To help the humans inside relax, Lombardia assured Jet that she was more than capable of flying to Baskar without manual aid and switched herself to auto-pilot, streamlined body tearing through the white puffy clouds and ripping them asunder.
As for the dragoons inside, they had vacated their seats of control, sitting on their knees in a close ring on the floor, alleviating basic travelling boredom by playing cards, using the old deck Catherine had found in Clive's inventory. They played poker, small piles of gella coins spread around in the circle, gathered by each individual player. For the moment, Jet was in the lead, the young drifter sporting a completely perfect poker face and using it to his fullest ability. He was competing for gella, and that meant Jet would not allow himself to lose. Virginia was playing conservatively, making small wins and taking small losses, while Gallows was the sad underdog, his pile of gella quickly disappearing as Lady Luck turned him away.
Catherine went over the five cards she held, her hands had been decent but not overly spectacular, but the stakes this time were high, and the heap of gella in the circle was large. She was not a really competitive person, but it would be fun to make a big win. Shifting the cards around so they were sorted into a coherent order, she thought out her next strategic course of action.
What the others did not know what that Catherine was unashamedly cheating.
Actually, it was Clive's fault, the deck of cards they were using showed her exactly what was in the other three drifter's hands, marked precisely by the sniper so Catherine could not overlook the signs. Along the right and left-hand side of each card, on the thin white border, each card had a series of ink spots dotted down the frame, numbered one to fourteen, ace to king. Only someone familiar with the cheat could decipher the secret code, and Catherine was well acquainted with the method, Clive used to shill the rich and ignorant in Little Twister as a kid. Luckily, the other players in the circle had not noticed the differences between the cards, a coy smile planted on her pretty face, Virginia's gang was a little too trusting and ignorant sometimes.
She analysed Jet's hand, three cards had nine dots each, a three-of-a-kind, while another had thirteen, a queen card. The other was filler and Jet drew it out, aiming for a full house. Disappointment flickered behind his eyes as he received a card that was no better than the first, well, it didn't matter, he still had a trey of nine's backing him, but he also needed to be careful. Virginia had a pair of aces and nothing else, she looked expectantly at Jet, trying to break past his effective façade. None of the dots matched up on Gallows's cards, even after he had drawn a second time, he had a worthless garbage hand. The trouble lay with Jet, she had to do better than three nines to win.
Two kings and several unrelated number cards were huddled in her hand, if she could just get a hold of another king, then victory could be hers. Catherine rejected the three cards she did not need and surveyed the draw pile, the first one on the top was a useless six, but she drew it anyway, along with a ten that came right after. Things did not look good, she may have to fold on this specific game, but then her thoughts changed and her poker face had to hold back a deepening of her smile, the last card was the royal king of hearts, fourteen ink dots strong.
"I fold." Gallows sighed, throwing his cards, face down, on the white plastic floor. He glared at Jet disapprovingly, he could have sworn that the boy was cheating, his winning streak was too uncanny. Virginia considered her options carefully and decided to risk her hand, adding six more coins to the pile. Catherine, confident that she would win, as long as Clive's cheat held, put her contribution into the pile, alongside Jet.
It is apparent that what thou art doing is unjust. The machine they were riding in pointed out, speaking only to her. Catherine almost jumped at the sudden violation of the dragon's voice in her mind, blanking out her thoughts for a few seconds.
Lombardia, it is only a game. No harm can come of it. Catherine reasoned, answering the telepathic voice with thoughts of her own. Besides, this is how my husband used to play, and it is comforting to see a familiar gathering again. I am no thief, the money I take I will not keep.
A familiar memory? Lombardia wondered, Loss does sendest one back to fonder times, and well-known faces. I understand. Human psychology fascinated the dragon, she could frequently see memories, but usually made no sense of them. Do what thou wilt, I shall not interfere.
Humans are more complicated then you might choose to think, Lombardia. Catherine heard the dragon chuckle in her mind before leaving it's vicinity, but she could still sense her eyes watching over her. She tried to ignore it, focussing back on the game at hand. It was time they threw down their cards, determining the victor. Victory could be chalked up to the tiny dots on the cardboard, had her estimations and assumption been correct?
Virginia, a pair of aces. Jet, a trey of nines. Clive had been absolutely correct, even after all these years his childish cheat had still managed to become useful. With a humble face, she displayed her trinity of kings and pushed the pile of money over to her side of the circle, Jet watched the money get away from him like a disgruntled hawk, a muscle near his eyes ticking slightly.
