"Ships Sail Away"
May. 13th, 2022 01:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dochermes"Ships Sail AWay"
10/1/2020
I.
"I've been in worse dungeons," Ashley grumbled as she picked herself up off the stone floor. Instead of one of her usual all-white outfits, she was wearing regular jeans and a dark green T-shirt under a light windbreaker. The fact that all her pockets were still hanging inside out was the only clue she had been searched.
At forty, the platinum blonde looked at least ten years younger. Partly this was her petite size and trim athletic fitness, but it was mostly due to the Tagra tea regimen she had been on for two decades. Only available from Tel Shai, Tagra enhanced healing and resistance to injury, promoted mental balance and definitely extended the active years of a knight's life. "Cory? You okay?"
"Ow. Yeah. I landed on my hands and knees, not too bad. Goddam, those guys are strong. One of them picked me up by the back of my shirt and tossed me in here like you'd throw a softball."
"They're Melgarin. They're all like that. The toddlers can straighten out a horseshoe in their hands." The Unicorn straightened out her clothing, not going any nearer to him. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this, Cory. Seriously, I wasn't expecting to be taken prisoner today."
Cory Adams did not respond immediately. He turned in a slow circle, taking in their surroundings. The cell was twenty feet to a side, constructed of massive stone blocks well fitted together. A messy tangle of wool blankets sat in one corner, there was a brass chamberpot with a lid and a narrow window high up in one wall that let in late afternoon sunlight through its bar.
But the cell was dry, reasonably clean and stank only mildly of mold and mildew. Ashley had not been kidding, she had indeed been in worse dungeons during her career.
Watching him start to examine the massive door with its iron crossbar, Unicorn sighed. "This place was built to hold Melgarin, hon. Two Humans aren't going to break out."
"Don't call me 'hon,'" Cory said without heat. "But anything Midnight War is your area. What do these Melgarin want with us?"
"I figure one of three things." She tentatively moved closer to him, still not quite within reach. "They could want to use me as an expendable thief or messenger. They know my capabilities. Or they just wanted the Unicorn horn and snatched us to keep us from annoying them. The third possibility is using us as hostages or for ransom."
That seemed to annoy him further. "They want YOU for ransom, Ashley. You're the famous Unicorn, I'm only a mundane Human nobody."
"Not to April, you're not," she replied barely above a whisper.
Cory eased up and lowered his shoulders from where he had been tensing them up high. "Yeah. We did bring a beautiful little girl into the world."
"At least we know she's safe with Mrs Chatcuff," Ashley said. "I bet she misses Gram, though."
"I'm sorry your mother died, Ashley. She completely welcomed me the first time we met. But she's gone and everything else has changed as well."
"Ships sail away," the little blonde said. She drew herself up straighter. "Anyway. We're stuck here for the moment. No use starting to work on an escape yet."
He walked over and started untangling the blankets, snapping them out to blow away dust. "They took all your gadgets, I suppose?"
"Most of them. I still have a flexible hacksaw blade in my jacket collar, some lockpick tools in my boot heel, that sort of thing. No weapons. No communications devices."
Folding up the blankets into two lengths facing each other at arm's length, Cory Adams gingerly lowered himself down to sit on one pad. "Ow. Gonna be sore."
Dropping down lightly to face him, Ashley Whitaker assumed a full lotus with easy flexibility. "Listen, things are not hopeless. Sable expected me to report for duty an hour ago. She'll buzz my Link, but Links shut down when they're more than ten feet away from their owner. I know Sable, she worries when one of the team goes for a haircut. It's just a question of how soon she comes after us."
"You've certainly got some friends that are comforting to see when you're in a spot like this."
Out of nowhere, Ashley blurted, "Is April getting used to me not being around?"
"Sure. She's having no trouble adjusting." As soon as he snapped that out, Cory softened his tone. "Okay, that wasn't called for. Of course April misses you. But she knows you're alive and well, and you always see her on weekends and one day during the week."
"And she knows I still love her more than life itself?"
"Of course. She has never doubted that."
