dochermes

"Boss, That Dog Just Ate My Gun"

10/9/2021

I

Everyone gasped when Galvan broke his cane over the little dog's head. Not that the dog seemed to mind. He resembled a short haired terrier, tan and white, not more than a year old. The thick cane snapped cleanly as it came down hard across his skull.

"Oh my God!" yelled Timothy Limbo, diving off the couch to kneel in front of the puppy, who happily greeted him with tail wagging. "He's not hurt?"

Picking up the broken piece of the cane, Galvan laughed. He looked like the classic stereotype of a lumberjack, a huge burly man in work boots, tough pants and plaid flannel shirt. The curly brown hair and beard, the blindingly white teeth and the deep baritone voice completed the image. "Oh, Tim, you don't think I'd hurt my Bruno, do you?"

"No, no, of course not but..." At this point, the dog had evidently accepted Tim as his new best friend and was licking Tim's hands with enthusiasm.

Watching from the doorway, Ashley Whitaker laughed. "That's the toughest Jack Russell ever! I didn't know that even Melgar dogs were superhuman errr supercanine." The little platinum blonde dropped to her knees next to Tim and started cooing, "Who's a good boy, yes you are..."

Galvan pulled over a chair for himself. "He really likes you two. I'm glad. Melgar fox-hunter dogs are friendly and good-natured but I didn't expect him to warm up to strangers so quickly."

Tearing himself away from the pup, Timothy reached over to grin at his teammate. "Tell you a secret? It's the Tagra tea diet we're on. Tel Shai knights have a clean mint odor that animals love. Even predators tend to disregard us unless we provoke them. We're like, well, dognip if there is such thing."

"TIM-othy!" objected the Unicorn, who had both arms around the dog at this point and was carrying him around. "It's because dogs are excellent judges of character! Bruno can tell we are just wonderful people."

"But hold on, since when did you have an invulnerable dog?" asked Tim. "I think I'd remember you telling us about that."

"This is something new," Galvan told him. "You know how roughly each generation of Melgarin has a boy or girl born with the Legacy of Malberon? How we develop strength and resilience beyond what flesh and blood can bear without a gralic charge? Valera was the last such heir and she was born in 1940..."

"Wait, Valera is eighty years old?! I'd swear she was maybe thirty at the most?" protested the Unicorn.

"Our average lifespan is greater than yours," Galvan said. "So, my people expected a new heir to the Legacy in a decade or two. Then, a goatherd named Berenthir saw his new puppy knock down a split-rail gate to chase a squirrel. Somehow, Bruno has inherited the Legacy."

Ashley bent over and lowered Bruno to the floor. "Ummm, I'm cuddling an animal that can bite through granite...?"

"It's fine, it's fine," Galvan assured her, scratching the dog behind one ear. "Bruno's a good boy. Right, my friend? Melgar hounds are well-behaved."

Timothy Limbo had dropped down on the end of the brown leather couch. Bruno came over to sit next to him, resting his muzzle on Tim's knee and gazing up with adoring eyes. "So, Galvan, as much as your doggo has won our hearts, is there some reason you brought him here today?"

"I'm afraid so," the giant Melgar admitted. "Bruno is official a ward of the Androval court. Since I have my time occupied with my wife and our new son, King Holmir has decided that Sulak should take charge of the pup. But, as you might expect, Sulak is not to be found. He was last known to be in the Northwest Mountains fighting Trolls. My king has charged me with finding Sulak and dragging him back to Androval to take care of Bruno here."

Ashley had remained standing, resting one slim hip on the edge of Sable's desk. "Hey... wait a minute..."

"Obedient and good-natured Bruno may be, yet he is still a dog and prone to sudden enthusiasm," said Galvan. "Except for Sulak, Valera and myself, he is the strongest living creature in any realm. But I have one friend who is able to watch him safely."

The petite blonde waved an index finger from side to side in denial. "Oh no. I'm not dog sitting something that can knock a house down. Take him with you."

"With your sacred Horn, you can damp the gralic charge from his body. He will be a normal playful dog for an hour while the Unicorn spell lasts." Galvan rose to his feet, towering six inches over six feet tall and massing nearly three hundred pounds of hard muscle. Mild as his demeanor was, his sheer presence was intimidating. "I knew I could count on you, Ashley. And you as well, Tim. Bruno...Stay!"

With that the Melgar champion simply left the room and was out the front door before the Unicorn could muster an objection. For once, her glibness failed her. She crossed over to sit next to Timothy and asked, "Why didn't you say anything to stop him?"

"Hmm? I was feeding Bruno a pepperoni Slim Jim. He likes it. Say, did Galvan say if he was housebroken?"

( the rest of the story )

"ATRUMO THE CONQUEROR III: The Boiling Pit of Filth"

3/27/2015

I.

Two of the stinking Ghulgol held him up by the arms, his legs dragging across the gleaming marble floor, and hauled Bane toward a massive wooden chair that served his enemy as a throne. He was flung brutally down at the boots of the Conqueror as the unliving creatures stepped back awkwardly.

Dazed and aching from being beaten with maces, his field suit hanging in mere shreds and tatters from the corrosive Alchemical mist which had engulfed him, Jeremy Bane remained completely defiant. He pulled himself up to a seated position, unfastened the crumbling helmet and yanked it off. Revealed in the overhead fluorescent lights was an intense narrow face with short black hair and cold grey eyes that glared up at his enemy.

