Long awaited, I know…
A/n. SOOOO SORRY!! I had uni stuff that I had to deal with (midsemester exams) and this chapter needed work, (thanks go to Orohippus, my beta, for letting me know) and I had writers block.
A TERRIBLE COMBINATION!!
Chapter 9:
"Put her down." Sarah said. Frowning, she reviewed the area where they had found the strongest of Slaughter's essence. The inky darkness pooled around industrial buildings, but there was no sign of the hyena itself. He could be in one of the larger buildings, but it doesn't seem right… for a creature such as a Sorrow to be within a structure…
She voiced her concern to her companions Wonder Woman, Superman, Shayera and Briar. The large man frowned. "We could come with you. That is what we're here for."
Sarah bit her lip, her eyes travelling over the buildings in the immediate area. It's not as though the Sorrows pay attention to anyone that isn't a threat; he probably wouldn't notice them anyway. And Supes, Wonder Woman and Shayera can fly us out of there pretty damn quick… "Alright. Come on, Slaughter's essence is strongest from inside that." She pointed to a behemoth of a building before scrubbing her hands on her pants.
Shayera squeezed her shoulder, sensing her anxiety. Sarah flashed her a shaky smile before stalking bravely towards the entrance of the building. She paused at the door, her hand hovering over the door knob. This is it. It's do or die; it's time to face my last nightmare… She swallowed hard before turning the knob and walking quietly through the door. The dagger of Shakith was once again wrapped in an old piece of cloth, hiding the jewel on the hilt. As Sarah saw the metal floor of the warehouse she winced; if she had to waste time carving the symbols into the metal, forming the Gate would take a lot longer.
The heroes walked behind her; Briar's presence was a comfort at her side. When they made their way inside the warehouse completely, the doors clanged shut loudly behind them. Sarah glanced back. The only light provided was a red glow coming from under a door way. "That isn't a good sign, is it?"
"No," Superman replied, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "And that room is protected by lead paint; I can't see inside."
Sarah strode to the door of the inner room, her back held straight, steel in her eyes. I can handle this! She opened the door and stepped through, followed closely by the others.
Sarah felt her eyes widen at the sight that lay before them. The room was circular; they stood at one end, and a slim walkway led to the other end through the middle of the room. Bordering the walkway were two pits of red-orange flames that threatened a fiery death for all who misstepped. At the other end of the room was Slaughter. Sarah was shocked at the sight of the ferocious creature. It was cowled at the base of a chair- no, throne- and it was attached to the throne by a multi-coloured leash; Sarah followed the sight of it to a large pool of the same multi-coloured substance. She quickly looked away as she felt it try to pull her consciousness in; instead she focused on the occupant of the throne, just as he opened his mouth.
"Well, Kal El, come in. Do come in." The voice was deep and mocking; at the way Superman froze up, his eyes wide with shock, Sarah became very worried.
"Darkseid." His voice dripped with hatred, Sarah never thought she would hear his normally gentle and kind voice use such a tone.
"Who's Darkseid?" Sarah asked Wonder Woman, but the woman wasn't responding; she was staring at the pool of light that had nearly drawn Sarah in.
"Kal El, how do you like my new pet?" The bulky man with rocky skin- now that Sarah could see him properly as he took a few steps off of his throne- continued. She gasped at his words, He enslaved Slaughter? How could he enslave Slaughter? She stepped back involuntarily, sparing a glance at her companions. Superman hadn't caught sight of the pit of multi-coloured light yet; he was focused on the man he called Darkseid.
The others, however, had not taken their eyes off of it since stepping foot in the inner room of the warehouse. "Superman," Sarah began in a warning voice, "Don't look at the technicoloured puddle, whatever you do." Just as she had finished, movement in the bright puddle caught her eye; as she glanced over she felt herself snared by its power.
