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Linnis D'Trel, the daughter of Silverthorn, has foolishly taken off to Terra in search of her biological Father. Silverthorn followed close behind to keep her daughter from finding Dr. Robinson, the rapist that sired Linnis. Unfortunately, she is caught by him in the process. Y'Roden, Bran and Mira strike off to Toronto to track her down...
Two things brought Y’Roden up short the moment he stepped through the portal, noise … an unbelievable level of it, a cacophony of human activity and machines that had the half-elf covering his ears, and the sound of his wife’s voice in his head.
Arianne? Where are you?
A sense of panic lanced through him, and it wasn’t his own. The King seemed to have forgotten about his two companions as he took off running, passing beneath a neon sign as he ran out onto the pavement.
Club Carpe Noctum
The sound of an oncoming car filled his hearing and Ro jumped aside, finding himself nearly pinned between moving vehicle and one parked at the side of the road. The duster he was wearing flared out across the hood as the half-elf swung himself up and kept running, S’Hean Canopy Skimming instincts taking an odd turn and setting off several car alarm as he shot off across the line of unfamiliar steel carriages.
"Damn it to hell!" Bran swore, "Now where's he going?" He raced after the retreating figure of his brother-in-law, unheeding of the shouts and yells of various motorists who were slightly indignant about their cars being used as a highway.
"I have no idea!" Mira darted out after Ro, holding up one hand as a cabbie shouted obscenities at them.
"But we're going to have to sprint to keep up!" Mira took off after him, her eyes following Ro until the half-elf disappeared into the city.
Y’Roden’s boots hit the pavement as he reached a cross walk and he darted across, the sound of a horn blaring in his ears snapping his head around, just in time to see the bumper he bounced off of.
“Moron! See the god damn red hand? That means DON’T WALK!”
The human got a snarl for his effort and Ro hooked his hand beneath the bumper that had hooked on his jacket. Pulling the material free the heavy gravity Elf lifted the car off its front tires and sent it spinning into traffic. Ignoring the driver’s indignant and somewhat startled string of profanity, as he bolted down an alleyway.
Silverthorn had gone silent, and the loss of contact terrified her husband. Having completely forgotten about his two companions he kept going, following the trace of bond to the place he had last heard from her. The King found himself in a dark alley, morning shadows creeping up the walls and he spun around in place, desperately seeking any feel of her on the Aethyr. A glint of metal caught his eye and he crouched down, fingers closing around the hilt of a dagger he knew all too well.
Thorn never left her weapons behind…
A howl of rage shook the dirty windows in the buildings next to him and he stood up, slugging the brick wall repeatedly in frustration.
"Cut that out!"
A hand grabbed hold of Ro's arm mid-swing, hauling the half-elf back and spinning him around.
"Have you gone completely insane?" Bran demanded.
A heavy fist slammed into the fair-haired Elf’s jaw, and it took a moment for Y’Roden to register that he had hit something that wasn’t the wall.
Dazed emerald eyes stared down at his floored brother-in-law for a moment in shock, “Oh Hells, I’m sorry Bran.” He felt like his skin was crawling, panic gripping him and running its icy fingers down his spine. “Someone took her… I can’t feel her.”
Mira was leaning almost casually at the entrance of the alley, paring her nails with a butterfly knife, and nodding cheerfully passing strangers, a few of which eyed her and smiled back rather broadly. The approach of two mounted police had her whistling softly at the two in the alley as the sounds of rubberised horseshoes thudded closer.
"Mornin'" Mira drawled out and flicked the knife about with a snap of her wrist, then slipped it into the pocket of her Levis. "Hell of a day, isn't it gentlemen." Smiling gamely when one of them arched an eyebrow as the knife disappeared, Mira did her damndest to not look down the alley.
"Gods, melda, are you okay?" That had to have hurt...
Both officers nudged their mounts closer, the lead horse snuffling the air, its eyes and nostrils flaring. The beast began to dance slightly, and Mira's eyes widened a bit.
"Something wrong, sir?"
"The knife?" The second officer's mount was beginning its dance as well, and the policeman was doing a valiant job to keep it controlled, but Mira knew...KNEW...if she much as went boo, the horses would come unglued. The officers may not know her for what she was, but the horses could smell dragon all over her.
"Today, boys....today....or I'm going to get arrested..."
"Knife? Oh, you mean that...little pocket knife of mine? Is there a problem with it? I mean, its a small thing really..."
Oh I'm just peachy Bran drawled back, one hand going to his jaw as he sat on the floor of the alley. Gingerly he manipulated the joint. "What do you mean you can't feel her?" he asked the half-elf as he got to his feet, "and who's taken her? What the hell is going on here Ro?"
“I mean,” Ro hissed, “I can’t feel her along our bond, they must have knocked her out. Who they are, I couldn’t tell you.” He shifted uneasily, eyeing Mira where she stood at the entrance to the alley. “I think we’ve found trouble. We had better do something before you wife is dragged off in cuffs.” Turning back to Bran, he offered him a hand up. “Try to look innocent… erm… your ears are showing. Gods, you stick out like a sore thumb, man.”