No one knew Atrumo's true backstory. Some said he had been sold to Chujiran slavers to work their jade mines and had escaped by killing twenty guards when he reached manhood. There were those who claimed he had been lost as a child in the wilderness of Evaho and had raised himself as a wild beast might. Rumors also circulated that Atrumo was a disinherited illegitimate son of some Melgar royalty, perhaps even a bastard child of King Holmir himself. It didn't matter. He was a threat to be reckoned with now.

The raider chief wore high-laced boots and leggings of deerhide and was naked from the waist up presumably to display immense hard muscles a blacksmith might envy. Around his waist was wrapped a thin cord of red metal links. On a leather thong around a neck thicker than his head hung a faceted scarlet crystal wide as a man's outstretched hand. Atrumo's hair was concealed beneath an black iron helmet forged to resemble the maned head of a lion from within which his flat brutal face glared out. Between the bristling dark beard and the shadowy overhang of that helmet, little could be seen of his features. "The Dire Wolf. Again! We will not meet a fourth time."

"That's just what I was thinking," Bane snapped back, forcing himself up on to his feet. "The last thing the realms need is an imitation Saturnius like you."

"Defiant to the last breath, I see. I will not waste your carcass, Dire Wolf. Even in death, you will further my campaign." He gestured to the Ghulgol. "Each of you take one arm and one leg. Another of you, stay close to crack his skull open if he resists. Come, let us visit the Boiling Pit."

( the rest of the story )

"The Last Days of Submergia"

3/25-3/26/2018

I.

"The irony is so strong that I even understand it," said Demrak Jin. "Me, inside a submarine. Heh." The small Gelydran woman stood by the front viewport with her arms folded, staring out into the dark waters lit by brilliant beams from the SELKIE. Huge fish loomed up in that illumination, only to dart away again instantly. They were one hundred yards below the surface of the Pacific, out past the furthermost islands of the Hawaiian chain. Jin seemed amused at her own reaction. She was not pretty by conventional standards, having a flat sullen face with its pug nose and cloudy blue eyes. Her shock of stiff white hair bristled as if touched by static electricity. But the Gelydra had a charisma that made her the center of attention wherever she went. Her strange outfit of some rough-textured grey material, long-sleeved high-collared tunic and pants tied with thongs, added to the visual impact she made.

Coming up behind her with a paper cup of coffee, Galvan loomed a full foot taller over her five feet three. In his more mundane clothing, jeans and sneakers and tight khaki T-shirt, he was an imposing V-shaped mass of hard well-defined muscle with wide shoulders and a narrow waist. The giant Melgar gently placed a hand on Jin's shoulder, and the hand and her head were nearly the same size. "Hah, little shark! You must aching to be out there, swimming on your own, circling around this slow clunky shuttle?"

"Oh, do I EVER!" she scoffed. "But these years working with the team have finally taught me a little patience. I'm surprised at myself but I think I can wait for the right moment to plunge out there where I belong."

The interior of the SELKIE 's every available inch was taken up with dials and gauges, as well as access panels that held cryptic numbers or jumbles of letters. The arched ceiling was not high enough for Galvan to stand fully upright, he had gotten used to crouching or holding his head bent forward. Under their feet, the throb of powerful engines could be felt as the rear jets shot water behind them for propulsion. Turning away from the viewport, Demrak Jin glanced up at her lover of the past two years. "How close is this domed city now?"

"The pilot said it'll be in sight within a few minutes," came a husky female voice from behind them. Both turned to see Jocelyn Garmara approach. Their team leader was a slim young woman with the smooth dark brown skin and thick glossy hair of her Aboriginal tribe. Wearing the black field suit with its high boots, snug pants and waist-length jacket, she looked confident and professional. "I'm anxious to get there myself. This trip has made me a touch claustrophobic."

Galvan shrugged his massive shoulders. With his full head of dark brown hair and well-tended short beard, he had a rugged, reassuring look to him. More than once, people had compared him to a lumberjack. The deep, self-assured voice added to the effect. "Ah, even when we are inside Submergia, we'll still be at the bottom of the sea with tons of water overhead, captain."

As Jocelyn made a non-commital grunt in reply, one of the scientists approached from the rear of the craft. Behind the bulkhead at their rear was the engine room and cargo holds, where he had been making sure everything was fastened securely. This was Dr Raul Rivera of the University at Mexico City, a surprisingly young man with thick-lensed glasses perched on a sharply-beaked nose. "Hey there," he sang out. "The pilot wants us sitting down when we dock. It's usually pretty smooth but there might be some bumps and thumps, one never knows." He reached out to take Demrak Jin by one arm and immediately snatched his hand away. "Ow!"

The small white-haired woman glanced up at him. "My clothing is made of sharkhide. It is abrasive."

"I'll say!" Dr Rivera stuck a bleeding finger in his mouth. "Sorry. Can you three strap yourself down on that bench over there, please?"

Galvan and Jocelyn complied, lowering themselves to a shallow metal bench and pulling on the restraint straps across their torsos. But Jin hesitated. "Look! There it is!" She pointed through the thick plexiglass window down to where the famous Submergia sat on a rocky ledge. Three hundred yards across, the facility was enclosed by a clear dome that was not a single unbroken surface but which was made of reinforced segments which included several access ports and a thick upward tube evidently for venting gases. Under the dome, a number of small one-story structures stood interconnected in a symmetrical layout. Coming out to watch the SELKIE's approach were twenty people wearing loose jumpsuits of pastel beige, baby blue or light green. From where they sat on the bench, both Jocelyn and Galvan could survey the advanced research facility. "Amazing," the big Melgar muttered. "The audacity of Humans always impresses me. You have climbed every mountain, walked on the Moon, crossed the worst deserts and reached both Poles. And now you dare to live in the ocean depths."

