Trouble and Sin passed through the east gate of Torrin settlement just as the storm began to relent. The rain petered out even as Trouble finished passing through the security checkpoint. The guards gave Tro little trouble when they gave him the once-over. However, when they inspected Sin, the guards scrutinized him with hawk eyes. They picked apart Sin’s outfit for any hidden weapons, stripped him down, and even performed an orifice search. The guards paid no regard for Sin’s adventurer seals and treated him like he was a known murderer walking through the main gate.
Once the pair were within Torrin settlement, Tro took an inspecting eye around the place. Torrin was a much quainter settlement, with far more two-story wooden structures. The people who hurried through the damp streets were mostly human, with a fair number of dwarves and more than a few sharp-toothed wild elves. Most of the vehicles that drove the streets were settlement-friendly, lightly armored affairs. The settlement seemed much more at peace than the last one.
Tro pulled up the heads-up display. First, he checked the local Threat Zone Rating to find Torrin settlement was a Yellow Threat Zone compared to Conan’s Fall, which had been orange. Amazing how a single tier on that scale can make such a difference. Next Trouble messaged Vex. When five minutes passed with no response, Trouble turned to Sin. “Need to get looking. Got a bad feeling.”
Sin straightened his coat. “Of course you have a bad feeling, Sir Neoform. That woeful woman draws down disasters as if she has made a sport of it.”
“Not wrong.” Trouble said as he started toward the north. Sin staggered along behind the Neoform. Trouble tracked his surroundings as they walked, taking in everything around him. Every step of a stranger, every bump in the road, every muttered and shouted word from passersby. This was Trouble’s perpetual state. Taking in everything at all times, noticing everything. Vectors and calculated masses of objects in motion. The speed of each vehicle and flying bird. For anyone else, the sheer influx of information would’ve been enough to scramble the mind. Yet this was Tro’s default state.
The pair wove through the streets, Trouble picking light feet through the crowd, Sin staggering and stumbling into pedestrians as he went. Trouble passed through the crowd, watching the streets for any sign of Shadow Saber or the Gilded Rose lance. They passed a wide range of shops offering services ranging from weapon honing and tuning to several quaint candy shops that served a strange specialty of candied rats’ feet.
Trouble was just getting irritated enough to text Architallis when they were near the north gate. Then, the unexpected happened. A hulking field tank rolled into a local combat-vehicle parking lot and ground to a stop. Tro’s nerves forced him to stop at the sight of the dangerous ride. The Neoform was always nervous around vehicles with enough firepower to break down a settlement gate. His nerves were rewarded when the hatch to the vehicle descended. The members of Shadow Saber strolled out, starting with the Knyghts, Gem, and Iya, tromping down the stairs.
Trouble turned and grabbed Sin by one arm and dragged him to the corner of an adjacent building corner. “What is this madness?!” Sin demanded.
“Shh!” Trouble hissed as he peered around the corner. Shadow Saber hadn’t noticed the two and made their way down the street. Tro waited for a long few moments while the enemy lance strolled down the street, chatting as they went. Trouble followed Shadow Saber from a safe distance, careful to remain behind cover as often as possible, dragging Sin with him the whole way. Shadow Saber finally turned to enter a restaurant. A fine wood-walled establishment labeled Evening Glow Bistro. The Knyghts disembarked from their shells before entering the bistro with hurried steps. Trouble didn’t get a good look at the twins’ faces. He only caught a glimpse of gray jumpsuits and bobbing brunette hair.
Trouble checked his bank account to find it reasonably flush with funds. He’d made the right call when he’d made the credit transfer through Sparky to make sure he had personal money. Trouble waited a few more moments before entering the bistro. The interior was finely furnished, with rich and polished wood-paneled walls, spacious booths, and ornate wooden tables. The space was lit with faux-gas lamps powered by Fire Myst crystals, giving the room a warm, flickering light. Tro nervously stepped deeper into the establishment. The whole building was thick with the scents of roast chicken, onion soup, and caramelized sugars of sweet desserts. Evening Glow was well populated, clearly at least somewhat popular with the local peoples; the dull drone of polite conversation buzzed throughout the dining area.
