IT was the third day, the last of the Keepers would be showing up and there was supposed to be some big banquet later that night. The day was pretty dull; after Vlad had coached her on using her Aurum Oculus, she had been meditating, slowly acclimatizing to them. Like he said, she couldn't force her eyes to work better, they were already perfect, she just needed to adapting to how they worked.
Ryan, on the other hand, trained tirelessly with a Draxonn, with his skill with the sword was gradually improving. He also took advantage of the 1st branch's vast collection of magikal knowledge to study up on elemental magik.
As the day drew to a close, everyone was getting ready for the banquet. Ryan and William wore expensive suits –courtesy of Vlad. Ryan got a black designer suit with a blood red button down shirt and black and red striped tie, now he just needed to figure out how to put the tie on.
"Damn tie." Ryan said as he struggled with the noose around his neck,
Then, the door opened, and Jasmine speaks "You clean up nice, Reins."
Ryan is about to give a snide remark when he sees them. Jasmine wore a teal dress that clung to her frame with a slit down one side up to her thigh and matching heals, her hair was braided and fell off her left shoulder and she wore red lipstick. Mac wore a red dress that stopped at the knees and had had her hair done up. Amanda wore a simple white gown with long white gloves and her hair was made Marylyn Monroe style.
"Wow." William said, "You all look nice."
"Yeah." Ryan said,
Jasmine walked up to Ryan, "Here, let me help you with that before you hang yourself," she took the two ends of the ties and tied it properly.
"Alright people." Stephanie said walking out in her own evening gown, it was a black backless gown that hugged her frame generously, with long sleeves and a small diamond-shaped chest window that hinted at her cleavage. "Time to go. Let's get this spectacle over with."
At their door was Vlad, who looked good in his tux, "Shall we?" he asked extending his hand
"Unfortunately," Stephanie said, taking it. "Ryan, be ready, this is probably going to suck for you most of all,"
"What? Why?" Ryan asked
"Because this is your official social debut as the legitimate heir to the Reins house," She explained, "and a lot of people are going to hate you for that."
"Again, why?"
"A lot of them were waiting for your family's extinction to become official, which would've taken another two or so years." Vlad explained, "By then, your family assets held by ARGUS would be up for grabs."
"Ugh, rich people suck," Mac sneered
"They do suck," Stephanie replied, "they're also manipulative, conniving, backstabbing bastards, so be on your guard."
The banquet was held at the Great Temple which sat at the top of the island. As they arrived, the steward announced them with excessive grandeur.
"Presenting the delegates from the 45th branch, Lady Stephanie Fairchylde of house Ozdottïr, accompanied by Master Matthias 'Ryan' Reins."
Eyes turned towards them as they approached. Whispers and gossip started flying behind their backs among the crowded hall.
Ryan noticed that overhead, adorning the walls of the hall were forty-seven ornate banners with different crests emblazoned on them in gold. His attention, however, focused on one particular crest set on a black banner;
} ]≥ {
Fierce is the Storm within our Blood
"The crest and maxim of the House of Reins," Stephanie said beside him, following his gaze,
"What does those words mean?" Ryan asked, "what even is that language its written in?"
"That's Atalani, a written lesser variant of High Atalan, not powerful but still posh; perfect for the noble houses." She said, "The direct translation reads 'fierce is the storm within our blood', though that last word can mean both blood and family."
"That's cool, I guess," Ryan shrugged, his eyes scanning over the crowd, "also, a lot of people here have been giving us dirty looks,"
"Well, like I said, there are a lot of people who had their eyes on your family's secrets," Stephanie said, "More than a few of them might try to exploit you from now on, so be particularly wary of the women; some of these bitches can be scary."
"Mac was right; rich people do suck." Ryan groaned
"Tell me about it." Stephanie sighed
As the mingling went on, Ryan saw a few unfriendly faces, evaded a clear attempt at a honey trap, and was somehow drawn into a discussion on magus politics. At one point, Stephanie and her group came across the Keeper of the forty-sixth, Sebastian Michaels, and some of his lackeys.
"Sexist prick, two O' Clock." Ryan heard Jasmine mutter under her breath.
