Polished, stained tiling split open, as the earth opened up, and Jonaleth smashed down a fist, and a fissure opened through the room, catching a few of the Ravagers off-guard. The displaced earth blocked Davos, who cleaved through it in frustration, but the terrain was impassable, and he started bashing away the debris. ¡°Drenar, move your ass! You wanna live to see the end of this, move!¡± Jonaleth screamed at him with all the fury of a Valencian Red. It shook Drenar to his senses, and he stumbled forward, with Jonaleth and Joey¡¯s assistance. ¡°Everyone, five seconds!¡± Levine screamed out, firing futilely at Davos who was slowly bashing his way past the ruined room, but the bullets from his rifle were ineffective. Nick loosed a torrent of fire that should have cooked that man, but Davos laughed in a shrill, manic tone. Val had been using the same tone, delusional as she was, in the power core of Asqualia. Drenar shot one last scathing look at Davos, his talons on the teleportal platform and wrapping his body protectively around Joey, and he pointed a clawed finger at that monster. ¡°The Luminaires always find a way, Davos. And we will find a way to stop you.¡± "You can''t stop what''s coming, Rashalda. No one can." The world flashed with white, as the prison, and the carnage, were replaced by shocked faces of SAF and Valkyries in Nick¡¯s barn, and someone screamed for a medic. He slumped, and finally noticed the searing pain in his arm, and the nauseous feeling that was seeping into the pit of his stomach. Davos had fractured a bone with his inhuman strength, and he broke down, in tears. He¡¯d been utterly powerless to stop the monsters, this time. Vol. 3, Ch. 166: Collect Call With A Villain, Part One ¡°You stubborn idiot!¡± Joey fumed at Drenar for being reckless beyond reproach after they had all received medical care, and it was several hours later. Drenar¡¯s arm was in a sling, and it was going to remain that way for at least a few days. ¡°All you had to do was fall back! Instead, you tried to take on the most murderous son of a bitch on on the planet, for what?!" "Someone has to stop him--" "You could have gotten killed doing something that stupid! What were you thinking?!¡± She knew exactly what he was thinking, more worryingly, and that Davos got to him. He¡¯d taunted him, waved the death of his father, and near-death of his mother, right in front of his face. And Drenar had taken the bait¨Chook, line, and sinker. Nick and Levine had also taken light wounds, Jonaleth was lucky he wasn¡¯t dead, and the few prisoners who had managed to scrape and cower with them, along with a few brave guards, were all in need of more urgent medical treatment. And the dragon in front of her, his feather mane all frazzled, let out a sigh. ¡°Not telling me anything I haven''t already kicked myself for, Joey. But I was the only person in the room who had a shot of holding him off, and I did.¡± he ran his good hand through the feather mane, grimacing. ¡°You can take it to the bank, I will never let that man get under my scales¨Cer, skin, whatever¨Cagain.¡± ¡°Drenar, our whole plan was reckless. We should have brought the full team!¡± Joey pointed out, annoyed that Angela, Jackie, Kelly, and the rest of their heavy hitters, were looking mighty pissed. ¡°You need to step up your game because if you don''t, we are all toast.¡± ¡°Okay! Message received, Joey. It''s not like we''ve been beaten on continuously for the past two days!¡± he stated with an air of annoyance. He turned to Jonaleth, who was also on a medical cot next to him, in Nick''s underground bunker. ¡°Thanks, by the way. I''m legit surprised you were willing to¨C¡± ¡°I was saving my own ass, Drenar,¡± Jonaleth snapped and pointed a clawed finger at him. ¡°You being dead, would have drastically decreased my survival odds. I acted in my own best interests. Not yours.¡± ¡°Prison didn''t make you any less of an asshole, it seems,¡± Jackie fumed beside Joey. She scoffed at that¨Cthere could only be one sassy redhead on this team, and it was going to be her. Jackie folded her arms and regarded Jonaleth like an unwanted guest. ¡°So, you''re our winning move? Did you know about the ambush¨C¡± ¡°No, Jackie,¡± Jonaleth sighed. ¡°I knew that the Ravagers might have contacts inside, but they hid their hand well. I should have known better when a few Talons agents got a shiv in the shower.¡± Joey took a quick peek into his thoughts, and was greeted by an internal sigh as well. {Psychic fox chick, I got nothing to hide in my head on this one. I feel you probing.} {Bullshit. You didn''t feel anything, you just guessed.} Jonaleth returned that crap-eating smirk. {You''re glaring hard enough at me to burn a hole through my scales,} Jonaleth retorted while staying silent. That didn¡¯t prevent the rest of the room from leering at him on occasion. It was a hostile crowd that did not share any love for him, at all. {I''m glaring at you because you almost killed my boyfriend the day I met him. Any attempt to become a repeat offender, means that I will harvest your corpse for alchemical reagents, as compensation. You''re quite valuable dead, you know,} she shot back with a savage grin. Jonaleth peered at her for a second, and then, looked at Drenar, who was still leering at his former nemesis. Jonaleth let out a low chuckle that eventually built into an uproarious laugh, and he pointed at Drenar while still cuffed to his gurney. ¡°Ahahaha, I knew it! You''re a closet furry, Drenar, and ya always have been! Fitting, because, you know, you''re kind of a freak of your own!¡± ¡°If I wasn''t being treated for being poisoned by manticore venom, Jonaleth, I¡¯d be making a necklace with your teeth,¡± Drenar shot back. ¡°Also, use that word one more time, and I¡¯ll let Julia loose on you.¡± ¡°I need your permission to beat him into paste again? I thought it was an on-demand kind of thing, seeing as you all almost got killed during this shitshow,¡± Julia snarled. Joey swore she could hear her creaking her knuckles in anticipation. ¡°Girl, if you don¡¯t, I''m gonna shut him up now,¡± Kelly threatened while cracking her knuckles, looking blonde and furious. ¡°My father is dead because of you Talon scum. My mom is a ghost of her former self.¡± ¡°Lavernius dug his own grave, from what I heard, Kelly,¡± Jonaleth countered. ¡°And you know that¡¯s true.¡± ¡°You motherfu¨C¡± ¡°Enough.¡± Joey peers at each of them with intensity she uses her authoritative voice, and everyone falls silent. ¡°Stop this childish bickering, before I dose you all.¡± ¡°Well, the fox has teeth,¡± Jonaleth mused with a toothy smirk. ¡°Guess we know who¡¯s wearing the pants in the relationship¨C¡± ¡°Oh, I wasn¡¯t done with you. You¡¯re alive because you have value, Jonaleth. Meanwhile, the mage world is tearing itself apart. We are on the threshold of a civil war, and when it happens again, guess what? There isn¡¯t going to be anywhere to hide. Not even your scaly ass will survive it,¡± Joey bristled. ¡°Okay, priorities. We need to find King.¡± ¡°No, we have bigger problems than King.¡± All eyes were on Drenar, and even Kiera turned to face him. ¡°Kiera, I¡¯m going to ask one question. What the hell is Davos?¡± ¡°Who he is, is an abomination that keeps slipping through the cracks,¡± she growled. ¡°By the time we got there, most of the remaining Ravagers were gone.¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t ask who. I asked what is he.¡± The silence was discomforting in the room, and Drenar pointed at her. ¡°You told me my mom gave a account of the trauma that man endured. Davos should have been dead and buried because of what Luminari did to him. Yet he¡¯s still alive. I put a plasma-charged bolt through his chest, and he ripped it out and grinned. I made him a fates-damned human pez dispenser, with his neck partially severed, and the wound stitched back together like some gruesome eldritch nightmare. What is he?!¡± That discomforting silence still lingered in the room, and he turned to Joey. ¡°Are there any monsters that¨C¡± ¡°No. None that should still exist.¡± Witnessing Drenar, even as powerful as he was, being fought to a standstill, and even losing against Davos, triggered her primal fear. She knew what Davos had done, before. He knew what she was, now. That thought left her trembling, and she sat down at a lab chair next to Drenar, gripping his good claw tightly. ¡°Lass, do you know something?¡± Levine asked, ever the calm presence in the room. ¡°I¡¯ve seen awful things before, what mages will do to their bodies oft-times, to make themselves more powerful. Runes stitched in human flesh. Dangerously overcharged on mana. Taking splices of other monster carapace, and trying to infuse it into their bodies. But this? I don¡¯t know of anything that I¡¯ve seen in twenty-five years, that can even come close to the unnatural, and impossible thing we just saw.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Me, too. I¡¯ve seen monsters of all kinds, but none that can replicate a human being and can do¡­that.¡± The weariness in Nick¡¯s voice set in stone that this foe was beyond a danger level even Valosterla couldn¡¯t attain. She took a slow breath. ¡°Guys, how many of you remember the lessons on mage history, back during the Schism Wars? Back when the dragon empire was splitting at the seams and the whole world got caught up in the mix?