"Oh, this isn't the deepest part of the ocean by any means," Dr Rivera laughed. "We won't even try to build in the Marianas Trench for another generation. Submergia is located deep enough for research but not so deep that we can't evacuate in our emergency shuttles if necessary."

Still standing, not making any move toward joining her teammates on the bench, Jin gave a derisive snort. "Ulgor stands many miles deep and does not hide behind such protection as that glass bubble. My realm is deep below the surface, where the War Squid thrive and light comes only from the green powder."

"Ummm... okay. I'm not sure what you mean by all that, miss." Rivera pointed at a wide rectangular port projecting from the side of the dome, its outer end open to the water. "That's the airlock where we'll be entering."

Gazing out at the research facility, Jocelyn shook her head. "There is more of the unexplained here than you had expected."

"I'm afraid so," answered the scientist in a low tone. "Those sightings of naked blue men outside the dome... with no diving suit or equipment, angrily staring in.... Everyone is distraught over that."

( the rest of the story )

CORONET II: Even Cold Comfort Is Better Than None"

6/23/2022

I.

Keeping well back, Galvan and Unicorn had endured watching Sable painstakingly investigate the grounds for the past six hours. They knew their captain's intense concentration and wanted to do nothing to interrupt it. Sable's gift was enhanced sensory perception. She used gralic force to increase her eyesight, sense of smell and tactile awareness to levels far beyond what flesh and blood were thought to be capable of achieving.

Through each room of that mansion, disturbing little beyond occasionally lifting an object and then replacing it exactly, Lauren Sable Reilly saw details at an electron microscope level as she chose. She could see in the infra-red or ultra-violet range, she sniffed traces of odors that no forensics equipment could detect, she heard the wooden fibers in the floor and the furniture still creak as they straightened out after being stepped on the day before. Information poured into her mind in a deluge that only decades of strict discipline could assimilate into any useful coherence.

In her early forties, Sable was a trim, athletic woman of average height and build in the black KDF field suit. Her jet black hair was brushed back from a high forehead. Large dark eyes, a snug nose and full lips gave her distinctive face that normally showed a warm friendly nature but right now her features were set in a taut mask.

The giant Melgar and the petite platinum blonde Unicorn followed, silently making their own observations and drawing their own conclusions. Galvan loomed up a full foot taller than his teammates. He had the massive muscular build of a lumberjack, and his rough outdoorsy clothes and work boots added to that impression. So did the curly light brown hair and short thick beard. Not demanding Sable tell him what she had learned was taking all his strength of will. Staying close to him to give emotional support, Ashley Whitaker also was aching to find out what their captain had learned and was biting her lip not to start rattling off questions. Keeping silent went against her basic personality.

Finally, after what seemed an interminable afternoon of prowling the mansion, Sable dropped down gracelessly onto the wooden bench in a gallery lined with original oils. Most of the paintings were of Hudson Valley landscapes and historical scenes. As she sat down, the team captain buried her face in her hands and exhaled sharply. "Oh. My head is killing me," she said and drooped forward in weariness. "That was a long stretch of using my powers."

"You want some water, captain?" asked Ashley, breaking the silence of the day. The little blonde dug in a pocket of her own field suit. "I've got some high-protein bars here."

"What? Oh. No, thank you, Ashley, I'm fine. So much to take in. First, let me say that our friends were alive and unharmed when they were taken from here. No traces of necrotic tissue smell anywhere where they had been. Jin, Timothy and Archie were captured by an Alchemical vapor that enervated them. I recognize its odor. 'Yellow Lotus' is what it's usually called, it makes you too weak to even raise a hand but there's no permanent damage. Our friends were carried away, helpless but unhurt."

"An Alchemist?" rumbled Galvan. He had begun pacing back and forth, even the plush carpeting not able to muffle his heavy footsteps. "They are always bad news."

"Especially in this case. Let me summarize what I've found. Nine people have been staying in this mansion for more than a month. One was a middle-aged white American man in only fair health, with nothing Midnight War about him. He did maintenance and upkeep. There was a Southeast Asian woman about forty who prepared meals, and a specifically Chinese woman in her early seventies who served as maid and personal assistant. A medical doctor in his sixties, no longer in professional practice. They were mere servants to the real threats. I've identified two men as familiar enemies. Jorge Vargas, called Repel, and Indigo the Illusionist. A young woman who stayed here is one of the Calveron. I'm certain she's the Amelia Mancuso that Jeremy met three years ago. She has Invocation skills. The fourth Midnight War denizen is an non-powered man with technical skill involving Trom tech and I am certain he is the criminal called the Flying Fool."

"Dang," interrupted Unicorn as she plopped down next to her captain. "I HATE it when someone organizes a team of bad guys to imitate us. It's always a disaster fighting them. As soon as we joined, Sable, we had to tangle with Avathor's League of Predators and then that bunch who called themselves Dark Cloud."

"I remember, Ashley. Repel and Indigo were in fact members of both of those squads. The others are all dead. Duffy the Sumo, the Fatal Wasp, Avathor himself and even Arem Kamende, all out of the way." Sable straightened up and turned her gaze toward her teammates. "So we're dealing with one of these squads who are assembled to act as a strike force. There was also a Human bodybuilder staying on these premises but I picked up no hints of any gralic powers in his traces. He acted as a driver, as far as I can tell."

Galvin bent forward, studying her face. "You know who the Alchemist is who is leading this team, don't you?"