A figure emerged from the puddle; Sarah took an involuntary step forward, as did the others. They couldn't take their gazes off of the puddle; Sarah felt her feet moving slowing against her will, travelling towards it. Luckily- or unluckily- a burning snake of multi-coloured energy grabbed her by the wrist, yanking her out of her daze, but closer to the puddle as it burnt the skin on her right arm.
A shrill, eerie voice screeched, "I will throw my siblings' Messenger in through the vent and into my realms myself!"
Sarah realised that she was facing not only Slaughter, who whickered in amusement at her predicament, but the Queen of Chaos herself. With her left hand she took the dagger of Shakith from its sheath and swiped at the Chaos creature. The dagger passed right through the Goddess without so much as an inconvenience; meanwhile the tentacle that had hold of her wrist still burned with the ferocity of a small sun. Sarah gritted her teeth, attempting prevent an outcry of pain, to no avail.
As she screamed in agony the Queen of Chaos continued. "That Wildmage bastard ruined my plans last time, but there is no one to ruin them this time. I will take over this Realm, and spread my chaos to the others. You cannot stop me."
Sweat rolled down Sarah's face; she was beyond screaming as she moaned in pain. "H-How'd you manage t-to get loose of your cage?" Her voice was snarky, if a little shaky.
That was the wrong thing to say, however, as she was flung hard against the cold steel floor. The Chaos Goddess flung droplets of her murky, multi-coloured liquid all over her body; where they landed they burnt like acid. Her voice hoarse, she writhed with the contact as the Chaos Queen approached again. "Mother, a little help?!"
There was a crack, and Mithros, the Goddess and the Black God appeared, fury on their faces as they faced off against their sister. Gasping in pain, Sarah took a look around the room; Superman and Darkseid were exchanging blows; every strike sent a loud crash through the room; all windows had been shattered by now. Briar, Shayera and Wonder Woman were still ensnared by the chaos vent; they got closer and closer as they took step after step. And the Great Gods were engaged in a vicious battle of wills against their sister.
Sarah scrambled to her feet, hugging her raw arm to her chest. She had to stop the other three from touching the chaos vent, at all costs. As she rushed to the trio, she grabbed Briar by the arm and spun him around. His sight of the vent broken, he regained control of his senses. "Sarah! What-"
"Don't look at the vent!" She gave him a little shove away from the puddle, for good measure, before turning back to the two women, who had continued uninterrupted in their journey towards the puddle. Next, she targeted the winged woman. Pulling her out of the way worked as well as it had with Briar, but Sarah ran into problems trying to distract the Amazonian.
Tugging on her arm, she couldn't get Wonder Woman to budge even the slightest from her path. "Damn superstrength…" Sarah muttered before stepping in front of the woman, to little effect. The super powered woman was too thoroughly entranced. Trying to pinch the woman's arm that didn't work; Sarah tried slugging her across the face, resulting only in broken fingers. "Ow! Alright Wonder Woman, that's it."
Sarah stepped back and lifted her pained right arm, her magic gathered around her fingers. I hope I'm not misjudging my strength here… Sarah let loose, and the woman staggered back, blinking at Sarah. The younger woman was quick to draw her around, facing away from the chaos vent. "What just happened?"
"Don't look at the chaos vent, whatever you do," Sarah started without preamble, "And it looks like Superman could use some help with Darkseid, if you feel up to it. Briar, stay out of trouble. You can't help against Darkseid, look at him! And I've got to deal with Slaughter."
Sarah spoke too soon; a force tackled Sarah from behind, leaving scores of claw marks down her back as Slaughter rolled away from the attack. The others scattered, to help Superman or avoid Slaughter's wrath. Sarah staggered to her feet, the dagger in her hand as she glanced back at leash that once held the Sorrow; it was frayed. I guess the Great Gods must be winning if Uusoae's leash snapped.
She felt the warm trickle of blood down her back as Slaughter skidded to a stop a dozen meters away. He regarded her with an interest that made her shudder, Sarah gripped the dagger in her right hand. I can't do this…There's no way I can carve the symbols into the floor, not with Slaughter loose as it is. I'm just not quick enough. How, then, am I going to beat him?