¡± ¡°I remember all the astral gates were severed, on account of the Outsiders,¡± Levine responded calmly, his arcane data pad in hand, and he sketched in notes fluently with gentle taps. ¡°I remember the Valkyries made immense sacrifices at the time, to ensure the threat was gone forever. But, reliable records of the time were scant. Why?¡± Joey let out a measured breath, and folded her hands together. ¡°The records of the Outsiders indicated alien physiologies, grotesque body structures, and seeming resilience to what would normally be fatal blows. Their entire body structure was all screwed up. Some of them died from their malformed deficiencies before they could even present a risk. A rapid mutation is one of the leading theories. Rapid adaptation to their surroundings. Unfortunately, specimens would waste away to aether energy once killed¨Cnot like when dragon corpses auto-incinerate under the right circumstances,¡± she added with an eye roll. Drenar stared at her blankly. ¡°Look, on the off chance I die in this mad quest, don¡¯t wait around for my body to catch fire, just to make funeral costs cheaper. Just saying.¡± ¡°Drenar, I very much like my friends alive. And I would like to keep that persisting.¡± She let out a shaky breath, as she came to the bad part. ¡°One of the greatest fears that the Valkyries and the precursor to SAF had was that, Outsiders could¡­bond to people. They can slip into the aether¡­and corrupt a person¡¯s mana. The process is slow. And there has to be some¡­willingness, it was called¡­to enact the change. But, once a person starts down that road, it would grant them inhuman strength. Bizarre, resilient anatomy. And shadowy, amorphous features. Just like what we saw in Davos.¡± I¡¯ll make you into a pelt. That intrusive, horrible statement surged through her mind, and she huddled up against Drenar, now leaning to put a scaly arm protectively around her. ¡°Davos is a human, possessed by an outsider. Somehow, they¡¯re back. The records were that they all should have died when the last astral gate was severed, something about being cut off from their energizing source. Corrupted mana tendrils, maybe. But this one, is wrapped around Davos¡¯ body, like a magical cancer, keeping him alive. I don¡¯t know if there is any conventional weapon that can kill him, short of blowing him to pieces with massive, vehicle mounted munitions.¡± ¡°Joey, I don¡¯t like to say that you¡¯re wrong¨Cand you almost never are¨Cbut there¡¯s no way this should be possible¨C¡± Kyle started to say. But, she cut him off. ¡°You didn¡¯t see it, Kyle! You didn¡¯t see how he stared right through me, promised to end my existence personally, and something slithered underneath that human face!¡± she snapped, and could feel her hand trembling. She was brave, beyond what anyone could expect against foes of this scale. But this was a threat they had no counter against, not even close. ¡°Kyle, for the first time in a long time, I¡¯m afraid of who we¡¯re up against. We have no weapon or magic that can keep that man down. He had strength equal to or greater than Drenar¡¯s enhanced telekinetic strength. That is terrifying, how much that man shrugged off.¡± ¡°We just need bigger guns. And we¡¯ll kill this bastard,¡± Kyle countered. ¡°No dude, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a firearm or magical munition big enough to deal with that guy,¡± James grunted. ¡°Fire bolts and autobow bolts did nada. That armor protected against a lot of firepower. Your bolt, Drenar? Didn¡¯t go through the plating. You got a lucky shot on a seam in the armor, maybe a small weaker segment. We need to peel that man¡¯s defenses apart, and then, find a way to kill the outsider, uh, inside him, if I had to guess. Otherwise, that man will keep tanking hits from all of us. A battle against that man, as he is, right now? Is utter suicide. I can see exactly how Drenar¡¯s mom had difficulty against him.¡± ¡°There is one weapon that can stop him.¡± Angela tapped Luminari, her eyes alight with energy. ¡°That man has felt the bite of this blade. It remembers him. It will finish the job, if we can get an opening. And me, or Drenar, will be the ones to land the killing blow.¡± ¡°Sis, you are not going anywhere near that monster,¡± James countered, his fists clenched. ¡°This is a man who fought against Drenar, who is one of the toughest people I know, and kept coming like he was a goddamn terminator.¡± ¡°I vote for air strike,¡± Kiera proposed. ¡°And if that doesn¡¯t work? Kiera, this man regenerated from gruesome wounds even dragons wouldn¡¯t survive,¡± James stated testily. Joey, however, had a few ideas. ¡°Drenar¨Cyour claws. I took a sample of the blood. We can analyze it, see if we can find a weakness of this metal-clad creep.¡± But, given the crisis brewing, she knew it was a priority that wasn''t happening just yet. ¡°Could we just drop him in a lava lake?¡± Nick proposed. ¡°Just saying, drop him into a volcano. Problem solved.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re going to bother with that effort, might as well drop him in the Pacific Ocean,¡± James countered. "Someplace nice and deep, preferably." ¡°We could try total chemical disincorporation. Since Joey likes to dissolve things,¡± Kyle stated acidly. ¡°We could just drop a building on him. Gravity is an equal opportunity pulverizer,¡± Julia theorized. ¡°Also, not to be gruesome but, if you cut off his head¡­would the piece get pulled back?¡± ¡°That is immensely disturbing, and I don''t think anyone wants the answer to that one. Gross, Julia,¡± Angela expressed with a nauseated face. ¡°Hey, guys, we¡¯re forgetting a few other big-ticket items.¡± Drenar got the attention of the room again, and she saw the weariness in his eyes. He¡¯d been going full tilt for almost two days, and it showed. ¡°We have a new threat. Davos mentioned someone called the Gilded Empress. Does that name ring any bells to you?¡± There was a murmur of voices in the room¨CVolkir and Amaranth were now in the room, talking in low tones with each other, but didn¡¯t input anything. ¡°Davos said that he takes orders from her. And whoever she is, she¡¯s our Omega-level threat. Someone worse than Val or Davos. Someone who has been secretly directing him¡­and possibly Val.¡± ¡°How do you figure?¡± James inquired. ¡°Davos is batshit insane, Drenar. He could have been lying.¡± ¡°He was being boastful. He wanted us to know there was no hope. Which only feeds into this aura of dread that he carries around him,¡± Drenar answered flatly. ¡°I think we have a new threat to deal with.¡± ¡°Fates, Drenar, we¡¯re full up on enemies. SAF is corrupted, the Valkyries are useless, the Conclave is probably waiting for martial law to put in their crackdown on the rest of the world, and the Talons are chaos machines. We couldn¡¯t be in a worse position if we tried!¡± James was tense. And Joey could tell he¡¯d been pissed off for a while, and broke his patience threshold just now, hands shaking in fury. ¡°You are in no position to lead us galivanting across the globe, looking for more villains to fight, like you¡¯re the charge of the light brigade, trying to seek glory!¡± ¡°Way to oversimplify it¨C¡± ¡°No, shut up, and listen for once, you goddamn starstruck teen.¡± Everyone fell silent as James truly hit his break point. ¡°You led us into an ambush. I saw it coming, and you likely saw it coming too, and you still did it anyway. I told you, Jonaleth was an easy bait, and you fell for it. We all almost died. Davos goaded you, and you fell for it, and almost died. You are doing a terrible job of leading us lately, and I for one, am not convinced you¡¯re thinking straight!¡± ¡°And what are we supposed to do, James? Nothing? Sit here, wait for the Talons to roll on us? Hunt down and murder our families? Tear apart Asqualia again?¡± Drenar lands each blow in a counter to James¡¯ unquenchable, white-hot fury. ¡°We¡¯re the Luminaires. We don¡¯t get easy jobs. We all knew the risks, going in. You want out, I wouldn¡¯t blame you.¡± ¡°No, I just want you to get your head out of your ass, and start thinking tactically. You have a whole team, Drenar! And Valkyries are allied with us. Use them. Or you will get every one of us killed if you don¡¯t trust us. I¡¯m getting some air, too many stubborn dragons in the room,¡± James growled before he spun and walked out. Joey sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. ¡°That kid needs a dose of murkvine, if anyone ever did. But he¡¯s also right. We make mistakes like that again, people could get killed, Drenar. You, me, James, Angela, Julia, anyone.¡± he peered at her, looking sullen. ¡°We learned things. We won¡¯t make the same mistakes twice, now that we know that they are that capable¡­or that dangerous. Find me a way to kill Davos. There is no other solution for dealing with that man, other than putting him in the grave for good.¡± ¡°What about the other problem?¡± Levine interjected, and pointed at Jonaleth, who everyone had temporarily forgotten about. ¡°We still need a game plan. How do the Outsiders fit into this whole thing, with all the other items going on?¡± ¡°Drenar pondered that for a second, before shaking his snout. ¡°Not sure. But if I had to hazard a guess¡­someone weaponized an Outsider. And there may be more. Val could be¨C He gasped, and Joey felt the realization in an instant. As did Angela, in a moment of realization. ¡°She broke her.¡± Angela spoke barely over a whisper. ¡°Val is possessed by an Outsider, too. That explains her survival!