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Chapter 21: The Captive

 
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Kalanna Rai
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:40 am    Post subject: Chapter 21: The Captive Reply with quote

Alrighty, Angelo and Ambrois show up for the showdown with backup waiting in the wings. But you know the old saying about best laid plans. Enjoy!
---------------------

Chapter Twenty One: The Captive

"Well, we've got to go. It's obvious I guess." Ambrois said with a sigh. "Even if her information is worthless, we can't say we didn't try."

Angelo gave his offspring a significant glance, although what the significance of it was nobody other than the pirate knew. He drummed his fingers on the ships wheel, wings flicking in agitation. "I'll go. There isn't anything that wench can do to me that hasn't been done before."

"She could shoot you again." Saul said with a snort, swallowing deeply as the slim man pinned him in a gimlet stare. "Well, I'm just saying..."

"Saul's got a valid point," Ambrois said, adding under his breath "for once." He cleared his throat. "You can go all you want but you can't go it alone. Who knows what kind of trap she's set up, and it's pretty obvious she's going to be expecting you. I mean, she asked for you rather specifically in that message...what if she's not alone."

Angelo snorted. "Tabor has never been my match lad."

Ambrois folded his arms. "It's not Tabor I'm talking about." For a moment the pair faced each other down, wings stiff in agitation. "I'm coming Angelo. Will ye, nil ye. It's about time I start pulling my weight."

"I don't want to have to worry about watching my back and yours lad."

"You won't. We'll be watching both your backs." Jade looked at the grim pair of Saul and Donovan. "Won't we boys?"

"Count me in too." Cherry said, thumping her pole lightly on the deck. "Anything that involves cracking heads is on my to do list. Besides, it sounds like more fun than I've had in ages. That snide witch won't know what hit her."

Angelo slowly surveyed the young people that were his crew...plus one. A hidden smile flashed across his face, a sense of satisfaction rising in his heart. A job well done, most definitely. He'd been hard on them, would continue to be hard on them, but this was the first glimmer of a pay off. He leaned forward to them, a feral grin stretching his attractive features. "Alright then mates...here's what we're going to do..."
---------------------------------

Cobalt sat on a carved bench next to the steaming pool in the bath house. Her fresh cloths felt good on her recently scrubbed skin, the silver backed brush in her hand sliding easily through her long, thick hair. She was working the scented oil deep into the strands, Loyo essence...Mange's favorite. She glanced at the ornate water-clock on the wall, a shiver running down her back. Time was running out, they'd be coming soon...if they were coming at all. She mentally shook herself, her strokes never faltering. Angelo Steel wouldn't be able to resist bait like that. And yet...she wished he would.

A private smile curled her lips as she hummed to herself, setting the brush down and coiling her long hair like a snake. Plucking first one bejeweled bone comb, then another, she quickly fashioned a simple yet elegant hairstyle. Smoothing the soft fabric of the outfit she wore, she had just stood and picked up a long, slim, dagger when the door to the bath house opened and slammed shut. Turning she observed two figures in the dim light of the hazy interior...two arcex.

Angelo couldn't be mistaken for anyone but himself, his form both massive and painfully slender at the same time. His wings were loosely mantled, wary and aggressive at the same time. She bit her lip, sitting gently before her suddenly too-weak knees made her collapse. Fear of a very primal and instinctive sort filled her belly, every fiber of her being screaming flee. But she was committed now, she couldn't just back down. There'd be more than one kind of hell to pay if she ran now.

She covertly swept her gaze over the second from, nearly falling off her bench as she did so. Ambrois had certainly grown up over the past few years, filling into that lanky frame of his most appealingly. His honey-gold hair fell into his shimmering blue eyes, the cool anger in them doing nothing to diminish his appeal. Curse all the powers of fate for failing to deliver him to her. By the look of him now, he certainly couldn't still be 'St. Ambrois'. Not with a face like that...not with coordination and grace...power and skill.

Her observation was suddenly broken by Angelo's firm grip on her throat, her hands flying to his wrist as they had so long ago. The knife fell, forgotten and unused, to the floor. Angelo glanced at it, then back at her. His silver eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. "Betrayal again?"

"Not by me." Cobalt whispered hoarsely. "But I couldn't stop them..."

As soon as she uttered the words they sprang from everywhere, panels sliding back to allow the Tallistown Watch and the crew of the Armada ship Starhawk access to the room. Guns flew from holsters, lethal clicks sounding from them. Swords came free of sheaths with deadly hisses, a circle of lead and steel quickly engulfing Angelo, cutting him off from Ambrois. He looked at Cobalt with a half smirk on his face. "Is this the best you can do lass?"

"I didn't do it...this is out of my league. Thank your crew for their bar-fight earlier, that's what roused the watch...that's what brought the Starhawk to Tallistown. All they did was ask for information..."

"And like a good little citizen you did your duty." He hissed, grip shifting slightly.

"It was either help them out or end up in the Keep. Let me loose, give me my dagger, and I'll cut my way out with you."

"Put the lass down Steel." The voice that echoed from the haze was strident, commanding. "Put her down and lay down your weapons."