"Yes. It's bad news," Sable admitted. "We're dealing with Olivia Wang, the Spinner of Webs, probably the most dangerous mastermind still active. There are rumors in the badlands that one of her lieutenants has staged a coup and driven her off her throne. That would be Samuel Policastro. Our sources hint that Olivia has been on the run for more than a year, spotted all over East Asia and Europe with Policastro's assassins right behind her. It seems she has been gathering a team like our own for protection."

"And now she's got our guys!" Unicorn blurted, "Jin and Tim and Archie are all prisoners. They came here to investigate the stolen yacht and instead they were captured. Sable, we need to get after them right this second! Where can we find them?"

Getting back up on her feet, tugging down the field jacket where it had risen up, Lauren Sable Reilly gave Ashley a sad look. "I know Olivia too well, honey. She will be contacting us soon, certainly today."

"Why are we waiting for that?" roared Galvan as his self-control finally broke. "She's had our people for twenty-hours! Who knows what tortures she's putting them through? Let's get after them right now."

Reaching up, the tiny Unicorn rubbed a small hand between Galvan's shoulder blades. The Melgar's muscles felt like warm granite, so dense that rifle bullets would glance off and so charged with gralic force that he could fling a car across a parking lot. But his heart was as loving and vulnerable as any Human child's.

"It's going to be okay," Ashley told him. "We are too valuable to mistreat. Look, both of us have been taken prisoner by enemies, right? We got out fine. They know we hold in our heads all the secrets of Tel Shai lore and Midnight War history, stuff worth huge fortunes. The Spinner of Webs won't chance damaging us if she can get at that knowledge."

Watching with a cool detached eye, Sable nodded once. "More than that, Galvan. Olivia is a schemer and a planner, not hotheaded in the least. She doesn't want you or Sulak or our Blind Archer coming after her in a murderous rage. Nor does she want the Dire Wolf of all people enraged at her. She will not harm Jin, or Timothy or Archie without urgent need."

The big Melgar deliberately unclenched those great hands and lowered his shoulders. "I suppose even cold comfort is better than none at all."


( the rest of the story )

"She'd Make the Devil Nervous"

4/28/2015

I.


It was a few minutes before noon when she heard the yelling and crashing from the third floor just above. Haley Lawson was hunched over at the long oak table in the conference room. In front of her was a huge 19th Century tome with tiny cramped lettering, all about how shape-shifters followed different rules and restrictions based more on what they believed to be true than what really bound them. Reading it made her head hurt. This was worse than being back in high school taking World Economics. But being a KDF member meant learning a wide variety of skills, from emergency trauma medicine to flying the CORBY stealthcopter to identifying bite marks from various mythological creatures who turned out to be not so mythical. It was a lot to digest.

After what sounded like furniture being smashed directly overhead, Haley lifted her head and surprisingly grinned. Her best feature was a pair of clear lime-green eyes under chestnut bangs, and her face was at its most appealing when she was smiling widely. The Windcatcher was wearing a plain white T-shirt, jeans and sneakers, being off-duty that day. She pushed her chair back from the table and heard the exchange of a deep thundering voice answering a louder, shriller one.

Demrak Jin and Galvan were fighting. Of course, she thought with perverse satisfaction, she had been expecting the clash. In fact, she was surprised it had taken this long. The Windcatcher got up and went over the door to the hall, peering out cautiously. A second later, she saw the tiny form of the Ulgoran woman racing furiously down the stairs. With her bristling short white hair, Demrak Jin was unmistakeable even at a glance. She was leaping down the stairs at a reckless pace.

Haley stepped out into the hallway, uncertain if she should ask what was going on or just keep out of the way. As she leaned over the bannister and looked down at the first floor below them, a huge dark form hurtled past her to land with a solid thump in the front hall. Galvan had simply jumped down from the third floor to the first, bypassing the stairs and absorbing the impact with his immense leg muscles. Even after the past few months of seeing him every day, Haley still stared at the giant Melgar. Wearing only a pair of khaki pants, his upper body was an amazing V-shaped wedge of broad shoulders tapering down to a narrow waist, covered with hard well-defined muscles. She had never seen anyone built like that in real life.

Galvan landed just behind Demrak Jin. The Gelydra spun quickly, crouching with fists raised in comical defiance of a man who stood more than a foot taller and who weighed more than twice as much as she did. Jin had on her tunic and pants of grey sharkhide, worn with the rough denticle side out to abrade opponents, but the bone-bladed knife was not strapped across her narrow back for once. Despite the difference in their sizes, there was something elemental and savage about the Gelydra that made her seem threatening even to a huge brute like Galvan.

Galvan's broad, bearded face seemed obviously worried. He held up both open hands in a placating gesture. "Calm yourself, little shark. We both knew that this day would come...."

"Your words are not to be trusted!" Demrak Jin snarled. She took a menacing step toward the big Galvan and he actually backed up. "Shall you rip out my very heart and toss it aside and live to boast of the deed?"

Watching from the landing above, Haley muttered to herself, "Oh, this is gonna be juicy."

Galvan was tanned and handsome in a gruff lumberjack way, with thick curly hair that matched his beard. When he smiled in an attempt at being disarming, perfect teeth gleamed white as chalk. "Jin, Jin. We did talk of this. Our time together was great pleasure for both of us, but every season passes in its due.."

"I will hear no more!" The Gelydra dove forward in a blur of motion, bringing her right fist down almost by her knee and swinging it up in a vicious hook that smacked exactly on the side of Galvan's face. The Melgar did not even flinch at that blow but Jin fell back with a gasp. She gripped her right hand with her left and moved back a few steps.

"I hope you haven't hurt your hand," Galvan began. "You should know better than to strike me, little shark."