¡± Once more, the room crept back into dread. And there was no chemical concoction Joey could whip up that could fix that. Jonaleth summed it up with a groan. ¡°Death by hulking metal menace is sounding better and better, right about now.¡± Vol. 3, Ch. 167: Collect Call With A Villain, Part Two Joey peered at Angela, with what she just said. ¡°Angela, why did you say that, exactly?¡± ¡°Sam remembers things. Things she shouldn¡¯t. Things she should have no way of knowing. I think she¡¯s borrowing information from elsewhere. Possibly from our connection with Gaia, even. It¡¯s entirely possible that what we are dealing with is one person in possession of a way to weaponize outsiders. And Val¡­she was the first victim.¡± ¡°Rick¡¯s kid said something like that, too.¡± Julia''s trembling voice, and the way she held her hands limply by her side, rather than her rock-solid posture, indicated how close to home this was hitting. ¡°She said, ¡®They put the monsters inside her.¡¯ When she was young. What if this whole time, Val has been a victim? Controlled and directed, like a drone?¡± "That bitch killed my great-grandmother, one of the greatest Valkyries that ever lived,¡± Drenar growled. ¡°Possessed or not, she¡¯s going down for that. But, if that¡¯s the case, this explains why her weapon and Davos are similar in composition. What if¡­hang on¡­¡± He pondered a thought for a few seconds, eyes shifting left and right, and he put a claw up to his snout, mouthing silently. Joey could feel him going through the thought process, as she was. If Val was possessed by Outsiders¡­how exactly, were they sustaining themselves? All the old lore indicated that the Outsiders turned to dust, once the last astral gate off-world was destroyed, in a massive explosion of mana that leveled a good chunk of the countryside. Unless¡­there was a power source they were keeping nearby. Something that kept them alive. ¡°Drenar, what do Val and Davos have in common?¡± she asked suddenly. ¡°You thinking what I¡¯m thinking?¡± he responded, eyes alight with inspiration. She nodded once, and he tried to raise both arms in triumph¨Cand then winced when he tried to move his broken limb, and shuddered at the motion. ¡°Ow. dumb move. Remind me to not move fractured limbs,¡± he grumbled and rubbed at it uneasily. ¡°Right, but what do they have in common?¡± She hoped that it was something they could use as an advantage. She just didn¡¯t know how, yet. ¡°Both of them have those crimson-tinged weapons that seem to grow stronger as they murder more people. That kind of sounds like the sort of item a demonic possessor or demon lord would have. Which means, if we can somehow separate them from their weapons¨C¡± ¡°A possibility that no one on Earth would ever attempt,¡± she cautioned. He gave an assuring hand wave. ¡°Hear me out, first. We need to find a way to cut that creep down to size, before we take our demon-level threat apart. We need to first figure out if their power source is those giant, deadly crimson weapons that both of them possess. If we can separate them from that, or even better, destroy those weapons? We might be able to remove the threat altogether.¡± ¡°We still have other fundamental problems, Drenar. The Conclave is clearly involved in this,¡± Kiera offered unapologetically. ¡°If that is the case, then the Valkyries may be put into an untenable position¨C¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the problem we need to solve, yet. We need King to solve some of these other mysteries first, and Davos is keenly aware of what we¡¯re up to," Drenar stated with remarkable calm. Joey¡¯s heart warmed up, just a little. He might have faltered a bit, but he was a fast recovery. ¡°Jonaleth, we need King¡¯s help to solve the mystery of Gaia. how the crystals relate to this whole mess. I think the Outsiders are so desperate that we¡¯re about to disrupt their plans, that they''re willing to expose themselves to stop us.¡± ¡°Hold up. I want assurances.¡± Jonaleth tried to sit up from his cot, but the clink of the nearly unbreakable cuffs cut short his motion. ¡°You want my help? Some stuff gets sorted out. For starters, my entire criminal history gets forgotten.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not negotiable¨C¡± Drenar started to say, but Jonaleth talked over him. ¡°Total immunity. You can say I was working undercover in the Talons to pull off such a dangerous feat,¡± Jonaleth insisted and gave the dragon-sized cuff a gentle tug, checking his strength against the cold, hard metal. Joey knew that binding could certainly hold him. ¡°Why should we give you a deal?¡± ¡°Because you wouldn¡¯t call me unless you were desperate. I don¡¯t need to be psionic to see the worry on every one of your faces in this room.¡± Jonaleth looked at him, and some warmth came back to his ice-cold eyes, contrasting with his burnished red scales. ¡°Did I hear you right, earlier, Drenar? Your mother killed mine?¡± Drenar winced, and Joey could feel the shame radiating from him. ¡°It¡¯s true. Bad time to bring it up, but¡­She was there. I didn¡¯t know, because I thought she was dead and buried, Jonaleth. All our parents kept secrets from us. I wish I could say I was sorry, but¡­it sounds like she was going to kill everyone around her, including you if my mother didn¡¯t act. That¡¯s not on you, or me. We don¡¯t get to pick our parents.¡± Joey thought for sure that Jonaleth would scream in rage, shout, curse Drenar, and tell him to go to hell¡­but all she saw was the resignation in Jonaleth¡¯s eyes. He hung his head low, claws digging into his thigh tightly and biting his lip so forcibly, a drop of blood emerged. ¡°That¡¯s it, huh? Not going to apologize for it?¡± ¡°Why would I? I wasn¡¯t there, I couldn¡¯t have changed your fate at five years old, Jonaleth. But, we can be better than our parents.¡± Drenar looked right at him, green eyes dimly haloed with determination. ¡°You have my word on that. So try, for once.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to act in my own best interests, Drenar. Nothing more, nothing less. I¡¯m a selfish asshole, who got kicked around to every deadbeat orphanage on the planet¨C¡± ¡°Stop being sorry for yourself, first.¡± Drenar rose from the bedside uneasily, his bad claw held against his chest. ¡°I got orphaned, too, and I almost killed myself, at the tender age of twelve. I cut myself. I almost died, due to a moment of¡­weakness.¡± The silence in the room was deafening and Joey sucked in her breath sharply. {Drenar, I thought you weren¡¯t going to¨C}This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Thank you, Joey. But, I think everyone in this room deserves to know this one. Because most everyone¡¯s guessed that I haven¡¯t been on my game lately.¡± She would rebuke him for taking a risk of ruining the trust of everyone in this room, but he seldom did such things without a plan. The reactions and gasps in the room were uncomfortable to her. Drenar, sometimes I think you choose this path of pain, so others don''t have to. And I wish I had that level of selfless bravery. That last thought, she kept to herself. Jonaleth blinked. ¡°You tried to do yourself in? Looks like you successfully failed.¡± Drenar pulled the dagger off his holster. Remari gave a small crystalline chime to her ears, and he showed him. ¡°I carry the reminder of that moment every single day, to do better. I chose to keep on living. I made the choice, when presented with an out, back when Nick was about to shut down our little heroics, to say no, I¡¯m stopping the Talons. I vowed after I found out Val¡¯s plans for Asqualia, that I wasn¡¯t going to let that stand. And I will fight the monsters at every level, until I kill Davos, and whoever is holding that monster¡¯s leash. Or there might not be a world we can be proud of for much longer. ¡°So stand up, Jonaleth. Stand with us, if not for your survival, then maybe Jackie, or any of your friends who dodged the killing squad we just escaped.¡± ¡°Hearing a lot of platitudes there, big speech guy, but not a pardon,¡± Jonaleth countered. But the combative tone was diminished, for once. ¡°He can, if wants to,¡± Kyle stated, and showed a datapad. ¡°Looks like Alex or his scribe left a few pieces of power in the Glasgow accords, for whatever they¡¯re worth right now. Especially now that we¡¯ve seen more evidence the Conclave is rotten to the core. But, it¡¯s up to you.¡± Joey stepped in, to put herself between Drenar and Jonaleth, and gave him a piercing gaze. ¡°We¡¯ve all been dealt bad hands in life, Jonaleth. We¡¯ve always played with the deck stacked against us, at every turn. But that didn¡¯t stop me. It didn¡¯t stop Drenar, Julia, Angela, or anyone in this room from fighting against the impossible, and winning. So help us win this. Help us find King, so we can put an end to this nightmare, and give the world hope for a better tomorrow. Because this problem is not going to solve itself.¡± ¡°And why would I want to help? Apart from continued survival?¡± he asked quietly. ¡°How about a chance to undo your parents'' legacy? They skinned and butchered Kitsune, just like that maniac in the mechanized suit. And he will not stop killing, until he¡¯s the last man standing. He, and whoever manages him. Do you think he won¡¯t come after you again? King could be in danger, too. A man who puts unfathomable trust in you.¡± She crossed her arms, and regarded Jonaleth solemnly. ¡°So help us. Please. Unless you want to be forever known as the son of the butchers of Burgandy Lane?