Call of The Ancestors
Chapter 6: Light
It took some time for Sethelis to be able to fully process what she and Miarko had just heard, the fact that someone such as Congeria was possibly coming back to wreak havoc on the Dragon Realms.
She sat in her seat, feeling slightly uncomfortable with how the interrogation had gone from questions to absolutely nothing after that last reveal. And since the Fire Captain hadn't said anything, she felt like she had to. Speaking up for the first time since the interrogation had started, she said "I am seriously doubting this, as… Trustworthy as you appear to be,"
Elmira seemingly rolled her eyes upon hearing this statement, "We just can't rule out the possibilities that this whole Congeria thing is just for some underbosses to keep their own little criminal gang in line. I mean… If I had been working under an ancient formerly dead, and presumably rather angry god, I'd be pretty sure to show my loyalty as much as possible. Like keeping the charade up during interrogation, unless you're one of the fooled ones yourself," the dragoness argued, looking between Miarko and Elmira to let her statement hang in the air for a bit, hoping her fiery comrade would pursue that matter.
"Tell me, Captains," responded Elmira after a few moments of silence, "Put yourself in my position for just a moment. Think about what you might do if you discovered that the organization that you were a part of was resorting to Proxy Magic. How would you react?"
Miarko seemed to bite on her question, "I wouldn't remain any longer than you did," he responded, his eyes firm.
"Exactly, Captain," said Elmira, looking at Sethelis with some disgust, "I left. I didn't want any part of what they were trying to accomplish. I joined originally because I had nowhere else to go; but if they were infesting the minds of others, what was going to stop them from doing that very same thing to me?"
"So they just...let you leave?" asked Miarko, "You just walked out, no trouble?"
"Of course not, Captain, fanatical cults are nothing without their organization and record keeping," responded the canine, "I had to, ah, incapacitate a few of my former comrades on the way out. It was nothing personal."
"You killed several of your fellow cultists? Weren't you friends with at least some of them?" demanded Miarko, leaning forward slightly in his seat.
"Of course I was, but the ones who tried to stop me from leaving? I wasn't particularly fond of...most of them," replied the Skav, smiling slightly.
Miarko turned to Sethelis and motioned his head towards the door. He clearly wanted to discuss the matter further outside of the room.
Sethelis nodded as if she had been anticipating the dragon's reaction to this.
"Stay." She said simply, before getting up and walking over to the heavy door. "It'll only be ten minutes." She added, looking over at the Skav, watching Miarko leave alongside her, the door shutting behind them.
"So…?"
"Her pupils didn't dilate, and her breathing was seemingly normal," said Miarko, shaking his head and looking at the wall, "I don't think that she was lying to us. Your thoughts?"
"Well, as you stated just now, I'd say she appears to be telling the truth. If we only had brought a electricity dragon for this…" The shadow dragoness groaned slightly,"I still am having a hard time to believe it. I mean… Weren't all tomes on Proxy Magic destroyed years ago?"
"Indeed," nodded the Fire dragon, "I believe they were destroyed because the former Guardians called it...base and evil. That magic is just not something that anyone should be able to use, under any pretenses."
Sethelis nodded. "I knew why they were removed. I was just certain that they were completely exterminated until now. They must have gotten hold of it somehow, right?" She started, looking down at the ground in thought, "Let's just assume she spoke the truth, and that we now have the major crisis of a doomsday cult worshipping a recently resurrected being of pure anarchy and chaos. What do we do?"
"Take this information to the Directors, post haste, and receive our orders," Miarko said, but he seemed… Distracted.
Sethelis noticed this immediately, and hence she asked "... Having a hard time focusing on the mission?" as her brow furrowed slightly.
Miarko looked down, then looked Sethelis directly in the eye, "For what it's worth, I don't agree with what the Director had to say."
With that, he began walking away, attempting to leave Sethelis alone in the hallway.
That is, until the dragoness suddenly ascended out of the floor in front of him, spreading her wings as if to block his path. She was smiling.
"We still have a interrogation to finish."
"Let her know that she's free to go. I'm going to present this information to the Directors," responded the Fire dragon, still looking away from her, "If you have any more questions for her, however, now would be the time. I'll see you in a bit."