"A broken fist is naught compared to a broken heart!" Demrak Jin screamed. "I never thought I'd give myself to... to a Melgar!" And with that she whirled on one foot and raced out the front door to East 38th Street.

After the door slammed shut, Galvan stood motionless in the front hall. His shoulders lowered and he let out a sigh from deep within the huge chest. Coming down the stairs behind him, Haley cleared her throat.

"I couldn't help but hear that," she said. "Jin has always had a temper. I've seen her blow up like that over food being burnt in a restaurant."

The Melgar champion slowly turned to face Windcather. "The Melgarin have a saying, 'she'd make the Devil nervous.' Ah, so it goes. Perhaps I should not stay here any longer. There will always be friction and bad feelings between her and I. Too bad, as I have greatly enjoyed my adventures with your team and we two have not even teamed up."

Haley Lawson waggled a finger at him. "Just don't get any thoughts about landing ME in bed next. You've already tagged Jocelyn and Jin. Do you have a checklist or something?"

There was genuine hurt in the deepset brown eyes. "Oh, Haley, you misunderstand. Women have always been drawn to me and I to them. Like wine and song and tales of brave deeds, the company of women is a great joy in life. I do not seek it out. But I accept it when it comes to me."

"Get a shirt on, and we can talk on equal terms. You're too distracting with those muscles hanging out all over," she answered. "I suppose now we will have to wait for Jin to come back once she calms down."

He started up the stairs toward his guest room on the third floor. "And I expect Sable will have much to say about this when she returns later. More worries."

( the rest of the story )

"Mystery of the Jupiter Man"

9/11/1943


I.

Kelly found herself in a position to get an interview with the Jupiter Man purely by chance.

She had been strolling about Times Square on her lunch break from the offices of THE MESSENGER, enjoying a sunny September afternoon. The lack of good-looking men her own age on the streets still gave her a vague melancholy. She was getting used to it. Her report about the suspicious fire on the Lower East Side had only made the second page but it did have her byline, which was always a help. War news from the Pacific had been monopolizing the front page for some time now. Her Green Devil activities had unhappily been slow for a while. Kelly was honest enough with herself to admit she missed the adrenalin as much as the chance to fight crime and espionage for altruistic reasons.

At twenty-three, Kelly O'Connor was young and zestful enough to dismiss the chance of being killed or worse in her crusade. A natural redhead with green eyes and an upturned nose, she was also tall and slim. In her new off-white dress with a faint lilac pattern, a brown leather handbag slung over one shoulder and a soft cloche hat tilted to one side, she knew she looked great and was enjoying the admiring looks she caught from men and women alike. The clacking of her heels on the pavement slowed as she realized it was time to swing around back for the office and survive another four hours in a city room filled with the pounding of battered typewriters and ten men smoking cigarettes as if they had a daily quota to use up.

Now she was on a side street between 48th and 49th. As she passed the windows of WEISSMAN JEWELERS, where she had spent more than a few wistful minutes gazing at the glitter on display, her pulse suddenly sped up. This was a one-way street. The black 1940 DeSoto rolling her way came to a stop that was way too sudden. She froze in a combination of fear and excitement. Two men with bandannas tied around their lower faces leaped from the big car and ran into the jewelry store, each gripping a 45 Colt automatic. The driver stayed in the car and revved the motor.

While everyone else either strood frozen at the sight or made quick tracks away from the scene, Kelly was annoyed that she could do nothing. Her Green Devil outfit was hidden in her apartment and she was not wearing the lighter emergency costume she sometimes had on if expecting trouble. To be frank, it was simply too uncomfortable to spend a hot day with an extra layer under her regular clothing, leaving her itchy and sweaty. Even if she had been carrying it with her, there was no place to change. By the time she got into her suit, the robbery would be over anyway. Drat the luck. She took in details of the DeSoto and noticed that the license plates had been obscured with pieces of tape that could quickly torn off after the getaway.

It was infuriating, so much so that she didn't even consider how she was placing herself in danger by staying close to an armed robbery. A second later, both gunmen came running out, each with a canvas bag of loot. No shots had been heard. One of the thugs gave Kelly a cold hostile stare but then hopped back in the car anyway. She realized glumly that with their unremarkable suits and fedoras, the kerchiefs over their faces meant she could not even give a useful description.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted movement on the roof of the five-story building.

A masked man in a dark Royal blue outfit jumped down to land in front of the car as easily as if stepping off the curb. Kelly took in impressions instantly. He was a big guy, well over six feet tall and built like a circus strongman. Like a performer also, his tights showed every well-ddefined muscle clearly. He was wearing polished black boots, a white belt and cuffs, and had on a helmet with a raised crest like something out of the science fiction pulps. On each shoulder was a white crescent of stiff leather. The Jupiter Man.

As everyone on the scene watched, Jupiter Man crouched, shoved his hands under the front bumper and straightened up to flip the heavy auto over onto its side. The crowd broke into confused conversation, with a few screams of uncertainty. Stepping toward the rear of the DeSoto, the masked man casually tore the rear door off and tossed it away to crash up the street with the tinkle of breaking glass. A gun went off without seeming to hit anything, the Jupiter Man leaned into the interior and then a few sharp thumping noises indicated what happened to the robbers.

Not quite realizing the boldness of her actions, the young redhead had been edging closer and had gotten within arm's reach of the strange man. As he swiveled in surprise toward her, only his lower face beneath the nose was left exposed by the blue helmet to show a wide jaw. He smiled at her with a flash of white teeth. On the front of his shirt was a light blue circle with a red spot off-center. Jupiter, all right.