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like this plan, Joey,¡± Julia growled. ¡°This guy tried to kill us, set the school on fire, and more¨C¡± ¡°And saved me and Drenar. So maybe, there¡¯s hope.¡± Joey glanced at Julia, her expression somber. ¡°People can change. We¡¯ve changed. But we''ve never lost sight of what we want to be. A light to guide the way.¡± She gazed at Jonaleth, as he looked around the room, before sighing softly. ¡°I do this, and they will never stop hunting me.¡± ¡°You do this, and you take orders from me, Jonaleth. And so long as I¡¯m alive, you do right by us, we¡¯ll set this world right, together,¡± Drenar responded with a low rumble. Jonaleth was a cold, calculating machine, and every instinct of his was telling him to stonewall and hope for a better outcome. But, Joey could hear a single, unwavering thread of ponderance, in his mind. What if this was the only moment in his life that mattered? Did he want to squander this? He closed his eyes, and let out an exhale. ¡°First, get me out of this manacle set. Second, no one gets to bully me or give me shit for this. Three, the slate is wiped clean.¡± Jonaleth locked eyes with Drenar, who spent a moment of contemplation, then at Joey, with a diminished intensity. ¡°Done.¡± Both she and Drenar answered in unison. ¡°One more thing, Drenar. Fourth, if you fight Davos, you make sure that bastard doesn¡¯t get up. Same with Val. Those two are a symptom of a bigger problem with the world, and I have an inkling that King knows who is pulling the strings.¡± ¡°I can live by those terms,¡± Drenar stated with measured calm, and extended a clawed hand. Jonaleth hesitated but reached over, and shook firmly. ¡°Great, sappy moment over. Someone get me out of these cuffs before I chew through them. And get me an arcanlink. King¡¯s probably in a world of shit right now, if Davos was willing to make this big a mess.¡± Five minutes later, Kiera had one of her squad mates hand him an arcanlink, and all eyes were on Jonaleth, who was still in his dragon form and gazing warily at them. ¡°Ya¡¯ll know I¡¯m toast if I screw this up, right?¡± ¡°Works for me. I need to vent some aggression,¡± Julia said with a toothy smile, and plasma arced off her arm for a split second. ¡°Drenar, I¡¯ll bet money that King has anticipated this move. You wanna make¨C¡± ¡°Julia? I¡¯ve been in three firefights in a row. We need less excitement right about now." Joey and Drenar waited patiently while Jonaleth tapped in a seeming number of random codes into the relay, frowned, and then tapped them in again. ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± Drenar asked, while she got to work on his arm, to get the bone healed faster. ¡°Also, Joey watch the giant nee¨Caugh,¡± he groaned as she directed a regen potion through a syringe, past a parting of the scales, and right near the afflicted bone. ¡°I need you in fighting shape, as my dragon-borne bombing platform. So, you know, selfish reasons,¡± she added with a grin. ¡°Nice of you to be upbeat after this nightmare.¡± ¡°Drenar I¡¯m scared shitless after what we just witnessed, so no. I¡¯ll be better when I¡¯m dissecting the corpse of that man, to figure out what the hell we¡¯re up against.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not picking up. He always picks up.¡± Jonaleth looked on edge as he tapped the arcanlink with one clawed finger, frowning. He tried one more time, and then, on the third try, the device lit up, and there was a crackle of radio static.¡± ¡°Callsign.¡± It was King¡¯s voice, alright, and Jonaleth closed his eyes, reciting something from memory. ¡°We wander past the stars, ¡®ere the travelers told. Guiding lights show the way, Where no evil takes hold.¡± There was a brief pause, and the device illuminator lit up. A magical hologram started to lift from the emitter, and King¨Cwas not composed. He was disheveled, had a cut on his lip, was bloodied, and looked like he hadn¡¯t slept in a while. He peered around the room and locked eyes with Jonaleth. ¡°King, we¡¯re in trouble, aren¡¯t we?¡± Jonaleth finally asked. ¡°Son, It¡¯s bad all over. I presume the Valkyries and Luminaires are listening in. If it was Davos, you¡¯d be worm food right now.¡± King took a measured breath, and turned until he saw her and Drenar. ¡°You look dreadful, by the way, Drenar and Joey.¡± ¡°We¡¯re on a first-name basis, now?¡± Drenar growled. ¡°We are if we want to stop the coming crisis. And did my eyes deceive me? Did you find Richard?!¡± he gasped. All eyes turned to Rick, who was trying to look as small as possible. ¡°Hey, King. Yeah, things are kinda bad. I got picked up on a bad ride through the aether by this dragon and the fox. Am I fired?¡± Rick asked anxiously. ¡°Do me a favor, Rashalda. Don¡¯t get him killed. Where is Shalinde¨C¡± ¡°Here,¡± Angela said before stepping up into the front of the projector. Even Angela¡¯s composure is wearing down. ¡°You knew everything, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I knew enough.¡± King got straight to the point and regarded the room. ¡°I presume that you¡¯ve picked up the breadcrumbs by now?¡± ¡°We have.¡± Samarina emerged from the emitter on Angela¡¯s wristband and formed into the wispy shape of a silver dragon. ¡°So, tell us, Kingmaker. How do we find Gaia? How do we stop the monsters hunting her?¡± ¡°By cracking her prison. I need the Kilnstar''noth charged, and I need it out of my base of operations, somewhere safe. Things have gone from bad, to worse.¡± ¡°How, exactly?¡± Drenar asked. King frowned, and shook his head. ¡°I tried to save her. And I failed.¡± Vol. 3, Ch. 168: The Kingmaker This was bad news like nothing Angela had ever felt before. Angela could feel that strange connection between her and Samarina getting stronger over the past day, a tingle of energy that seemed beyond anything else she could explain. ¡°King, we need answers, and we need them right now. The mage world is starting to tear itself apart. There¡¯s unrest going on everywhere, and we¡¯ve been in multiple mage fights inside two days.¡± ¡°Not now. We need to meet someplace private. I am currently¡­not in the office, let¡¯s just say.¡± The fact that even King was getting cagey about his location, was troubling, to say the least. ¡°Shalinde, your survival is vital to this. Rashalda, do not let her die.¡± ¡°I¡¯m quite capable of defending myself, thanks King.¡± She tapped the hilt of Luminari gently, in a subtle show of her prowess. ¡°We¡¯ve also discovered some terrifying things. Things you might know, but you¡¯ve kept close to the chest.¡± ¡°Planned reveals,¡± King answered calmly. But, he kept peering around as if waiting for someone to crash into wherever he was holed up. ¡°Let''s just say that myself and Crosomer find ourselves in a bit of a bind. And that someone is most assuredly leaking your movements. Jonaleth, tell me that metal-clad menace wasn''t¨C¡± ¡°Davos is an Outsider, King.¡± Angela stepped to the forefront, eyes narrowed. ¡°But you knew that, didn''t you?¡± ¡°I suspected something. And the person who made that happen is dangerous beyond belief. Right now, Davos is busy slaughtering every Talons agent not loyal to Val. Hence, my current state of affairs. The last day has been an utter disaster.¡± ¡°King, just tell them.¡± A new voice joined in, and Angela recognized it. Crosomer appeared in the projected image in the form of a disembodied head, likely out of range of the rest of the projection image. ¡°Hey, Crosomer. You look like shit,¡± Drenar growled. ¡°What he said. Been a while, Robbie.¡± Alex¡¯s shimmering image appeared next to Drenar, aetherial wings pressed tight against his back and his arms crossed. Crosomer ''s eyes widened, and he put a hand to his snout, as if warding off vapors. ¡°...Alex?¡± he whispered. ¡°It¡¯s you, isn''t it?¡± ¡°In a way. A friend of ours found a way to project the drakensouls. Meaning, myself and Samarina now have a direct means of communication with the world.¡± Drenar nodded quietly, while Alex reached a claw, and then fell slack. "Alex...I''m sorry. I know I can''t make up for the heartache I''ve inflicted...I tried to warn you." ¡°Yeah. You did. We''re both fools, Robbie!¡± Alex shouted angrily, stomping talons into the air as if that would alleviate his mood. ¡°You and your damn rebellion are the reason we¡¯re all in this mess! Why I¡¯m dead, or something close to it, and why these young brave upstarts have to pick up the pieces for us! You¡¯re the reason Lyssa is dead!¡± Crosomer hung his head in shame. "I know. But the reason she''s dead lies squarely behind those who manipulated all of us--" ¡°Okay, I didn¡¯t ask you to air grievances, Alex, you guys need to sort this out later," Drenar stated with remarkable restraint. ¡°Tell us where you are, King. We need to solve problems.¡± ¡°Which one?¡± Crosomer grunted. ¡°All of them. I¡¯ll settle for figuring out what the hell Davos is, how to make him a permanent corpse, and ensure Val follows the same fate¨C¡± ¡°Val is a victim, Drenar.¡± It was Julia¡¯s turn to rock the boat, and he glared at her. ¡°Do you really think that she¡¯s a monster? I can''t believe I''m saying that, but...maybe she''s insane because someone fundamentally broke her?" ¡°I dunno, the last couple of times she tried to kill us, it felt pretty damn personal. And yes, I do. Eldritch nightmares possessing people wasn¡¯t on anyone¡¯s bingo card this time around.