Taylor opened her eyes to the rough hewn surfaces of her lair in the dreamscape. Obviously, Sonngrad and Kurya had the time to meet with her and (hopefully) answer her questions about a couple of the materials she needed for her current project.
Well, they weren't inside, so she heaved herself to her feet, settled her wings, and made her way to the entry ledge. Taking flight, she circled the lake, noting where Sonngrad (in human form) was sitting and talking to a red dragon her size, and the apparition of one that was at least triple her size and maybe double Kurya's. She came in for a landing at a respectful distance, then shifted down to her human form before walking over.
"Good even," Sonngrad greeted her. "For some reason, my lord decided that this is more important than my normal report about the mystical goings on of Earth Bet. While I was waiting for you, I was getting to know Greg a bit better, and catching up a bit with Garyx.
"So what were your questions?"
"They're mainly about whether or not I can get the last two ingredients for a project on Earth Bet, or if I have to plan an off-world trip," Taylor said. "One is clay from the Elemental Plane of Earth, and the other is called philosophical mercury."
"You're making it?" Greg asked eagerly.
"I'm making sure I can get everything without causing other problems. I won't even try to prep anything if I can't, but so far there's only one thing that has anything like a shelf life, and that one's not a problem." Turning back to the elder dragon, she asked, "So, is there a way to get them without traveling to another world?"
Sonngrad pondered the question. "Regarding the first, the last person capable of planeswalking on this world died during the Second World War," he answered, "and his laboratory was utterly destroyed in the bombing of Dresden by the British. Scrying verified nothing survived.
"I know of no alchemist currently on Earth Bet who can make the second," Sonngrad answered. He took a look at Greg before turning back to Taylor. "However, this doesn't mean that it's out of reach. A certain associate of yours has the ability to create portals between places, including between worlds." He paused, pondering. "You also have access to the spells to reach other planes of existence yourself, should you ask for the ability. Either my Lord or your Lady should be willing to grant it, and once at your destination and you find what you seek, it is an easy task to return."
"So where would they have to go to get this stuff?" Greg asked.
"Sigil, the city of doors," Sonngrad answered. "There are merchants who deal with arcane and alchemical ingredients in the markets there."
"Isn't that the place in the center of the Inner Planes whose ruler's shadow can flay the skin off of you, and if you've really pissed her off, she can doom you to wander an endless labyrinth?"
"Ah, so you are familiar with The Lady of Pain?"
"Only from gaming materials," Greg admitted. "It's one of the places I'd love to visit, but I'd know I'd get my butt handed to me in short order."
"Well, at least your online
nom de guerre isn't known in Sigil," Sonngrad said. "Though it has been a while since I visited." He turned back to Taylor. "The aforementioned associate does have friends and contacts there who would be able to assist a group looking for those ingredients."
Taylor nodded. "I'll talk to her. I'm pretty sure I can arrange something."
"And thus your questions are answered," Sonngrad stated with a clap of his hands. "I think it would be a good idea if you gave your associate here an evaluation of how well he can 'dragon.'" He sighed as he caught Taylor rolling her eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me, wyrmling. There may come a time when you're the senior teacher, so I'm evaluating your evaluation."
"Yes sir," Taylor muttered, then turned to Greg. "OK, so we'll begin where I did: level flight. First tip is that crashing into water doesn't hurt as much as a bad landing on land…"
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"OK, despite Greg only having been a dragon for less than three days, he's at the same point I was after
three months," Taylor reported. "He actually needs to get out and practice basic flight maneuvers, so I'll sell that idea to the PRT. He should avoid using his breath weapon if at all possible. Not only is it fire, it's some kind of bullshit fire that
burns everything."
"The proper term, daughter of Teneiss," Garyx noted, "is primal fire."
"So noted," Taylor answered. "
Maybe he can find a way to use more normal fire, but I have no idea where he can safely practice. At least it's normal when it spreads and goes away when it's done consuming what it hit. Some basic strength and durability tests have him just under the same level I'm at without cheating with Powers, magic, or artifacts of certain multi-headed dragon queens.