With that, he made his way past her, and walked up the stairs and through the lobby towards the climb upward to the Directors' offices.
Sethelis only nodded after him, before turning to let Elmira out.
"Captain, I'm going to need you to repeat that last bit for me…" said the Purple Dragon slowly, rubbing a claw against his forehead.
Miarko stood and sighed to himself. He had just informed the Director of the entirety of the interrogation and what the information truly meant to the DOW. It was not good news, needless to say.
"The Noints' have already succeeded, to a point, Director. Congeria has somehow already been tied to a host body. Apparently a willing individual."
"Someone who wanted power without thinking of the sacrifice that it entailed. A noble?" thought Spyro, mostly to himself.
"Possibly, Elmira didn't have first hand experience with that portion of the order I'm afraid, she had no knowledge of who the "Influenced" as the Noints' have taken to calling them, might be."
"So we're hunting again," replied the Director, looking over at Cynder.
"Until there's a possibility that we can capture an individual that is directly involved with Noints', it seems that will have to be the best we can offer at the moment," nodded Miarko.
"I might be able to help with that," came a sudden voice from behind Miarko.
It was Elmira, who strode into the room. Sethelis came running in after her, slightly out of breath.
"Directors, she-she ran up here. She says she wants to help," said the slightly exhausted Shadow Captain.
Cynder stood up immediately and moved in front of Spyro, as if instinctively protecting him, "What is the meaning of this?" she asked authoritatively.
"I heard what you were saying," responded Elmira, "Don't bullslag me, you need help. Your organization has no leads and no way of knowing what to do next to combat the Noints'. I can help with that."
"You're a Skav, a former pirate," Miarko said quickly, "You wouldn't do this out of the kindness in your heart."
"Of course not," said the Skav, winking at the Fire captain, "A quaint monetary reward."
"Quaint? How much?"
"Oh, the price of a new galleon, the one your order stole from me, along with an able crew." responded the Skav, licking her lips.
Cynder stood up and shouted, "Absolutely not! Even if we had access to such resources, there is no way-"
"Beloved, please," came the calming voice of Spyro, putting a paw on her shoulder. The Black dragoness nodded slowly and sat back down.
"Your request is reasonable, considering your history, but the DOW can offer no promises as of now. This sort of arrangement would need to be worked out with the Guardians, not ourselves. It'd be moving quite a bit of the City's resources at once, and not towards a place many residents would consider a good use of public funds. I'm sure you understand," responded Spyro calmly.
"Fine, as long as I get back what you stole from me," said the Skav, folding her arms.
"Now, can you tell us anything else that might be of use for this situation?" asked Spyro, nodding.
"Well, that depends. Is the Shadow temptress going to blow shadow fire at me again if I refuse to answer something?" Elmira responded, casting a dangerous glare at Sethelis.
Sethelis only gave the former pirate a sly smirk; "All within reason." She stated. "So, I'll let the Madame Director here be the one to judge if my methods should be applied." She replied, before giving the pirate a look that said "Test me, I dare you."
"Next time won't be so easy," Elmira responded, as she growled lowly.
"Ladies, please," cut in Miarko, "Let's not rehearse any newly instated grudges you two might have. You have my word that Captain Sethelis will not try anything of the sort."
"Hmph. I suppose that will have to be enough," said Elmira, nodding.
"Then, please, let's get to the matter at hand," Spyro piped up, "What do you have for us, Elmira?"
"The names of current Noint' operatives and sympathizers. Individuals that both support the Noints', but also those that could be the subject that you are looking for," Elmira responded, smiling.
"This will be… Invaluable in our search, Elmira," Spyro nodded in affirmation, "I thank you for the information."
"It's not just for your use, Director. I want a part to play in this as well."
"Meaning?" asked the Purple dragon, folding his paws together.
"I want a part in taking down the Noints'. They hurt me, they deserve what's coming to them."
"You want a part in this, without joining the DOW, I assume."
"You think I'd ever join your little band of warriors here? Of course not," Elmira responded with some disgust in her eyes.
