The sound of blades pierced the air as the helicopter plowed through the overcast skies of Ursus. Aboard the aircraft, Amiya and her team sat idly at the back of the cockpit, watching the snowy fields beneath them.
"I still can't believe you actually managed to convince the boss to bring us with you." Surprisingly enough, Exusiai and the Penguin Logistics girls had come to this mission as well. Matt, who was sitting right across them, leaned back on his seat and replied.
"Heh, don't remind me. The penguin wouldn't have accepted if I hadn't handed him over my Spotify lists."
"Wait, you bribed Emperor with music?" Asked a confused Will.
"It's dumb, I know, but that's what I did. Besides, Emperor was more than happy to take a look at them."
"Yeah, we know." Said Mostima. "Immediately after that he locked himself into his office to conduct, in his words, a research in 'Ancient Terran Music'."
"Oh, then I wish him good luck. I'm sure he'll need it." Answered Will with irony. "K-pop and reggaeton can be quite... unforgiving."
"Nah, our Emperor can take on all types of music, of that I'm sure!" Stated a confident Croissant. "Once this job's over, I'm thinking about listening to Earth's music as well. I'm curious about how it sounds like."
"Me too!" Exclaimed Sora with cheerfulness. "Your world seems like a very interesting place, I hope one day we can visit it! And who knows, I might even try to perform in Earth!"
Upon hearing this, Matt couldn't help but mutter.
"If that ever happens, then the Arkinghts community will come crashing down for sure..."
Turning back to the conversation, Texas simply stared at her and spoke.
"I'll look forward to that... Well, what matters now is that we're here."
"You're goddam right." Matt contested. "Just let's make sure we don't beat the Russians too much."
Everyone laughed at his joke. They wanted to reply to it, but before they could do so a voice was heard from the cockpit's front saying.
"Ehm, guys. I don't want to be a party pooper, but... where are we going exactly to?"
The Doctor, who was sitting at the copilot's seat, turned to the pilot and replied.
"The message mentioned a site called Vyely Dvor, but we lack its exact location, it could be anywhere..."
"I know that place." Talulah said, looking out from her seat. "It was pretty popular among the Ursus nobility for its winter resorts." She extended her arm pointing towards a mountain range barely visible on the horizon. "You see those mountains? The town should be somewhere around them."
"Ok, got it." The pilot gripped the controls and set course north.
And just like that, the helicopter flew over the icy tundra onwards to the unknown...
/ /
The chopper dropped Amiya and her companions in a forest near the village, leaving them to complete the rest of the trek on foot. An hour later, the team finally arrived at Vyely Dvor.
The town itself wasn't very big. Its stone houses were mostly single-floor ones, and the streets were narrow and entangled. A layer of snow covered the entirety of the site, a testimony to the harsh climate of the mountain. There were some people outside their homes going on with life, but it was just only a few.
Even with his warm jacket on, Matt felt the cold bite his body.
"Eh-ehh..." He shivered. "It's awfully cold in here."
"Yeah, it does bring back memories of my childhood..." Will muttered. "Anyway, where do begin searching?"
"The resorts would be a good start." Said Talulah. "Visitors usually put up there during their stay at the town."
"Then I suggest we split into groups, that way we'll cover more surface." Proposed the Doctor.
The draco nodded.
"Seems to be a good plan to me."
"I'll be going with Tal and Reunion." Said Will. "Matt, you'll accompany Amiya and the Doc."
"Ok, let's do it then." The boy answered.
And with that said, they split up and each went their separate way... but, unknown to them, a figure hiding in the shadows had been spying their movements from far away.
*Beep* "приом, говорит Голубь. Я подтвердил присутствие Rhodes Island, высылайте подкрепление." The mysterious man turned the walkie off and disappeared.
X-X
Together with Matt and Penguin Logistics, the Doc and Amiya went down the streets of the town, searching for any possible clues...
"So, if I'm not wrong, there should be a winter resort in this area. Am I right?"
"Indeed, Matt." Responded the Doctor as they walked. "From what I've heard, it's pretty popular around the region. It was called something like The Bear's respite..."
-It must be that building over there. – Said Amiya, pointing ahead of them.
There, a mansion stood right in the corner of the road. It had a very majestic look, with its stone walls and large windows. Throwing a glarw at the facade, Mostima spoke.
"Ok, let's go inside."
When they stepped inside the reception, the team were met the sight of luxury. Walls and roofs both were made from fir wood, with finely decorated moldings, and the floor were of white marble.
The receptionist gave them a warm welcome.
"Welcome to The Bear's Respite Resort. How may I help you?"
"We would want to talk with the owner." Answered Amiya. "We have something we would want to discuss with them."
"In that case, I'll bring the owner right away. In the meantime, I invite you to take a drink at our bar."
Amiya and her companions took on her offer and went there. The bar had the same opulent air as the rest of the resort, and there were quite some people at the counter, enjoying their drinks. Without saying anything, they found themselves a quiet table at the corner and sat down.
After some minutes of wait, they spotted a quite plump ursus woman approach their place. Putting a smile on her lips, she spoke.