¡± A soft cough from James drew Drenar¡¯s ire, and Angela sighed softly. Of course, my brother would figure something like this would happen. Go figure. ¡°Okay, so, little problem,¡± Crosomer grunted, and tapped King¡¯s shoulder, in the projection. ¡°We¡¯re on the same page that we may have cracked open the way to freeing Gaia, while trying to free the drakensouls. Or, King here decided he could have two dragons with one stone, and give the world a dose of the greater good while helping me undo a cultural genocide. Not happy, King.¡± ¡°I''m aware, but we have pressing priorities. We¡¯re on a time limit, now.¡± King got to the point, and leaned in. ¡°I need a favor, Rashalda. A big one.¡± ¡°You¡¯re asking me for favors? Oh, the balls on this guy,¡± Drenar growled to the audience around him. ¡°First question: is Gaia real, and is there a possibility that an eldritch monstrosity devouring the soul guardian of the planet strike you as a possibility?¡± ¡°A little derivative, yes. If an ancient guardian goddess, in her currently weakened state, were to die, you can rest assured, that the world goes with her. So we should collectively keep that from happening,¡± King commented deadpan. ¡°There are dangerous players at work. The Conclave¨C¡± ¡°Is no better than you.¡± Angela leaned in, ice-cold fury in her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re all just as twisted as the organization that¡¯s supposed to run the mage world. People have died, King. And more will die. Stop bullshitting us, we need to solve problems, fast. You must have a plan. You always do. The Luminaires were your contingency, weren¡¯t we?¡± All the pieces were starting to come into position. ¡°My survival when I was five. Our Awakenings. Joey¡¯s arrival at the academy. Your timely intervention in the survival of Trisha Rashalda. Crosomer¡¯s unearthing. Ensuring that Nick and Levine were in position in town. You had a hand in every one of those events, directly and indirectly. We¡¯re your hail mary, aren¡¯t we?¡± King stared right through her, as she folded her arms and let out a tsk sound. ¡°I love this world, flawed as it is, King. But this is not a problem we can solve unless we throw some trust in both directions. Start by telling us who you think is pulling the strings.¡± ¡°Someone who wants this world drained dry. Someone who I think had a hand in Gaia¡¯s presumed death, four thousand years ago. She couldn¡¯t kill her directly and chose to throw her into a prison and toss away the key, until she could find a better solution. Someone who has been with the Conclave and its precursors, since its inception.¡± King let out a slow breath. ¡°Someone who is not who they say they are.¡± ¡°Zacharias Fellwoven, I presume?¡± All eyes turned to Joey, who was perplexed by this. ¡°I met her, once, at graduation. I got some unsettling vibes when she introduced me at the graduation speech. I dunno why, but something about my psionics told me to never trust that woman.¡± ¡°We already know she was present at one of the sites when the dragons committed magical seppuku,¡± Drenar stated unhappily. ¡°King. Can you prove it was her?¡± ¡°Why would you need proof?¡± King asked warily. ¡°Because if I¡¯m going after the queen of Zeal, I better have a damn good plan. That bitch likely put out the hit on my mother. And she¡¯s gonna die for that, if she did.¡± Everyone in the room fell silent. ¡°Okay, now tell us you¡¯re on a revenge arc, and that you¡¯re not thinking straight," James stated calmly.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°No. If we do nothing, and Fellwoven is in on this, then she''s had a long time to get the pieces in motion." ¡°Hey, it''s not just her. She¡¯s not alone in her ideologies, she has the backing of a good chunk of the senate of the Conclave,¡± Joey replied. Angela thought back to the vision¨Cwhat Sam had seen. ¡°What does she look like?¡± she asked suddenly. ¡°Uh, hang on.¡± Joey fiddled with her arcanist data pad, before flipping over the image, and Angela leaned in. Her breath came in a sharp inhale. ¡°Angie, tell me that wasn¡¯t¨C¡± ¡°Yeah. She was there.¡± Her heart was beating uncomfortably fast, seeing the image of that plain-looking woman. ¡°Can we just shortcut this to stage eight dash four? You know, slay the dragon?¡± ¡°You will never get that close to her, even if you had proof," King cautioned. ¡°I got close. Damn, coulda poisoned the bitch. Wasted opportunity for my alchemical skills,¡± Joey growled. Angela looked at her anxiously. ¡°Has anyone told you, that you have slight obsessions with setting things on fire, poisoning, or dissolving kin flesh with many deadly chemicals?¡± ¡°Uh¡­no I don¡¯t. Just evil people.¡± ¡°Which is now half the conclave.¡± Angela let out a whistling breath before turning to King. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s say we want to start fixing this mess. Can we find Gaia? Keep her safe?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­going to be a problem. Val found the gate.¡± Everyone looked at each other blankly, before Angela dared to ask the next question. ¡°What gate, exactly?¡± King winced before responding. ¡°The one she¡¯s about to send a cracking deadly assault force into." Angela had a bad idea, in an instant. A gate? ¡°And was this gate found, or created recently?¡± ¡°When Richard dropped an aether-charged mana crystal onto a teleportal platform and spliced in a new gate to the aether itself,¡± King answered succinctly. "I theorize that those related to Gaia--those who share a lineage with her--have an unusual impact on mana. It sprouted a crystalline tree. I managed to convince Val to be wary of it, but once it¡¯s open? My guys are dead. And so am I.¡± ¡°You¡¯re forgetting me,¡± Crosomer sniped. ¡°All of us are dead,¡± King corrected. ¡°You¡¯ll be double dead. Which is twice as bad as you think it is.¡± Angela narrowed her eyes. ¡°This aether charged mana. Is it bright? Does it sing?¡± King raised an eyebrow. ¡°Yes. Why?¡± ¡°We know where a deposit of it is. And I have a connection to it. So does Rick.¡± ¡°The deposit that was unaccounted for. I¡¯ve never been able to revisit the town. For reasons,¡± King added dryly. He rubbed his chin, soft caramel eyes brightening. "No one else knows about it. We might have an opening." ¡°Promise not to bring that singing, murderous dragon, or the armored monstrosity, you can come down here to parley,¡± Drenar stated flatly. ¡°And maybe, you get to be a hero at the end of this story. All bets are off now. I¡¯m about to take an unprecedented leap of faith. Can you get to Asqualia?¡± King narrowed his gaze on Drenar. ¡°Isn¡¯t the hub destroyed?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a temporary platform. You¡¯ve got a half hour, and then we give it a thirty-second window. Miss this, and this window closes forever,¡± Angela says, almost as if reading Joey and Drenar¡¯s minds. King straightens slightly. ¡°We¡¯ll be there. Expect me to bring a small team. Assuming we don¡¯t all get killed.¡± ****** This place looks like it could use an extra coat of paint. Angela was skeptical that this was going to end well. The teleportal platform was charged, and King had relayed the coordinates. It also didn¡¯t hurt that every gun, dragon, and dragon with a gun, was leering at the platform. One would be easily led to believe, this room? ¡°You think he¡¯ll show up?¡± Drenar asked, even as he eased out the oversized autobow while standing in his dragon form. She tousled her feathery mane and sighed. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t, I think we¡¯re screwed.¡± ¡°I think if he does show, we¡¯re still screwed,¡± Julia growled beside her and hefting a heavy mana cannon that was essentially a cannon. With magic. And anything that it hit, would cease to exist, in the totality of destruction it would unleash. ¡°Drenar, how did we get into this mess?¡± ¡°You mean working with our resident frenemies? I haven¡¯t the foggiest. Though, I guess I am grateful that King did save my mother¡¯s life from that hulking menace. Seriously Kiera, mom better be lining up to put a giant dagger into either Val¡¯s back, or Zacharias, for her to not show up right now,¡± he added with a distinct bitterness. ¡°I sent out an urgent all hands. If she¡¯s in range of any number of our relays, then she should come home. Because I might be in line to kill her, at this rate,¡± Kiera growled. ¡°If these guys show the slightest sign that this is a ruse, I¡¯m killing all of them.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think King really can afford a misstep.¡± Angela¡¯s claw went to her chest, past the durable Valkyrie-inspired armor that Kyle had built, to that ancient mystery in her core. Please me we can trust him, Sam. Please tell me this isn¡¯t playing right into their hands. If King is right? Gaia is tied to the crystals. If she dies, they may die, too. As will the planet, without the extra leg work it is doing to keep this world from collapsing from pollution and human-made catastrophes. Sam¡¯s projection hovered near her, but she was only speaking through their link. ¡°Incoming portal. Signal clean,¡± Kyle related from the platform. He glanced warily at the room, still under construction. ¡°Can anyone else see the bitter irony of inviting our enemies right through the front door, considering we all almost died to keep them out, last time?¡± ¡°That was Val¡¯s forces,¡± Joey reminded them. ¡°Not that I want to give King any credit whatsoever¡­he is playing one dangerous game that is going to end up with him getting eaten by a dragon, or cut into tiny chess pieces by Davos.