Dragon Conjurer 8, page 6
“Good call, babe,” Nick chortled. “It’s like a factory production line when Dylan gets going.”
“You must go through so much Chapstick.” Zahra tapped a finger on her chin thoughtfully. “You should buy stock in the company.”
“Haha,” I said ruefully. “So how is everyone this morning?”
“Very well, thank you,” Ronin said. “I made omelets for us.”
Ronin stood up from her chair and started to clear the plates from the table.
“They were so fucking good,” Nala said as she stirred sugar into her fresh cup of coffee.
“Absolutely delicious,” Steffi agreed, and she threw out a chef’s kiss.
“I’m glad,” I chuckled. “I never learned how to make a real omelet, or I would have made them for you yesterday.”
“Perhaps, one day,” Ronin said, “I will teach you how to make a perfect omelet.”
I walked into the kitchen, wrapped my arms around Ronin’s waist where she stood at the sink, and leaned down to place a hot kiss on her neck.
“I’d like that,” I whispered in Ronin’s ear, and I felt the shiver that raced up her spine at my proximity.
“There is some bacon left in the pan if you are hungry,” Ronin said softly.
“Thank you,” I whispered, and then I stepped over and quickly devoured a few strips of the crispy deliciousness.
“How about a training session?” Nick suggested.
“That’s a good idea,” Steffi agreed. “I’d like to work on that lantern technique some more.”
“Oooh,” Nala hummed. “Maybe something tropical?”
“That sounds good,” Elisabeth agreed.
“Yes,” Steffi giggled. “I’d love to stretch my wings a bit after yesterday’s mission that was colder than a polar bear’s balls.”
“Oh, my god, Steff,” Nala laughed.
“What?” My pink-haired girl grinned and stood from the table. “Am I wrong?”
“Um, not at all,” I said. A laugh rippled around the room, and I helped Ronin wash the last few plates. “I need to eat something before we go, though.”
“No problem,” Nala said. “I’m going to get dressed.”
“Me, too!” Steffi sang as she bounded across the common room to her door. Then she pointed a playfully stern finger at me. “You. Eat.”
“Aye, aye, ma’am,” I said, and I touched one soapy hand to the corner of my right eyebrow.
“Thank you for helping,” Ronin said. “I am going to go get dressed as well.”
“Oui,” Elisabeth mused. “Zahra, do you have something to wear?”
“Yeah,” Zahra said.
“She’s good.” Nick smirked. “Zahra’s basically taken over two of my dresser drawers.”
“Three,” Zahra corrected with an overly innocent smile.
“Three?” Nick laughed. “What do you mean three? When did it become three?”
Nick and his girlfriend giggled together as he chased her into his bedroom and closed the door behind them.
“Those two are very cute,” Ronin sighed wistfully. “I shall return momentarily.”
I watched the purposeful sway of my Japanese girl’s hips in her pajama shorts as she crossed the common room and stepped out into the hall.
Then I gave Elisabeth a quick kiss, and we walked over to our respective bedrooms and disappeared inside. I went into my bathroom and splashed cold water over my face, and then I brushed my teeth and quickly shaved. When I was done, I went back into my room and dug out a pair of light cargo pants, a simple gray t-shirt, and cotton socks from my drawers. I dressed and jammed my feet into my boots, and after I securely knotted the laces, I walked out to the common room.
The muffled sounds of breathy giggles reached me through Nick’s door, so I stepped over to the armchair furthest away from his room and sat down. I didn’t have to wait long, Steffi and Nala walked out of their rooms about half a minute later.
Nala had chosen an olive green t-shirt with a delightfully scooped neckline, and black cargo shorts that strained around the thick muscles of her thighs. Her crisp white socks peeked out over the top of her black ankle boots, and the look reminded me of something out of the Tomb Raider games.
Steffi wore a three-quarter sleeve, sky blue shirt with a strategic keyhole opening that spread across her shoulders and exposed her golden dragonfly wings. She’d put on brown shorts that stopped at her mid-thigh and were rolled into a thick cuff at the bottom. My pink-haired girl had twisted a thin French braid across the top of her head like a crown to keep her waves of hair out of her face, and calf-high hiking boots completed the look.
