Araceli had a thought. "What about what I wore underneath the armour, has that got the threads in it now as well?"
"Everything you wore has gone through the loom." The whisp replied.
"Cool! Just a shame its a party outfit, but I'll look killer kicking ass." She smiled thinking about her enhanced outfit.
"So our training gear is getting the same treatment?" Phil asked.
"All items you were wearing are in the processing queue for The Looms and will undergo the enhancement process."
"Which means nothing man made can harm you, although I wouldn't test that against a rocket launcher, mini gun or grenade launche," Angel said, "although we did take a few 50cal shots, usually the Desert Eagle that the boss guy used to impress his subordinates. Big gun." She tutted and wagged her little finger, Araceli snorted with laughter.
"How do you know?" Jamie asked.
"A kick to the balls, occasional a punch, nothing impressive was felt." Angel fired back.
(AI art prompt black teenager in an orange cheerleader outfit kicking a man in the groin)
"Anyway," Angel said to pointedly change the subject, "the Earth Energy effect stopped everything fired at us from 22 hunting rifles up to a 50cal hand gun, including AR 15's and illegally modified 9mm smgs. " Angel walked over to Kat and leaned in to talk quietly, "Should we tell them about the Queen?"
Kat looked at her, her mouth pulled to the side as she thought,"I think we better had, it's a cards on the table moment really. Maybe tell them while we walk to the hanger?" Kat finished.
"Okay, are you being tour guide?"
"You're kidding? I've no idea how to get there." Kat replied,"I slept in the barracks, and jogged around the areas we knew for exercise, most of the complex was closed off back then."
"Ask the whisp?" Angel said
Kat nodded, "Ask the whisp." Raising her voice she called out, "We ready to try the weapons?"
Everyone nodded, Kat addressed one of the whisp, "Could you lead us to the hanger, please?" The whisp floated, the second one merged with the first, then it circled the keyboard of the Loom and floated to the archway and through into the corridor. Kat lead the way. "Before we start, I'll answer any questions after I've finished." She clapped her hands to psych herself up, "So what we have learned is the white business woman you met before is known as The Warden, who's one of a Precursor Species that created humans. This complex," Kat waved at the walls, "is a prison for a second Precursor Species that wanted to kill humanity, there might be other prisons out there but we've not been told about them. This second species are called The Nephilim and wanted to destroy Humanity, they failed. Thwarted by a group of 100 enhanced humans, we are all related to at least one of those 100 ancient humans, the armour you're wearing was once theirs, with guided meditation you'll be able to access memories of the users that'll let you fight better, it's like you get their muscle memory and possibly unlock some powers. Those copies of me at the school were an example of that, oh yeah. For Araceli and Lola, who weren't in London my hammer allowes me the ability to create 3 copies, each copy can do damage and fight and can move across the battle field at speed by dissolving into smoke and glitter, Angel have you unlocked a bigger power yet? " Kat asked.
Angel looked slightly annoyed,
"Not to use, but I believe I might be able to create a shield dome, I had a dream of staring down my spear as its in the notch in my shield, a second spear planted tip down in the dirt next to me, and six big fuckers are charging at me. In the dream I shouted 'sanctuary' and a glowing orange wall appeared that they couldn't break though. Oh and Claire had one as well, her buckler shield has a fan style design, she was able to enlarge the panels, used that to cut an arm or head off, I forget which it was now, do you remember what she shouted Kat?" She asked.
"It sounded like 'enbiggen'."Kat answered, shaking her head, eyes closed. "Claire called out Diamond Rainbow shield enbiggen, the shield segments grew, took off the arm of a fighter in golden armour, she then plunged her sword into the gap in the armour at the shoulder. I forget what she said afterwards to get it back to normal." They'd gone past the armoury and up a ramp and walked out into an area that reminded Angel and Kat of the place they'd met the White Queen. Several Vermana had been parked up, the larger of them looked like golden Chinese dragons, the smaller ones looked similar to the big oxe from pre history the Aurochs.
Persian Bull.
Beyond them the cave dissappeard into darkness and presumably the door the Vermana had been flown in through.
"Aim into the distance," Angel suggested, "you guys can use your military contacts and see if you can organise us something to aim at next time? " Owens nodded." Gauntletts first. "The 9 new recruits lined up and pointed their arms into the darkness," pick a shot, shout it out." Angel finished, 9 beams fwoosed into the darkness.
Far away.
"We got more for those this Destriers than I thought, slange." Beatrice said taking a swing from a large flagon.