"Good evening, dear guests. I heard you wanted to discuss some matters with me, so... here I am! Ah, my name's Anastasia Ivanova, by the way."
The Doctor's glare turned on; that was the name the woman had mentioned in the message. Hoping to take some info out from her, he immediately asked.
"You see, Mrs. Ivanova, me and my partners here are looking for a friend of ours, and we think she could have been in this establishment."
"A friend you say?" Asked the woman with interest. "Could you describe them to me?"
"Well... she's a woman around her 20-30s, with dark-brown straight hair and liliac eyes."
The owner tried to recall any clients with those characteristics, but after thinking a while nothing came out of it.
"I'm sorry young one, but I don't remember anyone in particular with that description. People with dark brown hair are very common around here."
"I see..." The Doctor had already given up all hope, but suddenly Matt took his phone out and showed the woman a picture on it.
"And with this?"
She looked closely at the image, and then...
"Wait... Now I remember! Yes, I saw that girl. She reserved a room here a couple of weeks ago."
"Great!" Replied Matt. "Can you tell us where did she go?"
"She once mentioned something about a trip to Svietlapetrovsk. It's a small city about 12 miles from here, very famous for the ancient documents that are preserved there." She took a pause. "I'm sorry, but that's all I know."
"No, it's alright." Reassured the boy. "Thanks for helping us."
"You're welcome."
Once she left, Amiya looked over at Matt and asked in a confused tone.
"What was that about?"
He didn't answer and instead showed them the screen of his mobile phone. Everyone was quite surprised by what they saw, but not as far as the Doctor. He was speechless, it was a picture of the woman in his dreams!
"How did you get that?" He asked in shock.
"Well, it was a wild guess... but now I've confirmed two things." Matt said, his expression serious. "The first one is that we indeed we aren't chasing a ghost. The second, that the woman we're searching for is... none other than the woman known to us as Priestess."
"Wow... You've left me without words." Acknowledged Croissant.
Mostima emitted a hum.
"Yeah, but now we have her identity, and most importantly, her location."
"That's right, with this new information we can..."
Suddenly, the bar's door was blown wide open and a group of armed men rushed inside the place. Seeing their uniforms, the team quickly deduced these dudes were soldiers from the Ursus Army... but there was something strange about them. The symbol on their helmets was different, and most alarming of all, some were carrying Russian AKs and RPKs. Their leader, a man with a terrifying face, scanned the room with his glare, and soon it would land on Amiya and her friends.
"Are you the ones from Rhodes Island?!" He yelled.
"Yes, we are." Answered the young cautus without the slightest tint of fear in her voice. "We have not committed any crime, this must be a misunderstanding."
"I don't care." He coldly contested. "Surrender your weapons and come with us, don't put any resistance."
"Gentlemen, this outrageous!" Matt exclaimed in fury. "We aren't sinners. You should be fighting the Russians, not trying to arrest innocent people like us!"
The squad's leader burst into laughter.
"HAHAHAHAA! You haven't heard? Grand Duke Vanya II is now at the service of the Russian Federation. The orders are to hand them over anyone belonging to either Rhodes or Reunion, and that's what we're going to do..."
The Ursus guards began advancing towards them. Matt threw a glare at his friends and said.
"Prepare yourselves, this is going to be a very difficult fight!" And with that said, Matt got a hold of his rifle and opened fire.
The initial attack managed to take down a chuck of the Ursus forces, but they immediately retaliated with their own. Without skipping a second, Croissant ran to defend her friends and put her shield before them. Unfortunately for the defender, the metal didn't withstand the LMG's fire and was pierced, injuring her in the process.
"HANG ON!" Grabbing her staffs, Mostima channeled all the power she could muster and formed a barrier of time around them. All the bullets became completely frozen in place.
Sword in hand, Texas took the opportunity and charged directly towards the shooters. The men ran away, but the lupo's blades caught up to them, and seconds later their sliced heads crashed against the floor. Seeing the disaster that was becoming the battle, the team leader took a hold of his RPK and sprayed the entire area, forcing everyone to seek cover.
"EHEHEH!" He manically laughed. "TASTE THIS, YOU B*TCHES!"
The stream of bullets grazed both Amiya and the Doctor's heads. Knowing that at this rate they would both end up pierced like a goddam sieve, Amiya decided to risk her life and, leaving herself exposed, she extended her arm and shot beams of dark energy straight towards the man.
"AGHHH!" He screamed in agony as the beams impaled his body in several places, with copious amounts of blood leaking from the wounds. When they dissipated, the leader dropped to the floor, completely dead.
Upon seeing his superior's death, the last bits of morale the Ursus guards had were vanished. They dropped their weapon, and with the speed of light the soldiers abandoned the bar.
Mostima dropped to the floor with visible fatigue on her face.
"Uffff... That was pretty intense..."
"We can't rest yet." Said Matt. "Will and Talulah are still out there, maybe already fighting these guys."
"Yes." Sentenced the Doctor. "That's why we need to find them now."