“Looking good, ladies,” I said appraisingly.
“Not too bad yourself,” Steffi cooed, and she braced her palms on the arms of my chair as she leaned forward to kiss me.
“Alright, enough of that,” Nick said as he and his girlfriend returned to the common room.
Whether it was intentional or not, Nick and his girl had managed to match each other with their training clothes. Nick’s dark gray cargo pants were the same color as Zahra’s knee-length shorts, and they had on similar shades of green t-shirts. The biggest difference in their outfits, besides the length of their bottoms, were their boots. Zahra’s mid-calf hiking boots looked like they had been loved well and cared for often, while Nick’s hiking boots were a lot more battered.
“Come on,” Zahra said. “Let’s go kick some monster butt.”
I was about to say that Elisabeth hadn’t finished getting ready, but before I could say anything, her door opened, and my copper-haired girlfriend walked out. She wore a skin-tight tan t-shirt that was tucked into her high-waisted brown cargo pants, and ankle-high hiking boots were laced tightly over her black socks.
“I am ready!” Elisabeth announced.
“Awesome.” I stood from my chair and gave Steffi’s perfect butt a sly pat. “Let’s go wait for Ro in the hall, then we can go down to the training rooms.”
“Perfect.” Nala walked over and pulled the door open for us.
Ronin stood in the hallway with her hand half-raised to grasp the doorknob, and she giggled lightly when the door opened. My Japanese warrior had chosen a pair of black pants that rode high up around her waist and extended into built-in suspenders that looped over her shoulders, and a simple white shirt. The look was somehow equal parts fashionable and practical for mission attire, and knee-high black leather hiking boots completed the ensemble.
“Oh, I love those,” Nala exclaimed, and she hooked a finger into the suspender strap of Ronin’s pants. “So cute.”
“Thank you,” Ronin said proudly. “They are new.”
“Practical without compromising your impeccable sense of fashion,” Steffi said thoughtfully. “I love it.”
“I like it, too,” I said.
We all stepped out into the hallway and started down toward the elevators, but before we made it that far, a door opened, and three figures stepped out into the hall. It took me a second to recognize Zahra’s teammates.
“Hey, guys,” Zahra said as we stopped at their door.
“Hey, Z,” a very pretty tan girl with honey-blonde hair said, and her bright blue eyes bounced around to each of us. “What are you guys up to?”
“We’re going down for a training session,” Zahra answered.
“Oh, cool.” The other girl was a fair bit taller than her blonde teammate. She had dark auburn hair, fair skin, deep brown eyes, and a sweet smile. “We were going down to the training rooms, too.”
“How about we all do a session together?” I suggested.
“That’s fun!” The honey-blonde girl grinned. “You must be Dylan. Nick’s told us all about you.”
“Yeah, hey.” I nodded and threw my hand up in a little wave.
“I’m Katie,” the honey-blonde girl said. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“I’m Alice,” the auburn-haired girl added.
“Hey, nice to meet you,” I said, and then I turned to Brandon. “Hey, Brandon.”
“Uh, hi,” Brandon muttered, and a lightning-fast flash of what looked like confusion crossed his face.
I shook it off and gestured toward the elevators. “Shall we go?”
A soft rumble of assent worked its way through the group, and we walked the rest of the way down to the elevators. Steffi, Nala, Ronin, Elisabeth, and I stepped into the elevator, and I held the door open for a moment.
“We’ll grab the next one,” Nick snorted. “No need for a sardines situation here.”
“Sounds good,” I chuckled. “We’ll get the simulation programmed while we wait for you guys.”
“Awesome,” Nick said.
The door slid closed between us, and my ladies and I rode down to the first basement level. When the doors opened up again, we stepped out and looked around. It seemed like everyone was either out on missions or taking the day off, because every single training room was free.
“Sweet,” Steffi said with excitement. “We can get the first room.”
“Yes!” Nala cheered softly. “It’s the best one.”