¡± ¡°Wow. that¡¯s a vivid and unsettling imagery that you¡¯re painting. You¡¯re starting to sound like me,¡± Drenar groused. ¡°Guess I like the way you sound. This week has been a mood, otherwise,¡± she quipped. Angela couldn¡¯t help but chuckle a little. If there was anything those two needed, it was each other right now. The portal opened, and several people could be visible. Standing there looking worse for wear, was King, and beside him, Crosomer, also looking like his scales were bruised. More shocking, were the extra arrivals. A grey-haired man who looked like he¡¯d seen a lot of action, and¨Cthe guys from Mount Syren? Wait. what were their names¡­Greg? Nigel? Karl? I think we¡¯re missing a guy, here. ¡°Everyone through, as soon as you¡¯re off the platform, drop your baggage and put your hands in the air,¡± Drenar called out with authority. ¡°Kyle, kill the power in twenty seconds. I¡¯m not taking chances.¡± ¡°And hello to you, too, Rashalda,¡± Crosomer called out with a roll of his eyes. ¡°So this is the crown jewel of magical research. It¡¯s smaller than I expected.¡± ¡°I preferred London Academy,¡± King commented drolly. Everyone hastily stepped off the platform, and none too soon, because there were shouts and roars of outrage in the distance, and a pounding against a magisteel barricade door. ¡°Bertance, better close that portal and lock out that address. Urgently.¡± Kyle did so, and Angela swore she saw the silhouette of Val bursting into the room in a blaze of black fire, looking malicious as the teleportal winked out of existence, and King¡¯s associates were panting heavily. Angela could still hear him tapping in console commands to lock out a hostile portal and activated a security barrier over the device that projected the portal, far above. The valkyries moved in unison, frisking their pockets as they offered no resistance, and King voluntarily pulled a pistol and holster off his side, and offered it to Kiera. ¡°I believe these are my terms of surrender. We are fighting to save the soul of the world, Miss DeVerdra.¡± ¡°As am I,¡± Crosomer added. ¡°Save the platitudes, your men¨C¡± ¡°Val¡¯s men, we have our own reporting agencies. I have men holding out in various safe houses. Val just decided that the Talons are under new management,¡± Crosomer stated quietly. ¡°And if you think you can threaten me with imprisonment, go ahead. I waited seven hundred years to see the world fall apart when I was brought back, and I¡¯ll endure it again.¡± ¡°Drama much?¡± Angela asked with a raised feathery eye crest. Crosomer took one look at her, and stared. ¡°Well, I want to say I¡¯ve seen it all, but, hells, I believe you might have just thrown out all my expectations Angela.¡± Crosomer¡¯s halting speech truly indicated how strange this had all become. ¡°I just wanted my retirement. I can forget about tropical beaches. Now where¡¯s Rick?¡± the middle-aged guard asked impatiently as he was frisked for weapons¨Cthough he offered his sidearm willingly, still tucked away in its holster. ¡°Stand still¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been shot at, almost annihilated by exploding portals, and been threatened by becoming a snack for a murderous diva for too many years to count. Where is Rick?¡± the man growled. ¡°William?¡± Rick called out, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. He rushed past Valkyries and steadfast Luminaires to give the man a bear hug, like old friends reunited after a long stay apart. ¡°Gods¡­I¡¯m sorry, Bill. I should have listened to you.¡± ¡°Ah, you¡¯re in one piece, that¡¯s more than I ever could have asked for, kid. Hey, can we point the autobows in another direction for a moment?¡± the guard named Bill called out. Strangely, they did. ¡°I heard about Jersey. I wanted to skin that damn lizard. She got wind about the portal, then things got bad back at the mine. Long story.¡± ¡°Anyone else make it?¡± ¡°Just us,¡± Nigel stated quietly, his red hair showing streaks of grey, and gestured to Nigel and Karl. ¡°There might have been others loyal to creating a better tomorrow¡­but Val started a purge of the Talons, along with Davos.¡± ¡°Guys, I know this is a tender moment for some of you, but we have work to do,¡± Drenar stated quietly, wings no longer tense. Alex formed in a wisp of energy from his armband, and stood alongside that brave teen who had endured hell on earth to get to this point. ¡°Crosomer, King¡­let¡¯s start setting this world right. But first, tell us what happened.¡± ¡°Val¡¯s got a way to find Gaia, her and Davos. If they get there before we do, this world¡¯s doomed. I think Angela and Rick might be our ticket to beating them there, and possibly you, Drenar,¡± King stated with resolve. ¡°Why me?¡± ¡°Because your mother¨Cand you¨Chave a connection to the aether.¡± Vol. 3, Ch. 169, Arc Finale: Off We Go, Into The Wild Aether Yonder… ¡°This is a suicide mission.¡± ¡°So are all our other plans, Julia. That didn¡¯t stop us before.¡± Drenar peered at the gathered table¨Cat former enemies, allies, fellow trauma survivors, and his friends. ¡°If we don¡¯t successfully crack Gaia out of this prison? If Val and Davos get to her, and they kill her? Val¡¯s delusional wish fulfillment means the rest of the planet has a very grim future. We need to play a giant game of keep-away.¡± ¡°How, Drenar? This could end badly,¡± James countered. ¡°King, explain this to me. You¡¯re telling me, that the Kilnstar¡¯noth has been actively suppressing Gaia, keeping her imprisoned?¡± ¡°Along with the charge of aether energy that is supposed to sustain this world. The aether is a¡­strange place, from what you¡¯ve told me.¡± King sat at the table, hands folded together gently, and eyeing each of them in turn. ¡°The drakensouls were imprisoned similarly¨Cthe physical body was annihilated, but the aether core of the dragons, their souls, their memories, remained intact. ¡°When Crosomer cracked open the aether by accident, three years ago during the first experiment, I knew we had a breakthrough moment. It took every bit of convincing Val that this should be our plan. I don¡¯t think she fully understood the device as we did, and we kept those secrets buried close. I also didn¡¯t expect the mana crystals in various locations to start transforming, either. However, the aether-charged crystals have always occurred in small deposits, in isolated locations. Remnants of their true grandeur.¡± ¡°Where did my shard come from, King?¡± Angela demanded. Her mother bowed her head behind her, and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. ¡°...From the remnant that Samarina was bound to. That is the connection. I took unprecedented risks to bring you back, on a wild theory that your body needed to be¡­whole. My gamble paid off. That¡¯s why we still have a chance.¡± Ever composed, King still had control of the room, and the mood was tense. No one spoke errantly, but listened intently. ¡°We need Gaia, in whatever state she¡¯s in, to survive. I believe that with Drenar¡¯s slip into the aether in the proximity of our immutable associate, Rick¡¯s slip into the aether with the crystalline shard, and Amaranth¡¯s discovery of the temple, I can calculate a way to find her, in the aether.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t measure things in there. The place gives me a headache,¡± Drenar sighed, human hands tensed at the table. His arm was still healing, but they couldn¡¯t fit every dragon into the room. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s pretend we can pull this off, and find her. How do we get her out? You fools left the Kilnstar¡¯noth in Val¡¯s hands.¡± ¡°It was that, or die,¡± Crosomer rebuked, with a ruffling of his feather crest and preening at his mottled coal, green and blue scale. ¡°When she came back from¡­the place called Jersey?¡± ¡°New Jersey,¡± King corrected. ¡°Right, when she came back, she also happened upon our little science experiment. Then Davos got wind of it. Then those two¡­looked at each other, and something happened. Like someone else was at the wheel.¡± Crosomer looked fatigued¡­older than the last time she¡¯d seen him, on Mount Syren. A man, broken by so many failures. ¡°Then, the killing started.¡± ¡°So now the Conclave is subverting control of the Talons. Zacharias is consolidating power.¡± Drenar let a breath of air through his teeth. ¡°How do we even win this? We have the Valkyries, but...¡± ¡°They¡¯ve steered clear of us¨Cfor now. But once this is over, Drenar, they will come at us with everything. That includes those loyal to King and Crosomer¡¯s vision of a better world.¡± Kiera did not look happy to say that, but had been in radio contact with her various teams. ¡°It¡¯s time to stop sitting on the sidelines. We need to act. For the future of our world." ¡°And to do that, we need to keep Gaia alive, in whatever state she¡¯s in, find a way to kill Davos and Val¨Cor, we¡¯re going for the golden ending,¡± Drenar stated with contempt as he stole a glance at Julia, ¡°Find a way to kill the outsiders themselves. Oh, and turn the mage world against Fellwoven. And supercharge the device to resume the flow of mana to the world, so we don¡¯t all die. Easy.¡± ¡°Except it won¡¯t be,¡± Volkir fumed. ¡°I¡¯ve been able to figure that there is a continuity to the aether¨Cbased on your dream state when you first Awakened, and on the other instances you entered. It becomes a realm of¡­manifest fantasy, in a sense.¡± ¡°Charming. So, we have no idea what we¡¯ll find in there, assuming we can pull this off, and enter the Aether.