"I just hope people don't suggest that 'Hey, they're male and female, we've got a breeding pair!'"
"I ain't all that keen on that idea, either," Greg said, nodding his agreement. "No offense."
"None taken. Don't let anybody push you into that kind of thing."
"Regardless, Tiamat will probably be dropping subtle or not so subtle hints about when wyrmlings are happening," Sonngrad added. "But as there are other male dragons, she'd have done that eventually. You have been warned." Sonngrad clapped his hands together. "And that concludes our time together this evening. Taylor, Greg, and Firelord." Sonngrad said, "I bid you a good evening, and hope you have a good night." With that, the dreamscape faded.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Greg stirred briefly in his slumber. "
So many questions," he muttered, before falling asleep again.
= = = = - - - - = = = =
"Hey Taylor," Melissa said, giving Taylor a wave. The girl's mood was steadily improving as the week progressed.
"Hey," Taylor replied, then stepped closer and spoke quietly. "I need to talk with you after school, probably before we get to work."
"Sure. I think we're working together this afternoon," Melissa answered. "Unless our boss has changed things around."
From somewhere nearby, Dennis sneezed. "Someone is mentioning me," he stated.
"Yes, we were mentioning you," Taylor retorted back.
"Good to know."
With that, the first bell rang, giving them five minutes to get to class.
- - - - = = = = - - - -
"OK, Taylor," Melissa said as she lounged in the Wards' common area before they had to get on patrol. "What did you need to talk about?"
"Have you heard of a place called Sigil?" Taylor queried.
"Where did you hear that name?" Melissa countered.
"It came up in a consultation with someone who knows more about the arcane than I do," Taylor answered, "as a place to get a couple of materials needed for a project I'm working on."
"Yes, I've heard of a place called Sigil," Melissa admitted. "I got yoinked there last May and spent six days there, which apparently only took twenty-eight minutes of time here. She did say that I could use my medallion to find my way back there if I needed to." She pulled out the medallion from under her costume to show Taylor.
"Remember this? The metal it's made of gives me some status in the city," she continued. "And you already know about the enchantment that lets me communicate with anyone, which came in handy during the Midsummer's Night visit."
"Would you be willing to help with a trip there?" Taylor asked. "I don't know how many days it would take to accomplish what we need to. Or how we'd pay for it."
"Another thing that medallion gives me is effectively unlimited credit in Sigil's boundaries. Any market or bazaar on the ring. I think it works with inns, too, but if not I know some people who would probably put us up for a while."
"I'd rather not abuse that." Taylor admitted. "There's no guarantee I wouldn't have to go to a specialty seller that doesn't honor that and even if I don't, spending too much might get you in trouble, which would make you upset with me, and I might not find my way out of my room here for several hours." She gave her teammate a grin, letting her know it was good-natured ribbing. "You've gotten really good with those compressed space mazes."
"Thanks," Melissa said, a slight smile appearing on her face. Then she looked at the clock. "In that case, we should think about this a bit more. Probably get permissions, too. Right now, Dinah should be waiting for us at the Ferry, so we'd better get out on patrol."
Taylor gave Melissa a grand, sweeping bow. "Lead on, my Lady, our grand adventure awaits!"
Melissa grabbed a newspaper off a table on the far side of the room, rolled it up and bapped Taylor over the head with it while laughing. "I'm patrol leader, not a noble."
"Not here, but you are the grande dame of the Wards."
"Silly dragon." Bap.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"So, you guys talk about anything interesting?" Weaver asked as she skittered down the sidewalk. For the moment they were free of tourists and passers-by.
"A project she's working on," Vista said, "that she needs my help on."
"Ah. Wouldn't have anything to do with that new dragon, would it?" Dinah asked, a smirk on her face. "The same dragon that has my unofficial bodyguards and watchers very nervous? The same dragon who may or may not be known by an internet handle beginning with Void and ending in Cowboy?"
"I'd ask how you figured that out, but I'm aware of your Thinker rating."