"That's good," the Unicorn said with a sniff.
"Don't start. Just don't. That's not going to work on me."
"I wasn't trying to manipulate you." She drew her knees up to her chest and rested her cheek on them. "We're never going to get back together again, are we?"
"Not as far as I'm concerned. Look. Ashley, I don't mean you any harm. Life is too short for that. But I absolutely did not deserve what you did to me."
"I know, I know. We can't undo our mistakes. I keep thinking of that song April likes. 'Green leaves brighten to gold and to red, but always end up brown.' It seems to mean more to me than it did before."
"That's where your phrase, 'ships sail away' comes from."
"Yeah. Oh, Cory. I never realized how blessed my life was. I was given every advantage you could ask in life. Then I lost Mom...and I lost you."
He seemed to be making an effort to keep his voice unemotional. "You're still young and smart, you're rich, you have a thousand skills. And you have your career as the Unicorn."
"I guess. I'm back in my old rooms at KDF headquarters, chasing monsters and poking around the dark corners of the world. Sable and Tim and the others were glad to see me back. I didn't think Megan would be so excited to be partners again. She was hopping up and down."
Stretching out on his back, resting his head on a forearm, Cory said, "When are they coming in to make their threats and demands, anyway?'
"They'll be in no hurry," she replied. "Melgarin live to be two hundred, they see time different than we do. Cory, I wanted to ask you about that cruise we were going to take with April?"
"It's not going to happen. Look, Ashley, I'm trying to be civilized and mature about this. We can talk like adults. But when I found you... that night... It was worse than being stabbed in the heart by a real knife."
"I've said I'm sorry a million times," she said. "I'll say it forever. But it won't help."
"No. It won't."
Unicorn suddenly leaped to her feet and began pacing in a loop, her hands clasped behind her. "I wish something would happen. Even those Melgarin coming up to rough us up would keep you and I from getting in the screaming match I see coming."
"Okay, okay, I get it. Ash, be straight with me. Are they going to kill us?"
"Completely honest? I don't think so. They want something. And the Melgarin know about my team. They absolutely do not want a Blind Archer or the Dire Wolf coming after them enraged because I got killed. So I'm like eighty per cent sure we're going to survive."
Cory sat up and rubbed his face, making deep exasperated noises. "I can't blame you for this, Ash. We did have some legal issues to talk about and I didn't mind meeting you out here in the wilderness of central New Jersey, of all places."
"I was already going to be here to check out some rumors of a cryptid," she said. Working up her nerve, the Unicorn came over and sat down closer to him, but at an angle facing away. "They must have been trailing me all day, I knew something was dodgy but my instincts are not at their best when... when I'm upset."
"They didn't hurt us, I guess that's a good sign. So. What about your KDF team?"
Ashley smiled slightly. With her delicate features and crystal blue eyes, even distraught she was gorgeous. "They took my Link. The beacon signal goes on automatically whenever it's more than ten feet away from me for more than fifteen minutes--"
She broke off at a horrendous commotion outside the cell, voices shouting and the thump of loud impacts. The sound of metal straining and popping was followed by the massive door swinging inwards with its lock snapped.
A burly figure dressed like a lumberjack in red plaid shirt, heavy jeans and work boots strode in. The thick brown beard split in a grin showing white teeth. "Ah! There you two are."
"Galvan!" squeaked Ashley in a voice high as a dolphin's in her excitement. "I knew you guys would come, didn't I just say that?"
"Hi. Thanks for showing up, Galvan," Cory followed with. "I suppose that racket was you beating up the guards?"
"And I thoroughly enjoyed it, too. Melgarin should know better. I taught them to leave Humans alone." The big hands reached out to thud down on a shoulder of first Ashley and then Cory. "If you ask me, Atrumo is behind this. He needs to be dragged back to Androval to kneel before the headsman. Come now. Sable is waiting in the courtyard, keeping the CORBY ready."
Unicorn glanced over at Cory. "Ready to go?"
Despite the tension between them, Cory smiled from sheer relief. "Yeah. This was not how I planned to spend the day."
