Thank you so much for the reviews to: Terriah, CinephileSandra, nightdrive23, KLCtheBookWorm and 2angelwings.
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Tinman.
The hallway DG entered was a scene of increasing chaos as servants and guards spilled into the hallways. Another boom, echoed through the corridors, the echos amplifying the noise, making it much louder than outside. The windows shivered as the shock wave ran through them, leaving a unnerving tinkling sound in its wake. DG took off down the hallway towards the noise. It sounded like cannons! Were they under attack? Taking a set of narrow side stairs DG moved down to the second level and the crush of people moving away from the explosions increased, though none of those seemed to realize she was in their midst, barely even recognizing that she was going the other way.
"DG!"
DG glanced over her shoulder, suppressing a groan, as she saw the white mustached man further down the hallway. One person had anticipated she would be here. Of course he would. Derek had spent enough time as her guard to know that she would head towards danger rather than away. She ignored the shout and continued forward. Of course she went towards danger. If she could help, she should do so, shouldn't she?
"DG!"
She ignored the second shout and continued forward. He would catch her eventually. She expected it, just as he now expected her to ignore his shouts. DG hurried around a corner, and sharp acrid smell of smoke hit her. She quickened her pace, she was almost there. Turning another corner, DG stopped dead, barely registering the bump as Derek, came around the corner and ran into her.
She was at the front hall of the palace. A large staircase swept down from the second floor into the long front hallway. The long room spread out in front of the staircase, the floors covered in beautiful mosaics, and pillars flanked the sides of the rooms, and large skylights poured in sunlight, creating a majestic elegance. She had been in here numerous times, watching as a company of soldiers marched through on their way barracks on the west side of the palace.
The room was anything but elegant today. A gaping hole had taken the place of the large ornate doors, and chunks of stone blocks littered the floor. A deep crack ran through the ceiling and one of the skylights had shattered, raining glass down on everything beneath it. One of the front pillars was completely obliterated while another half a dozen, were crumbling and fallen over. Mixed in with the rubble were bodies. It looked like the target of the explosion had been an incoming company of soldiers. Many were dead, but not all of them.
DG darted forward, heading down the stairs, heading towards the closest man. He was sprawled across the floor, various tears in his uniform, and a large charred section where it looked as though he had briefly been on fire. The most pressing thing however was a head wound, that was sluggishly leaking thick blood, that was drying black along the edges. DG looked him over desperately trying to remember what she had been taught about first aid in health class. You don't move someone who's been injured, she remembered that. DG checked to see if he was breathing. Air passed from his lips in shallow but steady breaths. Good, she thought, at least I don't have to try CPR. She had never really been able to get the hang of that. The main thing seemed to be the head wound. She needed to bandage it somehow.
DG started fumbling with the buttons on her shirt as Derek stumbled up next to her, shock written clearly on his features.
"DG we have to get you out of here, its not safe."
He paused for a second, "What are you doing?"
"We have to stop the bleeding," she said as she pulled the shirt off, revealing in full the black spaghetti strapped cami that had been peeking through the v of the shirt before.
"DG!" Derek said, shock and indignation filling his voice, "That's indecent! Put that back on right now!"
"Yes because decency is the important thing right now," she said sarcastically, while glaring at him as she hastily folded the shirt to make a pad out of it and pressed it to the wound at the unconscious soldier's temple.
Feet trampled into the room, and she looked up as a group of at least twenty soldiers flowed around her, heading towards the gaping hole and any more assailants that might still be there. It happened fast. DG saw the man dart over the fallen rubble where the front wall had been. He wore a long coat, and something shone beneath it.
Fire blossomed, like a sun igniting in the room. DG threw her hands up defensively as though they could protect her. A shock wave lifted her from the ground, throwing her backwards. She hit the floor again, and felt her ankle twist, as stone ground into her body. Her head hit the mosaic floor with a sharp thud, rebounding, and bouncing down again. Small spots of pain flared as glass rained down. Another skylight was gone. Heat seared across her skin, and the roar of fire filled her ears.
She stayed still for a moment and then pushed herself up into a sitting position. People were yelling, but the sound seemed muffled as though it were coming from far away or from beneath a thick layer of cotton. Pain induced tears blurred her vision, and she blinked rapid to try and clear them, and then she stared.
