(chapter 13)
Red Lake City
The river gates were blocked by people seeking shelter inside the walls. Watchmen and guards were heading for the rampart access-points.
"What is going on?!" Duchess Von Strudelheim tried to make herself heard over panicking citizenry, animals, and the ringing of alert-bells. Suddenly, a young girl dropped in front of her. A portal above her head flickered for a second, and an unconscious elf fell through, the girl effortlessly catching her.
"Damn! Damn! Damn! I screwed up," the girl said, as she placed the elf onto a nearby hay cart. "How was I supposed to know they'd run this way?"
"What are you talking about, little girl?" asked the Duchess.
Not really paying attention, the girl replied. "I spooked a bunch of goblins, and now they're headed for Red Lake. My mothers are going to ground me for sure."
Mothers? thought the Duchess. "Why are you worried about what they will do? Isn't your father going to be stricter?"
"Ha! Funny," the girl replied. "He only found an 'interest' in his children when he found out Mama-Freya had money. Too bad for him she's already married to Mama-Erika. Now, if you'll excuse me," she said as she unfurled her wings. "I'm going to have to help deal with these Goblins."
...is she a baby dragon?...
++EmeraldAngel: You'll do no such thing. You'll be looking after the children Kahl'ryleh-hophiit is carrying.
++CryoDragonPrime: But Mum, I need to help fix this.
++EmeraldAngel: Don't 'but mum' me, young lady! Also send Kahl'ryleh-hophiit back once she drops the children off.
Just above the ramparts, the Duchess sees a flying beast-girl. She is carrying two young nekomatas, one in her arms, one in her feet, and has a young harpy on her back.
The girl flew up to her, and carefully extracted the passenger from her feet. They started talking in some foreign language, but the Duchess was guessing 'Miz-oo-she' was trying to convince 'Calliope' to let her fight the goblins, instead of guarding the children. "I'll watch them!" she said, as she reached the top of the stairs.
Both girls handed over the children, and flew back towards a red-haired woman and a pair of dragonewts.
===/===
Outside the City Gates
"Mizuchi," said Freya. "I distinctly told you to stay with the children."
"It's my fault the goblins are heading this way," she replied. "Besides, an adult said she'd watch them."
"When this is over, you and I are going to have a talk. Also, why aren't you in school?"
"Power plant caught fire. Everyone got sent home."
===/===
Oborozuka, near the power plant
"...Keep that fire from spreading to the outbuildings!..."
"...Did all of the employees evacuate?..."
"...When are the extra appliances from Asaka arriving?..."
The radio-chatter from multiple channels went across Smith's police scanner.
"You have three code nine alphas and one code nine charlie. Quadrant delta, second floor," said a familiar voice.
"Who is this? Keep this channel clear," replied one of the voices. "Stop playing around, kid. This channel is for emergency services only."
Oh no, thought Smith, as she pulled over close to the police roadblocks. What are you doing here, Hikari?
"Of course it's for emergency services only," replied Hikari. "I have three code nine alphas here. Oh smeg! The stairs just collapsed. Get clear of delta wall."
Smith heard the sound similar to an oversized chainsaw engine powering up, over the radio. She looked towards the building. A section of external wall suddenly collapsed, in the shape of a doorway.
"Get a ladder here. If you can get everyone at least 20 metres away from me, I can convert all of this fire energy into mana, and change this charlie into an alpha. Let's go!"
"What did she just say?" asked one of the firefighters.
"You heard her," said Smith. "If you want four code nine alphas, instead of three alphas and a charlie, get moving."
===/===
Red Lake City ramparts
Duchess Von Strudelheim, the children and several guards watched anxiously, as the goblins came into view.
She could see the redhead making various hand signals. The female dragonewt and the baby dragon went one way, and the male dragonewt and winged beast-girl went the other.
Both dragonewts were carrying some sort of box-like apparatus that launched ...signal flares?...
BOOOOM!
...okay... exploding signal flares.
The red-haired woman suddenly materialised a set of emerald-green, slightly crystalline, angel's wings. A strange noise was coming from her direction. It was a low, continuous, growl.
The Duchess pulled a miniature stargazer's tool from her satchel, and looked at the 'emerald angel' in the middle of the group. Her left hand was holding a strange-looking weapon. Beginning at the back, attached under her forearm, was a small version of the engines she had seen dwarves use to power their mine pumps. Her hand was holding some sort of mechanism that looked similar to a crossbow's trigger. The front was a circular blade. It looked like a small version of the blade at the water-powered sawmill near her home-town.
There was a high-pitched whistle.
...DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA...
"Dear gods!" exclaimed one of the nearby guards. "I thought the sawmill blade weapon was bad enough! Look at what's in her other hand!"
The Duchess looked at her other hand. There was a similar set-up again, an engine at the back, and a 'trigger' near the middle. However, the front had a set of rapidly spinning pipes, and there was a metal belt leading from just in front of the engine to a strange box on her back. Wherever this woman pointed her ...weapon?... dirt kicked up, and wolves and goblins either panicked, or died in a bloody mess.
"Princess Freya knows some truly frightening spells," whispered the younger of the two nekomata.
That's the foreign representative? thought the Duchess. If the Freidric brothers saw this, they'd be soiling themselves.
...wait... Princess...did Mayor Wainwright deliberately keep that quiet?
"Shh! Saffron," said the eldest of the group. "People aren't supposed to know about that."
===/===
Oborozuka
A news reporter was speaking towards a camera crew.
"As you can see, firefighters from Oborozuka and Asaka have been working for over three hours to extinguish the fire at the Oborozuka Power Generation facility. Local volunteers have been providing aid, where possible. From providing water for exhausted crew, to some more unusual assistance."
The camera pans towards a first-aid station, where two yuki-onnas are cooling down one firefighter, and a woman wearing one of the new beige and black ICEP uniforms is bandaging the arm of an injured firefighter.
The camera pans back. Behind the reporter, the cameraman focuses on the Fire Department's OIC, and the Police chief. They are talking to a young-looking red-haired girl, she is wearing some sort of armoured uniform, with the rank-insignia of an Artificer Captain on the upper arm.
===/===
"You can't be serious," said the police chief. "Someone sabotaged the power plant, using a Fire Elemental?"
"I was watching the footage from OIC Hiroto-san's camera feed," replied Hikari, raising her left arm, to show a holographic image. "Here is the summoning circle," she said, pointing to a set of glowing symbols, "and here is the containment circle." Another set of symbols became highlighted.
"What makes this worse, is this reeks of distraction. While we're dealing with this, someone who saw these twelve men as expendible," more highlighted images appear, "is in the middle of something big."
"How big?" asked the police chief.
"It depends on what other secrets we're hiding in town. Smith knows about the dragons. ...and me..."
"Dragons. Plural," said the police chief. "I only knew about Tohru. What do I need to know about you?"
Hikari moved so the camera couldn't see her, and popped her front hatch.
"Oh! Another fairy," said Mr Hiroto.
"Smeg!" exclaimed Hikari. "That's what they're after! Oborozuka is hiding a fairy colony."
++MechaFaerie1337: Erika. Oborozuka has a fairy colony. The fire is a distraction.
++VF-NXprototype-DREADWING: On it!
===/===
Ms Kobayashi's apartment
"Sorry, Mizuchi-kun. I have to fly," said Erika. "Tohru-san, Kanna-chan, get whatever help you can muster. Someone is trying to kidnap the local fairies."