"Then how…?" Sethelis started, mumbling to herself. "We have to keep face, since we're tangling with more than just the Noints' at the same time. We cannot show that we've gone so far as to recruit random people of the streets…" She murmured, more thinking out loud than talking to the people in the room.
"Well, you could consider yourself a freelancer under our employ. Temporarily working with either the Shadows or possibly in the 17th?" The shadow captain suggested, glancing at the Directors and her fellow captain.
"I'd never work for you, Shadow," Elmira responded with disgust, "I think we'll need a male's delicate touch on this one. I'll gladly join Captain Miarko's efforts on this task."
Miarko nodded, saying, "Very well, I'll make a place for you within the 17th. Just...don't expect an office space anytime soon."
"Very well then, it's settled," affirmed Spyro, "Madame Elmira, I'll need you to stay for a short while to get these names so our agents can narrow down the list as needed. Captains, you are dismissed for the evening."
Miarko nodded and turned, leaving the office quickly, Sethelis quickly following suit. Miarko closed the door behind them and walked out slowly.
It was going to be a long night.
It was dark now, and a Friday night. Miarko normally made plans for this sort of night, but with working late as he had been throughout the week, he hadn't had the chance to do so.
Sethelis wasn't the planning type, she never was nor never will be. She had found that in her line of work, planning a night out would never end in a positive manner, as work always seemed to catch her off guard.
She gave the fire captain a quick glance, who was still walking beside her, wondering what he was thinking.
Miarko seemed to be deep in thought himself, not paying too much attention to the Shadow dragoness.
This in turn made Sethelis curious, and she decided to try, once again, to get a interaction going. "... So, what are you thinking about?" She asks, trying to break the silence.
Miarko turned quickly, as if startled by her sudden words, "Ah, I was...thinking about the task that we have in front of us," he said, trying to recover his thoughts before continuing, "I was distracted, but...what are you still doing here? You remember what the Director said."
Sethelis shook her head, only to retaliate to the captain's words. "Rather, the question is… What are you doing here? If anyone, I'm the one out of us two who should be here after hours." She asks, walking up and in front of the dragon. The two stopped briefly by a open window. The glimmering city's shining lights could be seen down below. A combination of torch light and more electric types of lights created and powered by electricity dragon. "Cynder's words were that we shouldn't interact outside of this towers walls, and currently we are inside the DOW tower, so we're free to talk as much as we want." The dragoness stated, glancing out the window briefly.
"Hm," Miarko replied simply, "You are correct on that count at least. I am heading to my office for a moment, if you would like to join me."
Sethelis raised a brow, blinking with her healthy eye. She had completely forgotten an issue of hers, the fact that her eyepatch was still missing.
"I see no problems with it, so okay, sure," she said agreeingly, "Feel free to lead the way."
Miarko lead the female down the flight of stairs to the 17th floor, and rounded the corner to his office. All of the lights on the floor, bar one, were still lit. It seemed that Lieutenant Terron had been working late once again, as he always seemed to do. Miarko unlocked the door with a set of keys and went around the far side of the desk, sitting down and shuffling through some papers Terron had left earlier in the day.
Sethelis came into the office after the Captain, using her tail to shut the door behind her. She was quiet for the following seconds, just looking about with a neutral expression, before sitting down on a soft cushion placed opposing to the desk where the Captain usually worked. He was quiet for quite some time, shuffling through some things and sighing. Something was troubling him once again.
Miarko put his face within his paws, remaining silent for a moment before speaking slowly, "How many lives depend on us this time? How many people will this situation come to kill before it's all over?"
Sethelis' face went from neutral to a little worried, and she looked at the captain. She placed a paw atop the desk, as she leaned forwards slightly.
"We have no way of knowing, Miarko. Casualties are always something we have to anticipate, no matter how much we may hate it." She said, not wanting to discourage the fire dragon she also added a "But I am sure it's a very small amount, if any at all. We've been a step ahead of the 'Noints every step of the way until now…"
"Half of my family has been killed fighting for this City, the freedom and lives of its inhabitants," responded the Fire Dragon, head still in his paws, "I'm not sure how much more of it I can take. It seems our fight never ends."