Flames billowed, seething angrily as they tried to jump forward, but they couldn't. They were being held back. A thin shimmering shield stood between the soldiers and the fire. Between her and the fire. The flames licked hungrily across it as though looking for a week point, ripples spreading out like water, every time the fire touched it. DG pushed herself to her feet, hands steadying her, as she stumbled. It was Derek. She didn't know how long he'd been there. Finally behind the barrier the flames began to die down, Smoke still filled the air, DG could taste it on her tongue, but now she could see the damage caused by the newest explosion, through the distorting heat waves that rose from the fire.
The ceiling through the first broken skylight was gone, as was most of the front wall now. More pillars were down, shattered across the floor. Derek was trying to say something to her, but she couldn't here him over the ringing in her ears. She watched dully as the shield seemed to flicker and then melt away. A wave of hot dry air washed across her, as darkness closed in.
Cain marched through the hallways, his boots clicking smartly across the tiled floor, and echoed through the now empty halls. The sound of his boots was multiplied by the two other Tinmen walking behind him. The men peeled off as he reached a brass door, and gave a short knock and entered without waiting for a reply. He stepped into the room and gave the people inside a quick one over. It had become a familiar scene in the past two months.
Queen Lavender sat behind a large ornate wood desk, and Ahamo stood at her shoulder. He looked a far cry different from the unkempt, up to no good image that he had been portraying before the eclipse. The scraggly hair had been cut short, and the mutton chops were shaved clean. He was a stern figure in the uniform he now wore as the Queen's Consort, and the Commander in Chief of the Queen's Armies.
On the other side of the desk, Azkadellia sat on a pale green chair, shoulders hunched and face pale. She too had changed since the eclipse. For the first few hours after the eclipse the confidence she had worn when the Witch had possessed her seemed to remain, and they had started to think that she was going to come out of the ordeal in better shape then they could of hoped. Then she'd finally stopped moving, working, to take a breather and to take everything in. She had broken down. Her nightmares were common knowledge, and many were waiting for her to break completely. Cain didn't think she would though. She had more spine than that. It might take a while but, eventually that steel would start to show up again.
On the opposite side of the room Glitch lounged on a small couch, set against the wall. Cain studied him for a second longer, taking in his posture. He was relaxed, an ankle crossed confidently on his knee. Not Glitch, Cain though, Ambrose. Glitch had gone into surgery to have the other half of his brain attached, and Ambrose had come back out of surgery. He had glitched frequently through the first couple weeks, but it was becoming less and less and the two sides of his brain became reacquainted with each other. Ambrose's intense personality, made Cain wonder where the relaxed, quirky side of him that was Glitch had come from.
Cain gave a brief bow and stepped further into the room.
"Colonel Cain, report." the Queen said.
Her tone was confident, calm and collected. She still didn't get it, he thought with an internal sigh. She didn't realize exactly how much of a fight they were in for, and how long this really was going to take. Or how much it was going to cost them.
"The bombers were Longcoats. They used magic of some kind, which we presume was in a device so they could use it. There are no leads so far as to where it came from."
"Do you have these Longcoats in custody?"
"No ma'am."
Cain could see the angry starting to rise in the Queen's eyes.
"They're dead. They were blown up with the device."
The Queen's face paled slightly as the shock of the Longcoat's new tactic set in, and then she nodded.
"Good."
"We have twenty seven dead and forty nine wounded. Work is underway to seal off the entrance, guards have been set to make sure no unwelcome guests come through. We should have that finished by nightfall your Highness."
A knock sounded on the door, and Cain looked over his shoulder as an older man with a large white mustache slip in through the door, as the Queen motioned for him to come in. Cain frowned slightly as he recognized Derek Galvin, the man who had been put in charge of DG's protection detail. The man stood politely to the side waiting, and Cain turned back towards the Queen.
"One last thing, Colonel Cain," she said briskly, "I have heard rumors of magic being used briefly, on our side, during these explosions. What do you know of it."
Cain shrugged, "I have heard the rumor as well, but there hasn't been much time to follow it up. I'll let you know when I hear more."
Galvin cleared his throat and stepped forward, "If I may," he said, "I can confirm that rumor for you."
Cain felt ice race through his veins.
"It was DG," he growled, already heading towards the door.
There it is, part two! I feel bad that I took so long to get this to you all. The next one will definitely come faster. Promise! Please leave a review, I love hearing what you guys think, and reviews definitely make me write faster! ;) Thanks again to everyone who reviewed before, the reviews made my day.
Also just as a side note about how Ahamo has lost his creeper mutton chops. If anyone wants to see what he looks like without them, do a quick Google search on Ted Whittall. He is actually quite pretty.