Slaughter leapt at her; she dodged, wincing as he scored a light hit on her shoulder. Meanwhile, Superman, Wonder Woman and Shayera were having a hard enough time with Darkseid. The gravely man threw Superman against a wall with one hand, while he gripped Shayera in a strangle hold with the other.
Wonder Woman picked herself up from the ground, a trickle of blood from a wound on her head. She flew at the man at full speed, fury on her face as she threw a punch at his face which had his head snap backwards- for all of two seconds. It seemed this Darkseid was stronger even than the Amazonian.
Shayera struggled for breath; her arms felt heavy under the weight of her mace. With a ferocious effort she brought her weapon up to bear with all her remaining strength; the corresponding blow loosened the monster's grip just enough for her to fall to the floor, gasping. She didn't stay there for long, however, as she let out a warcry and cuffed him across the face with all her might. The man barely flinched, sweeping his arm around, throwing her into a wall he stomped towards Superman.
The blue and red blur that was the Man of Steel collided with Darkseid at full speed; they both went crashing through a wall near Shayera as she picked herself up off the ground. She and Wonder Woman waded into the battle with the long suffering patience of warriors.
Sarah turned her attention to the battle between the Gods; they were still locked in a deadly triangle around their sister and would be conqueror. Briar was trying to watch every battle at once; he seemed out of place, without a task, each of the battles specific to those who partook in them. He could help no one, and that irked him so as he watched Sarah dodge an invisible foe with all the grace of a deadly gymnast.
The Messenger of the Gods was not faring well. She dodged and ducked, diving out of the way of the Sorrow's attacks. Every time she avoided an attack, he managed to get a score along her body on the way past. Damn it! She hissed in pain at the latest score across her stomach. She took stock of her injuries; a harsh burn on her right arm where Uusoae had grabbed her, a smattering of burns all over her body where the chaos queen had rained her acid like liquid atop her, at least half a dozen long scratches down her back, and now one across her stomach. All in all, it wasn't looking good for the knight.
Sarah had a flash of insight, a spark of knowledge from one of her first lessons about magic. She drew her Gift from her core, sending it through the jewel on the hilt of Shakith; it blasted through the cloth that covered the large diamond before settling on the floor in a circle; symbols settled slowly on the floor in crimson magic. The spell slowed and wavered as she rolled out of the way of another attack and pain ignited on her back. She bit her tongue to stop herself from crying out before focusing again on the spell.
It took several long moments of concentration for the Gate to fully form; Sarah almost sent out a prayer, until she realised the Gods were right there, locked in battle, and began her chant in Old Thak. When she finished she looked upon the Gate of Idramm expectantly; when nothing happened her mouth dropped, even as Slaughter scored a solid hit against her back. She rolled with the impact, swearing. "Damn it! Why the hell didn't that work?" She screamed with frustration. "I drew the Gate with the dagger of Shakith, in a way, so why didn't it work?"
"Sarah!" Briar called out from his position out of the way by the wall. "Sarah, spells written in magic need something to bind them, or else they don't work! It needs something physical to anchor it!"
"The jewel should do it!" she replied, her mind racing as she watched Slaughter stalking her.
"It's borne of the Gods. You need something of the Mortal Realms to bind a spell made in the Mortal Realms!" Briar yelled back; Sarah wondered briefly where the scruffy former thief learnt all that. Sure, he was a mage, the equivalent of a Master in the Mithran Way, but she'd never imagined he'd know about magical theory.
Looking at the Gate, she frowned. What can I use to bind it… Damn, blood will have to do. Racing to the Gate, ducking under another attack by Slaughter, she quickly swiped a shallow but freely bleeding cut across her palm, holding it over the Gate as she began to chant again.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Superman threw a quick one-two combination at Darkseid; the man caught the attack in his hands, and they grappled for supremacy, neither gaining the upper hand. If there was one being in existence that Clark could go full strength again, it was Darkseid, a fact that he was taking full advantage of. He brought his knee upwards; when Darkseid broke his grip and doubled over Superman sent him flying through the wall with a powerful punch.