"Well, it does look like I wo-"
The floor tilted dramatically, evasive aerial manoeuvres put into implementation. Lombardia audibly roared, alerting her passengers to the coming of an assault. In the corner between the wall and the floor, Gallows slid to rest in the nook, surprised at the sudden shift between gravity and balance. Jet landed soundly on top of him, knocking the wind out of the Baskar, not expecting Virginia to fall on top of him, which she certainly did, with Catherine being relatively fine on top. It was a four person pile up, a shower of coins and cardboard raining around them.
Thou shouldst return to thy stations, They heard Lombardia announce, Methinks danger hast come to accompany thee.
"Yeah, I kinda guessed that, 'Bardi." Gallows groaned, the weight of the three people pressing into his stomach. Jet squirmed out of the human sandwich and made for the seat of control, hastily turning the screen back on. A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek when he saw the 'company' Lombardia had spoken about.
"Damn, don't those fuckers ever give up?" He cursed, a thin metal disc pacing the dragon with ease, bright red lights flashing all over the hull. A UFO scout ship. From small portholes along the edge of the vessel, pulsing yellow eyes peered out, an alien intelligence. It required a bit of a struggle, but Gallows managed to pull himself out from under the two women, (Something he never would have done had the situation and people been different) helping everyone else back into their seats, a hard task because the floor was more than halfway vertical.
"Right side up!" Virginia ordered, gravity pushing her to one side, "You're making us dizzy!"
In due time! She growled, another tilt in the floor making everything completely vertical. The air became charged with electricity, a tension like before a fierce electrical storm. The room heated up as a hyperion blaster beam grazed Lombardia's underbelly, she had moved just enough to evade a direct hit. The attack over, she rolled herself back to a more comfortable state of flight, the bridge turning the correct side up again inside her. Catherine gripped the white control orbs tightly, they were under attack, and she didn't know what to do.
"Battle stations!" Jet hollered, "Lombardia! Open the missile silos! Blast that thing out of the sky!" His orders set off a low rumble underneath the soles of their shoes, the dragon expelling steam as the huge canisters were opened at her sides, a reloading process with bullets as large as humans themselves, the deadliest type of ARM imaginable.
Awaiting command.
"Fire!" Yelled Virginia, pointing ahead with a finger.
"Ditto!" Jet agreed, calculating and judging which would be the best place to strike.
"Then reload and ram into it! Pulverise!" Gallows crowed, smacking his fist into his hand. Catherine just went silent, skipping over any help she could offer. They all had it under control, she would just foul it up. Everything rocked as the missiles were fired, the UFO reeled from the perfectly aimed shot, smoke pouring from a hole pounded into it's hull. It lost altitude and outward stability, wobbling like a spinning top rolling to it's end. A deep and ambient thunderous sound was Lombardia slowly chortling, amused at all the wanton destruction. Acting on the last two commands, another volley of missiles were fired, easily aimed at the already smoking structural damage.
Fire flooded out of the windows of the ship, blasting the Plexiglas it was composed of clear away and showing the insides of the UFO wreathed in red and orange flame. The last assault, Gallows manually steered Lombardia a great distance away, up as high as she could go, blotting out the glare of the sun for a second, looping around in the air and slamming straight into the ship on the return journey. A reverberating crunch sounded as degraded metal shattered and fell out of the heavens, landing with a wet slurp into the thinning quicksand seas.
"How's that for firepower!" Gallows exclaimed, giving Virginia a thumbs-up. "Oh yeah, I rock!"
"Lombardia!" Virginia yelled, totally ignoring Gallows, "Are you hurt?"
If it were possible, Virginia could have sworn she saw Lombardia smile in her mind. I am hale and perfectly unharmed.
She may have been the only one who noticed it, but Catherine felt an irregular vibration through the plastic she was seated upon, like something had hit the outer hull of the dragon. But she hadn't felt it with her body, more with her mind. A dragoon's telepathy, maybe? Catherine hopped out of her chair, immediately grabbing her gun. Jet looked at her strangely. "Where you goin'?" He asked.
"Just to take a look around our vessel, I have not yet seen all of this amazing machine." She replied, only giving him the half-truth. "I will be back very soon, don't worry." Jet's lavender eyes conveyed confusion to Catherine's abrupt exodus of the control room, but then he just snorted and went back to manual navigation, they were getting closer to Baskar Colony and he had to prepare a touchdown.
A white tubular hallway near the navigational apparatus led Catherine down to a place that seemed to go deeper into the body of the dragon, but closer to the armoured skin and defensive plates. I heard a thump, Lombardia. Is everything alright?
Not particularly. I have incurred… a stowaway.
