Chapter 6:

  She dragged herself the final steps to the base’s entrance, the night wrapping around her like a tattered cloak.

  Every motion lit sparks beneath her skin… fres of pain racing along torn muscle and cracked bone.

  Fuck, I’m gonna need to hit the sack for like, a month after this job…

  If the boss doesn′t kill me first. She sighed. Dreading the moment she faced her employer after being hours, if not a full day te.

  It was supposed to be a simple mission…

  Wait for the night, check that no one’s there, find the old warehouse, break in, find a stupid piece of old paper and get out.

  Simple.

  She would have been offended by her abilities being wasted in such a trivial task. Had the pay not been so ridiculously good…

  The boss had been assigning them all kinds of weird retrieval missions tely.

  If she didn’t know better, she’d assume that the Lady was pnning on opening some kind of museum.

  Her scaled fist banged on the discrete metal door, three times, then one, then four.

  A small hatch on the door slid open, a pair of inquisitive eyes appearing soon after.

  “Yeah? Who’s there?” A deep rumbling voice asked from inside.

  She bent down, her body screaming as she did so, “It’s me, open up…” She snarled, not in the mood for small chat.

  The voice on the other side grumbled, suspiciously, “ ‘Me’ who…” The eyes opened like ptes as the pangolin took a step back, her body now fully visible.

  “Holy shit! Bitch, you look like crap!” The voice morphed from menacing to jovial, tinted with an undertone of mocking amusement. “You must have tits of steel to show yourself so te, girl. The boss has been… impatient.”

  She gulped, a shiver running through her spine. “Yeah, well, I had… complications.”

  After a few seconds of locks and chains moving from the other side of the door, it slid open, revealing the smirking face of the woman assigned to ‘door duty’ that night. Her eyes sparkling with mirth, “Well, let’s not make her wait any longer then…”

  Bitch…

  The pangolin moved as fast as her exhausted feet allowed her, her tail dragging tirelessly behind her.

  Forcing one foot after the other, she passed the smug guard as she entered the building proper.

  She navigated the maze-like corridors that caused her so many headaches back when she’d been no more than a newbie, years ago. Nowadays, it felt like the palm of her hand. Muscle memory guiding her to her dreaded destination.

  The base was a byrinth by design. Each turn a test, each corridor a question whispered into the ears of intruders who rarely left with answers.

  A network of tunnels and passageways, many leading nowhere, some leading to… ‘hazardous little surprises’ as her boss liked to call them.

  She no longer feared getting lost, the way to the boss’s abode firmly engraved in her memory.

  The deeper she went, the warmer it became, as if the earth itself were exhaling, the ir’s breath hot and ancient, scented faintly with ash and power.

  The pangolin felt her own breath grow heavy as the tunnel started to widen around her. The ceiling getting progressively higher until her steps echoed against the walls. Utilitarian concrete giving way to raw bedrock as the tunnels morphed into a wide cave.

  At the end of it, her destination.

  She stopped in front of the two enormous doors, just as awestruck as the first time she saw them. Crimson monoliths extending towards the ceiling. Intricate carvings of mythical creatures adorning their surface, their unblinking eyes judging her.

  As if reacting to her presence on their own, the doors parted without sound, yet the darkness beyond throbbed like a held breath, alive, watching, and older than the rock itself.

  She gulped, suddenly feeling very cold despite the warm breeze coming from the inside of the room.

  “You are te.”

  The voice didn’t rise. It didn’t need to. It sank into her bones like heat into steel, quiet, steady, and terrifying.

  The stone walls themselves vibrated, trembling. Fearful that a mere whisper from their master would make them crumble.

  Her legs could rete, as they started shaking uncontrolbly.

  “I-I’m very…” Her throat felt really dry, but before she could properly apologize, the commanding voice spoke again.

  “Get in.”

  Without missing a beat, she stumbled forwards, feeling like prey willingly throwing itself at the maws of a beast.

  The doors closed behind her as silently as they’d opened. And for a dreadful moment, the only thing she could see was the all encompassing darkness.

