Call of the Ancestors
Chapter 9: On the Offensive
Miarko awoke slowly, his eyes being able to open quickly, due to the lack of light in the room. Sethelis wasn't known for her bright and shining disposition, and the curtains around her room that barred light from entering certainly didn't help from changing that image of her.
But Miarko knew better.
Turning over, Sethelis was already standing on the opposite side of the room. It was a weekend still, but Miarko anticipated having to be called back into the office during these sort of cases. The situation with Elmira remained unresolved and they needed to get back to their investigation. He had gotten what he wanted out of Sethelis. At least for now.
Sethelis looked over at him, hearing the rustle that his moving around in bed was causing. It looked like she was making...food?
She smiled lightly and said, "Good morning, captain 'snore'. I'm making some breakfast, and if you want it you better get out of that bed ASAP, soldier."
Miarko groaned and rolled out of bed, almost literally, "I thought I was done with the boot camp stuff when I finished with training."
"You are still in a military organisation, Captain. And do not think for a second that life won't come crashing down hard on you. Even if life comes in the shape of food." Sethelis replied, looking back at the meal she was preparing.
"That's not the direction I thought this conversation would turn," Miarko responded, earning a chuckle from his fellow captain.
"Oh? And where did you think it'd go?"
"Something not involving the 'direction of my life. You know what I mean?" responded the Fire dragon, picking himself up and approaching her, kissing her on the cheek, "What are you making?"
Sethelis looked surprised upon the gentle sign of affection. Or at least as far as Miarko could tell, as he was on her blind-side. "Oh, just some simple venison. I hope you didn't expect a fancy salad to come with it, as I've not been up for longer than… An hour?" She replied, studying the pieces of meat closer.
Miarko felt the scent of meat over a fire filling his nostrils, and he had to admit… he was hungry, "Heh, that's alright. I don't eat salads all the time anyways. Venison is a staple for me regardless."
"Good to know that we prefer the same kind of foods, then." Sethelis replied, vaguely leaning onto the Fire dragon next to her. "I hope my cooking is reaching to your standards, at least." She says in a semi-serious manner.
"I guess we'll find out, won't we?" he stated, sitting down at her dining table and staring up at her, "Didn't know you could cook. Always assumed you were self-sufficient though."
Sethelis looked over, as she proceeded to go and fetch some plates out of a wall-mounted cabinet near the small pantry she'd used to get the wine the night before. She carried them in her maw, carefully placing one on each side of the small wooden table. "Not many assume I can." She stated, before she added "But… One thing I am pretty bad at is picking food up from a searing hot iron, think you could be a "strong and brave" dragon and serve?" looking at Miarko with what the Fire dragon only assumed was a non-threatening look she'd use to get people to do things for her.
"You're going to start pulling that look on me, aren't you?" he said sarcastically, realizing that she was starting to do that herself, "I didn't realize that you could pull off the 'I'm cute and you should do something for me look,' but here I stand, corrected."
To that, the Shadow replied rather smugly: "I'm a A-Grade spy. Remember? It's my job to be good looking, and then knowing how to exploit that to my advantage." as Miarko wandered over the hot iron and carefully picked it up and placed it on a nearby cooling cloth.
"So? How'd I do?" he asked, raising his eye ridges up and down quickly.
The Shadow dragoness rolled her eye in response, albeit her answer was approving. "Oh, my valiant hero completes his quest. So brave!" She said, looking over at him eagerly.
"Now all we are waiting to hear is what you think."
Miarko sliced off a portion of the meat and sat it down on the plate she provided. He took a few bites of the unseasoned meat and nodded his head, "Not anything that a professional chef would do, but not bad for a lonely captain who's never cooked for another person."
Sethelis nodded; "I might've not used spices this time, but that's merely because I was out. Need to go shopping… And I dread the thought already." She admitted, placing her paws on the small table, with her head in between. "Still happy you liked it though." She then stated, giving off a little smile.
That's when Miarko could've sworn he heard someone at the door. A small letter then flew under the door and landed near the table. Sethelis raised a brow, looking over.
"Hmm… Don't mind me, keep eating." She encouraged the male, getting up from her haunches and walked over to the envelope. It had no origin address or sign of any postcard. She used a claw to open the envelope and read the simple note which was inside.
Her eye widened...
Miarko looked over, wondering what the problem was, "What's up? Have another suitor besides me now?"
"That smug, sly, swashbuckling bitch…" Was the only reply he got out of the dragoness, whom merely used her tail to hand him the note.
It had one short sentence which was hastily written: "Elmira has escaped."