Wonder Woman was picking herself up off the ground; Shayera was laying motionless, her wing bent at an unusual angle. The Amazonian gave him a questioning look; he nodded to the Thanagarian woman; Diana moved to her side, turning her over to reveal a large bruise forming across her face. As the princess turned the red head over, she began to stir.
Superman didn't have time to worry over his friends, however, as Darkseid came leaping from the whole in the wall, his eyes blazing with his own type of laser eyes. Superman responded in turn; they were evenly matched, and the battle raged onwards.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Suddenly, three things happened at once. Sarah finished chanting and the Gate activated, sucking Slaughter in as she leapt backwards, away from his final attacks, Darkseid disappeared into thin air just as Superman was about to wallop him across the face; his momentum sent him spinning on the spot as his eyes widened in shock, and a booming thunder sounded, making every mortal clap their hands to their ears against the pain. "Why are our children fighting?"
Sarah realised the voice speaking had to be the Mother Flame, mother of all of the Gods. Mithros answered her, almost impetuously. "She escaped your imprisonment for her, Mother. She was attempting to coup this Realm, like she attempted the other Realm those scant years ago."
"Enough. You are being pert, my son," a male voice answered; through the pain of his voice Sarah recognized this was Father Universe. "And for you, my unruly daughter. You will be imprisoned once more, and we shall make certain you cannot escape for millennia to come. Be gone!"
The voices stopped, and Sarah hesitantly removed her hands from her ears as the others looked around. The Gods had disappeared, along with Uusoae and Darkseid. Sarah's knees buckled; as she fell to the floor Briar dropped to one knee beside her. "Are you alright?"
Sarah nodded, although she winced at the action as it pulled her shoulders and damaged back. "We're all very lucky the Great Gods were available… we'd all be dead otherwise. Chaos isn't someone to be taken lightly."
"Where'd Darkseid go?" Superman asked, wary.
A voice inside Sarah's head made her grimace in distaste. As she relayed the Mother's message she winced. "The Gods have sent him to the Chaos Realm… the Great Mother Goddess says that that's where he so obviously desired to be. Ouch." This last was her own addition.
The Man of Steel lifted Shayera to her feet; the bird-woman swayed on her feet, her left wing hanging at an uncomfortable angle. Wonder Woman lifted Sarah to her feet and supported her as she flew above the fire pit. Briar followed on foot as Superman carried Shayera across.
As they made their way to the Javelin, Sarah felt an undeniable calm wash over her. She'd done it, this time without knocking on Death's door. When she settled down onto a seat on the bench at the back of the Javelin, Wonder Woman began to wrap her wounds in bandages to stem the bleeding until they reached the Watchtower.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
"Thank you all so much for your help. And thanks for believing in me," Sarah was saying as she shook Superman's hand.
"You're welcome here anytime," he replied, and Sarah turned to the other League members. She had shaken hands with each of them, and promised to visit. Shayera's wing was bandaged; her and Wonder Woman, who Sarah had been told was called 'Diana', were standing a little way away from the rest of the group; they had asked to come with them to Tortall for a time, to see what Sarah's life was really like.
She had agreed with a sigh; they were just following their protective instincts in making sure she was alright, and making sure her life was really as she described it, but that didn't stop it being annoying. And she had agreed on one condition, that they wear seemingly normal clothes, not Wonder Woman's normal garb. "Well, I'll see you all when I bring Shayera and Diana back." She looked to Briar expectantly. In his returned gaze she saw concern; after all, she had only allowed three days for recuperation and she was still covered in bandages. There was another expression in his eyes; a curiosity that made her nervous.