  Then, fire.

  Faint at first, yet rapidly gaining in intensity. Two orbs of living fire materialized high above her. Their judgemental gaze piercing her very soul. Carrying an order spoken without words.

  Her knee impacted the ground before her brain could send it a signal to bend. Any pain the movement caused was ignored as she lowered her head in deference.

  “My Lady…” She half whispered, half whimpered.

  Suddenly, the whole room exploded in light.

  In unison, innumerable torches mounted to the rocky walls came to life, their flickering fmes like soldiers saluting their monarch.

  Above her head, high in the cavernous ceiling, an enormous iron chandelier joined the fray, pushing back the darkness in a whisper of twinkling candles.

  For a moment, she had to squint her eyes until they adjusted to the new environment.

  When she lifted her gaze, all her fear and anxiousness were moved to the back seat, at least for an instant. Eclipsed by raw amazement.

  There she was, elegantly seated upon a throne that seemed to be carved from molten stone itself, radiating power beyond comprehension. Her eyes like ambers, fixed on her, unreadable. Timeless. Dangerous.

  Her muscur figure could make sculptures weep with envy.

  Her fiery hair, the color of spilled blood, contrasted sharply with the long obsidian horns piercing through her scalp.

  The ends of both her arms and her legs were armored with crimson scales, polished to a shine. Each of her fingers armed with a cw so sharp it could cut through steel with ease.

  Behind her, a long muscur tail of the same reddish color zily swayed with a mind of its own.

  On her back, two neatly folded wings awaited at the ready.

  Lady Virelya.

  The Red Empress.

  Fire incarnate.

  The pangolin lowered her head again.

  It didn't matter how many times she’d seen her. It always left her as breathless as the first.

  Her voice trembled, certain that a single misstep could turn her into ashes. “M-My Lady… Words cannot express how sorry I am for my teness.” She dared to look up for a second.

  Lady Virelya didn’t emit a sound, she just sat there, her expression unreadable.

  Okay, I’m not dead yet, so far so good…

  “I know there’s no excuse… But, I faced the unexpected intromission of one of those pesky heroes, and she was not alone! I could hardly believe my eyes when I first saw it, but I swear on my life that I do not lie! A gifted mal…”

  “Silence.”

  Her mouth snapped shut instantaneously. So fast that her teeth ccked dangerously.

  “I care not for your ramblings. Do you have it?”

  Her whole body started shaking. She was sure that the slightest error would mean her doom.

  Careful not to make any sudden movements, she reached into one of her pockets. Retrieving a small piece of rolled parchment. Yellowed by age and inscribed with arcane symbols.

  She raised the item like an offering to a goddess. Then she dared to look at her boss once again.

  “Yes Lady Virelya! Just as you commanded.”

  The dragoness stood from her throne, looking at the object in her hands. And for a fraction of a second, the pangolin could swear that she saw the faintest twitch in her employer’s eye. Just for a moment, her expression changed.

  From inscrutable calm, to something akin to a junkie having a dose dangled in front of their eyes.

  Manic anticipation.

  Then it was gone. As fast as it came. The dragon’s face was as stoic as ever.

  She walked the steps from her throne with grace and elegance bordering on the divine.

  Once she was in front of the pangolin, her scaled hand extended towards the offered object, grabbing it almost tenderly.

  Did her hand just… tremble? I could swear that… She discarded the idea as soon as it crossed her mind. It was probably her own uncontrolble shaking pying tricks on her eyes.

  In front of her, the dragoness’s attention had completely switched to the piece of paper as she slowly unrolled it.

  The pangolin hadn't even realized, but at some point, she’d started holding her breath as she looked at her boss, enthralled.

  Lady Virelya examined the scroll for a few seconds, her expression unreadable.

  For an instant, time seemed to freeze as the dragoness closed her eyes.

  Then, a twisted feeling of deja vu invaded her mind as something started to stir in the air around her boss.

  She was not mistaken. It was not a trick of the light.