¡± He glanced around the room. ¡°We need a tight, fast-moving team to go into the Aether. King, you¡¯re with me. Julia, Kiera, Angela, and Joey are going in, too. We don¡¯t know how many we can pull in at once. Assuming we don¡¯t, you know, disintegrate if this goes badly. Everyone else is going to hold the fort. Nick, Levine, you guys need to rally every SAF agent you can get a hold of, and find someplace shady to hide out in. Asqualia is not safe.¡± ¡°Splitting the team is risky, Drenar,¡± Nick stated irritably. ¡°Remember at the prison?¡± ¡°We have no choice. We need to buy time and rally forces that will stand up with us. Hit everyone in town who can help. Sierra, the staff of Asqualia, anyone and everyone who we''ve had a hand in bettering their lives, or they stand to lose just as much as us.¡± ¡°Ragnar?k Protocol,¡± Kiera spoke succinctly. ¡°The Valkyries have a contingency if the Conclave was to ever overtly start to be a detriment to the mage world. We just never thought it would come to this. I will rally everyone to Valhalla, it is the safest place in the world for us, right now." ¡°And we¡¯re all just chill with letting Crosomer and King do this?¡± James demanded, before glaring at them. ¡°We¡¯re in the shit, because of you two. And don¡¯t get me started on those unkillable killers. No wonder why Angela couldn¡¯t finish Val in Asqualia. They took a dragon and gave her eldritch monstrosity powers. Like that was ever going to be a good idea.¡± ¡°Save the complaints, James, we¡¯re doing this. I know you don¡¯t like it, but things are starting to fall apart across the world.¡± Drenar hated the fact that James had a point, but the past differences needed to be set aside, immediately. ¡°Guys, this has a good chance of getting everyone killed. We need to do this. For the good of all.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s get started, before Zacharias and her monsters on a leash figure out what we¡¯re up to,¡± King stated, as he rose from the table.
The crystals weren¡¯t just singing. It was almost a choir of crystalline chimes, in the grotto that Joey and Kyle had discovered, two months ago. Drenar eyed the hastily erected teleportal platform, now wired into the crystals in some Frankenstein magitech mad science, and the hastily erected enclosure, where the team was gathered. ¡°So, yeah. This is a bad idea, for the record,¡± Julia commented beside him, even as she geared up. Every bit of armor, every weapon they¡¯d need, and extra supplies were packed into a compressed dimensional case. They had no idea what to expect. ¡°Remember when we were fighting a Saturday morning cartoon villain, and that was all we had to worry about?¡± ¡°I resent that,¡± Crosomer growled. ¡°And I don¡¯t even know what that means.¡± ¡°Better than you don¡¯t,¡± Drenar sighed, before throwing his last rounds of autobow bolts in the case, Joey¡¯s alchemical concoctions, and every other gadget that Kyle had for prototypes into a dimensional case. He still could rely on his own magic and draconic strength, but¡­ Could they do this? Could they actually pull this off, and save the world? It seemed impossible. Mom would try to stop me. She''d tell me this was a death wish. That I had no chance of victory.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. He glanced over his shoulder to see Julia slinging that massive anti-material rifle, and hoping the firepower was a precaution. Angela was gearing up in her armor, looking calm, regal, even¨Clike old-world nobility. But the shaking of her hand, as she peered at the grotto of glowing mana crystals, betrayed her inner feelings. She was just as afraid of this as he was. ¡°Drenar, there¡¯s no guarantee we come back from this. We might need to find another way home, once we¡¯re there.¡± Angela pointed to Rick. ¡°Do you remember anything in the aether?¡± ¡°Not much. I remember seeing strange shapes, and landscapes. They appeared and disappeared with the whim of the mind. I¡­I don¡¯t know how to describe it. A kaleidoscope of reality, even. An amalgamation of a lot of places I¡¯ve seen and been, over the years. A lake in a mountain valley. Sun-kissed beaches with gentle breezes, with playful gulls skimming the waves. A dark mine, filled with mana crystals that warded off the shadows within.¡± He let out a shaky breath. ¡°Why am I staying?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re the backup, in case we don¡¯t make it home,¡± Angela stated while she tied back her hair, and secured it with a small bandanna. Joey was doing much of the same¨Cand going in her kitsune form, with her armor now wrapped around her slightly altered form. She secured every chemical in her hopper, and more in the reserve cases. ¡°Joey, how much medical triage do you know?¡± ¡°Enough to keep us alive. I have no idea what to expect, so I¡¯m preparing alchemical mixers that can be combined for a variety of effects.¡± She secured her pack, her launcher, her compact staff, and ran her fingers across her elongated ears, gently. Drenar noted she still kept two studs in one ear¨Cone colored with a brilliant green gem that seemed to almost shine, that was recent. ¡°Well, this is not how I thought my life would turn out. I never thought I¡¯d be about to embark into the aether again. Or, you know, launch a rescue mission for a goddess.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll get through this. We always do.¡± He took a few short steps to hug her, which he also needed at the moment. ¡°How good is my arm going to be?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t push it. I¡¯ve sped up your healing and the stress fracture is healed, but you shouldn¡¯t be doing anything strenuous,¡± she cautioned. She peered at Crosomer and King, also gearing up. ¡°What about you two?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be fine.¡± King wasted no breath on that response and secured his pistol, and several potions, adorned in his light armor that she¡¯d witnessed before. A longsword hung on his back gently, that she didn¡¯t recall seeing before. ¡°Robespierre, you set?¡± ¡°This armor wasn¡¯t meant for my physiology. But it¡¯ll do.¡± he had finished securing greaves to his draconic legs, and grunted softly, orange eyes looking diminished. ¡°Not exactly how I thought this plan would go. I should have killed Val when I had the chance.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you could have, even if you wanted to. And I have a theory on what she is. Because the outsider does not hold absolute on her, as it should. That is a mystery I¡¯ve yet to fully grasp, just yet. Are we ready?¡± King asked. Crosomer nodded after a second of hesitation. ¡°Ready.¡± Kiera was succinct and dressed for war in her Valkyrie armor, helmet secured, and the magical visor flickering to life, and peered at him, her face etched in cocern. ¡°Drenar¡­you don¡¯t have to do this.¡± ¡°Yeah, I do. I have to see this through, to the end. There¡¯s no way you¡¯re talking me out of this, Kiera. You¡¯ve been a second mother to me, and¡­I¡¯d like to think that the lessons you imparted on me, and Julia¡­weren¡¯t wasted, ya know?¡± It took all his willpower to not choke up with those few words. ¡°Pfft. You¡¯re like an honorary brother, Drenar,¡± Julia teased before tousling his hair. ¡°Everyone looks so grim! Let¡¯s go smile in the face of pending death, because you guys are all in a mood! Let¡¯s fix that, and go save a goddess! Then the world! And then kill an eldritch abomination or two! And not in that order, maybe!¡± ¡°Oh, dear. Well, maybe a few more lessons are required,¡± Kiera sighed, before drawing him and Julia in a loving hug. ¡°Angela, Joey, do be dears, and come over here.¡± ¡°Okay, no pressure or anything.¡± Angela gazed at her parents after joining in the embrace. Her parents stood there, holding each other. Drenar knew that she had more than lingering resentment toward her mother. But, she broke off to give a loving hug to them. ¡°Mom, Dad¡­you know why I have to do this.¡± ¡°I wish you didn¡¯t. I wish none of this had happened.¡± Her mother shuddered under the overwhelming guilt she must be feeling. ¡°Angela¡­come back home in one piece? Drenar, Joey, Julia...I know you guys would do anything for each other. Stand by each other, no matter what.¡± ¡°I should be going, too,¡± James commented bitterly. ¡°Someone needs to reign in Drenar¡¯s impulses." ¡°James, you guys have a task, I need a tactical mind here. We need to rally everyone we can get, because when we do get back? Everyone will be gunning for us. Davos, Val, Zacharias, the whole world. But we¡¯re going to show them that we aren¡¯t alone in this fight. You guys have the harder task.¡± ¡°I''m not exactly envious of this task,¡± Jonaleth sighed. ¡°King, don¡¯t come back dead, either?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a possibility that I¡¯ve calculated to a high chance of occurrence. But, I appreciate the sentiment.¡± King gazed at Jonaleth with a subtle nod. A father that Jonaleth had never had his entire life. Jonaleth broke first, and gave the man an unexpected hug. "No, you cocky bastard. Come back home alive. You''re the man with the plan, you always have a solution." King didn''t respond, but...for the first time, Drenar saw an emotion other than a slab of marble: genuine compassion King nodded quietly, before Jonaleth stepped back, and cleared his throat, fighting to keep his composure. ¡°Well, shall we, Bertance?