When she had awoken the morning after the battle with Slaughter, he had been at her bedside, watching her sleep. When she had cracked her eyelids, he had greeted her softly, and then launched into a question about their relationship. She had avoided the query, claiming she needed to think on it further. As it was she was nervous about her answer. He would be returning to Emelan soon, one way or another, and while long distant relationships were possible, it was highly unlikely theirs would continue over two months of travel.
She joined him in stepping up to the two waiting women. In a warning voice, she said, "It's a pretty wild ride, so hold on tight." As she held her left arm out, they each took hold. She turned the inner circle on the pendant Mithros had given her shortly after her first mission and the world spun around them. They landed just outside the palace gates.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
The three girls sat bolt upright in their seats, their teachers watching them in concern. "Sandry, what is it?" Lark asked in her gentle voice.
"Briar and Sarah are back!" all three girls answered at once; they stood hurriedly. "They're just outside the palace!"
Alanna and her husband George exchanged glances. They were sitting with the group of foreign mages; it was yet another ball the king thought necessary to throw in honour of the diplomats. The older Lady Knight stood with the young girls; her husband followed and moved to bow to the monarchs, explaining in a hushed voice what the girls had said. Alanna followed them out the door, as did Rosethorn and the rest of their teachers.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
As Sarah walked up to the guardsman on duty, she grinned brightly. "Lady Knight! You've returned! And you've brought more guests for his Majesty's hospitality!"
Sarah grinned. "Sure have. Can we pass?"
"Of course, Lady Knight, of course!" he didn't notice anything unusual about the two women that accompanied Sarah; at the knight's suggestion Shayera was wearing a very loose shirt, and a jacket on top, to hide her folded wings.
They made their way up the hill towards the palace; just as they got to the doors Briar was almost knocked off his feet by his three foster sisters. Alanna followed at a more sedate pace, but tugged Sarah into a tight embrace nevertheless, causing the younger woman to gasp in pain.
She withdrew from the contact quickly, holding Sarah at arms length as she ran experienced healer's eyes over her. Sarah felt her probing with her Gift and seriously considered resisting, but she allowed her mentor to see and sense her injuries. "What kind of trouble did you manage to find this time?"
"Well!" Sarah began, but her outrage soon melted into a rueful grin. "Let's talk about that later. Everyone," She turned to Briar's sisters, "I'd like you all to meet Shayera Hol and Princess Diana of Themyscira. Diana, Shayera, meet Lady Knight Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau, and the mages Lady Sandrilene fa Toren, Daja Kisubo and Trisana Chandler, and their former teachers Niklaren Goldeye, Rosethorn, Lark and Frostpine."
Wonder Woman offered a small bow; Shayera gave a little wave, at which Sarah grinned broadly. "Let's take this inside. I could really use a decent cup of tea right now." Alanna led them to a meeting room fairly close to the ball room. When they were settled, Alanna went to organise refreshments and inform the king.
"So, how did you three know we were back?" Sarah directed the question to Briar's three foster sisters.
Tris lowered her gaze to the tabletop before answering. "We can speak to each other… in our minds."
Sarah nodded slowly. "That explains more than it doesn't." She settled into a seat with a sigh. Turning to Rosethorn, she gave a small grin. "Told you I'd bring him back without a scratch."
The woman turned sharp eyes on Sarah. "That you did. Thank you. Obviously, from the look of you it wasn't easy…"
Sarah blew the comment off with a wave of a hand. "No, your boy stayed well away from trouble. All the beasties came after me, instead. And here are the refreshments!" As a maid walked through the door with a large pitcher of juice and a stack of cups, Sarah didn't notice the figure slip in behind her until she was yanked to her feet.
When Thayet had finished crushing her in the vice-like hold she called a hug, Sarah was released once again, and fixed with a stern gaze. "Sarah, what happened?"
"Is anyone else coming?" Sarah peered around the doorframe. "I am so not explaining this twice."