  She’d seen dark veins pulsating on the dragon’s face. Followed by what could only be described as bck tendrils of…

  Mist…

  Her crimson scales took on a deeper hue, almost as if her scales refused the light reflecting from them.

  Her whole body convulsed violently.

  Then the world exploded.

  She’d covered her ears as a deafening roar echoed through the cavernous chamber. Followed by a massive torrent of fire erupting from the dragon’s throat, reaching the ceiling. Its heat so intense that the pangolin could feel her own scales starting to melt.

  I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die… Her mind repeated like a mantra, while chaos erupted in front of her.

  She may or may not have peed herself a little.

  Just as fast as it started, the flow of fire stopped. Followed by something even worse.

  Wailing. Agonizing, furious screeches, as Lady Virelya ripped the old parchment to pieces, before throwing them in the air.

  Another fireball, this one coming from her hand, disintegrated what was left of it in an instant.

  “Enough!!!” She roared, holding her own head as if it may explode at any moment.

  She started panting, her eyes unfocused, her expression like a ravenous animal.

  “Stop ughing!!!”

  Wha… Who’s she talking to? The pangolin crawled backwards, unsure of when she’d stopped kneeling.

  The dragoness began pacing around the room like a caged beast.

  Until she stopped cold. Her face an expression of horrified shock.

  “Don’t you dare…” It was almost a whisper.

  Had the pangolin not been in the middle of her own panic attack, she could have sworn to see the slightest hint of moisture at the edge of the dragon’s fierce eyes.

  A crack split the stone beneath her feet, the air shivering from the weight of her scream.

  “DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE TOUCH HIM!” The Lady half screamed, half cried.

  She stood there, panting heavily. Until that mysterious bck mist that surrounded her pulsed once, almost mockingly, before disappearing. The distinctive crimson color returning to the dragon’s scales.

  Seconds felt like hours as the pangolin remained as still as a statue, scared of even breathing.

  Lady Virelya’s head slowly turned towards her. Her expression that of resigned tiredness. Her eyes no longer contained the controlled power she was known for, nor the ravenous fury dispyed seconds ago.

  There was only exhaustion.

  “Leave.”

  She didn’t need to be told twice.

  ***

  “Astonishing!”

  The doctor’s cw tapped on a tablet, reviewing the data from the medical scan she’d been exposed to only minutes ago.

  The third scan…

  “Unbelievable!”

  Ok, she has to be running out of ways to say the same thing…

  Katherine sat on the hospital bed, around her stood ShadowCw, her big boss Titanessa, and the increasingly annoying doctor that hasn't stopped probing at her since she woke.

  “And you can confirm that you feel no pain?” The doctor inquired, again.

  She armed herself with strength as she fought the increasing urge to roll her eyes, “Well, I do feel a little sore all over, but I wouldn’t call it pain.” She answered as she rolled her shoulders.

  She lifted her right hand, flexing her fingers, testing her mobility as she turned her wrist. “Everything feels normal, not worse than after a light workout.” She confirmed.

  “Fascinating!” The wolfish doctor tapped her tablet with renewed vigor.

  Katherine’s ear twitched involuntarily, and she reached to scratch it as she’d done a million times before.

  The doctor lifted her eyes from the screen on her hands, bending herself as she grabbed Katherine’s itchy ear between her fingers, rudely interrupting her scratching session. Academic curiosity sparkling on her eyes as she twisted the appendage into various positions.

  Katherine’s eye twitched at the act. Titanessa looked at her apologetically, her gaze conveying the motherly message of ‘putting out with it for now, sweetie’.

  ShadowCw scrolled through information only she could see on the corner of the room, ignoring the doctor’s observations after they started being repeated.

  “The procedure we did for the reconstruction of your ear is as cutting edge as they come, yet even that would have left some scarring.” The doctor mercifully stopped fiddling with Katherine’s ear, allowing her to resume her scratching in peace.

  “However, this appears as if nothing had happened at all. The cartige looks as good as new!”