"Put her down? As you wish." Whirling like a dervish, Angelo hurled Cobalt into the ranks of assembled lawmen, laughing madly as she bowled them over like children's toys. In an instant his guns were drawn, wings twisting in deadly patterns as he cut his way back to Ambrois's side.

Ambrois stood, back to the door, his father's blade held in his hands. It was surprisingly light for such a large weapon, and eerily warm. It seemed to quiver in his grip, as if eager to be coated in blood. Angelo's amulet hung heavy around his neck, clicking gently against his mother's blue pendant. It felt strange to wear yet his father had insisted on it...just in case. And it seemed as if Angelo's paranoia were about to pay off.

Angelo's voice was a hissed whisper, one massive wing extended before them to both ward off any bullets and prevent anyone from seeing that they were speaking. "Get the girl, get the crew, and get back to the ship...now."

"But..."

"Just DO IT!" Angelo roared, charging forward into the confusion of their opponents. Blood flew as his wings struck left and right, both offensive and defensive weapons the like of which none had ever seen...or were likely to see again. His guns never fired, instead he used them almost like blades, bashing skulls with their heavy butts, jabbing ribs with their long muzzles. He landed a specular kick that sent a man flying over Ambrois's head as he stooped to grab Cobalt under one arm.

Hefting her slight weight, he cut his way back to the door. A punch slammed into his side, staggering him and driving the wind from his lungs. A second tore through the wing on that side, pain searing up and down his body. Gritting his teeth, he kicked the door open and stumbled out into the street. "Let's move people!" He screamed into the night, the other members of the crew of the Bloody Muse suddenly there as if born of the shadows. "Donovan, pack her." He said, tossing the unconscious Cobalt into the canin's arms.

"Cherry, Jade, make sure nobody gets in our way. Saul, you're back here with me covering our tail. Let's go!"

"What about Angelo?" Saul shouted, throwing a knife into the throat of one eager young watchman who was taking aim at Ambrois.

Ambrois gulped a lungful of air, ignoring the fire in his side and the damp sensation that told him he'd been more than punched. "If he can't make it out of there on his own, why the hell would he have made me save Cobalt, Saul?!"

The youth looked thoughtful a moment before grinning savagely. "Point taken."
-----------------------------

Angelo grunted as the lion's share of Ambrois's pain was shunted to him. The shots the boy had taken weren't deadly...if he got back to the med-bay on the Muse quickly. Still, the knowledge that the boy was safe gave Angelo all he needed to let himself go and give the fray his full attention. He'd meant it when he said he didn't need anybody watching his back...especially when it was a person he actually cared about.

"Angelo Steel, cease all resistance!" The commanding voice again, issuing from just to his left.

He turned slowly, his wings bowling over the men that rushed in to try and take advantage of a 'weak spot'. His eyes quickly sought out the man in the rose haze of the bath house interior, the bars on his shoulders marking him out. A terrible look overcame Angelo's features, one that froze me in their tracks. Slowly, Angelo raised one of his massive guns, leveling it at the man, a mad-cap smirk curving his lips. "Oh I wasn't resisting...but I suppose I can start..."
-------------------------------

Ambrois barely made it aboard the safety of the Muse before collapsing, a hand pressed against the gunshot that seared his right side. "Ambrois!" Jade screamed, hitting the deck next to him. "Donovan, Saul, help me get him to the med-bay."

He winced as they lifted him, biting his lip to prevent himself from crying out as his injured wing was brushed. Jade winced with him, as if his pain were her pain, suffering right along with him. He glanced toward Cherry and the unconscious Cobalt, noting the malicious gleam in the Canin maid's eyes. He mustered a wink reminiscent of his father and smiled. "Bind her, gag her, and sit on her chest if you have to but make sure she's uncomfortable and not liable to go anywhere soon."

Cherry grinned nastily, her tail wagging. "Aye sir." She said with a nod, already hefting the girl.

Ambrois sighed, allowing himself to be navigated to the med-bay where he lay on the table, trying not to wince as Jade worked the machines to life. He had to hand it to his father...Angelo could repair just about anything it seemed. Soon enough, an anesthetic was taking effect, his wounds being bound up and laced back together with some sort of wonderful technology...probably more of that forbidden knowledge Angelo had hinted at. Content that everything was going well and everything was going to be fine...Ambrois dozed off...
-------------------------

AMBROIS! His mother's agonized scream woke him from his drugged slumber, causing him to start awake. Jade's long scarlet hair covered him like a blanket, her head in his lap as she dozed.

What?

They've got him?

Who's got who?

They got Angelo! They're loading him onto that Armada scow right now!

Can you link me to him?

He felt the hesitation in his mother's voice, the wavering uncertainty in her psychic energies. I can try...

Ambrois gritted his teeth, wishing once again that he had more Talent than the marginal amount fate had seen fit to grant him. If he'd only been a little stronger he might have been able to reach out for Angelo on his own, not deplete his mother's precious energies. There was a pinching feeling, and a pulling sensation, and suddenly he felt himself scrabbling at the steel wall that surrounded his father's mind.

Angelo...Father! He cried out as his mind furiously scrabbled for purchase against the shields.