"Raoul's making his excuses to Jonathan; Alanna's going to be back soon, she said she was going to wake Wildcat." Sarah winced at this. "Alanna's going to wake Numair and Daine – he's sleeping off a spell he performed this afternoon-" It was night time in Tortall, "And Daine exhausted herself caring for a horse with a breach birth, so she's sleeping too."
When Raoul, Buri, who was his date for the evening, Alanna, Numair, Daine and Wildcat had made it to the room, Sarah was carefully appraised by the Shang, who looked decidedly unimpressed by the amount of injuries. When she took in her three broken fingers, she raised an eyebrow. "That's what you get for punching something improperly." She dared Sarah to argue with her snide assessment of her injuries.
Sarah, never one to disappoint, jerked a thumb at Wonder Woman. "You try punching her in the face. Go on, I dare you. Hard as you can."
At Briar's snicker, Wildcat frowned. "Why?"
After Sarah made the introductions to Wonder Woman and Shayera she sat back down she tried to sound nonchalant. "Oh, and Daine, there's a Chaos bitch with a grudge against you out there somewhere."
Daine went pale, and Alanna frowned, pausing as she reached over for a biscuit. "What do you mean? Uusoae was imprisoned when her plan to take over this Realm was discovered."
"I mean," Sarah began, "that Uusoae escaped her prison, and that she's none to happy with our dear Wildmage."
Sarah sat back and waited for the shock to subside. Numair put his arm around Daine protectively. The woman herself was sitting with wide eyes, staring. Thayet stood hurriedly, her face white as she walked to the door. "Jon's declaring the ball over. He needs to hear this."
"Thayet, sit down," Sarah soothed patiently. "Uusoae's been recaptured. Who knows how long that'll last this time, but I'd wager we're safe for at least another night." Her voice was dry, and Thayet slowly sat back down, her eyes wide, and with good reason. Uusoae's plans had almost destroyed her Realm the last time she had been loose.
"What happened?" Daine asked.
"She'd teamed up with a major bad guy from their dimension." Sarah jerked a thumb at Wonder Woman and Shayera. "Long story short, she helped the big bad enslave Slaughter, so when we went looking for Slaughter, we walked into a rather large problem."
"She's underexaggerating." Shayera said dryly. "Darkseid, that crazy Chaos chick and a giant hyena is more than just 'a large problem'."
"How'd you do your arm?" Alanna asked, her eyes sharp.
"Uusoae managed to get ahold of me." Sarah grimaced. "She wanted to toss me into the Chaos realms." There were gasps, but Sarah shrugged. "The Great Gods came to my aid, though, and their parents sent Uusoae back to the corner for time out."
"Like they did the first time." Daine murmured.
Alanna suddenly frowned. The news about Uusoae had distracted her from what Sarah had said about Slaughter. "Wait a minute – you had to deal with the Sorrows again?"
Sarah's face turned grim. She placed the dagger of Shakith on the table; Alanna picked it up to examine it, curious. "Well, as it turns out… the duty of the Messenger for the Gods is to keep the Three Sorrows contained."
At the gasps of everyone, barring Briar, Shayera and Diana, Sarah frowned. "Hold on, how do you lot know about that?"
"When Mithros took you and Briar," Sandry explained, "Alanna told us of your earlier missions, including your first. You mean your mission was to stop the Sorrows?"
Alanna cocked her head, surveying Sarah once again. "Well, I guess I have to reassess the severity of your injuries. They aren't too bad, considering last time."
Sarah grinned at this. At Shayera and Diana's confused expressions, she explained. "Last time I was unconscious for two weeks."
Shayera nodded, looking a little impressed by the record. Daja frowned as her brow creased in thought. "So why was Briar needed?"
Sarah turned to the young man in question. "Yes, Briar, why don't you tell your sisters why, exactly, you were needed."
"Hey, you wouldn't have lasted long against Poison Ivy-" Sarah interrupted his answer.