  Katherine arched an eyebrow, “well, that's good right?”

  The wolf woman’s head snapped at her, “good!? This goes way beyond good! You healed in a night wounds that should have taken you weeks, at the very least.” She extended her arms, her expression a mix of exasperation and amazement. “This challenges everything we know about medicine! It's as if your injuries weren’t just healed, but outright denied!”

  “It’s… It’s…”

  Oh! Oh! I can guess this one! She’s gonna say, uh… I know! ‘Incredible!’

  “Miraculous!” The doctor procimed.

  Ah, dang it!

  Katherine stretched her arms over her head, her fingers interlocked, producing a series of satisfying pops. “So, what you’re trying to say is that I’m ready to be back on the field, right doc?”

  The white cd woman cleared her throat nervously, “well, let’s not jump to conclusions quite yet… I would like to perform some more exams before…”

  Ixshel had had enough of this, she threw the bed sheets to the side and jumped from the bed, startling the wolfish doctor and earning a curious rise of an eyebrow from ShadowCw. Titanessa’s pcid smile remained unchanging.

  The jaguar girl flexed her legs in an impressive demonstration of esticity. Bending herself in a stretching session that produced pleasure moans from every practiced movement.

  “Well doc, with all due respect, I don't mind coming back for some checkups ter,” she lied. “But right now, I really feel like having a warm up session, my muscles are aching for some exercise.”

  The doctor looked nervously between her tablet, Ixshel and Titanessa’s. Her eyes begged the gigantic elephant woman to help her cause.

  Sadly for the wolf though, Ixshel’s behaviour only seemed to amuse the leader of the hero organization, who looked at the younger girl with nothing but pride in her eyes. “Well doctor, you heard her. And she’s looking pretty lively if I do say so myself.”

  The doctor sighed, defeated, “fine, I’ll sign the discharge…” she pointed an accusatory finger at Ixshel, “but you have to show up for checkups thrice a week for the next two months…”

  Ixshel beamed back at her, her eyes mischievous, “Twice, and only for one month…” she counter offered.

  The wolf’s mouth hung open, “Young dy, are you… bargaining?”

  Ixshel didn’t say a thing, her self satisfied smile never leaving her face. Titanessa trying and failing to muffle a chuckle.

  “...”

  The doctor’s eyes squinted, “month and a half…”

  “Deal!” Ixshel raised her miraculously healed hand towards the doctor, who reluctantly reciprocated the handshake.

  After saying her goodbyes, the doctor left the room, leaving the three heroines some privacy.

  Titanessa looked at the closing door, then back at Ixshel, concern painted on her face. “I don't want to sound like a broken record dear, but do you really feel ready to start going on missions again?” She walked towards Ixshel, bending down to be eye level with her, “you can rest for as long as you need if you don't feel up to the task. Or we could find you a safe area to patrol for a while.” She offered.

  Ixshel nodded vigorously. “Thanks for the concern boss, really! But I never liked hospitals, and if I have to stay here another day I think I may explode!” She compined.

  Titanessa sighed, resigned. “Very well then…” She looked back at ShadowCw, “Have you gotten anything?”

  Right on cue, the bat woman swept away whatever data she was studying at the moment. “We have his face…” She looked almost uncertain, “Like, all over the pce. He didn’t even try to hide from any security camera.” She waved her hand towards Titanessa. “There, check your phone.”

  The elephant woman searched inside one of her uniform’s pockets, grabbing a phone so big it could be easily confused as a tablet. “Heh, cute…” she smiled at the picture ShadowCw sent her way.

  In it, a brown haired man moved through the halls of the hospital as if he owned the pce, dressed in a nurse uniform. His face clearly visible.

  She turned the phone towards Ixshel, “so, is this the so-called gifted boy you mentioned before?”

  The jaguar’s eyes widened as she grabbed the device, studying the picture as if trying to burn it into her memory. “That’s him! That’s definitely him!” She looked pleadingly at the two senior heroines. “You have to believe me! I know what I saw! He fought that pangolin whore using some kind of… magic mist! He was teleporting all over the pce and remodeling that bitch’s face one kick at a time!”