“So what should we train with today?” I asked.
Steffi stepped into the control room and started tapping on the keyboard. “Well, we wanted something tropical, right?”
“Yes, please,” Ronin sighed. “If I see even a single snowflake, I shall leave.”
“I can accommodate that,” Steffi laughed.
My fairy-girl’s fingers danced rapidly over the keyboard as she prepared the simulation for us, and a few moments later, Nick, Zahra, and the rest of her team joined us. Elisabeth passed out a small earpiece to each of us, and I placed the tiny communication device snuggly into my ear.
“Alright,” Steffi said a second later. “We’re all set.”
“Awesome,” Katie said with a wide grin, and we walked from the control room into the main training space. “What are we fighting today?”
The room started to shift around us, and the sterile tiles of the walls and ceiling faded around us as a sandy beach rose up. The ocean’s edge lapped gently along the shore, and there was a narrow expanse of damp sand between the ocean’s edge and a forest of tropical trees that rose up beside us. The air was warm and humid, and the simulated sun shone in bright orange rays where it inched closer to the horizon.
“A La Diablesse,” Steffi said, and she stretched her golden wings out from her shoulders and smiled with pleasure. “Ugh, that feels good.”
“What’s a La Diablesse?” Alice asked, and the auburn-haired girl rolled her shoulders. Then she laced her fingers together and pushed her palms out to crack her knuckles.
“Oh, I know this one.” Katie smiled. “It’s like a devil woman. She’s got cloven feet, and she lures men into the forest until they get hopelessly lost.”
“Of course, she does.” Nick grimaced. “Why do these monsters always lure men to their doom?”
“Because--” Katie began, but the sounds of a melodically singing voice reached us before she could enlighten us further.
Nala knelt down and sank her hand deep into the loose sand.
“There’s at least…” Nala paused as she moved her hand through the sand. “Three of them. I think.”
“You think?” Ronin asked.
“The sand inhibits my ability to sense.” Nala shrugged and rose back up to her feet.
The eerily beautiful voice became louder, and a shrouded figure stepped out of the tree line. The creature’s song was sad and mournful, and I felt it tug at my heartstrings for a second before I braced myself against the devil woman’s music. The creature wore a wide-brimmed hat and moved with an elegant flow that I rarely associated with monsters. A second later, another two figures emerged from the forest and flanked the first La Diablesse on either side. The three of them moved in synchronized harmony as their heart-breaking song grew louder.
“Who are you going to summon today?” Nick asked me, and his eyes flicked over the locations of my dragons.
“I wanted to see more about Zofia’s powers,” I said. “Did you want me to summon Beyblade?”
“I’m going to work with Zahra.” Nick shook his head, and then he turned to grin at his girlfriend. “We’ve barely gotten the chance to work together against any real targets.”
“This should be fun.” Zahra raised her hands out over the stretch of dirt where the beach met the brush that ran into the tree line.
“Sounds good to me. They all got a good bit of romping around this morning,” I said, and then I looked at Katie, Alice, and Brandon. “And I’d like to see how your powers work. I think I’ll hang back a little bit and observe.”
“You wanna see how my powers work?” Katie asked, and a smug grin spread over her tanned face. “Cover your ears and watch this.”
We all stood back, clamped our palms over our ears, and watched with curiosity as Katie sucked in a deep breath. Then the honey-blonde girl leaned forward toward the trio of La Diablesse and let loose a glass-shattering scream.
I could actually see the ripples of the sound waves as they blasted forward through the air, and my jaw fell open with surprise. Even with my hands over my ears, and the sound moving away from me, it was ear-piercing, and I made a mental note to never summon Goldie when Katie was near. The combination of the honey-blonde girl’s sonic scream and my wind dragon’s advanced hearing would surely render me completely deaf for the rest of my days.
The sand warped into little hills and valleys as Katie’s wall of sound waves raced across the distance between us and the trio of devil women. The La Diablesses’s song came to an abrupt halt when the scream reached them like a blast of hurricane-force winds, but unlike regular wind, this force came with the extra surprise of ear-bleeding frequencies.