Trouble unfurled the hood of his jacket and covered his ears, flattening them back to reduce their profile. He casually walked to an empty booth near where Shadow Saber had seated themselves. Sin sat down across from Tro and booted up the hologram menu of the shop. “I do appreciate the stop for a meal, but what prompted this?” Sin asked as he scrolled through the menu.
“Listening,” Trouble said as he honed his hearing in on Shadow Saber’s conversation.
“I still can’t believe that you blew our only storm orb on our escape from Conan,” Drake complained, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation. “We could’ve used it later!”
“Don’t give me that, Nick,” Griswold chided. “You were the one to get caught and almost lose the lantern. We needed out of there in a hurry. We’ve got zero idea why those schizos are after the thing, but I’m not about to report to Thorn that we lost his precious lantern. You want to be the one to give him those bad tidings?”
“What?! No! No no, no,” Drake denied with a pair of waving hands as if to ward off the idea. “Mister Thorn might turn me to sludge or some dreck. I’m not about to sign my life short because of a near miss.”
“Then don’t complain about my moves to keep us safe.” Griswold snapped back. “You were lucky the lot of losers couldn’t keep their hands to themselves. We’re just that much closer to finishing our mission with their myst in the thing’s tank.”
“But, Boss,” Kaymoor piped up. “If it’s that much fuller, doesn’t that mean we won’t be able to hit all our targets before we gotta blow it? How full is it, anyway?” The Wizard ran a hand through his gelled hair.
“No clue,” Griswold said, patting something metal at his hip. “Not like the thing has a fuel gauge or anything like that. But if we need to cut a target outta our plan, that’s not our fault. The thing can only hold so much, right. We do as much of the job as we can. And when it’s full, we move for Stonehold Bastion settlement and blow it.”
Tro’s ear perked up at the name of Stonehold Bastion settlement. He didn’t know the local map as well as he should have, but he did recognize the name. Stonehold settlement was an underground dwarven settlement that was known for strict security and a flourishing hydroponics system they used for the majority of their exports. Tro couldn’t help but wonder why that settlement of all settlements was their final destination.
“I still don’t get why you burned the storm orb on those losers,” Drake said. “They’re probably still riding the road down here, if at all.”
“Don’t give me that.” Griswold snapped. “You told us that you dumped all the mission data in their laps after they dosed you. They know where we are. They know where we are heading. I popped the orb because I didn’t want to chance them catching a wing down here and cutting us off.”
“So you blew it on the off chance they got ahead of us?” Drake asked incredulously. “It was a total waste! We made rough air space for a few hours just so you could feel better. Do you know how expensive those things are?”
“Drop it, Nick,” Griswold warned in a stern tone.
“Okay. Okay,” Drake said with a placating motion of his hands. “I’m just sayin’,”
That was when a waitress approached Trouble and Sin. “Welcome into Evening Glow Bistro. What can I get you?” The adolescent human girl looked at Sin and frowned. “Sorry, but we don’t serve homeless here.”
Tro nodded toward the door, and Sin got the message, letting out a tired sigh before pulling himself from the booth to walk outside. Tro turned to the young woman. “Chicken. Side of soup.” Trouble figured if he was going to be spying on Shadow Saber, he might as well blend in and enjoy a meal before he found his sister.
Suddenly, there was a crash from outside. The waitress turned to see what the source of the noise was, and Trouble craned his neck to do the same. Screams came from just outside. “Damn it, Sin,” Tro cursed as he stood from his seat to hurry outside.
Trouble left the bistro to find Sin half crushed under a car, pinning him to a lamppost. The Immortal struggled to pull himself free with little luck. But that was not the source of the screaming. Another crash sounded from down the street. Tro’s eyes tracked the second crash to find an unexpected sight.
Alex was charging toward Trouble with Vex on his back. Alex shoulder-checked a car aside as he sped down the road. Behind the fleeing pair was the Fury Fee Fee, chasing on burning wings.
Vex was in a panic. Her fists were clenching Ex’s chassis in a death grip. Fee Fee was hot on their tail, and they had already run three-quarters of the way across town. The settlement wasn’t a big one, but the chase had already been going for tens of minutes. The Fury refused to relent in her pursuit. Vex was helpless against her without her hexgun, and that had her more pissed off than anything at that moment.
