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–it 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–something 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–air, 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–luckily 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.

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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–”

“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–what 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–this 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–whoa."

“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–and 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–”

“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–or 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.”