The three La Diablesses shrieked with agony and slammed their hands up over the sides of their heads as Katie’s sonic scream battered their auditory senses, and one of the devil women folded forward and cried out with pain.
“Nice,” Steffi said, and she fluttered up into the air. “I’m also digging this like, early dusk light thing we’ve got going here.”
“Are you going to make some nice lanterns for us?” Nala asked as she tested the movement of the sand beneath her earth-bending feet.
“You know I am.” Steffi smirked and forged a golden ball of energy between her hands. Then she flitted up into the twilight and gently placed the glowing lantern of golden light in the air.
“That is so cool,” Alice breathed.
“Looks like the La Diablesses are recovering from Katie’s attack,” Zahra said, and she waved her hands over the earth below. A burst of plant life immediately grew out of the ground and raced forward like a wave of baseball fans’ arms in the stands.
Without a single word, Nick stepped forward and disappeared into the new plants. Then his voice came through the comms. “Z, see if you can sense my location through the plants.”
“I don’t know if I can do that,” Zahra said.
“Just try,” Nick coaxed.
I left my best friend to his lessons with Zahra and turned my focus to the rest of my team. Nala had used the loose sand of the beach to glide forward like a figure skater, and she was in the middle of spraying thin sheets of the tiny rocks up into the faces of the La Diablesses.
Steffi fluttered nearby overhead, and she was working on her lasso technique. My fairy-girl had gotten pretty skilled at using the golden ropes and chains like leashes against various monsters, but now she looked like she was trying to maintain the same level of control on a length of energy after it was no longer attached to her hands. Steffi flung the golden energy rope around the wrists of one of the devil women, and her eyebrows furrowed with concentration as she tried to manipulate the bonds from a distance.
A short distance away from the devil woman that Steffi was wrangling, Alice marched forward with determination. I watched with curiosity as the auburn-haired girl took a steadying breath and raised her hands up before her. She stared fiercely at the La Diablesse as it approached, and with a slight smirk, Alice clapped her hands together, and the devil woman’s form flattened into a thin line and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“Woah, what?” I breathed with surprise, and I looked rapidly around for the missing La Diablesse.
I spotted one shrouded female figure that Steffi was still working with, and I saw that Nala had surfed along the sand to join my fairy-girl. My earth-bending girl appeared to be testing out a diversionary tactic using the loose sand, and she flung a spray of the tiny granules rapidly in front of the La Diablesse’s face. It worked to obscure my view of the shrouded monster, so I could only assume it would inhibit the creature’s vision as well.
The second La Diablesse was surrounded by Katie, Ronin, and Elisabeth, while Brandon stood nearby watching. I guessed by his slightly irritated stance that he was feeling useless due to the nature of his powers, but Elisabeth had shifted into an orangutan, and it looked like she was prepared to keep the La Diablesse from escaping while the other girls worked together.
Ronin had raised a lighter version of her astral body armor around herself, and her torso was bathed in the bright white light. My Japanese girlfriend clutched a simple katana in her hands, and she seemed to be practicing shifting her weapon’s shape as she swung it through the air. From the other side of the La Diablesse, Katie was blocking the creature’s retreat with intense bursts of sound like a wall of sonic booms, but she seemed to be angling herself carefully to avoid deafening our teammates.
I kept scanning around in search of the devil woman that Alice had teleported somewhere, and my mind was still reeling from my first sight of her powers. Zahra had said Alice had teleportation magic, and I’d just assumed she could teleport herself. Clearly, I was wrong, and the auburn-haired girl had the ability to teleport other creatures at will.
Then my eyes narrowed in on the third La Diablesse only about ten seconds after Alice had first beamed the monster clear across the beach, and I gasped with horror.
Somewhere inside Alice’s teleport, the devil woman’s body had been broken and twisted in sickening ways.
The La Diablesse’s face was contorted as it tried to suck in enough air to let loose a scream that truly represented the pain it was in. The creature’s arms were bent at uncomfortable angles in the wrong spots, and one foot dragged awkwardly behind the monster as it lurched forward.