Sethelis sighed. It seems like this fire dragon wasn't as optimistic behind closed doors as he'd been in public. She decided to carefully get up, not even her claws making a sound against the stone paneled floor. She rounded the table and sat down on her haunches next to Miarko, giving him a empathetic look. "That is because the Ancestors are testing us, Miarko. Our struggles are never over, but in the end we will come out victorious. Not if we give in half way…" She said, searching her mind for a good way to express herself.
Miarko looked up at her, as if he was stunned by her sudden approach. He looked away for a moment.
"I don't know if we're quite halfway through this yet, but I'm not giving up. Simply thinking about what is yet to come, what might happen if we fail," he responded.
Sethelis tilted her head slightly upon hearing the Captain. She knew that one always had to think about every possible outcome, and crushing defeat is always the worst. But right now it seemed like Miarko had gotten stuck there.
"And you are thinking about the worst case scenario, Miarko. You need to take your mind off of the negative side of the mission for just a night. It is Friday after all?" The dragoness said, her tone going to a slight more positive manner, even if she knew herself that she'd be the most hypocritical person to utter those words.
There's always a first for everyone…
"Are you...suggesting something, Captain?" asked the Fire dragon, turning to her and raising an ridge.
Sethelis bit her lower lip as she heard how the captain had picked up on her, admittedly, subconscious suggestion. "Well, sitting here in our lonesome might not be the best way to spend a weekend evening, no?" She said, feeling how she had to struggle to keep the reassuring tone up instead of her own shy mumblings.
"Indeed," replied the Fire captain, picking himself up out of the chair and strolling towards the door. He opened it and motioned with a paw, "The Director be slagged. Care to join me?"
Sethelis simply sat there quiet for a few seconds. Looking at him with her yellow eye. Then she proceeded to open her maw and utter one sentence; "...That went better than I had dared hope for, and yes, thank you." She said, getting herself up and started walking towards the door.
Miarko escorted her out the door and locked it behind her.
Stopping outside the door, he said, "There's a little place down by the docks that I frequent on nights like these. Would you care to join me?"
Sethelis simply laughed a little; "Yeah sure. I suppose one has to let loose at least once." She said to the captain, Her lips parting in a fanged grin.
"I hope you'll be smiling a lot more than that by the end of the night," came Miarko's response, smiling himself, "Now, come on!"
"With pleasure." The shadow dragoness answers, before suddenly turning into what seemed like a black mist, only to reappear outside the window they were standing by, beating her silver wings to keep herself up.
"Now, are we leaving or are you just going to stand there?"
Miarko smiled and took off, heading for the bright torch-lit streets below. Sethelis quickly followed after him. It was a short flight to the location he spoke of, a small bar near the water. The Rusty Nail. "Who even came up with the names for these types of places?" Sethelis thought to herself. They landed and silently entered. It was oddly not as...sailor-esque as Sethelis expected. It was crowded, but both sailor looking individuals as well as commoners were in the establishment.
Towards the back, a group of DOW soldiers, Sethelis could tell from the patches on their shoulders. In the corner, a group of sailors; they look unkempt and exhausted. Warfang was a bustling port with dozens of ships coming and going every day. The Dragon City was probably a layover for these pour souls, coming from one kingdom to the next. The Shadow Captain didn't envy them.
Miarko immediately and self assuredly headed towards the bar itself, where a young wolf was talking to another one of his patrons. The Fire Captain sat down and motioned for Sethelis to follow him.
Sethelis felt the heavy air, even for a finer establishment like this one the smell of alcohol was still there, and she had to admit that just that was slightly making her lightheaded. But it was nothing she couldn't dismiss.
The shadow dragoness made her way from the doors, and followed the fiery captain as if she'd be tracing someone, keeping him within her line of sight at all times.
She managed to make her way past a group of people, excusing herself before finding an empty seat at Miarko's left side. She proceeded to sit, as she looked over at the fire dragon with a quizzical look.
"Got anything good to recommend...? Nothing too heavy to start with, please." The dragoness requested, assuming that Miarko knew a bit better of liquors than she did. Ironically, Sethelis could tell any kind of fluids in the terms of it being poisoned, by just a few whiffs, but when it came to beverages, she was clueless.