Weaver nodded. "Not only am I a highly rated Thinker, I have associates I can find things out from." And with that, she did her best princess laugh.
Also known as the Ojou-sama, Naga or Kodachi laugh - Author
"Hmm, it's still missing something," Vista stated. "Something we probably are both lacking, Weaver." The pair of them looked at Naurelin.
"No, I'm not going to do that stupid laugh," Naurelin muttered. "Besides, Lina told me she'd beat the stupid out of me if I ever did that again. Reminded her too much of a former associate."
"And she could do it, too," Weaver added. "Poor Knuckles, he got the shock of his life when he tried to hold that restaurant hostage."
"He actually ran to the PRT line, begging them to arrest him," Vista chortled. "He even offered to take a swing at them so they'd have a real reason to arrest him!"
Naurelin nodded. "'Just do it quickly,' he said, 'because
she's upset with me, and she
scares me!' Knuckleduster is your stereotypical Brute, about seven feet tall and nearly five across the shoulders, so he towers over Lina in either direction. He's rated a Brute five, Striker three. He still got nervous when she confronted him and nearly shat himself when he found out she's a former
Endbringer."
Dinah let out a peel of laughter. "And the funniest part is, all she did was crack her knuckles and glare at him!"
The humor of the evening was interrupted by something that had become less common in Brockton Bay, the sound of a gunshot.
"Wards patrol two, report of a gunshot near Fifth and Bleeker," Vista called in.
"BBPD is reporting a 10-65 in progress at the Quickie Mart on Fifth," console responded. "They are not requesting Parahuman assistance."
"Wards patrol two copies," Vista reported. "Keep us advised of the situation."
"Affirmative, Vista."
"Normal armed robbery," Vista told her teammates. "They're not requesting Parahuman assistance."
Naurelin stopped for a second. "I think we should get off the street," she said. "Something's coming."
Almost clipping the dragon girl's last word, the Wards channel announced, "Update; BBPD reports they're 10-43 on the 10-65."
A car sped toward them, and the siren of the police car following could be heard. As it passed, the mook in the passenger seat of the very nondescript car pointed his revolver out the window and back towards the police vehicle coming into view.
When the car hit a bump, it spoiled their already awkward aim and the revolver went off.
The bullet impacted Weaver's chainmail, its velocity already greatly reduced. "Ow," Weaver complained. "That stung."
"I don't think they're going to get very far," Naurelin stated as she moved to check Weaver's injuries, or lack thereof.
Without warning, two tons of six armed snake demon appeared in front of the car and took one of its very large swords and put its point into the pavement, edge on to the car. The car hit the sword, and with the tortured sound of metal it split in two, one half to each side of the demon, both of which proceeded to scrape down the street, creating even more noise before coming to a halt.
The pursuing police car managed to stop before hitting anything.
Picking one mook out of one half of the vehicle with her tail, and the other with one set of arms, Diedre hauled them over to the police. "These aren't worth my time," she hissed as they were tossed in front of the officers. "A shame my mistress has ordered me not to kill anyone unless absolutely necessary," she explained to the two mooks. "It has been so long since I had any fresh meat…" She finished the sentence with a menacing hiss.
The two mooks couldn't wait to get arrested by the police, confessing to every crime they'd committed since they last got out of prison and starting over after being read their rights.
Dierdre coiled in front of Weaver. "Are you hurt, milady?"
"I'm fine," Weaver admitted. "The chainmail and padding stopped what Naurelin couldn't."
"Excellent," the Marilith said before turning to the other Wards. "I heard you talking about Sigil earlier. I am curious, how could you know about the place?"
Vista reached under her costume and pulled out her medallion. "I had an unplanned visit."
The demon's eyes widened as it took in the medallion. "Mephistopheles' balls," Dierdre cursed. "Who are you that bear the medallion of The Lady of Pain's
family? "
"Wouldn't you like to know," Vista said. "Come on, Console wants us back at The Rig for a debrief, and a medical check for Weaver."