1/10/2021
10/1/2020
I.
"I've been in worse dungeons," Ashley grumbled as she picked herself up off the stone floor. Instead of one of her usual all-white outfits, she was wearing regular jeans and a dark green T-shirt under a light windbreaker. The fact that all her pockets were still hanging inside out was the only clue she had been searched.
At forty, the platinum blonde looked at least ten years younger. Partly this was her petite size and trim athletic fitness, but it was mostly due to the Tagra tea regimen she had been on for two decades. Only available from Tel Shai, Tagra enhanced healing and resistance to injury, promoted mental balance and definitely extended the active years of a knight's life. "Cory? You okay?"
"Ow. Yeah. I landed on my hands and knees, not too bad. Goddam, those guys are strong. One of them picked me up by the back of my shirt and tossed me in here like you'd throw a softball."
"They're Melgarin. They're all like that. The toddlers can straighten out a horseshoe in their hands." The Unicorn straightened out her clothing, not going any nearer to him. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this, Cory. Seriously, I wasn't expecting to be taken prisoner today."
Cory Adams did not respond immediately. He turned in a slow circle, taking in their surroundings. The cell was twenty feet to a side, constructed of massive stone blocks well fitted together. A messy tangle of wool blankets sat in one corner, there was a brass chamberpot with a lid and a narrow window high up in one wall that let in late afternoon sunlight through its bar.
But the cell was dry, reasonably clean and stank only mildly of mold and mildew. Ashley had not been kidding, she had indeed been in worse dungeons during her career.
Watching him start to examine the massive door with its iron crossbar, Unicorn sighed. "This place was built to hold Melgarin, hon. Two Humans aren't going to break out."
"Don't call me 'hon,'" Cory said without heat. "But anything Midnight War is your area. What do these Melgarin want with us?"
"I figure one of three things." She tentatively moved closer to him, still not quite within reach. "They could want to use me as an expendable thief or messenger. They know my capabilities. Or they just wanted the Unicorn horn and snatched us to keep us from annoying them. The third possibility is using us as hostages or for ransom."
That seemed to annoy him further. "They want YOU for ransom, Ashley. You're the famous Unicorn, I'm only a mundane Human nobody."
"Not to April, you're not," she replied barely above a whisper.
Cory eased up and lowered his shoulders from where he had been tensing them up high. "Yeah. We did bring a beautiful little girl into the world."
"At least we know she's safe with Mrs Chatcuff," Ashley said. "I bet she misses Gram, though."
"I'm sorry your mother died, Ashley. She completely welcomed me the first time we met. But she's gone and everything else has changed as well."
"Ships sail away," the little blonde said. She drew herself up straighter. "Anyway. We're stuck here for the moment. No use starting to work on an escape yet."
He walked over and started untangling the blankets, snapping them out to blow away dust. "They took all your gadgets, I suppose?"
"Most of them. I still have a flexible hacksaw blade in my jacket collar, some lockpick tools in my boot heel, that sort of thing. No weapons. No communications devices."
Folding up the blankets into two lengths facing each other at arm's length, Cory Adams gingerly lowered himself down to sit on one pad. "Ow. Gonna be sore."
Dropping down lightly to face him, Ashley Whitaker assumed a full lotus with easy flexibility. "Listen, things are not hopeless. Sable expected me to report for duty an hour ago. She'll buzz my Link, but Links shut down when they're more than ten feet away from their owner. I know Sable, she worries when one of the team goes for a haircut. It's just a question of how soon she comes after us."
"You've certainly got some friends that are comforting to see when you're in a spot like this."
Out of nowhere, Ashley blurted, "Is April getting used to me not being around?"
"Sure. She's having no trouble adjusting." As soon as he snapped that out, Cory softened his tone. "Okay, that wasn't called for. Of course April misses you. But she knows you're alive and well, and you always see her on weekends and one day during the week."
"And she knows I still love her more than life itself?"
"Of course. She has never doubted that."
"That's good," the Unicorn said with a sniff.