  She sighed, remembering the dreadful night, “it was… he was… beautiful…”

  Titanessa squinted her eyes, studying Ixshel’s every expression.

  “First, nguage young dy! Second, I believe you.” She reprimanded. Earning a guilty smile from the younger hero.

  ShadowCw swiped at more information, “Damn… Well, I do believe you too, now…” She sent whatever she was seeing towards the device in Ixshel’s hand.

  She cleared he throat. “Some hours ago, we received a call from one of the city’s guidance centers. They procim that some unidentified gifted broke in and stole an old map of the city, alongside breaking a snacks bending machine…”

  The smartphone in Ixshel’s hand pyed a low quality video from an old security cam. In it, the unmistakable mist she’d started to associate with miracles poured from the keyhole of the front door. Followed by the mysterious boy, materializing as if from thin air inside the building.

  She blinked, a strange sensation brushing the edge of her mind. For a split second, the sterile smell of the hospital was repced by something softer… rain-drenched flowers, warm and alive.

  She shook her head. Must’ve been her imagination.

  He looked completely lost as he examined the yout of the government office.

  Ixshel was enthralled as she watched him get startled by a computer turning on. The video had no sound, so whatever he said to the virtual assistant was a mystery, but he looked to grow frustrated as time passed.

  The video ended with him ripping the old map hanging in the wall behind reception, then kneeling in front of the bending machine.

  His expression morphed from celebratory to panicked as the contents of the machine spilled on the floor. He grabbed a handful of the packets and dashed out of the building, using the same mist to leave without breaking the door.

  “Why does he look so lost…” Ixshel wondered out loud. Earning a rumble from Titanessa, who’d been watching the video over her shoulder.

  “I think I know why…” She said, refusing to eborate.

  ShadowCw nodded knowingly, “we don't have confirmation yet, but it is looking more and more like it, yes. His behavior patterns do coincide with those of…”

  “My husband, yes.” The elephant’s lips formed a smile at the mention of her mate.

  She looked at ShadowCw, her expression now all business. “Quarantine all the evidence that you can find, I don’t want this being leaked to the public if we can avoid it.”

  Ixshel looked between the heroes in confusion, “Uh? Ma’am, what do you mean with ‘your husband’? Do you know something about the boy in the video?”

  She felt like she was being left in the sidelines, and she didn’t like that at all. This boy had risked his life to save hers in that warehouse, and now was breaking into hospitals only to heal her with his miraculous abilities. Ixshel felt a sense of responsibility towards him.

  The elephant looked at her with apologetic eyes, “It’s just… conjecture at the moment.” She grabbed the device in Ixshel’s hands, studying the st photogram of the video, a cloud of pinkish mist where only an instant before a person stood.

  “But if I’m correct, he’ll be tremendously lost. He needs our help more than he even realises. I just hope we get to him in time before some bad actor does…”

  Ixshel’s heart broke at the idea of some other bitch doing god knows what to such a gentle soul.

  The jaguar stood straighter, looking her boss in the eyes, “Ma’am, I would like to request…”

  The elephant interrupted her, putting an enormous hand on Ixshel’s shoulder, “I know, I know… I was about to ask you to do just that.” She nodded towards ShadowCw, who started moving information to and fro again.

  “Ixshel, I’m not sure why, but the universe seems to push you and that boy together. So, would you accept a tracking mission?”

  The young hero’s chest infted with pride, “Yes ma’am!” She saluted.

  Titanessa chucked at the enthusiastic dispy. “Very well then! Juli… ehem, ShadowCw, please transfer all the information we get to Ixshel’s phone…”

  “Way ahead of you, boss,” the bat woman confirmed.

  “Right!” Titanessa nodded, “let’s bring our pretty hero back home…”

  Ixshel’s head tilted to the side, “Uh, boss, he’s not a… I mean, an official hero… right?”

  Titanessa winked at her, smirking. “Not yet…”