"Who's he?" Mac asked
"Guy was quite the jackass," Ryan replied
"Ryan, Jasmine," Stephanie chided, "It's not proper form to disrespect a Keeper in a formal gathering such as this. No matter how much of a sexist prick the jackass really is."
"Who's he?" Ryan asked gesturing to a middle-aged man with scarred, weathered skin. He wore an eye-patch over his right eye and walked with a customized black cane.
"That's Walf Crowley. He's the keeper of Sanctum 0."
"There's a Sanctum 0?"
"It's a special division, separate from the rest of ARGUS," Stephanie explained, "Set up by the Elders for internal security, they operate under very little oversight."
"Elders, those are the guys above the nobles right?" Ryan asked, "the ones who made the treaty in the first place, they're here too?"
"Don't worry about the Elders," Vlad said, "they don't do much, and you'll likely never have to meet them in your life if you're lucky."
"That makes me feel so much better," Ryan said dryly as he stared at Crowley,
The elderly man looked over at Ryan and his face was dead serious, he looked like he knew exactly what Ryan was thinking, [creepy].
As Ryan, Jasmine and Mac walked towards their designated table, they ran into a friend.
Kana walked up to them, wearing a flowing white gown. Behind her were two bodyguards, "Olleh sdneirf. Ti si ecin ot ees uoy niaga."
"Kana?" Ryan said, "what are you doing here?"
Before she could reply, one of her guards interrupted, "Ma'am, your grandfather is asking for you. We shouldn't keep the Keeper king waiting."
She sighed, "Yrros, I evah ot og. Od evah nuf."
As she walked away, they stared in disbelief, "She's Kanallia St. Klaus, adopted granddaughter of the Keeper king?" Jasmine said, she then whacked Ryan on the arm, "You couldn't have picked some other girl to hit on? Of all the girls in this entire freakin' city, it had to be her."
"What's the big deal?" Ryan said rubbing his arm
"She's a child of ARGUS, a ward of the Keeper King," Jasmine explained, "which makes sense since she can speak fluent High Atalan."
"Yeah, even I've heard of her." Mac added, "I've heard that she has her own security squad assigned to protect her."
"I think you guys are overreacting a tad." Ryan said, "Now c'mon, we have a table to get to."
Now welcoming the esteemed Keeper king, King Havran St. Klaus! A POD announced, Keeper of High V'hax and Lord Sovereign over all of ARGUS.
They applauded as the Keeper king took the stage to give the opening address. He was a large man, tall and muscular, with a fierce mane of gray hair and a magnificent beard. He had round spectacles balanced on his nose and had a battle scar over the right side of his face. He looked like a badass Santa Claus, then Ryan realized that he might actually be Santa Claus with a name like 'St. Klaus'.
Hovering at his side was an ornate cane with an eagle figurehead. He wore an expensive red suit that looked like it belonged in a fashion magazine, over that was the most ornate Keeper's coat Ryan had ever seen, pure white and gold lined with medals pinned to the chest. He stood with such authority and presence, that he made you want to follow him. He emanated power, but his eyes showed the warmth of a caring grandfather.
He cleared his through and then spoke with friendliness, even without a microphone his voice carried across the cavernous banquet hall.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to welcome you all to tonight's Keepers' Banquet. This is just my way of welcoming you to our fair city, so eat, drink and enjoy yourselves, and maybe we'll all forget that we have work to do tomorrow." He waited for the light laughter to die down, "Please enjoy your evening."
After that, waiters and waitresses brought refreshments. After having a few glasses of sparkling apple cider, Ryan went to the balcony, where he could, for the moment, escape the party. He'd been hearing him again; Drake had crawled his way out of the pit of Ryan's subconscious and kept whispering into his ear, so he needed fresh air.
As Ryan contemplated his conundrum in solitude, he was joined on the balcony.
"Yam I nioj uoy?" Kana asked
"Uhhhh…?" Ryan said, he still couldn't understand her. He pulled out his wand from his jacket and switched on the universal translator, "You were saying?"
She cleared her throat, "I… was asking; may I join you?"
"Oh, sure." He said, setting the wand on the railing "I mean, you are the Keeper kings' granddaughter, you can do whatever you want."
"No, I cannot." she sighed as she rested her elbows on the railing beside him, "Did you know that the old man is almost three hundred years old now?"