"It may be little, but it IS illegal, ma'am, simply for that reason." The first officer nodded his head towards the concealed blade as the second one brought his horse to a still and slid from the gelding.
"Oh, now, come on, I'm sure there are lots of little things out there that should be against the law and aren't..." Mira eyed the second officer pointedly as he approached. This was about to get bad. No way was she getting patted down...
"I tried to tell you to change clothes, Bran." Mira shot at her husband, jade eyes sparking bright green as she looked both ways down the sidewalk, making certain there weren't many passers-by paying attention, and black wings split the back of her t-shirt, effectively sending the horses into a panicked frenzy.
"I stick out like a sore thumb? What about her?" Bran demanded, a little indignantly, jerking a thumb at his wife.
"HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!" The one on his feet had time to blurt out as his horse jerked him off the ground with a tossed head, then butted him square in the back, knocking him face first into Mira. The other was reaching for a can of pepper spray and managed to get one good round sprayed into the air, but unfortunately, the breeze off the dragon-elf's wings sent the caustic stuff back into his already terrified horses face, and the rodeo commenced.
"Time to run boys!" Mira shouted down the alley as she shoved the downed policeman away and neatly dodged a well-aimed kick from the mounted cop's horse.
Her husband swore and took off after his wife. "So much for innocent" he called back to Ro as he dodged around a rearing horse. The animal neighed in panic at this person who had suddenly appeared between its hooves and kicked out, smashing the window of a parked car. Glass hit the ground with a delicate tinkling sound.
Ro spouted out something that would have made a Drow blush and tore off after the couple. A heavy boot planted itself right in the middle of the downed officer’s chest as the half-elf sprinted to catch up. “This isn’t very Kingly!” he shouted inanely, “and I think I just added Assault on an Officer to my record!” They could just be grateful that the RCMP hadn’t managed to unbuckle their guns in the chaos.
"You were trying to be kingly?" the fair-haired elf said in some amazement, grabbing hold of his wife's elbow and dragging her quickly around a corner. "You could have fooled me."
There was the sound of shouting and running feet behind them as several, rather upset-looking, police officers charged after the trio.
"Stop right there!" one of them yelled.
Another was speaking urgently into some sort of small black box. A low crackle came from it and then a distorted voice. Bran picked out one word.
Backup.
"Uhoh... we need to get away from these guys" he said urgently to his companions.
“You think?” Ro’s tone dripped with sarcasm as he zipped past his brother-in-law. “Quick, up this way.” The half-elf barrelled down an alley and jumped, catching the bottom of a fire escape ladder and swinging himself up the landing. “Come on, I heard Callan say once that humans never think to look up. This would be a good time to prove that theory.”
Bran swung himself up onto the ladder with an easy grace, looking down to make sure Mira was still with them. "A very good time" he agreed, "I just hope to hell that he's right."
"GODS!" Mira's own stream of foul language that sounded remarkably Drow, but was in fact Black Dragon, poured out as her wings disappeared and her shirt mended. Jade eyes looked down the alley and out at the street, then back up, "You are listening to something my FATHER said? Good GODS! You ARE mad." The Dragon-elf scrambled behind Y'Roden and her husband, and paused several stories from the ground. "You know, in all the movies, on Terra UP is a bad thing...and that was in reference to STUPID humans, these guys KNOW to look up, especially in the cities..."
Two marked cruisers tore past the opening of the alley, then Mira heard the sound of one of the vehicles slowing, stopping and backing up. "Okay, less talk, more climbing" The dragon-elf nimbly started upwards, stopping only long enough to greet a startled woman in a pink bath robe, fuzzy slippers and curlers in her hair...apparently she was using the fire-escape to have her morning smoke.
"Who are they? Where are they going? I'm calling the police!" The startled woman gabbled and peered up as Y'Roden and Bran continued up.
"Morning, ma'am...we're with the Fire Hazard and Escape Route Bureau," Mira smoothly answered and started to follow, when she heard,
"The WHAT bureau? Where's your i.d.?"
A hand reached down and grabbed Mira’s wrist, yanking her upwards, “We don’t really have time for pleasantries Madame,” Y’Roden’s voice said from above, and a gold coin dropped into the woman’s cleavage, “We would be much obliged if you could distract the nice officers.”
The woman pulled to coin out and bit it, “Honey, for another one of those you can hide under my bed.” She looked up and eyed the half-elf for a moment, “or in it, for that matter.”
The King coughed slightly, “That won’t be necessary milady, just a nice distraction will suffice.”
"I bet a few hundred years ago, your answer would have been a lot different.." Mira chuckled as she hoisted herself upwards with her free hand, a broad grin on her face.
And as for the woman in the pink robe? She and her fuzzy slippers stayed put, the gold coin pinched between her index finger and thumb, and kept muttering, "Wait till I tell the ladies at the Bridge Party! Alec Baldwin was on MY fire escape!"
Oh shush, Y’Roden shot a jaundiced look at Mira as he clambered up onto yet another landing, and who the hell is Alec Baldwin?
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