Siphoning off just some of the power from the laminium chains crisscrossing his torso, Fredric, Peter's grandfather and founder of the formidable Crimson Guards, had conjured up a small bubble of warmth over on the far side of the chamber, something that Yoyo and his dragons were right at this very moment taking advantage of, given just how badly all of their protective suits had been damaged during the Antarctic battle.
Flash, Fredric and the naga king stood off to one side of the bloody mess in the chamber, the two dragons drawing power from the laminium chains to keep them warm, their companion very much at home in the cold temperatures.
For Fredric, it was nearly all too much. Despite everything that had transpired over the last hour, he found it almost impossible to believe that he'd actually just gained his freedom. After so many decades chained to that blasted wall, it almost didn't seem real, but he'd pinched himself a couple of times just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. And it was REAL! All he had to do now was get all of them back to civilisation and stop that dastardly being and his cohorts from taking over the planet. No problem there then.
Like Peter's grandfather standing next to him, Flash felt seriously overwhelmed, despite it not being the first pitched battle that he'd fought in. If anything, he was struggling to come to terms with having won, notwithstanding the massive odds against it. Yoyo's motley crew had performed admirably, despite their relative naivety. Luck must surely have been on their side for each and every one of them to have survived. More surprisingly though, was the fact that Fredric had restored him to the being he'd been years ago, washing away in an instant any stain of a side effect from Gee Tee's efforts at having saved his life from the deadly naga strike that had caught him off guard on his last appearance, here in Antarctica. Fully restored, he could feel the dragon within him bursting to get out, desperate to take its rightful place out here... in the open. But now was not the time, not surrounded by the life threateningly low temperatures that they all found themselves in. Even with the absurd amount of laminium he was wrapped up in, transforming here was nothing short of a bad idea. Deep inside, he whispered for his dragon form to be patient. It wouldn't be long now. Not long at all.
The naga king's strange, echoing voice broke the silence in the icy cavern first, startling both dragons nearest to him.
"Whhhaaaat willllll haaapppen nooow?" he asked, more than a hint of concern about his race drawn out across his reptilian face.
Turning to face Flash, Fredric, the founder of the Crimson Guards, thought it best to try and get as much of a handle as he could on the current situation.
"What is it we need to do? Where do we need to be?"
"When I left," declared Flash, "the meagre force we had was splitting up, with one group heading off to try and restore planet wide communications, while the other headed towards the council building and the king's private residence with a view to a rescue. If I had to take a guess, I'd say we were most needed there, as no doubt that's where things will play out. But how we get back there is beyond me at the moment, with all the dynamic insulating suits broken in some way, shape or form. Maybe one or two can be cobbled together to allow a few of us the possibility of leaving, but even then it will take an absolute age to get back to the opposite side of the world. I very much doubt we'd get there in time to make any sort of difference, not given how long it would take to get us back to Australia, especially with the monorail out of commission. And then we'd have to organise a rescue for those left behind here. Time consuming doesn't begin to cover it," huffed Flash, disappointed that he couldn't come up with a better plan to get them all out of here.
Fredric racked his brain for anything, no matter how obscure, that just might speed their journey up, or give them any sort of edge in getting back to the dragon domain in an effort to save their king, and his best friend. Once again though, he was interrupted by the naga king.
"Thhheeereee maaayybeeee aanottthhhher waaaayy," announced the majestic reptile, instantly commanding the respect of those all around him. "Naggggaaasss havvvveee muuccch covetteeeeed maaaagic. Maaaagic tooo oppeeen annnnd closssse portallllls acccrrrosss thheee globbbbeeee throughhhh whicchhh beinnngs cannn beeee transsssporttted."
This caught the dragons' attention.
"Go on," urged Fredric, keen to hear what his comrade in arms had to say.
"I caaan opppeen a poortaal at willll, and if muuuch isss knooown byy yooouu abooout thhhe destinatiooon, theen I ssshhould bee able to accccessss ittt telepathicaaallllly. Whaaaat I laaaccck thoughhhh isss a pooowerr souurce."
Despite the cold, despite everything he'd been through, his mind was now as razor sharp as it had ever been. In an instant, Fredric knew exactly what they would do, how they'd find the precise point they needed to transport to, and indeed just how it would be powered. With his frustrated frown very much turned upside down, he proffered his hand out towards the naga king.
"Fredric Bluewillow at your service," he announced. "How would you like to help take down those that have done this to us, those that would have you as a bargaining chip for your entire race?"
'Snaking' was about as appropriate a word as you could find for the grin that suddenly appeared across the mighty reptile's scaly face.
Grasping the offered hand, an unlikely alliance not seen since the dawn of time was suddenly forged, not only out of necessity, but out of a bond formed in the cold horror of sickening captivity they'd both shared.
"It's a pleasure... Vasuki. Now, let me introduce you to the rest of the dragons here, and then we can get down to the business of escape and of course... RETRIBUTION!"
Earth's surface. The Black Forest, Germany.
It had been an awfully long haul, but finally they'd arrived at their destination. Headlights dimmed, they skirted a half fallen tree and, avoiding the frozen puddles of ice, pulled into the specifically created clearing that awaited them. In the distance, some hundred or so metres away, they could just make out the moon's reflection trailing across the still water of lake Titisee, through the densely packed treeline.
During their last stop in an outlying part of Romania, the low loader that the temperature controlled, lead lined box surrounded by a carbon fibre and titanium monofilament wall, had previously been carried on, had been replaced by something far more sophisticated... a state of the art, brand new electric Mercedes truck, which had allowed them to enter this part of Germany relatively unnoticed. Tucked away deep in the Black Forest, with nobody around for many, many miles, the two crews left the comfort of their vehicles and stepped out into the icy wilderness, not hesitating in setting up camp. Huge, camouflaged tents were broken out, erected in almost an instant, with each of them knowing there was little time to waste. They'd been tasked with breaking into the mobile vault in an effort to retrieve its hidden valuables, and knew from the off that it wouldn't be easy, even with a limited amount of magic and supernatural power available to them. The Russians had seen to that. It was deemed easier to transport if they could break it out of its high tech vault, and given that they still had some way to go, each and every one of them hoped their efforts wouldn't be in vain, understanding in no small part just how much their lives were intertwined with the fate of the prized metal they were now supposed to expose.
28
Pipe Dream
Two brilliant, bright eyes poked out of the darkness, like stunning black diamonds atop a matt, black cloth. Intent only on studying the route before them, the eyes gave no clue as to who they belonged to, not now that she was shrouded in the cloak, the one the king kept hidden for his little excursions out of his private residence, something that should have been impossible, and always had far reaching implications.