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–
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–that 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–and Joey now–in 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–definitely 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–why 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–
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–it apparently stayed sealed, even during the fall. Drenar glances over his shoulder, his equipment is all here–and 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–”
“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–”
“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–well, 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–and 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.”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“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–”
“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–is 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–Levine 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–and 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.”
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