Brief Reencounter

This is joint-written. Look! There's Glide! Look! There he f*****g goes again!

 

Niqi returned to the snow-covered rock formation the trio had landed near, finished scouting the area. “No sign of Glide.” She said, hoisting herself up to sit atop on of the rocks, beside Shetani. “Where do you think he is?”

Shetani shrugged. “I can feel him, I know he’s still on this planet, but it’s... weak. Like he’s deep underground. As far as I can tell, he’s about three miles north of here.”

“That’s going to be a long walk.” Ambree commented, shivering. “A long, cold walk.”

“And night’s probably going to fall soon, meaning it’ll get even colder.” Niqi added. “Add in the wind and Ambree’s going to be a popsicle by the time we get to Glide.”

Shetani simply smirked. “Who said we’re walking?”

 

…

 

“Do you have any business here?” Glide asked, piggybacking Dham up the stairs to the surface.

Dham nodded after a few seconds. “I need to get my wings back...”

Glide raised an eyebrow. “And how are we supposed to do that?”

“I’m not sure.” Dham replied. “But I know someone that we might be able to get some information from. If he’s died by now, I’m sure his descendants will do fine.”

“You want me to beat information out of him.” Glide stated. “Alright, I can do that.”

“Thank you.” Dham murmured. “When will I learn your name? I need to know what to call you, if I’m to fight for you.”

Glide went silent for a moment. “... Myotis.” He finally answered.

“Nice name.” Dham said, nuzzling against Glide’s neck. “Hey, that’s interesting...” He grinned, running a finger over the words tattooed on the back of Glide’s neck; ‘Even Flow’. “You like Pearl Jam?”

Glide raised an eyebrow. “You know Pearl Jam?”

Dham nodded. “The wardens whistled while they recharged those damned crystals, to keep me from escaping while they were off. Most of the time, it was their songs, and I got curious after the first few times. I had to ask.”

Again, Glide went silent, though he was unable to stay that way when Dham began whistling. “Even flow... thoughts arrive like butterflies... Oh, he don’t know, so he chases them away...” He felt a sharp pain in his chest, akin to a knife through his heart, accompanied by a voice in the back of his mind. This isn’t the time to make friends, you fool. Shetani’s probably tracking you right now. You need to hurry up and find Dham’s wings, lay waste to the gods’ temples on this planet, and get out of here. It’s the only way to make them see how much you want Felix back.

 

…

 

Shetani yelped, dropping from the sky and landing on her stomach in the snow, unable to orb into the city of Menos Muerte. “Well, wonderful. As if the cold wasn’t enough...” She muttered, getting up and brushing snow off of her shirt. “Anti-magic barriers. I hate mages...”

Niqi growled slightly, getting on her feet. “Can you sense him? Is he around?”

“He’s still within the city.” Shetani responded. “He must’ve found who he was looking for; I can sense him above ground now.”

“Has he been mulling over this for a while or something?” Niqi asked. “It seems like he knows what he’s doing.”

Shetani shook her head, pressing a paw against the glowing barrier. “I don’t think he’s even been here before, he couldn’t possibly know what he’s doing. On the plus side, this barrier is pretty weak. I should be able to take it down, at least long enough for us to get inside the city.”

“Good, let’s get on that. Maybe we can talk him out of this if we find him,” Niqi said hopefully, although she had her doubts.

Shetani took a moment to tap the barrier a few times, then took a step back and fired a bolt of dark energy into it, blowing a hole in it. “Go, quick.”

Niqi and Ambree quickly stepped through the hole.

Shetani followed them through, the barrier sealing itself up as soon as they were inside. “Now that we’re inside, I should be able to orb us back out when we need to leave.”

“Comforting,” Ambree commented. “Let’s just hope we have a reason to leave soon.”

“... We’ll be leaving soon, I’m sure.” Shetani said, her eyes narrowed and fangs bared. “He’s here, and Dham’s with him...”

Niqi stared at the duo walking towards them. “Dham? As in, the vampire god Dham?”

Dham’s wings unfurled, the gargoyle taking to the air and hovering a few feet off the ground. “The very same.”

“Don’t take your eyes off him.” Shetani warned. “If you do, you won’t see him again until he strikes.”

“I’ll handle them for you.” Dham said, glancing over his shoulder at Glide. “You go on ahead.”

Glide nodded. “Keep them busy. Don’t kill them.”

Niqi’s eyes narrowed, but she managed to keep looking at Dham. “What the hell, Glide?!” she shouted.

“I don’t think he wants to be talked out of it,” Ambree said, the sarcasm apparent.

Glide smirked, turning and walking down an alleyway. “Remember what I said.” He tossed over his shoulder.

“Don’t worry.” Dham said. “We can handle them.”

Niqi’s forehead creased in confusion. “We?”

“Dham, don’t you dare!” Shetani growled.

Dham’s eyes began glowing red, his body seeming to shimmer, and finally split into four separate Dhams. “Say hello to my Dark Mirrors.”

“No,” Niqi breathed, her eyes bulging. She shook her head, blinking a few times. “Glide!” she shouted again, uselessly hoping he was still there.

“This is f*****g crazy,” Ambree noted.

“Dham, get out of the way!” Shetani snapped, clasping her paws together. “Or else!”

Dham raised an eyebrow. “Or else what?”

“I’ll beat the hell out of you.” Shetani replied.

Niqi recovered. “I say we do that now, save us the time.”

“Try.” Dham said. “Which one is the real Dham?”

Shetani smirked. “Let’s find out, shall we?” She concentrated her energy, releasing it after a moment as a blinding flash, which destroyed the three illusions around Dham.

“Well... s**t.” Dham muttered.

Niqi grinned. “I absolutely love having a goddess on my side. Now, where the hell is Glide off to?”

“I’m not telling you.” Dham growled, his body shimmering and splitting into four again. “Catch us if you can!” The Dhams chorused, taking off in four different directions.

“Self-solving problem,” Ambree said, smirking. “Let’s just go look for Glide, leave him.”

“That might be hard to do.” Shetani said. “I... can’t sense him anymore.”

Ambree blinked. “Well that’s just f****n’ great. Any idea why?”

Shetani shrugged. “Either he’s learned to cloak himself or someone else is doing it for him.”

“Ugh,” Niqi groaned.

“Well, I think I saw him go in a general that way direction,” Ambree said, pointing.

“Ambree, if your destination picking is still horrid, I’m going to kill you,” Niqi responded.

“I’ll check out the city from the sky, maybe I’ll be able to spot him from up there.” Shetani said. “You two, pick a Dham and go after him. If I find him, I’ll orb to you. If you get any information out of Dham, meet me back at the barrier.”

Ambree sighed. “Fine,” she said, and took off after the Dham closest to the direction she’d pointed.

“See you then,” Niqi called, and then took off after a different Dham.

Reviews

[KEi]

" "You like Pearl Jam?"

Glide raised an eyebrow. "You /know/ Pearl Jam?" "
I lol'd

" "Ambree, if your destination picking is still horrid, I'm going to kill you," "
I lol'd again.
Old habits die hard, and such.