If things on this slow down, you can blame the facts that I am going to have a DF succession modding turn coming up (I'm putting in multiple dragon species, and two civilizations, one of humanoid lizards, and their magic manipulated 'descentants', humanoid dragons), and my school is going to be starting back up soon. But you didn't come here to hear me ramble, so on with the story!
Disclaimer: You know what goes here, should I really have to repeat myself?
Looking back, I now see how much putting the plan into action wound up relying on pure luck. Makes me wonder what Silonya was thinking in agreeing upon the accursed thing. I don't know we made it through the first stage. Much less the entire plan…
Omega pressed against the alley wall in anticipation, unseen thanks to the black armor, cowl, and cloak that Silonya got him to wear for the snatching. He was in the Port sector of the city, at the point where the poor lower city met the rich upper city. It was in this area where Gust had his home, but Omega was not here to snatch Ember from the house, that was Silonya's job. Instead, he was here to create the thought of an attack to help cover their escape. There were enough guards that him and Silonya would near certainly be discovered when they went into the tunnels, but if there was a perceived attack, that would become a priority over searching for a single dragon, even one whom was going to become the mate of the World's savior.
He was not alone in this effort, for that would only make the situation of discovery worse, and likely wouldn't cause the level of chaos needed to make their escape. Instead, some of Silonya's friends were going to help the chaos by detonating their own bombs elsewhere in the city as well, in order to divide up the guards so that the 'attack' would be further believable.
Omega continued waiting for Silonya to give the signal that she had Ember and the riot could start, a few patrols going by outside the alley. Eventually, he saw Silonya arriving at the alleyway across the street, having already deposited Ember nearby the stockpile that would be blown to create an escape route into the tunnels, to give better speed for reaching the stockpile from the signaling location. After a patrol went by, she gave the signal. He stored his stray thoughts for later consideration as he slowly walked into the street, and threw one of the three customized bombs he had been given at one of the torches that illuminated the street. The fuse lit, and the bomb bounced and rolled to the base of a closed shop further down the street. Guards rounded the corner of the street, and proceeded to move towards him quickly, suspicious of what he was doing in that clothing at night. When they walked in front of the shop, the bomb's fuse ran out and it exploded, prompting Omega to begin to sprint into the alleyway that Silonya had ran deeper into.
As he ran into the alley, he heard the muffled sounds of distant explosions happening across the city, slowly radiating outwards from his initial bomb. He kept up the pace, hearing the guards break from their stupor that was induced by the suddenness of the bomb, and come after him. He ran out into another street, and barely saw Silonya enter another alley. He started running for it, but one of the guards headed him off by flying over the buildings. This halted Omega's forward progress, allowing the other dragon guards to surround him. Omega's head darted back and forth, his hand reaching into the cloak and grabbing ahold of his second bomb. The guard spoke to him, "Citizen, reveal your hands, and drop your weapon. You are under arrest."
Omega smiled underneath his cowl, and replied, "Fine then."
Omega whipped out his arm, throwing the unlit grenade towards the lead guard that had headed him off. The guards, not realizing the bomb was unlit dodged away from it, and Omega charged through the opening, grabbing the bomb on his way. The guards realized what had happened, and proceeded to go after him, again. Omega pulled out his dagger, and shortened the fuse of the bomb, before lighting it, and throwing it back. The guards thought he was trying to do the same trick, and too late did one of them realize that it was lit, causing it to detonate right in the thick of them.
The explosion sent them flying outwards, disabling their movement or knocking them out by impact with the surrounding walls. Omega didn't look back to see this, instead rushing directly for the alleyway and entering. He sprinted through the maze of the streets and alleys, dodging through the crowds that were beginning to form from panic, the sound of bombs detonating across the city. Eventually, he entered the stockpile alley, and came across Silonya, who asked, "What the hell took you so long?"
"Guards," replied Omega. "I managed to lose them, and no others managed to find me. Had to use the second bomb, though."
Silonya swore. "We needed that one to blast this open! Trying to lite the pile with the stones would place us too close to the blast for us to survive, and we need all the powder possible to breach the tunnels!"
Omega replied angrily, "I'd rather be here with one bomb than captured!"
Silonya sighed. "Yes, that is true. We still need the third bomb to close the passageway, though."
Omega swore under his breath, and asked, "Should I go grab a torch?"
Silonya frowned and said, "They would come in here if they saw you run out, grab one of the light sources and run back in."
Omega thought for a second, then he recalled the fuse he had shortened. He searched for the piece he cut off, praying that it was still there. He managed to find it barely caught upon his boot. He held it up, and asked Silonya, "If we tied this around a dagger, could you throw it fast enough for it to land on the pile?"
Silonya thought for a second, and replied, "If you use the stones to create the ignition flame, yes, I think I could."
Omega looked around, and asked, "Where's Ember?"
Silonya replied, as Omega handed her the materials, and she handed him the fire stones, "Closer to the pile, but outside the radius, don't worry, she's not going to wake up for an hour or two."
Omega nodded and they headed deeper into the alley, to the stockpile. When they arrived at the 20 barrel pile of gunpowder, Omega finally saw Ember. The pinkish gray dragoness was unconscious, legs tied and muzzle bound closed. He noticed that she would have been a little under one and a half meters if she was in normal 'standing' position of a dragon. Something bothered him about this, and after a short period of thought, he realized what it was. If Ember's growth rate was average, then it would mean that Cynder had an unusually quick period of growth. A mental check of his memories made him realize that Cynder was actually larger than Gust, whom was larger in size than most other dragons his age. It was almost as if she had reached the end of a dragon's hundred year growth cycle, fifty years early.
Silonya snapped him out of the line of thought he was going through, asking, "What's wrong?"
Omega shook his head and said, "Nothing. My mind was losing itself."
Silonya nodded, and held up the dagger with the fuse around the hilt. Omega took the hint and struck the fire stones together, causing a brilliant flame to erupt, lighting the fuse. Silonya took a few steps towards the pile, and threw the dagger. As it sailed through the air, the fuse slowly burnt itself down, eventually becoming loose and falling off. Mercifully, it's forward momentum carried it onto the pile, detonating it. Omega and Silonya were forced back by the shockwave, and when the dust cleared, the alleyway section was heavily cracked, and with a slight groan, collapsed into the tunnels below. Omega tossed the fire stones to Silonya, who caught them as Omega lifted Ember over his shoulders. The two jumped down into the tunnels, managing to land safely, and headed off into the tunnels.
Well, that was difficult to write. I had to completely rewrite some portions of this chapter in order to get it to be more 'realistic'. Seriously, some ideas seemed good at first, but the more I thought about them, the less sense they made.
A word about 'fire stones': They aren't really stones, but an orange crystal that when it strikes with another one of its kind, creates a small, intense flame that lasts for less than a second, but long enough that anything flammable will catch on fire.
As always, please review.