Ex shouldered another car aside with a massive burst of power, almost throwing Vex off for the dozenth time. Vex held on for dear life, ducking low as a flaming javelin flew past her shoulder. With how hard Fee Fee had been driving them, Vex couldn’t help but wonder if the Fury was even still trying to capture her, or was simply out for murder now.
Vex looked up just in time to see Trouble stepping out from some side shop. “Oh! Hey, Tro!” Vex called in a falsely cheery voice, waving her hand overhead. Trouble leaped atop the moving Knyght to land lightly beside Vex.
“What you do?” Trouble scolded.
“Nothing!” Vex defended. “I was just patching our gear-head up when we got jumped.” Vex peered over her shoulder, past the Fury, to see if the other two Gilded Rose members were also pursuing. Vex couldn’t see them, but that didn’t mean a thing. Fee Fee was by far the fastest of their number, and the other two could easily have collected a car or something similar.
“Is that the Sin pinned to the pole?” Ex asked.
“Yes,” Trouble answered.
Ex came to a skidding halt, stopping just long enough to shove the pinning car aside and tuck the half-crushed Sin under one arm. Another flame javelin flew at the team, striking Ex in the shoulder. The blow only scorched the armor plating, but Ex had clearly had enough of the Fury. Ex spun on one tank-like foot as Fee Fee closed in. With his free hand, Ex drove a punch at Fee Fee’s face.
The Fury gave a half-flap of her flaming wings, avoiding the strike by mere inches. Fee Fee struck Vex in the gut with a shoulder, wrapping her arms around the Hexxen Bane and taking her off Ex’s back. The Fury took to the sky, rising high above the Knyght’s reach.
“Hey! Get back here!” Ex shouted with a shaken fist directed at the Fury.
Vex struggled against Fee Fee, wiggling with her arms stuck to her sides. Vex drove a knee into Fee Fee’s abdomen, but without any footing, the blow had little power behind it. The Hexxen Bane looked downward to find them almost fifty feet from the street. If Vex fell from that height, she would most certainly die, or at least be injured too badly to defend herself. Vex stopped struggling.
“Good Dove,” Fee Fee said with a merciless smile.
What Fee Fee didn’t expect was Trouble coming to the rescue. Vex looked down again in time to see Trouble racing along rooftops to keep pace with the Fury. The Fury was another twenty feet above most of those roofs, but Trouble had a workaround. The moment Trouble reached a forty-foot-high roof, he leaped. Trouble came to a head with Fee Fee and Vex, but missed the Fury by a little more than a foot. Yet Vex knew that Trouble must’ve seen the discrepancy in distance before he even leaped. Sure enough, Trouble landed just below the pair on a step of solid air. Trouble leaped again and landed right on the Fury’s back with both feet. Fee Fee was sent into a hurtling plummet with the additional weight from Tro. Trouble punched Fee Fee in the back of the head, one, two, three times with the same fist.
“Hey! Knock that, off!” Fee Fee snapped at Trouble between each punch. When Trouble dropped another punch into the back of her skull, she said, “Fine! Try hanging on after this!” That was the only warning the Fury gave before turning over to fly upside down. Trouble simply leaped up, landing on another plate of hard air before lunging back. Even if the dismount was only for a few seconds, the Fury still gained a substantial amount of distance.
“Vex!” Trouble cried with an outstretched, grasping hand. “Will find you!”
“I’ll be waiting!” Vex called back.
“Don’t get your hopes up, Dove,” Fee Fee whispered menacingly into Vex’s ear. “We’re taking you away. Far away.”
Vex watched the city below as Fee Fee banked to the west. She tried to piece together some form of a plan to escape. She would need to wait for Fee Fee to land, but even then, she stood little chance. Fee Fee was almost certainly taking her to Mesarra and Willow.
The Fury began her descent even as Vex heard sirens from the local guard in the distance, heading toward Ill Omen. Vex spotted the warehouse district as the pair neared the ground. Below, Vex caught sight of Willow the Warden standing guard outside of one of the warehouses.
Fee Fee dropped Vex in front of Willow like a sack of potatoes before touching down herself. Vex dropped hard enough to knock the wind from her lungs. If she hadn’t been wearing her chest plate, she definitely would’ve bruised chest. Vex pushed herself to her feet and made a mad dash for the nearest alley. She’d made it a whole five paces before she was suddenly held inside a bubble of force, sealing her to the street.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Willow said from behind Vex. The Hexxen Bane spun on her heel. Willow gave Vex a stern look as she drew her long sword to point it with one hand toward Vex. “You’re not about to escape this net, Dove.”