"Show me an exit and I will eradicate him for you." She said, loading her ARM. Her assumption had been correct. Yes, Catherine should learn to trust her instincts more, they were proving to be an invaluable resource on her long-overdue drifting adventure. From the plastic wall, the strange substance Lombardia was composed of melted away to form an opening in her artificial cuirass, just large enough for Catherine to crawl through. Clouds peeped at her from the other end, outside of the porthole there was nothing but the clear blue sky. Her grip on the Gungnir automatically tensed, if she fell through, she would fall splat in the sea with the aliens her team had just slain.
Be strong. You have faced worse dangers.
Catherine fit her right arm in first, bearing the long rifle that would have gotten stuck if she didn't hold the weapon completely vertically. Using the strap like a piece of restraining equipment, she unhooked one end and wrapped the material around her wrist and made a simple knot, so she stood no possibility of losing the ARM as she did this. Catherine hooked both feet to the edge of the tunnel and pushed herself out of the porthole, hair quickly fluttering around like crazy in the turbulent air.
Whatever you do, don't look down…
She looked down, clamping a hand to her mouth to prevent her breathless gasp, remembering she had a slight phobia of heights. Catherine was very high up and frightened terribly of the great distance between herself and the land underneath. The cliffs below looked like layers of a great green cake, zooming over them at dizzying speeds. Yes, she was getting seriously dizzy, how could she stop this ride?
Cloaked by the whooshing winds, Catherine heard gibbering behind her, a muttering from a tongue she did not understand. It was like thousands of voices spoke to her simultaneously, a stream of communication squeezing to be fit into her brain all at once. She cried out and grabbed at her head, overwhelmed by the information. One grey eye opened slowly and she turned around, meeting her assailant through all the utterances echoing in her mind.
This was one of the golden-eyed beings she had glimpsed staring at her from their darkened portholes, a round black head giving contrast to the luminous shining twin orbs of it's eyes. It wore a big blue exoskeleton around it's torso, with lanky white legs sticking out from the armour. An alien, a malevolent one, creeping chaos.
The lady gunner had enough sense to duck back into the tunnel as the creature realized it was spotted, a beam of colourless energy flying over her head and striking Lombardia ineffectually. There was no question of it's alignment now, it was definitely against her, a survivor of the alien ship that had attacked them.
I am far too weak to hope for victory against such a creature, it would be an impossible venture…
Think back to the card game, tiny human, Lombardia instructed, still offering her help, Such tactics could be employed here with similar effects.
"Lombardia..." Catherine whispered, slowly getting the gist of what the dragon meant, "I need not destroy the creature, merely render it unable to harm anyone, get rid of it, as it were. Like the cards, I can forge a loophole and bend the rules in my favor…" Wow, Lombardia was much wiser than Catherine had expected. "I must use what I have, my gun, a precarious surface, and the earth below." A grin that looked almost evil expanded across her face. She didn't have to shoot a monster to kill it.
Catherine flicked out the Gungnir's bolt, readying the weapon. She only had a few seconds to aim again before the alien could retaliate. It made her feel like a gopher, but the small hole she was crammed in could save her life. With just enough room, she turned herself around, counting to three, freezing her shaking hands and popping out of the hiding place again, ignoring the altitude that bombarded her with messages telling her she would fall.
The best spot to attack… There! The edge of it's exoskeleton!
The rifle bullet merely ricocheted off the armour and left not even a worthwhile scratch, but that was not what Catherine was counting on, the sheer force of the bullet striking the metal knocked the alien incredibly off-balance. It spun it's arms around to find it's centre of gravity, but uttered a high-pitched screech as Catherine turned the ARM upside down and hit it with the heavy butt, beating it clear off the dragon's hide. Creeping chaos shrunk to a little mote as it fell onto a rugged cliff side, too far away to discern it's ultimate fate. One could still have a pretty good idea, though. Catherine sighed with relief, the target was neutralized, her friends were safe.
I thank thee for thine help, now I do not regret your admittance into my body. Lombardia rumbled as Catherine wriggled back onto the tunnel inside her, resolving to never go out there again. She unwound the strap from her wrist and fixed it back where it was supposed to be, walking with a happy spring in her step back to the control room. It was most likely the others didn't even know about what she had accomplished.
And they didn't, which made Catherine feel even better, in her perception, acts of valor were best kept secret, being humble was a good thing. Also, she didn't want to brag. As she settled back into her control chair, she felt a faint sensation of descent, Jet was landing them all back on the inviting ground. Filgaia never looked so good.