"My name is Kelly O'Connor, I'm a reporter for THE NEW YORK MESSENGER," she said, not noticing that her voice cracked as she spoke. "Um, the public would like very much to know more about you and how you can... well, do these things."

From within the helmet, deepset brown eyes regarded her. She did not feel any uneasiness at that gaze, because the smile seemed natural and friendly. "All right, miss," he replied in a pleasant baritone with a faint accent. "Meet me here at midnight. Don't tell anyone." Then he took three running steps and leaped up back on to the roof where he had been standing. It seemed effortless, as if he could have reached much greater heights without difficulty. There was a glimpse of him hurtling over to the next building, then he was gone.

Shaking her head, feeling breathless, Kelly took off at a sprint toward the corner of 48th. She knew there was a drug store there with a phone booth. Behind her, she heard sirens but that hardly registered. She raced into the drug store, past the soda counter and dropped down on the seat in the booth. From her handbag, she snatched a handful of change and dialed a number she knew better than the one at her boarding house. "City desk. Yeah. Hi, Lemister. Of course it's Kelly. Grab your pad and start writing, get this all down. We need to make the afternoon edition. I just now saw the Jupiter Man in action, close up..."

II
( the rest of the story )

"Infiltrator"

10/11/2015

I.

"I recognize the luggage but where's Gabby?" asked Timothy as he neared the Greyhound.

A happy little chuckle answered him. At five feet two and maybe a hundred and five pounds, Gabrielle Elizabeth Marchetti was at the center of an assembly of one large suitcase, a full-sized camper knapsack and a leather handbag capable of holding her within it. The round piquant face was split by a dazzling grin and the oversized round-framed glasses only added to the disarming effect. Light brown hair was curly to the point of bordering on outright frizz.

"Here I am, Tim! Right on time for once," she chirped. Gabby wriggled out of her encumbrances and tackled her greeter with an enthusiastic embrace.

At twenty-four, Timothy Limbo was the same age as his childhood friend. He was wearing what amounted to his trademark uniform of biker boots, jeans and a black leather jacket over a plain white T-shirt. The mop of butter-yellow hair was longer than usual at the moment, hanging down over a long likeable face that was not quite good-looking. "Good to see you again," he said. "Welcome to the big city."

"Squishy hug with both boobs," she answered. "Mmmm, squishy hugs are the best. I studied a map on my phone on the ride. We're at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, right? I did get off at the Port Authority right?" Gabby was taking in the feverish hustle of the crowds moving around them, the chatter and the rumble from the line of buses pulling up or easing out to continue their ongoing loops. "I don't CARE if I look like a tourist, Tim, I'm gonna stare at everything."

"As long as you're having fun," he said. "We might as well get moving."

"I mean, I wouldn't actually mind if you carried my suitcase...."

Timothy laughed and flipped the heavy knapsack up onto his shoulders, adjusting the straps. Like all Tel Shai knights, his Kumundu training meant he was much stronger than his rather lanky build would indicate. "Here, give me the suitcase, too. You'll have your hands full looking around."

"Whew, thanks. I packed as if I would be camping out in the rain forest rather than a city full of shops."

"This way. Past these shops. Don't even glance at them, Gab, it's all junk at three times the normal price."

They passed through the row of glass doors out onto the sidewalk and were just in time to join the mob crossing Eighth Avenue at the corner. "Less than a mile to our headquarters," Timothy said. "I figured you wouldn't mind walking."

"Oh, not at all. Tim, everything is so much cleaner than I expected. Almost futuristic." Her neck was craned back to the extent that he kept a hand on one elbow to steer her out of the paths of frantic pedestrians. "Those giant video screens on the buildings! They're freaking me out, but in a good way."

"You get used to them," Tim said. "They're just ads, after all."

"So.. futuristic. Like those sci-fi movies set in the future, except it's not all drizzly and gloomy. Wow. This is better than Disneyworld."

Gently guiding her through the crowds, Timothy found himself grinning. "Jeremy, our captain, says he misses the days when Times Square was sleazy and grimy and unsafe. Rows of second-run movie theaters and upstairs gambling joints and places a nice girl like you doesn't need to hear about. But then, he's at home where things are dangerous."

Slowing to a halt as they neared the next intersection, Gabby paused to study his face. "I didn't realize I was such a... hick. Tim, I feel like a hillbilly with her mouth hanging open seeing an elevator for the first time."

"You cheer me up, Gabby." Timothy reached across her narrow back with his free hand and squeezed her shoulder. "I've gotten too used to all this. I've lived here for years now. You make me realize how awesome the city really is."

By the time they reached 38th Street, Gabby had calmed down significantly. The buildings were still impressive but had become more mundane apartment complexes and commercial structures. The parade of various stores, from furniture outlets to health spas to alternating delis and bodegas, had a calming effect too as she window-shopped. At the corner of 38th and Lexington stood an unremarkable ten-story building of grey granite blocks. Five steps led up from the sidewalk to a massive oak door which bore a brass plate reading 28 and then in neat capitals, KENNETH DRED FOUNDATION.

"You'll have a guest room of your own on the third floor," Timothy said, putting a foot on the bottom step. "But if you go out of the building, you'll have to be buzzed back in by one of the team..."

As he spoke, that door swung open and a black-haired woman in her early forties stuck her head out. She was dressed as if for office work in dark slacks and white long-sleeved blouse with a single gold chain under the collar. "Hi, we've been expected you two. Wait a second, please."

( the rest of the story )

"Slaves To Their Own Skill"

5/3/2015

I.