"For you to start off? Eh, probably just some light Vyanfarian ale would suit you. It's what I started with a while back. Nothing too fancy," responded Miarko, nodding. He looked over at the bartender and said, "Tyus, a glass of Vyanfar for the lady?"
The bartender nodded and walked to the other end of the bar.
"So, let me guess," Miarko said, looking back at Sethelis, "You've never been to one of these places before, hm?"
Sethelis shaked her head, giving out a light and rather nervous laugh as she admits; "Only under cover, sadly I can't talk about that." She admits, shameful.
"I'm not your average "wild nights out" kind of dragoness." She continued, as the bartender soon returned with a smaller mug of ale. The dragoness gave him a thankful nod, using her tail to get a hold of the beverage.
"So… You having anything?" She asked the fire dragon, looking directly at him for the first time since they entered the bar.
"Not your average ness', hm?" responded Miarko, "That's an interesting comment. Me? Yeah, in a bit. Want to talk first."
"Yeah sure, loosen me up a bit." The dragoness replied with a little wink, hoping that she'd not be too forward… Or too much of a terrible flirt for that matter. Would Miarko even be hitting on her? She had no idea what was going to happen…
Miarko laughed, shaking his head, "I see you have no experience with this kind of thing…" Sethelis felt her heart skip a beat, "...But that's alright. It just occurs to me that I know very little about you. I believe you've gotten my briefing, but the Shadows aren't very public about their operatives, even to other members of the Defenders. Care to tell a little bit about yourself?"
Sethelis nodded upon hearing about how secretive the 18th really is. "So… Like some random facts about me, or… Anything… Specific?" She asked, averting her gaze shyly as she put the mug to her lips and took a sip of the bitter brown ale within. She was forced to summon some real effort into not cringing or looking like she'd not be used to drinking the stuff. The few alcoholes she's ever consumed for the sake of it is wines, even if she knew that'd make her seem posh.
"First, this is your first mug of alcohol, am I right?" asked Miarko, grinning at her. Sethelis looked up at the male, swallowing faster than she'd liked and putting the mug down on the bar desk.
"N-No.. What makes you think that?" She asked him, looking up. "I may be antisocial, but that doesn't mean I've never tasted alcohol before." She clarified.
"You had a slight twitch in your mouth when you took your first sip, and you hesitated when I asked," he responded with a grin still firmly planted on his face, "I may not be a member of the Shadows, but I've been trained to read facial expressions and observe body language."
Sethelis nodded approvingly. "Would you look at that." She commented before emptying her cup in one swing, feeling her eyes tearing up slightly over the sudden burning sensation in her throat.
"S-See, I'm fine though? Best way of getting resistant to the bad things are usually being around or ingesting them a lot." She explained, coughing lightly. "So, anything else you'd like to know?"
"Hmm," said Miarko, his head laying on one of his paws, "You're a bad liar for a Shadow. Anyhow, what about your background? Where are you from?"
Sethelis looked upon the bar desk as she spoke next, "Oh, I'm from around here actually." She said, looking over. "I grew up in the poorer parts of town, and learned who to trust and who to beat up relatively quickly. Let's just say that I was a tough hatchling in a even tougher city." She said, eschewing any major details.
"Sorry if I sound dull, or that I am brief, but… I really am not allowed to talk about such things in places like these…" The shadow captain clarified, scratching her neck with one of her wings. "You're Avalarian, right…?"
"My parents are, were, from the Avalarian Valleys, but I was born and raised here. So...sort of," responded the Fire Dragon, who ordered a pint for himself while answering, "Noticed the accent, did you?"
His words earned a nod from the dark colored dragoness. "It's easier to pinpoint rather than someone from, let's say Dante's Freezer." She elaborated, before asking a rather important question: "And… Who's paying for this?"
"I'll be handling that," responded Miarko with a light smile, "It's the least I can do to help you try this swill for the first time," he finished with a wink.
Sethelis nudged the male with her wing, rolling her eye. "Yeah, yeah. Rub it in." She added with a overexaggerated ironic tone. "So, here comes an important question…what's our goal for the night?"
"I've got...a few ideas."
Light.
There was light outside.
How long had…?
Get up.