"No kidding?" Ryan stated, genuinely shocked, the man looked in his early sixties at the oldest. Magus longevity was no joke.
"Yeah, I was six when I first met him, this giant of a man." she said reminiscing, "He came for me because I could speak this ancient language, and I never saw my parents again. He let me call him 'grandfather', and he treats me as if I were his family, but I have never felt at home here… I am like a prisoner, and this city is a gilded cage."
"That… I can't even imagine feeling like that," Ryan sympathized. "it sounds incredibly lonely."
"Not any more difficult than being the last living heir to a powerful family," she said smirking at him
"Yeah," Ryan chuckled, "but I have the excuse of ignorance,"
"Not for long, everyone is going to start seeing you differently, defining you by your family name and your title. The people I meet have their minds set on me when they hear the title princess."
"I kind of know that feeling already," Ryan said
"That was why I was so interested in you, even now that you know I am a princess, you still do not care. You are the first person to treat me like a normal person and not some spoiled naive coddled child since my own parents," she said, "and you have my thanks for that."
"Well I don't think you're spoilt." Ryan said, "not any more than the other princesses I know,"
"Oh, you have met other princesses have you?" she asked
"Yeah, princess Leia from Star Wars, princess Diana, and who can forget all those Disney princesses?" Ryan joked
Kana looked at him for a moment, then burst out laughing, Ryan joined her in laughter, then, when he faced her again, she held his face and then kissed him.
He was so shocked by what happened that he knocked his wand off and it fell from the balcony, bounced off some trees and rocks and plunged into the river, before going over the waterfall and finally disappearing.
"Gah! my wand." Ryan exclaimed looking over the balcony
Kana turned to face someone behind them, "Jasmine, I did… ton wonk uoy erew ereh."
Ryan turned around to see Jasmine just standing there, staring at them.
"Jasmine, I…" Ryan said
"Kana, can I speak to Ryan alone?"
Kana looked apologetically at Ryan, before hurrying back to the party, leaving just Jasmine and Ryan
"Now, I know what you're going to say—" Ryan started
"You idiot," Jasmine snapped
"See, I knew you were going to say that." Ryan said "But she kissed me not the other way around. I was the kissee, not the kisser."
"Oh, and I suppose that makes it all better?"
"You think I wanted that?" Ryan retorted, "she came onto me. Even when I don't want it, I put people at risk; her, Lynda… Christie, people who get mixed up with me don't fare very well. I'm like the sun, and we all know what happens to Icarus when he got too close."
Jasmine was taken aback, did Ryan really think that? Had he been feeling this way since Christie died?
Before she could say anything, Mac came out, "Guys, Stephanie is looking for you."
Jasmine looked at Ryan as she went back, her eyes made it clear that their discussion wasn't over.
"Ryan," Mac asked, "Aren't you coming?"
"Not yet," he replied, exhaling loudly, "I need some time alone."
"Okay?" Mac said unsure, before leaving him in solitude once more
… )]≥( …
The next day, all pleasantries were dropped. They were there to deal in cold hard facts. As Ryan left with Stephanie and her detail, he saw Kana briefly at the lobby. She smiled at him but Jasmine's presence seemed to discourage her from anything else.
A car was waiting for them outside and took them to the Great Hall, which was a massive domed building at the center of the city with bridges and roads converging there. The ARGUS emblem was carved onto the outer walls at different intervals and there were sentries and guardians patrolling with watchdogs as well as state-of-the-art surveillance and security systems [You'd have an easier time breaking into the white house].
The Great Hall was guarded by a whole company of guardian Pawns, mass produced, physically augmented homunculi that were conditioned to be the perfect soldiers. They even had loyalty circuits ingrained in their brains to make them absolutely obedient and committed to their masters. All unneeded emotions like empathy, doubt, and fear, were suppressed with the brutally efficient programming method that made them into the perfect tools, dedicated to accomplishing their duty.
These were all dressed in thick long coats and bucket helmets, and were armed with a long halberd. They stood silent and motionless at their posts like statues, but were able to react with greater speed and precision than most magi, despite technically not having magik themselves. Ryan had never seen Pawns before coming to High V'hax, Stephanie had apparently banned their use at the 45th sanctum, believing that her rangers were better security than these 'empty men'.