Morven took a drink from her human sized pint tankard, "Slàinte mhath," she replied toasting her companion, "we've still a long way to go to reach the location of the next breach, we'll need supplies and fresh horses."
"We've got a couple of weeks before it goes off and a long trip to get there, we aren't to far from the sky ship lane. We could try and charter a ship or do you still want to hit that Warlord on the off chance they'll have something that can get us there faster?"
"How much do we have left?" Morven asked, Beatrice pulled a pouch from a pocket of her pants and counted out the contents, several other tables looked up at the steady stream of clinks. Seeing a Minotaur and her battle axe and a second hardened fighter next to her deterred most. One group huddled up and looked like they were making a plan.
"Table 12 has taken an interest," a waitress whispered as she put more drinks on the table, "if you're not after trouble I'd put that away."
"Trouble isn't a bad thing," Morven answered, smiling.
"The owner might have a problem and want a cut of your purse to pay for any repairs, and theirs." The waitress carried on. Beatrice finished counting and sighed, "Probably short to charter a ship. I could shake my money makers," She grated her hips in the chair, the waitress laughed.
"Seriously I don't know why you wear those, you're so eager to get them off at any opportunity." Morven observed.
"Come on monkey girl, not everyone has their secondary sexual characteristics on display all the time." Beatrice looked at Morven's chest, the waitress looked as well, Morven's replacement arm strapping and jacket covered everything.
Morven looked down at her reinforced leather jacket with the extra plating, she reached up with her hands, one flesh, one sapphire blue and cupped her boobs. "A better diet would help and I could maybe make some money with these," she finished her drink and took one of her knives out and started to spin it on the table, eyes closed, head to one side listening to the conversation on table 12,"I'd get the bouncer over to there and ask them to leave with their pockets full rather than go through with their half brained scheme to try and rob us." The waitress gave a signal and the large bouncer walked over to table 12 and explained how much it would cost them if they tried to rob the pair that was the focus of their attention, and how it would be better if they just left the obviously experienced adventurers alone, even outside the tavern. They looked disgruntled but finished their drinks and left, the Ogre bouncer following them to the door and watched them leave, he lent up against the door frame and watched the group that had just left get ready to do something stupid. The waitress was chatting to Beatrice while Morven had the communicater out on the table and only half listening to the conversation,
"So where do you lactate from?"
She flipped it open and looked at the last remaining link to her home, the bow had been broken when Beatrice, in a fungus induced frenzy, had bitten down on her arm and lost when it had sheared off just below the shoulder.
"I don't know, I was captured as a calf, separated from my family and kept off my fucking tits on fungus. I've never met another of my kind that's not needed to be freed from slavery on top of detoxing and asking them sex questions isn't top of the list of things to do." Morven's daggers had been stolen in the camp they'd both been held prisoners at, one of the other slaves had some medical knowledge and had helped heal her arm and set the metal plates that were still on Beatrice's face. It had taken the slave healer 5 months to heal her arm, her outfit had been traded for medicine a piece at a time.
"Never seen a female Minotaur before though"
Beatrice leaned over to the waitress, "My guess is the female of the spieces is like a queen, and we keep a harem of oiled beefcake to please the eye, and provide us with food and when we feel like it, children." She lent back and smiled, "It does explain why there are so many more males out there"
The slaves made their escape a month after her bandages had come off, she'd had to trade a handful of hair to the healer to get them to agree to free Beatrice as well. Her withdrawal from whatever crud they'd got her addicted to had been hard, she still had the occasional pang for a certain type of fungus, and she could smell it from half a mile away, but rather than do whatever it was the demons did to it, she'd fry them in an omelette these days.
"Do you know where you come from?"
"No idea, everyone we've freed over the years has a similar story to mine, so we're either constantly getting raided by slavers, which is odd when most of the armies around here use us as shock troops or, and this keeps me awake at night, we're bred in captivity somewhere and traded. "
Her arm had been a lucky break, she'd found the stone in the market singing to her, she'd not had anywhere near enough to buy it, so had stolen it. They'd moved towns in the opposite direction the stall holder was going in, working were they could until she found a jeweler with the talent and a willingness to work for the challenge rather than price. It had taken a couple of months for him to cut the sapphire into a hand and wrist, she'd worked as a store assistant and designer while there, her articulated necklaces had been much sort after. Once the hand was ready they'd gone to the blacksmith and got the metal work sorted, she'd done a lot of it herself, the wooden cup had started life as a Beatrice sized drinking vessel that she'd broken. The first set of leather straps had been Beatrice's as well, they been damaged and replaced years ago now.
"Have you tried to find where you come from?"