“Can you stop calling me that?” Vex griped, rapping a pair of knuckles against the barrier that held her. “And maybe let me out of this so-called net.”
Willow and Fee Fee both walked up to Vex, ready for violence at a moment’s notice. Fee Fee circled around behind Vex while Willow remained in front of her with sword at the ready. The barrier dropped, and Fee Fee immediately seized Vex’s wrists and held them behind the Hexxen Bane’s back. Fee Fee shoved Vex. “Get moving, Dove. We’ve got things to do and places to be.”
Willow opened the door to the warehouse, and Vex was shoved into the shadowed space. The large room was dark, with only shadows of crates and shelves filling the space. Fee Fee guided Vex through the maze of obstacles with rough hands. The trio turned a corner around a shadowed shelf. As Vex rounded the corner, she spotted a single lit hanging lamp from the roof. Below the gleaming white light were two chairs. The one closest to her was a rough and uncomfortable-looking metal seat. Across from the metal seat was a luxurious, high-backed, pale wooden seat fitted with overstuffed white velvet cushions. Lounging in that pompous seat sat Mesarra. Beside Mesarra’s seat was a small white stone and cheaply painted metal table. Atop the table sat a tray of finger foods. Cheese, cold cuts of meat, and small slices of fruit were perfectly organized on the tray as Mesarra plucked a piece of cheese to pop in her mouth.
“Excellent seeing you, Dove,” Mesarra said. “You’re finally here. Fee Fee, if you would please bind her. Willow, if you would please collect us a vehicle.”
“You got it, boss.” Fee Fee said before shoving Vex into the metal seat. The Fury took two paces out of Vex’s sight before returning with plastic lock-ties. Vex put up a fight against getting restrained, punching Fee Fee in the face no less than three times before both her arms were tied down. Vex’s kicking was just as vicious, but the Ceangar simply mounted to one leg and rode it out like the leg was a bucking beast, latching Vex’s ankle to the leg of the chair the moment the two were within range of each other. Fee Fee did the same with the second leg, even as Vex’s fighting flew into a new pitch of fever to get away. The Hexxen Bane spat and cursed and seethed against the woman with a venom only matched by a pit of vipers.
“Calm yourself, Dove,” Mesarra cooed, as she folded one leg over the other with a motion that spoke to just how certain she was of her safety. “I found your tracking brand, you know. That nasty little thing you gave me with the rather undignified blow from the man-ish gauntlet of yours.”
Fee Fee, who had stepped aside to stand guard with her arms crossed, shot Mesarra a disapproving glare.
“Not yours, darling.” Mesarra waved away Fee Fee’s offense with an elegant flapping of her hand. “The Dove’s piece is sinister and haunting. It comes across as something only a miscreant troublemaker would have. Yours, Fee Fee, are noble, powerful, and elegant. Beautiful white and gold, like marble plucked by the gods.”
Fee Fee raised an irritated brow at Mesarra. “Laying it on a bit thick, aren’t you?”
“That was a bit thick,” Vex said with a smirk. “You planning on bedding the lady?”
Mesarra adjusted uncomfortably in her seat. “Of course not. We have a professional relationship.” She leaned forward to point an accusing finger toward Vex. “And before you push this idea any further, you won’t be inciting any infighting between our members. We are ironclad in our dedication to this mission.”
Vex gave an amused snort as she leaned back in her seat. “And you don’t even think to ask why they want me so bad.”
“What are you talking about?” Mesarra asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
Vex gave a casual shrug. “I can’t say for certain. But I do know that when the Gathering of the Petals sends out a Purple Rose collection lance, it’s normally something pretty important.” Vex nodded toward Mesarra, “You once mentioned that your lance was among the top-ranked Purple Roses in the Order. So why would they send someone like you to snatch a runner like me? I’m a nobody. Just some botched Witch turned Hexxen Bane. I got special problems, but that’s about where it ends when it comes to special to me. So why send someone like you after someone like me?”
Vex just needed to play for time. This situation had fallen into a gamble and a race. Could Vex keep these two occupied long enough for the cavalry to arrive? Could that cavalry arrive before the Rose’s escape vehicle?