Had the creeping chaos been overlooked on Catherine's part, they would have instantly been attacked as soon as they exited the dragon, but the woman's resourcefulness paid off and they could head for Baskar without apprehension, the tribal village visible in the distance. Baskar, the town of Guardian devotees. Would they all be like Gallows, a hulking representative of his tribe? No, the concept of so many Gallows's seemed like an impossible one, and the Baskar faith was acknowledged to be a very serious one, this was a place Catherine found herself eager to visit, because according to Virginia, the answers about Clive's … change could be found here.
Catherine was more than determined to find out.
xxx
The pure clean water in the pot rippled around the confines of it's prison, held firmly between two hands by a youth of the Baskar priesthood, long tawny brown plait moving with his body as he cautiously brought it to the fire, taking small and steady steps, allowing no spillage to be produced. Shane meticulously went down the stone steps in his cozy house, waiting for one second on each step so the water in the pot could regulate it's movements. He had only just cleaned the entire house, from top to bottom, he didn't want to have it drenched with water so close to having finished his lot of chores for the day. The youth thought something warm to eat would be nice, so he brought the base ingredients for stew out, hung in a dried-grass satchel hung over one elbow, generating a little discomfort and uncertainty as he handled the pot.
He had bamboo shoots, mushrooms, potatoes, a small fish he had caught in the newly created oceans, his first fishing trip, a few lovely brown boiled eggs, plus some onions, carrots and a golden ear of corn. Shane would be eating fancy tonight. The youth smiled in anticipation, he was a good cook, but he still could not compare to his older brother, whose great recipes had been one of the greatest things he had missed while Gallows was away. In any case, Shane knew the food would be all his, until his grandmother came home for tea, at least. He passed the opened door of his house, licking his lips and not expecting the incident that was about to befall him.
"Hey, I'm back! Let the party begi- aah!"
"Big broth- eeeaggh!"
Gallows bowled headfirst into the house, over two hundred pounds of Baskar and muscle, a stupid grin on his face and a carefree tone in his voice. It was so great to be home, seeing all the people he recognized again and a little brother the priest missed so much. Gallows had virtually flown through the town, leaving the rest of his companions left in his wake of dust. Thankfully, Gallows had remembered the spears planted near his house and was able to dodge them and the embarrassment an impact would have caused, but fate was merely toying with his soul, reserving for him an even greater indignity.
As both Baskars passed and entered through the front door at the same time, they were met with a full-on collision, slamming chest against chest, pot of sacred and precious water knocked up and flung into the air above them. It showered water everywhere before making a sound landing on Gallows's head, squashing his younger brother to the ground.
Sliding his hand under the iron pot to peel away the white lock of hair that was stuck to his forehead, Gallows found interest in the change of his voice when surrounded by a thick layer of metal, bouncing off the circular chamber. "Well," He echoed, seeing nothing but iron because the pot was blocking all vision, "It was a good thing you weren't boiling stuff, or I woulda' lost my face."
"Welcome home, big Brother." Shane replied, flattened by the larger priest and tapping the stone floor with his fingers. Gallows had been home for three seconds and he had already managed to cause some trouble. Annoying but priceless, that was what he was. He breathed in more oxygen as Gallows crawled off his back, the ability to breathe again coming back to his options. Shane wrung water out of his plait, he wished he still had his dream vision, maybe he could have foreseen this coming.
Gallows continued to wear the pot on his head, folding his arms seriously, but anyone with half a brain could tell he was grinning like a doofus under the makeshift helmet. "Does this really suit me?" He asked, banging on the container with his knuckles and making a clashing sound, "It's a little tight, but I think it's in season right now. Do you have it in pink?"
"You really are losing your wits, brother," Shane said, removing the pot and showing Gallows's stupid smirk to the world. "Soon I guess there will be nothing left." He looked into the empty container, he'd have to make another trip to the well before he could continue with his stew.
"You're implyin' he actually had some in the first place?" Jet questioned Shane as he walked into the house, skirting around the puddle on the floor, two dripping Baskars standing right in the middle of it. Virginia sidled up beside him, repressing the laugh that threatened to leap out of her throat at seeing Gallows bedraggled like a wet dog.
"Guess what?" Gallows asked the pillar of Filgaia, "Company's here! What we need is food, some food, and maybe a little more food! Oh, and with food on the side!" He declared, flapping the small folds of his jacket so the water could be aired out. A blanket was passed to him from behind, thrown over his broad shoulders. Catherine liberated two from the beds up the stairs, handing them out to the brothers before they could catch a chill. They dried themselves with the cloth, Gallows rubbed his hair over and it went fluffy, poofing out like an afro gone horribly wrong. His face fell to a neutral status as Virginia burst out laughing with Catherine giggling softly to accompany her, even Jet cracked a small smile.