"Don't start. Just don't. That's not going to work on me."
"I wasn't trying to manipulate you." She drew her knees up to her chest and rested her cheek on them. "We're never going to get back together again, are we?"
"Not as far as I'm concerned. Look. Ashley, I don't mean you any harm. Life is too short for that. But I absolutely did not deserve what you did to me."
"I know, I know. We can't undo our mistakes. I keep thinking of that song April likes. 'Green leaves brighten to gold and to red, but always end up brown.' It seems to mean more to me than it did before."
"That's where your phrase, 'ships sail away' comes from."
"Yeah. Oh, Cory. I never realized how blessed my life was. I was given every advantage you could ask in life. Then I lost Mom...and I lost you."
He seemed to be making an effort to keep his voice unemotional. "You're still young and smart, you're rich, you have a thousand skills. And you have your career as the Unicorn."
"I guess. I'm back in my old rooms at KDF headquarters, chasing monsters and poking around the dark corners of the world. Sable and Tim and the others were glad to see me back. I didn't think Megan would be so excited to be partners again. She was hopping up and down."
Stretching out on his back, resting his head on a forearm, Cory said, "When are they coming in to make their threats and demands, anyway?'
"They'll be in no hurry," she replied. "Melgarin live to be two hundred, they see time different than we do. Cory, I wanted to ask you about that cruise we were going to take with April?"
"It's not going to happen. Look, Ashley, I'm trying to be civilized and mature about this. We can talk like adults. But when I found you... that night... It was worse than being stabbed in the heart by a real knife."
"I've said I'm sorry a million times," she said. "I'll say it forever. But it won't help."
"No. It won't."
Unicorn suddenly leaped to her feet and began pacing in a loop, her hands clasped behind her. "I wish something would happen. Even those Melgarin coming up to rough us up would keep you and I from getting in the screaming match I see coming."
"Okay, okay, I get it. Ash, be straight with me. Are they going to kill us?"
"Completely honest? I don't think so. They want something. And the Melgarin know about my team. They absolutely do not want a Blind Archer or the Dire Wolf coming after them enraged because I got killed. So I'm like eighty per cent sure we're going to survive."
Cory sat up and rubbed his face, making deep exasperated noises. "I can't blame you for this, Ash. We did have some legal issues to talk about and I didn't mind meeting you out here in the wilderness of central New Jersey, of all places."
"I was already going to be here to check out some rumors of a cryptid," she said. Working up her nerve, the Unicorn came over and sat down closer to him, but at an angle facing away. "They must have been trailing me all day, I knew something was dodgy but my instincts are not at their best when... when I'm upset."
"They didn't hurt us, I guess that's a good sign. So. What about your KDF team?"
Ashley smiled slightly. With her delicate features and crystal blue eyes, even distraught she was gorgeous. "They took my Link. The beacon signal goes on automatically whenever it's more than ten feet away from me for more than fifteen minutes--"
She broke off at a horrendous commotion outside the cell, voices shouting and the thump of loud impacts. The sound of metal straining and popping was followed by the massive door swinging inwards with its lock snapped.
A burly figure dressed like a lumberjack in red plaid shirt, heavy jeans and work boots strode in. The thick brown beard split in a grin showing white teeth. "Ah! There you two are."
"Galvan!" squeaked Ashley in a voice high as a dolphin's in her excitement. "I knew you guys would come, didn't I just say that?"
"Hi. Thanks for showing up, Galvan," Cory followed with. "I suppose that racket was you beating up the guards?"
"And I thoroughly enjoyed it, too. Melgarin should know better. I taught them to leave Humans alone." The big hands reached out to thud down on a shoulder of first Ashley and then Cory. "If you ask me, Atrumo is behind this. He needs to be dragged back to Androval to kneel before the headsman. Come now. Sable is waiting in the courtyard, keeping the CORBY ready."
Unicorn glanced over at Cory. "Ready to go?"
Despite the tension between them, Cory smiled from sheer relief. "Yeah. This was not how I planned to spend the day."
1/10/2021