He looked down at his paws, indicating they were still in front of him. He looked outside then, noticing it was late morning. He wasn't due in for work today. It was Saturday, no need to worry about being late for yet another meeting, there was no fear of that.
Wait.
He looked to his right, his heart and breathing stopping for just a moment.
She laid there, still sleeping, her chest falling and rising with a steady pace.
He rolled to the side of the bed, putting his head into his paws.
"Oh, Mover...what have I done?" Miarko asked himself.
He looked back at the sleeping form of Sethelis, lying there silently, only a deep breathing coming from her vaguely opened maw. There was no reason to wake her up, at least not yet. The Fire dragon picked himself up and strolled over towards the washroom quietly, as to not wake her. He closed the door behind him tightly, closing his eyes and shaking his head. The memories began to flood back into his head.
She had gotten...out of her mind quicker than the Captain had anticipated. He had offered to take her home, but the drink in her head had made her...want to come home with him. The drink in his head had accepted. They had…
"If the Madame Director ever finds out about this, I'm going to be kicked out of the Defenders," he thought to himself, putting another paw to his face and groaning.
His career would be over and he'd never be allowed back into the order again. This had to stay a secret, no matter the cost.
He turned towards the sink and bath, trying to clean himself up.
He looked looked like a male that had been through hell and back, or a male that had done what he and the Shadow had done last night. He took a few moments to polish and ready himself before slowly opening the door again and entering the bedroom.
She was awake when he entered, she sat on her haunches in the bed, looking out the window. Miarko assumed she had heard him enter, as she turned herself around to face him. And she looked confused. Especially to see him in the doorway.
"... Where am I?" The dragoness asked, as she looked out through the window, and then back to the Captain again, blinking a few times.
Miarko took a few steps towards her, as she was rubbing her eye. They had gotten her a new eyepatch… Sometime during the night, as she had told him that she misplaced her old one. Miarko noted that she was wearing the new addition and that it fit her like a glove on a cheetah's paw.
So at least everything wasn't all bad. Miarko cleared his throat, before he opened his maw, picking his words carefully.
"You are at 112 Archer Avenue, and this is my bedroom." The fire captain replied, trying to make it as smooth as possible.
As the words "My" and "Bedroom" were left hanging in the air, the shadow captain looked very flustered.
Miarko had seen 'nesses react flustered or ashamed like this before, as this wasn't a rare thing that he'd… Partake in. But possibly not to this degree, and never before from a DOW soldier. He saw how Sethelis covered her head in her silvery wings, as she whined "Noooo…." Lowly to herself.
"I know that this is bad, but we need to remain composed, Sethelis." The Captain of the 17th explained, as he walked over. Only to hear Sethelis murmur.
"And… And I don't even remember anything of it."
Miarko's heart dropped slightly at her saying this. He hadn't known one of his partners to both be a lightweight, but also be emotional about this. He was silent at her reaction, not sure what to say to help the situation.
"And I usually don't forget things easily. If I for once can have some of the good things, I just HAD to be in a drunken state!" The dragoness complained, whining about her situation, she had seemingly forgotten that Miarko was standing right in front of her.
Miarko took this opportunity to sit down on the bed next to her and cross his forelegs as he laid on the bed. He thought for a few moments about what he wanted to say, not entirely sure at first how to approach this situation.
"If it means anything, I remember the whole thing…" he said slowly, trying not to alarm her.
Sethelis paused her little rant upon hearing that her partner at least had remembrance of… Whatever they had done. "You do?" She asked, unintentionally sounding puzzled. She thought for a moment, before shuffling her way onto the bed herself, laying on her side as she gazed upon the male.
He laughed lightly and looked away from her, not wanting to see her as he said, "You weren't bad for a first timer."
Sethelis smiled to herself. At least she had done something right last night, having been capable to impress someone with such a track record as the "infamous" Captain of the 17th. "Now you're just being nice." The dragoness stated shyly as she looked down at her paws slightly.
"I mean, you weren't my best…" he said, looking at her now with a smirk on his face, "But you were up there...top ten for sure."
He wasn't just being nice about it. It was his first time being with a shadow dragoness. She had found… Creative ways to use her element.