"I know that. But I believe the girls want to know why you were needed past the first day." Sarah turned to the others seated and continued. "You see, Briar here was given an option by the Great Mother Goddess on the fourth day we were there; he could have left. Instead he stayed to baby-sit me."
"You wouldn't have realised you needed a solid anchor for the Gate of Idramm if I didn't tell you." He pointed out.
Sarah crossed her arms across her chest. "Probably not, but when I made my way over to check it out I would have bled on it."
"But would you have known to chant again?" he shot back.
Sarah's eyes narrowed before she broke out into a grin. "Probably not, and you were a big help, both in the fights and as support. Thank you, Briar."
He flashed her a dazzling grin, before turning to Rosethorn and his other former teachers. "You should have seen it! Horse-less carriages, light globes that don't run by magic, and we went to the moon!"
Sarah shook her head. "Are you telling me that going to the moon is as impressive as a light bulb to you?"
He shrugged, before turning back to Rosethorn. "And there was a woman with control over plants, but she didn't have magic-"
"People without magic that still have special abilities are called 'metas'." Shayera explained for the others in the room. "It's short for metahumans. They're abundant in our dimension – some of them use their abilities for personal gain, and others use them to help society."
"Like Shayera and Diana." Sarah supplied helpfully. "They're part of a group called the 'Justice League'. They use their abilities to fight the people that would otherwise wreak havoc against the nonmetas."
Alanna looked interested. "So what are your abilities?" She directed the question to Diana and Shayera.
"Technically we aren't metas." Wonder Woman explained. "I'm an Amazon. I have the strength of many, the ability to fly, and I'm less vulnerable to most attacks than others. My lasso, which I left at the Watchtower at Sarah's behest, has the ability to force people to speak the truth."
Realisation dawned on Wildcat's face. "That's why you told me to punch her in the face as hard as I could. You tried it, and you broke your fingers anyway, even if you did it properly."
"Yep. She was enthralled by a Chaos puddle thingy." Sarah shrugged, before grinning wickedly at Shayera. "Go on, answer Alanna's question. What's your ability?"
Shayera frowned. "I thought I was wearing this jacket to stop people from staring."
"They won't stare. They've seen weirder." Sarah promised. "Like giant spiders with human heads."
"Everyone here knows what a Spidren is." Daine frowned at Sarah, before staring at Shayera, confusion on her face. "Why did you compare her to a Spidren?"
"Perhaps Stormwing would have been more accurate, but even that's not the same. Go on, Shayera. Take off your jacket. Numair, if you so much as open your mouth-"
"I promise not to give your new friend the third degree." He rolled his eyes.
Shayera sighed with a shake of her head and shrugged off the loose garment, revealing her greyish brown wings. Daine's frown deepened. "But she's not an immortal."
"Nope."
"What's an immortal?" Shayera asked.
"They live forever unless killed." Sarah explained. "Wait, that didn't come out right. They don't die of starvation, thirst, disease or old age. Some of them have human parts, like the Spidrens, and others, like Griffins, Kudarungs and so on are just part animal."
Shayera snorted. "I wish. No, I'm a Thanagarian. I'm from another planet."
The Tortallans stared in shock, and Sarah frowned. "Come on, guys, how is that such a surprise? I mean, I've been on a mission to a galaxy spanning government and met more than one kind of alien. Now you have too."
Before anyone could comment further, there was a loud crack accompanied by a burst of light, one of Mithros' flashier entrances. While everyone else at the table, baring Shayera, stood and bowed, Sarah gave him a bored look. "Yes? You're interrupting our refreshments. Let me guess, you want Shakith's dagger back. But it's so pretty…"
He ignored her insolent tone. "The dagger is yours. You are needed."
"What?!" Sarah cried, outraged.
A/n. There's a very good reason why Shayera didn't stand to bow. Her people are very atheist in nature, due to the part where her and the Justice League kind of … killed their evil god. But anyway…