"I was going to make stew. Wait for a while and I'll feed you all." Shane explained, glad for the blanket Catherine had given him. He had never been aquatinted with her before, but she seemed to be a very nice woman. When she stepped forward, Shane raised an eyebrow, she had gone completely serious in a matter of seconds.
"We can eat later," She said, looking at Virginia, "This team came here for a reason, and it must be known. Virginia? Gallows?" Catherine stood back, awaiting enlightenment from the two drifters.
"Yeah!" Gallows proclaimed, "I can't believe I forgot! Heh, sorry. Shane, I wanna know, where the heck did Granny go?" He couldn't hear any raving or nagging, meaning Halle must be far away from this house. He really would have liked this blessing, but not on the day when he needed her the most.
"Grandmother went to pay a visit to the Southern Sanctuary. She mentioned something about an unusual amount of activity there, and the need for a placation. Don't worry, she said she'd be back in a little while." Shane held the pot out to Gallows, empty and useless, for now. "Um, big Brother? Could you do me a little favor? I'm out of water…"
"'Course!" He grinned, holding both hands over the pot and utilizing his token medium, the Aqua Wisp. A blue glow spread down his arms and reached the peak of power under his palms, a quiet bubbling of water forming at the bottom of the pot. Gallows hummed a little to himself as the spell increased in intensity, Shane felt the container getting heavier with volume, the conjured liquid swirling around as clear as purified crystal. Only a few inches away from the rim of the pot, the spell fizzled out and the water level stabilized, saving Shane an errand he didn't really want to do all over again. With reverence, the youth walked over to the fire that never seemed to go out, and strung it above the flames by a chain and a small frame. In a few minutes the water would boil, and he could prepare the stew.
"Thank you." Shane bowed, a motion that was bred into his manner by years of acting as a pillar, he could not help but use it on everyone who was close, even his own brother. The Baskar dropped his vegetable bag beside the hearth, accomplishing his final chore in a way he had not expected. "I hope you all like fish, does anybody here like fish?"
"Shane," Gallows made a face that showed that other, more important matters were at hand. A face he rarely used. "Until Granny gets back, could you show us the totem room? Please?" The younger Baskar knew more about these things than he did, though he had a rudimentary knowledge of the subject, Shane was better suited for an explanation.
"Totem room?" Virginia wondered, "What's that?"
"With pleasure." Shane answered, secretly wondering why Gallows was so interested about that after all the moaning he had done during his studies about how much he hated it. Something was up. When Gallows asked for knowledge, then something nearby needed to be worried about. The other drifters looked concerned too, especially the one he did not recognize. "Please, follow me."
Virginia did not get her question answered, but was lead up the stairs to the area where fours beds were arranged for the occupants of the house. Well, she would find out soon enough. Shane looked at each person individually, as if judging whether or not they were worthy to see this 'Totem Room'. The youth moved to the last bed, tucked away at the back of the house, a hanging tapestry near it's foot, simplistic design both appealing and tasteful. Shane brushed the fabric away, showing the secret of the Caradine household.
Revealed in the light flooding through the small windows and the transient firelight, a hidden door behind the wall scroll unveiled a flight of carved stone stairs, leading downward into a shadowy darkened corridor. No lights flickered inside, except for one Gallows had procured using their indoor fire and an unlit torch from the walls.
"I ask you to be very quiet as we go down here," Shane warned the fascinated drifters, "From this point onwards, the building you are in can be regarded as a holy shrine." He took the torch from Gallows's hands and led the way, hearing the extended echoes of reinforced drifter boots on cold hard rock. He wasn't really supposed to allow people in here without a fully fledged priest accompanying them, but he and Gallows were here, both of them put together filled that requirement.
"What's the totem room?" Virginia asked again, both hands to the sides of the corridor as she descended, without the torchlight, she would be in total blackness. Something flicked her in the face, she guessed it was a cobweb, but when she grabbed it, the material of Jet's bandanna was felt between her fingers. Smiling in the shadow, she held onto it instead, as long as she could hardly be seen, for she trusted it more than the unfamiliar walls around her.
"Prolly an answer," Gallows presumed, "Or maybe more questions, who knows? Anyways, It might be a help 'till Granny gets back."
Might? Probably? Who knows? Why do I feel as if I walk around in the dark? Catherine thought glumly, of everyone in the team, she still had no idea about what was going on. Danger? Horror? All she knew was, Clive looked so scared as he walked out of the town at noontime, like the devil himself was riding on his shoulder, whispering mind-numbing commands into his ear.
She was not too far away from the truth.