Sethelis did frown at first, seemingly feeling something she knew as jealousy for a few seconds. Besides the point, she appeared to still be happy about her rate of performance. She batted his side with a paw, her sharp claws being felt against his crimson scales.
"Eh… From the fractured pieces of lewd flashbacks I am suddenly having, I suppose I could say that you were at least in my tier of top 3. Not that I usually measure, but still…" She stated.
"Oh, I wasn't your first? It seemed that way," he asked the Shadow Dragoness, with some interest in his mind.
Sethelis shook her head, smiling teasingly at him. "Did you seriously assume I'd been that dragoness who has no other male friends besides the one named "Work"?" She asked. Apparently enjoying to reveal something about her personal life for once. Miarko had heard that Shadows are secretive to the point of barely existing in any public record, and he could almost feel the relief pouring from the Shadow Captain.
"I mean, according to what I know about you guys in the 18th you...don't get out much, from what I hear," he said slowly, trying to choose his words as best he could, "I mean that in the best of ways, of course."
Sethelis nodded matter-of-factly as a reply, following it up with the words, "We barely interact with anyone outside of the 18th, and even then it's usually only work related, as the Captain, I know every single one of them on the first-name basis, but they barely know anyone outside of their teams. We're a kind of unsung heroes. Shadows, fittingly enough… This information is also technically confidential, and I could lose more than my job if you were to ever utter anything about this outside of a empty room with no one but you and me." She explained, studying her claws.
"So…" Miarko began, trailing off for a moment as he considered what that meant, "You're not truly allowed to have any sort of personal life in this line of work? Seriously?"
Sethelis nodded once more. "Sadly no. You've been my first… Anything male related since before the DOW was established as a major council-funded organisation." She explained slowly, trying to word it correctly.
"I was the very first one after all."
"The very first member of the 18th? Really?" asked Miarko, raising an eye ridge.
He wasn't shocked, just slightly confused. He had thought that the DOW had began years ago, and that the 18th had been around longer than that. Was his information out of date?
"Well, technically I was with them when the 18th was founded. We were only a small task group by then. After a few missions like any other platoon, Cynder saw that we were fit for the glove. And so the Shadows grew out of the 18th. I was first to be initiated into their plan as I was the Captain. And it slowly bled through onto the others. And so we became the ones we are today, only with a few more teams." Sethelis explained; Miarko noted that she seemed oddly vague about any details, but shrugged it off as that she just didn't want him to know too much…
"A secret task group that no one outside of their organization knows about and answers only to one person, eh?" asked Miarko sarcastically, "Sounds very interesting. Almost like something you'd find in a book."
"The Madame founded it, we respond to her and Spyro, so I'd say yeah. Sounds pretty fairy-tale like." Sethelis replied. "Love the sarcasm by the way, keeping our identities secret can be the one line of defense we have, after all." She stated, giving him a nudge with her wing.
Maybe a little too hard to not count it as a shove. As a result, Miarko nearly fell out of the bed and onto the floor He regained his balance quickly, however, and sighed as he recovered.
"You've got quite the wing there, Sethelis," he joked, grinning at the Shadow Dragoness, "It's a shame you didn't use that more last night…"
Sethelis giggled coyly. "Well, maybe if there's going to be a round two? I might try it.." She replied with an equally big grin.
Miarko huffed out a laugh, shaking his head and looking away from her. He rose from the bed and moved back towards the washroom, but not before looking back.
"You're already my favorite," he stated simply before closing the door.
A/N: Ugh. Adult fluff. For our younger readers who have no idea what we were just discussing… You're too young to be reading this one. :P
In all seriousness, if this type of content disturbs you, feel free to let us know. Reviews on our subject matter and choice of content in each chapter is ALWAYS appreciated. If you do like this more...adult type of fluff, be prepared for more of it in the future!
However, I do just want to clarify: this novel is a T rating for a reason. There will be NO LEMONS in this work. I personally do not enjoy writing it and it is undesirable to have those sorts of sections within my portfolio. If you're looking for one of those, feel free to look around the archive, there are a few here and there. If you have any question, please let me know personally!
We'll be back in a few weeks with Chapter 7! See you all next time.
-Mike and Hawk