Demrak Jin hurtled up out of the Atlantic, breaking surface as if she had been shot by a catapult. The young Gelydra cleared the rounded boulders which ringed Hawk Island and landed lightly in a crouch on her toes and fingertips. She was wearing the tunic and pants of rough grey sharkhide which fit tightly on her thin body, and the bone-bladed knife was sheathed across her shoulders. In one hand, Jin held a short trident. On its three barbed tines was impaled a twelve-pound salmon.

She grinned at the thought that she would be able to eat this fish raw as it should be eaten. If any her teammates had been here, their stubborn insistence on cooking food would detract from the flavor. The truth was, like many of her Gelydrim countrymen, she really preferred eating her catches while the creatures were still alive. But this was a habit she knew they would not understand.

At three inches over five feet tall, Demrak Jin looked thin and almost frail but that was deceptive. Like all her Race, her muscles were denser and stronger than Human, adapted for life at crushing water pressure. She had the stiff bristly white hair, cut short, common to inhabitants of Ulgor and her wide flat face with its pug nose and cloudy blue eyes was always sullen. Even when she was relaxed and satisfied, her expression remained angry. Haley had once said that Jin had a bad case of 'Resting Bitch Face,' which was accurate enough but which Jin had not appreciated.

Holding the spear so she could examine the still gasping salmon closely, the Gelydra woman stiffened. She had noticed something out of place. Fifty yards down the rocky shore sat a wooden boathouse that stored equipment and two small speedboats. Jeremy Bane had constructed that structure and ordered the boats so that KDF members would have a way off Hawk Island if anything happened to the CORBY helicopters. He always wanted to have back-ups for every contingency. But the boat which was tied up to a metal ring set alongside the boathouse was not one of theirs. It was a thirty-two footer Renegade, white with Kelly green trim and the name LOUISA written in cursive in the bow.

Jin scowled and bent to place the spear with its catch on a flat rock. She did not know any surface person named Louisa, she was sure of that much. Drawing the sword with its bone blade and ivory handle she had crafted herself, the Ulgoran strode grimly toward the boathouse. Just over a mile to her right was the Hawk Island complex. The main building was one story high, made of stone blocks painted white, with a wing on each end. The wing on the left held five rooms that visiting members could use as personal quarters on a first-come, first-served basis. The main building held the captain's office, a command center, a medical ward and a recreation room. The wing opposite the private rooms held training facilities... basically a gym and obstacle course.

Just beyond the complex was the hangar with its wide segmented steel doors. Here one of the three CORBY stealthcopters was stored, while another was kept at the KDF headquarters in New York City and the third was at the HCE Project in New Mexico where Stephen Weaver did maintenance and upgrades on them. The copters were rotated on a regular basis. Demrak Jin glared back over her shoulder, but the hangar door was down and there was no sign of a second CORBY. She became convinced that it was not one of her teammates who had come to the island in that speedboat.

As she trotted silently toward the boathouse, barefoot on the rocky ground but not noticing the sharp edges under her toughened soles, the Gelydra adjusted her grip on her weapon and readied herself to tackle any possible adversary. From around the side of the structure, looming up six inches over six feet in height, came a bearded man in plain white slacks and white polo shirt with deck shoes and a billed cap. He was an impressive example of highly developed muscle, with a V-shaped wedge of a torso above a narrow waist. The big Melgar grinned, showing a flash of white teeth through a thick short beard. Like his curly brown hair, the beard had flecks of grey scattered through it.

"Galvan?!" she gasped, almost dropping her weapon. "How dare you show up here on Hawk Island?"

"I have come to see you," the big Melgar said in an uncharacteristally subdued voice.

Jin reached up behind herself to sheath her sword. "Me? No. I certainly don't want to talk to you. We need not ever meet again. Go away."

"Now, now, don't be like that. I rented that boat in Southport to come here. These are treacherous waters indeed. If I had not already known about the reefs and sharp submerged rocks around this island, I doubt if I would have made it here."

Folding her arms across her narrow chest, Demrak Jin fixed her most ferocious scowl on her face. "I think you have done enough harm to me, son of Androval. Better a broken leg than a broken heart, as the old lore has it."

Stepping closer, towering by more than a foot over the diminuitive Gelydra, Galvan removed his cap and held it humbly in front of him. "I have been thinking about you, Jin. Often. I can picture your face and hear your voice in my daydreams. To be honest, this is new to me. I do not know what these feelings are."

"Oh, please. You are a hundred and forty years old. I am sure you have bedded more women than would fit on this island. You received what you sought from me, now move on as you said you intended."

"I was wrong," Galvan said simply. He lowered himself to sit on a flat rock so that their faces were on a level. "Jin, I did not know what this feeling was until it came to me. I am surprised by the joy. Even if you will not be with me, I have to tell you this."

"Are you serious? You ARE serious." The small white-haired Gelydra visibly softened, her shoulders lowering and her fists relaxing into open hands. "But me? Of all people, you are saying you have feelings for me?"

"That is the truth of it," the Melgar said. He clasped his big rough-skinned hands in front of him and gazed down at them. "I'm miserable, Jin. I had to see you again. But now that I am here, I do not know what to say."

She did not answer for a long tense moment, then came over to sit next to him. "Galvan, I was hurt when you said you were leaving. It still is a cold pang in my heart. But I think I can rise above that and move on. My anger should be a servant and not a master."

Galvan seemed as if he wanted to touch her, perhaps embrace, but he was restrained in a way she had never seen in him before. "At least, we should still work together," he said. "The comradeship you have with your team of Tel Shai knights is a rare thing."