The two had barely even gotten their armors on correctly before they had hastily flown to the DOW tower.
And there was smoke billowing out the main entrance as the two touched down on the floating island, only to be greeted by a familiar face.
"Finally!" Terron's voice called out, "Where have you two been? I sent the messenger hours ago?"
"Worked overnight on the investigation," responded Miarko quickly, trying to move the conversation away from it to stop suspicions of what the two captains had actually been doing, "What happened here, Terron?"
"Walk and talk?" asked the Lieutenant.
Sethelis who was standing in between the two fanned out her wings and almost pushed the two along as she preemptively started walking. "When, how, and the damage reports. Did the fugitive kill anyone?" She asked Terron matter-of-factly, leading the two dragons along with her towards the big and formerly impressive blown-open bronze doors.
"No, but only barely. One of the prison guards was knocked unconscious by a blunt object of some kind. Had the blow been a few inches to the left, it would have shattered her skull. She's recovering in the med clinic, but no guarantee she'll wake up any time soon," responded the Lieutenant solemnly, "As for the escape itself, she somehow wandered out of her chains and was able to unlock the cell door sometime last night. Evidence points to one of our own being...seduced, somehow, and her being able to get the keys from him. She was forced to knock out the other guard on duty and made her escape a short time after that. We have no idea where she is."
Sethelis looked over at the two, her words sharp as a knife. "I want a word with the one whom happened to be a victim of her… Poisonous words." She declared, looking over at Miarko; "Think you could find him and bring him to my office?"
"Affirmative" he responded, and the Fire dragon took off, heading for the holding cells.
It didn't take long to find the guard that he was looking for. The holding cells were not huge, as the DOW didn't have the complete jurisdiction to jail individuals for any more than a few days, pending an investigation, military tribunal, or handing over to the more official law enforcement.
He was strapped into the chains of Elmira's cell, his head hanging down. Whether this was in shame or just so he could avoid the gazes of the small crowd of guards that were outside his cell, Miarko didn't care. The Fire Captain opened the door to the cell and strode in, his face barely concealing the fury that was burning inside him once again. The guard looked up at him then, his face awash with shame.
"I am eternally sorry, Captain! I didn't mean to-I… She-... I mean-... For the Mover's sake..." The guard stuttered forth, not keeping his gaze up at the captain whom was standing before him for long. He kept his head low, the chains rattling of his movement, being stuck to the wall, a chain going around hís neck like a leash to the wall, and another wrapped around his front and hind legs, effectively tying him stuck.
It went dead silent in the room, the other Guards stopping their prattling and hardly concealed mockery, they seemed to be to awaiting for the Fire Captain to open his maw.
Miarko did not respond to the guard's pleas, instead using a key that had been given to him to unshackle the guard from his place on the wall. Miarko left the cuffs on him, however, and pushed him towards the door of the cell.
"You and I need to have a chat," he finally spoke, his voice deep and uncaring, "Try to flee, and I'll put you in the ground without hesitation. Refuse my orders and I'll simply knock you out and carry you where you need to go myself. Now walk," he finished, pushing the guard further down the hallway towards the stairs that lead to the upper floors.
The guard simply nodded and continued to follow the Fire dragon's instructions. The two climbed up the stairs until finally arriving at the office of Sethelis. They opened the door to the characteristically dark room with it's dusty filing cabinets and mysterious maps of the city with dots and strings on them, the air stale and almost… Pressuring. The flickering shadows seemed alive in the dancing of a flame on the few lit candles, keeping the room lit up. Behind the old wooden desk, sorting through documents and reports was the Shadow captain, looking up at the two briefly, her one eye gleaming in the light.
"Sit. Both of you." She simply told them.
Miarko noted that the tone in her voice was assuring that none of them could miss the fact that it was not a request. It was a demand. The two sat down, with not as much as a word. The Shadow dragoness placed the papers she had been reading down on the desk surface; They were damage reports over the very recent escape from the tower, a sketch of the building itself and the route the pirate had presumed to have taken during her escape.
Sethelis sighed. "One prisoner. You had to keep your attention to one prisoner for about two hours. How could you fail such a simple task?" She asked, clearly frustrated, albeit it was rather obvious she held back what she really wanted to say.
"Ma'am," came the frail voice of the guard, "I can-I can explain."
Sethelis blinked once, not looking too impressed. "Good. Go on, I need a explanation, and you better pray to whatever deity or Ancestors you may believe in that I deem it a plausible and good one." The Shadow Captain clarifies. Her yellow eye focusing entirely on the soldier's. Almost as if she'd be staring right past him.
