Out of the Black - Lee Doty [107]
It was five minutes to the reboot and the two travelers rested after a particularly difficult engagement. They sat around a small fire in the dark emptiness of a ruined subterranean city, casually talking while they waited for their friends. Smack busied himself polishing the last of the blood from the etched runes of his enchanted blade, while Angel used a spell to reinforce the enchantments on her battered armor.
Not far outside the reach of the fire's light were the corpses of their most recent enemies. Nearer to the fire were three man-sized bundles, neatly wrapped in white silk. Their party had been culled by death from its initial five to only he and she. Since they were both sure that there is always life after death, there is no mourning or remorse as they watched over their fallen companions.
Over the past few months, they have drawn closer, their friendship deepening in ways that made them both comfortable and not. But then it's not always about comfort. Sometimes it's about discovery, perhaps even about hope. Sometimes it's about taking chances, and tonight Smack was ready to take one.
They kept the conversation light. No talk of the meaning of life, ethics, or politics- they were discussing Angel's day job.
"Brain surgery?" Smack laughed.
Angel shook her head, reveling in the story, "Yeah, but that ain't the funny part. It's the look in his bleary eyes. He's got this look like 'beat that cop!' It's like he's challengin' us to prove he don't just have a little piece of his brain missing."
"Ah, so he's immune to sobriety tests because he's disabled. I hope you weren't insensitive enough to insist."
"I'm afraid we were. He never took the test though. As he stepped out of the car, he tripped on the curb and fell flat."
"Not good!" Smack sheathes his blade. "So, did he?"
Angel lowered her flask. "Did he what?"
"Have brain surgery?"
"Nope, though I wouldn't rule out brain damage of some kind. My guess is his parents were cousins... though I'm not sure that qualifies as brain damage." She offered him the flask, but he waved it away with his own. "Anyway, he's completely insensate on the sidewalk and never so much as twitches a finger until the next morning in his cell. He woke up all hangover-cranky and wondering where he was."
Their laughter halted when an echoing scrape reached them from outside the light of their fire. Smack was gone in a flash. Ignoring the soreness in his muscles from their last battle, he plunged like a shark into shadow and danger. His bright sword was lost in the ruins outside the circle of firelight. Angel remained by the fire, staring into its depths- bait again.
With a hand beneath her cloak, she moved her fingers through the arcs that activated the spell of Sight. The spell flickered in her eyes, and the three intruders appeared before her mind's eye. They were approaching slowly, probably hoping to catch them off-guard.
She smiled, evil plans forming. With another hidden gesture, she made the pattern for Farspeak and whispered into the fire. "It's them. I think they're trying to get the drop on us. Lets have a bit of fun, babe."
Perhaps twenty meters away, crouching in the blackness, Angel's spell put her whispered words in Smack's ear. He was distracted by her use of the familiar term. It had to be unhealthy to feel this way about someone you've never really seen. 'Forbidden passion' sounded a lot less geeky than the reality of his feelings.
"Gotcha... babe." He whispered into the mystic channel between them. They both smiled.
"Ready, honeymuffin?" She said playfully.
"When you are, sugarbumps."
"They're to your right... poofakins. You take Lo Pan, I'll get the others."
"Poofakins?" he whispered, "That's just wrong. In position now, snugglebunny." He whispered, gripping his sword with both hands. On the other side of a partially fallen wall, he heard a boot scuff on the broken stone of the walkway.
He bent his knees, coiling before