¡± ¡°You guys bring the ¡®mad¡¯ to the term ¡®mad science¡¯ by the way,¡± Kyle quipped, even as he typed in console commands for the teleportal, and shivered in his power armor, warding off the effects of the crystals. ¡°I¡¯ve disabled the portal itself, but the guidance system should ¡®read¡¯ the trajectory of the aetherial charge in these crystals. Though ¡®direction¡¯ means shit when we¡¯re talking about fifth-dimensional space. Who¡¯s doing this?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± Angela stated calmly, as she pulled away from her family, and approached the crystals in the hastily cleared-out area. The crystals had grown, according to Joey and Kyle and were now encroaching above the ground, despite the light snow, and the hastily erected tent provided a modicum of relief from the elements. ¡°Just need to¡­you know¡­do the impossible. Like usual.¡± ¡°Angela, we¡¯ve got this.¡± Drenar gave her a firm hand on her shoulder, and smiled lightly. ¡°We¡¯re right with you.¡± Everyone was ready, now. Drenar glanced down at his weapons, his equipment. The contingencies they¡¯ve discussed. He hoped it would be enough. ¡°Alex¡­is it time for us to have one last adventure? For old times¡¯ sake?¡± Drenar glanced to see Crosomer gazing at him, hands at his side loosely. Drenar gave a gentle tap of the armband, and Alex came forth, in a hissing mist of aetherial vapors. He regarded his old friend, before dipping his snout low. ¡°You were right. You were always right, Robbie. The Conclave¡­I tried to believe in it, tried to look past its flaws. I didn¡¯t trust you when they told me you did terrible things.¡± the dragon sitting just above his shoulder, let out a soft exhale. ¡°You were always trying to do right for all of us, weren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Not like I told you that a thousand times, Alex. Now, let¡¯s have one last adventure, for the sake of the world. For Lyssa. Hanna. Gerard. All our friends, who fought for a better tomorrow.¡± Angela took the cue, and stepped toward the crystals, which began to hum with energy. Energy arced through the air, and Kyle stepped back hastily from the platform. Drenar could feel a charge of energy across his skin, and those crystalline chimes coalesced into a symphony. The energy felt like pinpricks of heat, that quickly faded. A low breeze built in the area, rustling the tent, and all the onlookers took several steps back. ¡°Platform is picking up a telemetry. Standby.¡± Kyle tapped furiously into his arcane data pad, running calculations and furrowing his brow. ¡°Angela, you¡¯ll be the bridge between this platform and the aether. Stand strong." ¡°I¡¯ve got this, guys.¡± Her hand shook as she reached out to a spire of crystal, and a sound like a violin began to emanate in a bright note, filling the air with a sound that gave Drenar resolve. All of them drew close to Angela, as crystalline scales emerged on her body, and the glow of mana pulsed through her veins. Luminari reacted in the same way, glowing brightly. The metal shone, sang with a sharp chime, like it always did when it was near him and Angela, and then began to turn translucent. He looked on in amazement as the true form of Luminari was a single crystal of mana, carved in the shape of a blade, and thrummed with power. He could hear the whispers of a goddess, trying to break free from a prison constructed by someone beyond his comprehension. ¡°Off we go, into the wild aether yonder,¡± King spoke softly, gazing at the shimmer of light, and Angela shuddered to control the energy arcing off the crystals. ¡°Approaching maximum theoretical charge! Hold tight!¡± Kyle shouted out over the gale building. The tent flapped and ripped¨Csuddenly they were exposed to the cold, snowy day, shadows starting to drip down from the pending evening. Twilight was a specter on the horizon behind the trees, and Drenar focused on the dying light of the world. ¡°We¡¯re the Luminaires, guys. We¡¯re the light to guide the way.¡± He didn¡¯t know if the others heard him, and he felt a magnetic pull to Angela, and the others instinctively held close. The charge built to a peak. It was Angela that finished the motto, and she glanced at him, Julia, Joey, and the others. A belief they all held to their hearts, as the world flared with an impossible white light. ¡°A beacon to a better tomorrow¡­¡±
The Legend of the Luminaires: End of Volume III, Arc One Announcement: The Future of Legend of the Luminaires For those of you reading this note, and have read through what I¡¯ve prepared for Luminaires, there has been a change of plans. I wanted to get the series to this point--an arc ending, because there have been an immense amount of things I''ve learned from working this story for...well, if I count my early drafts, my entire adult life, on and off. I put the story on hold. I''m sorry, guys. I don''t know how else to say it. I know for some of you guys here since the beginning, that reading this must absolutely suck. I wouldn''t blame you for hating me. For me, it¡¯s the realization that this was my first story. There was a steep learning curve to it, both on RoyalRoad where I started, and as my development as an author. I¡¯m still proud of the work I¡¯ve done on this story, and have kept posting over 180 chapters in the span of a year. The story is almost 600k words, now. And I built a following of eleven hundred people. But I also made mistakes, along the way. The first volume was rough. I made fixes, but I think there were structural limitations to what I wrote that limited the appeal to a larger audience. I could certainly do better, now, given my recent success with Newly Broke Heroine, which made it to Rising Stars top ten for a brief period of time. That to me, is a massive accomplishment. Unfortunately, I think only a few people actively tune in to Luminaires. The numbers show it, only a third of people tune in for a chapter, compared to Heroine, even with the same follow count. It''s...really bad. For those few faithful who made it this far, You guys deserve a good ending to the series (and there is plenty I have outlined, but not completed). An ending I don¡¯t think I can land quite yet, because I¡¯ve been burning out on the story, compounded by mistakes from the early chapters. It''s a story not really suited to RoyalRoad, but it was my first shot to get my stories to see the light of day, and not disappear in obscurity. What I¡¯m trying to say is, I can do better, now. But revisiting stories and rewriting is a tough decision in the world of web fiction. And I think that the beginning of Volume I, with both its triumphs and its flaws, along with a terrible launch, is what set me back. So, that was the bad news. I¡¯m putting Luminaires on pause at the end of this arc. I love this story, it has been a dream I¡¯ve been trying to bring to paper for a long time, but I want it to be the best version it can be. My new foray with Heroine has shown that I¡¯ve sharpened my skills, and I know I can stick the landing.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. I¡¯ll give you the good news, next. I¡¯m not giving up on the story. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn¡¯t let it end, unfinished, in the hiatus pile of RoyalRoad. 85% or more of all stories fail, or end up in the graveyard, and I vowed that mine would not join it. That¡¯s why I¡¯ll be marking the story ¡®complete¡¯ for the time being, while I work on a relaunch. I wrote to the end of this arc, to show my commitment, rather than leaving it on a sour note. I left it on a final note of hope. Now, for more good news, I¡¯ll continue to post Newly Broke Heroine as a result, with a timed release of three a week¨Cplus some bonuses, when I can. In the meantime, I¡¯ll keep you guys posted on my intentions for Luminaires, while I sort through the future plans. What¡¯s likely to happen in the immediate future, is I have a new series that will be posted in tandem with Newly Broke Heroine, that have been cooking in the background. I''ve been running a beta in my Patreon, for those of you guys who browse. Yes, IT IS INDEED set in the Luminaires fictional universe. It''s another anchor I wrote to connect the worlds. The title it called The Hallowed World, and is an isekai progression fantasy with my signature character focus, on a nested world, like a Matryoshka doll. It stars a magical engineer and his chemist sister, summoned by one of the walking gods of the world, to help save it from destruction. They will fight, build, explore, and dive through the layers of a nested fractured world to save an old friend kidnapped to this world ten years ago, and vanquish a threat to the numerous layers of the planet. They''re joined by an endearing support cast to solve the mysteries of why the world is fractured, and how to vanquish the foe at the core. I think it has high promise, and was supposed to be my next project--then a certain zany elf merchant elbowed her way into my heart, and that became my fallback after I hit a bit of a wall that, I''ve since figured out how to resolve. It''s going to launch in February--and, in the meantime, I''ll figure out a plan for continuing Luminaires. I think that, with all my learning, it will be worth the wait. Thank you, everyone, for your dedication to reading through this. The last year has been an exponential growth for me as an author, and a storyteller. The Legend of the Luminaires will return; I want the journey of Drenar, Julia, Angela, Joey, and all the rest of the cast, to reach a satisfying end. See you soon, guys. Be a light to guide the way. --Magius Swiftscale