"She...she...knows her way with men, Captain," replied the Guard, looking away from the Captain's eye bearing into his soul, "She convinced me that if I helped her, she'd give me a place in her crew, be able to go adventuring. What soldier doesn't want that? Please captain, you have to believe me!"
"So you'd rather run away with a pirate. And I repeat… A pirate! Not only deserting, but breaking the oath you swore upon joining the DOW ranks." The captain spoke, her eye narrowing dangerously. Sethelis had a frown on her face as she once more spoke up. "Not only did you actively let a highly dangerous criminal out, but admit willingness to desert your post. What platoon are you in, soldier?"
"Uh...the 12th, ma'am…" the soldier responded nervously.
Sethelis nodded upon hearing this. "Very well. I'll make sure Captain Antilles is informed, he'll better need to get his men into better form and morale if they're all like you." She mutters, scribbling something on a note rather quickly as she speaks. "Fittingly enough I'd suggest incarceration for now. Any thoughts, Miarko?" The Fire dragon felt her gaze move upon him,
"In most circumstances of treason, I'd suggest handing him over to a tribunal and letting them decide his fate, but throw him back in the cell for now, we'll deal with him later," the Fire Dragon agreed.
"But, wait! I...I…" exclaimed the Guard, who eventually trailed off and lowered his head accepting his defeat. Two guards that were standing outside the cell dragged the prisoner away and back down towards the holding cells, where he would await word of his hearings at a later date.
With that whole ordeal out of the way, Sethelis sat up from her haunches and looked over at Miarko. "So, traitor dealt with, and damages assessed as well as the entire DOW tower searched. That means we can address this latest issue I just heard about before you two entered." She slowly walked around the desk, Miarko listening to what she had to say.
"Spyro has ordered that you and I travel to the Shattered Vale. Apparently there is a Annointed cell actively disrupting peace in the area."
"All the way up there? What's the importance of that cell?" asked the Fire dragon.
He was aware of the cell already, he'd seen the reports from her scouts, but they seemed like a distant and non-present threat.
Sethelis rolled her only single eye at the Captain's light take on the situation. "Any cell of them going public is a problem. Because it means they're cocky. Which could be a lead to that they've either got the upper hand, or that they're outright stupid." She explains briefly, giving him a glance which spoke for that she didn't think it was the latter.
"They've gone public up there since your last report?" he asked, slightly confused, "I was assuming that they were still underground with their efforts and one of your moles had sniffed them out. What have they been doing up there?"
"Well, not as much public as reckless." Sethelis clarified, signaling that she could continue their debrief as they went down the dwindling staircases of the DOW tower. "They're leaving a clear trace. However I do not know yet whether it is a trap or if it is just sheer mistakes."
"And the Director wants us to spring the trap," responded Miarko, frowning, "Normally I'm the type of guy that sets the traps, not the one to walk right into them." Sethelis nodded in reply, not looking too pleased with their current situation.
"Well, how do you think I feel? I spend my days making sure DOW troops avoids that kind of thing, and now I am supposed to blindly walk into one?" The Shadowy dragoness replied, her wings fluttering slightly as the two descended down the marble staircase.
Miarko groaned and shook his head, saying, "The things I do in the name of peace and security. And what of Elmira? Is he sending out another team to recapture her, or…?"
Sethelis gave a firm nod. "Yes, I even put a few of my own men at his disposal, should they be needed. That Skav will be back in her confines sooner than you can tap the ground with your tail." She replied, obviously proud of the 18th. "Now… Should we set off immediately or should we prepare?"
"Wait, are you saying that the Director expects just the two of us to take down the entire cell just on our own?" asked the Fire dragon, clearly shocked at the prospect of what he been ordered to do.
This lead to an amused chuckle coming from the Shadow dragoness. "For all your charming personality, and all your wit with that rapid tongue of yours, I expected you to not be that close minded. Of course Spyro wouldn't be dumb enough to send us to our death at the claws and paws and daggers of crazed zealots." She explained, bumping the Fire dragon's side as the two reached the bottom of the staircase.
Miarko groaned again and went down the flight of stairs again, but not before saying, "You make my life harder."
A/N: We're splitting this chapter in two, partially because we are slow bums that cannot get work done, but also because this chapter is a little long already. (And it gives us time to finish it!) But yeah, me and Mike will make sure to speed up in the future!
Stick by us if you please, and enjoy our story! As always, reviews and feedback are always appreciated! This is Hawk & Mike signing out for now.