"Of course we have, but anyone left alive when I've calmed down claims not to know anything."
They'd set out adventuring after raiders hit the town they'd washed up in, they'd tried to kidnap Beatrice, thinking they could sell her on and had wanted to take her arm. Her rage had powered it up, allowing her to take the guy holding her down by surprise, she'd taken their weapons and put the smaller jacket on and used a scarf as a disguise, taking out 3 more before any of the attackers realised someone was fighting back, out of the 25 that attacked she'd accounted for 12, Beatrice had taken 8 down and the towns people moped up the rest. They'd got the pick of the gear taken off the dead. The jacket had been much repaired and re-enforced over the years, with some embellishments to strength it, but was mostly the one she'd taken from the first creature she'd killed over here. Over the years she'd added metal paldrons, painting the plates blue to match her old clothes.
(AI art prompt Morrigan Ranger in a re-enforced leather doublelett)
"There's a wizard in town, you could speak to her? She might know something."
Beatrice looked a question over to the bouncer, who nodded, "maybe after we show some idiots the error of their ways."
Morven looked at the waitress, like a lot of the people over here at first glance they appeared human, but looking closer you notice the differences, teeth slightly shaper and longer than you'd expect, eyes too large and too dark, her skin had the subtle stripes she'd seen several times, Morven hadn't worked out if it was a tribal thing or a caste thing or just random chance.
"If we beat those guys up outside, will we have to pay anyone?" Morven asked the waitress, "And apologies, what do we call you when we write our latest adventure down later?"
She looked confused, briefly a forked tongue flicked out from behind her suddenly sharper looking teeth, her stripes more prominent, then her appearance was back to how it had been, "Call me Janelane" she replied, smiling a little bit too wide and showing an awful lot of teeth.
Morven smiled at the name, and opened her jacket to check the straps on her arm, "Well Janelane, we have a lesson to teach some idiots, could we get three shots of your strongest spirit?" Morven pulled out her own purse and counted out the change for the drinks, and added a second pile of coins. Janelane returned to the table, Morven handed her the coins for the drinks," Keep the change." She said taking 2 of drinks," and could you keep an eye on our gear while we're outside, we shouldn't be long." She asked as she walked over to the bouncer, "For you," she handed him a shot, the money in her other hand,"and this is for you if you want to give us a hand dealing with the 6 idiots waiting for us."
He took the drink in one hand and the money vanished quickly into his pouch, he looked to the barman and then smiled. "I have a break, I can step outside for a a little bit."
Morven smiled and knocked back the shot, coughed at the roughness of it, "Slange, let's go teach a lesson."
Beatrice knocked hers back as well, "Slange" she nodded to the bouncer.
He knocked back his drink and repeated the unfamiliar word "Slange."
Outside the bar, it had begun to drizzle, the group of tough guys looked quite forlorn, some with bunny ears and couple with devil's horns.
(AI art prompt 6 tough guys squaring up outside a tavern).
"So you idiots think you can take our money?" Morven called out, trying to assess the leader.
"Don't think, know." One with larger horns said, hefting an axe."We take all, and leave you for the carrion birds."
A nimbus of energy formed around Morven's hand, "I'll take 3, Bea you take 2," she called glancing at Beatrice, "and you take one," she said to the bouncer. She sprang forward, feet touched the floor, spinning around in a reverse round house punch, the crystal hand connected with one, lightning arced from her hand into the nearest tough guy, who tensed up, her hand connected with his jaw with a crack of thunder he flew backwards into one of his companions, sending both to the floor, arcing and tensing as the power discharged through them. Morven landed and slide more than she'd expected, bouncing off a wall. She pushed off and punched upwards, lifting the 3rd off it's feet, she kicked it while it was still in the air landing on it's back, she slid forward and stamped on it's knee and chest, ribs cracking. "Stun." She said, firing a blue blast into the one at her feet, "Stun," she repeated, firing a blast at the pair on top of each other. None of them were the one who'd spoken, she looked around, Beatrice had him, held by the horns, hanging. The bouncer had just got his guy down, "stun. " she said firing a blast into the one on the floor.
Morven looked up at the creature hanging in the air, she picked up it's axe and gave it a swing, "Now what was that about leaving us for the carrion eaters?" Beatrice dropped it and it staggered, Morven slammed the hilt of the axe into its chest, causing it to gasp as the air was forced out of it's lungs, it sank to its knees. "I'm feeling generous, leave your boots and we're taking half of your money, as we're not like you. One last thing," she swung the axe and cut off its horns. "boots, bitch."
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