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–”
“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–”
“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–” 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–at 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–”
“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–and 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–and 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–no 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–”
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–what’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.”
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“Drenar, we don’t know if they’re hostile–” 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–”
“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–he 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–but 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–a 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–singed 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–he 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.