Suddenly, he was caught, held securely as his father took over their link. Easy lad, I've got you. There was a world of weariness in Angelo's thoughts.

Mother says they've got you.

Aye.

Well then we're coming after you.

Nay lad. Those sea towers are armed, part of a defense grid that locks the port down when called upon. Right now, nothing can get in, or out, of Tallistown without Armada permission.

But I thought this was a pirate port!

It is...when the Armada doesn't have things going on. For the most part they turn a blind eye and let us come and go as we please. But every once and a while something happens and they show their strength...like now.

Because they captured you, they're waiting to flush the Muse aren't they? He could sense Angelo's mental laughter, almost feel the plot his father's brain was cooking.

Angelo...what are you up to? His mother's voice was wary, her question like that of any housewife who's just caught her husband coming home with a bottle of brandy. Suspicious.

They've called for the Wyvern love...and where there's the Wyvern...there's...

Trinity...Angelo you can't mean to...

Don't worry about me love, I've got things under control. I need to find out if Trinity knows what the Council is up to. If I've got to spend a few days in a brig to do it, I'll consider it a fair trade. Now, I've got to go, there are other Arcex aboard this ship and I'm sure at least one of them's got Talent enough to know what I'm doing. I'll contact you when the time's right, until then just keep a weather eye on the skies.

Take care... Ambrois sent the thought will all his might toward the fading connection with his father.

Heal up son. I'm going to need you at full strength soon...
--------------------------------

Angelo leaned his head against the wall of his cell, gently testing the strength of his cuffs. He smiled slightly, not enough power in the electromagnetic connecting lines that held them together. They'd be easy to snap...but not now. A sound in the passageway outside his cell made him open his eyes and look up, blinking at the shadowy form of a pluni as the man stepped into his cell.

"If somebody had said I'd end up with the infamous Angelo Steel in my brig, I'd have sent them in for a brain scan. Yet here you are."

"Here I am." Angelo echoed mockingly.

The pluni sat down across from him, nodding. "Forgive me, where are my manners. I'm Elius Fairbright, captain of the Starhawk."

"And I'm Angelo Steel, captain of the Bloody Muse. And as one captain to another, I'm going to let you in on a little secret."

"What might that be Captain Steel?"

Angelo smiled. "Your ship has more design flaws than any other Armada ship who's brig I've ever graced. I'd seriously get a good overhaul done on your primary engines soon before they blow you all to kingdom come."

Elius blinked. How did this man know the engines hadn't been running at capacity? He'd heard tales about this Arcex and the strange things he could do, about how dangerous he was. Maybe William was right. Maybe they should pick his brain while they had the chance. Who knew what secrets Angelo Steel was packing around in that brain of his. "I'd like you to meet my first officer, William Azeris. William!"

The arcex that entered the cell had light sandy brown hair and a mild face, eyes wide and almost innocent. Yet Angelo felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle at the mere presence of him. He could feel the strength of William's mind pressing against his already, even though the man wasn't exerting any force. Angelo shook his head and sighed. "So, another attempt at stripping my mind? When is the Armada going to get original?" He grinned at William. "Hit me with your best shot mate."

A feral light gleamed in William's eyes and Angelo suspected the man had missed his true calling in life. "Oh I intend to sir pirate. You are the stuff of legend...let's see what I can learn from you."
------------------------------------

So, does William succeed in cracking Angelo's mind? Or does Angelo run the show and give William memories the other arcex would rather not see?
---------------------------

A little change of pace for you. Hope you enjoyed!
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Last edited by Kalanna Rai on Fri Apr 04, 2008 1:15 am; edited 4 times in total
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 4:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nah.... Silly uptight officers don't know how to get dirty when it really counts.. but Angelo should have a good struggle to keep him out though, make him sweat a bit, ehh?

I was pleased with this Rai....Smile
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great chapter, Rai! There weren't as many mistakes as in the last chapter - I only picked up on one ( 'one that froze me in their tracks,' pretty easy to correct) typo.

I say he can get inside, but once inside he's used up enough energy for Angelo to be able to drown up the things he wanted to see with things he didn't want to see - mundane or horrifying.
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And we finally see the steely face of the Armada.

Let him see something Angelo doesn't want to share but might be able to work to Angelo's advantage later on. Angelo just doesn't realise it the now. I think you could add a few little twists in on that decision. Great chapter, didn't know it had been posted till yesterday when Lilith told me she was reading it.
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

well, good chapter rai, but i am more curious to see what saul does to cobalt for her treachery than whether or not angelo is all he thinks he is. I mean, she is incapacitated and at his mercy! ambrois has someone to love, as does donovan. let saul get in on the fun a bit more with cobalt!

as for the breaking through the mind thing, well, is there any way to control the attacker when they open up their mind while trying to pry into another's? if so, let angelo control william and have him william rip out on of his on eyes. of course, it should not be too simple, but after hours and hours of struggle, angelo finally succeeds.
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Give the Armada man what he wants, but make it so intense it drives him nutty and makes him kill himself.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 10:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Okay the poll is up! I regret the doubled first option, but I cannot fix it.

Hopefully this doesn't effect your judgement any....

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