"Oh, I have come to realize that," Demrak Jin told him. Suddenly she untensed. "I realize now that they put up with my moods and temper and lack of manners as few Humans would. I have even mentioned this to them."

"I'm glad I came to see you. Truth be told, Jin, I was more afraid of coming to see you than I have ever been facing Trolls or Darthim." He broke off as they both saw the black helicopter approach from the south.

It was one of the CORBYs, so well silenced that it made no more noise than a gust of wind would. Showing no external lights, bearing no identifying logos or numbers, the Trom-built craft swiftly lowered fifty yards away from them. As the landing gear swung into position and the rotors slowed, they could spot Haley Lawson in the pilot seat, giving them a cheerful salute. The front left hatch hissed open as pressurized air was released. A powerful figure in blue and white jumped out.

Galvan stood up. "Sulak!"

( the rest of the story )

RESURRECTION EMPIRE I: "All These Empty Graves"

(2/15-2/18/2015)

I.

At two minutes past ten that night, Galvan entered the conference room on the second floor to find the team of Tel Shai knights assembled around the long oak table. They had not been waiting for him, as Timothy was just pulling his own chair in and settling down. Walking over to the far end of the table, Galvan lowered his huge bulk carefully into the chair. At six feet six, with a denser body than a normal Human's, the big Melgar treated every chair with wariness.

They were all watching him. It was not because he was the last to arrive, nor that he was a guest of the KDF and not a member. The Melgar was an immense bulk of hard, well-defined muscle with zero body fat and he drew stares everywhere. In the plain white T-shirt and snug jeans, his body was impressive by any standard. Even after having him around the building for the past month, the others still gaped a bit when they saw him.

Within a curly black beard, perfect teeth gleamed as he smiled. "Good evening, everyone," the Melgar said in a pleasant baritone. "I assume some perilous crusade is ready to be launched?"

Sitting in the captain's seat at the head of the table, Lauren Sable Reilly smiled back. "Yes indeed. We are just getting ready. I want to say again how pleased we are to have you helping out on our cases, Galvan. Our team has a variety of skills but we lacked sheer physical strength which you provide."

"I cannot tarry here forever," the huge Melgar said, "But for the moment, I enjoy both the company and the chance to perform valiant deeds."

"Well, you are welcome to stay here indefinitely." She gazed at over at the assembly. The newest members, no longer trainees, were all present. Haley Lawson, Timothy Limbo, Demrak Jin, Jocelyn Garimara. But what pleased her most that the members of the former team, who had stepped down to reserve status, had come back as well. She had not seen Josef Jubilec, Sheng Mo-Yuan and Megan Salenger seated together at that table for years and it touched her enough that she had to clear her throat before continuing. Even Unicorn had promised she was on her way.

"Team, here's the situation. For almost a year now, I have been following a half dozen different mysteries across the Northeast and wondering if they had something in common. I am now convinced that we will be dealing with five different abominable operations all guided by the same mastermind, someone called the Resurrector. And they all involve reanimation of the dead."

"Ick, zombies," muttered Haley Lawson. She inspected her fingernails to distract herself. "I was hoping to avoid those things."

"Not zombies in the usual sense," Sable went on. "When we have dealt with Walkers before, they were corpses restored to a mere semblance of life by gralic sorcery. This seems to be something different and even worse. These Undead are coherent and verbal. They can mostly pass for living people." In her late thirties, Sable was a bit older than most of her team. She was serious and perfectionist by nature, traits which had led to her being chosen as captain of the team when Jeremy Bane had stepped down.

Looking over the assembled Tel Shai knights, Sable felt pride and satisfaction. She felt the new members were equal to the two previous KDF teams and would match those teams' records in the Midnight War. Seeing the eager young faces watching her with complete trust and anticipation, Sable began, "We will divide into pairs for this and then regather here for the final phase. For the part that requires stealth and infiltration, I have selected Timothy and Megan...."

After explaining her plan and assigning the teams their specific responsibilities, Sable dealt with the inevitable questions and requests to switch from one team to another but she had thought this all out thoroughly. "Since we will be using both of the cars in our garage and the CORBY, I must ask Megan to use her own vehicle on this case."

"Not a problem," the Trom Girl replied. "My Jeep is stored at IMPERIAL GARAGE on 40th Street, ready to go." She glanced across the table at Timothy Limbo. "Tim, are your friendly ghosts in good shape?"

"They're all excited," he said with a straight face. "They enjoy your driving. It's like going on the rides at Coney Island."

Sable continued, "We will begin in twenty minutes. I would like to recommend full field suits for this, all weaponry and helmets included. But, Josef, your assignment calls for civies. I think typical office clothing would be good. Of course Galvan has not been issued a field suit, and then we have Demrak Jin. As usual in a combat situation, you will want to wear your sharkhide outfit, Jin. But at least throw a long topcoat over it to avoid drawing attention."

Demrak Jin's wide flat face with its pug nose and bristly white hair always looked sullen, even at rest. Now she gave her captain a grudgingly polite look and answered, "Of course, Sable."

Unable to repress her grin, Haley Lawson burst out, "Where's Jeremy? Where IS he! All we need is the Dire Wolf to make the reunion complete."

"Ah well, Jeremy is semi-retired. He still takes an occasional minor case now and then, but we can handle this threat ourselves," Sable said. "As it is, I can't remember the last time we had such a full roll call on hand."

Leaning back and folding her arms, Haley grumbled, "Even so, a big project like this is not complete without our Dire Wolf present."

"Everyone keep in touch through the Links as things develop," Sable continued. During lulls, I want you to report briefly to me so I know the general score. That's it, let's roll."

( the rest of the story )

"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