William and Amanda were to be Stephanie's formal escorts and follow her into the summit room and were both wearing their ranger cowls that covered their torso, along with body armor and their utility belts. Jasmine and Ryan were part of a secondary team, dressed in normal clothes to blend in, and Mac… Mac was just there, for some reason.
As Stephanie had told them, once all the Keepers and their escorts were in the summit chamber, the doors were sealed with powerful binding magik.
Mac and Ryan went to go and get a snack from the food court [yes, the place is so big it has its own food court] which left Jasmine waiting.
After getting a snack called zuasch [some sort of deep fried pastry with some sort of spicy sausage stuffed with some sort of cheese in a sort of roll. It was some sort of delicious.] from a vendor, Ryan went and stood by a window, gazing down at the thick cloud layer, lost in thought.
"Ryan," Jasmine said, "What's on your mind?"
"I was just thinking; I bet my wand is somewhere down there."
"There is no down there," Jasmine informed, "this is the precipice, your wand could literally be anywhere by now. You should just get a replacement."
"But it won't be the same."
"Ryan, about last night…"
"Jasmine, you don't have to say anything; it was a mistake. I was just trying to be nice to her and I guess she took it the wrong way."
"Not that, I meant about what you said. Ryan, do you really think that about yourself?" Jasmine asked concerned,
Ryan didn't answer; he looked deeper into the cloud as he could make out a shape.
"Ryan, don't ignore me," Jasmine sighed, "it's just childish,"
"Just a minute." Ryan said, looking out the window.
Far off, he could see something shimmering, but it was difficult to make out because it was a similar gray as the clouds of the precipice. Then as it got closer, he saw it, a small and compact craft, like a fighter jet, its gray body was shimmering as it flew closer. With wide eyes, Ryan realized it was speeding right for them.
"GET DOWN!" Ryan yelled tackling Jasmine to the floor and shielding them with wind magik as the craft sped past, then the muffled sound of its missiles could be heard getting louder.
The explosion came a seconds later, tearing into the side of the building and sending debris and unsuspecting bystanders flying. The first impact was followed by a second and a third as several other crafts of similar origin zoomed by, leaving carnage and destruction in their wake.
When the ringing in his ears stopped Ryan raises his head. Dust and smoke filled the air, he could hear screams coming from several sources, but they sounded miles away. Dazed, Ryan realized he was still on top of Jasmine and when he looked down at her, he became conscious of the fact that his hand was firmly grasped on her breast. Getting off her, he helped her to her feet, they were protected from the brunt of the attack, but they still mildly bruised and she had a wound on her left temple. Looking around, they quickly got apprised of the situation; wounded and dead lay strewn across the chaotic zone, blood, fallen rubble and crushed debris also filled the area. Security were looking for survivors and trying to evacuate them.
Looking out the gaping hole that was now where the observation windows used to be an even direr situation was unfolding before them.
"My god," Jasmine gaped,
There were a dozen small crafts similar to the ones that had attacked them, flying through the air, firing on the city.
Jasmine and Ryan found Mac passed-out amid the chaos, an iron rod was protruding from her right shoulder and she was bleeding from several lacerations, but she was still breathing, the person that was next to her was not so lucky. Gingerly, Ryan pulled the iron rod from her shoulder and picked her up,
"We need to get her out of here,"
They made their way towards an emergency muster point, at the entrance hall, where they can see giant guardians and sentries engaging in battle with the enemy forces… or at least trying too, the shimmering hulls of the enemy crafts made them difficult to pin down.
So far, the enemy crafts only seemed to be circling the Great Hall, firing around the hall.
"What do we do?" Ryan asked
"I don't know," Jasmine replied, "but we need to take out those crafts."
"Do you think you could do it?" Ryan asked her
"If I had a clear shot I could," Jasmine replied, with her eyes glowing
"Alright, I'm going to get you your clear shot," Ryan said, handing Mac over to her
"Wait, what?" Jasmine asked, just as Ryan took off, running out of the Great Hall with Draxonn in his hand
… )]≥( …
Although he didn't say it, deep down, Ryan had this strange suspicion that these enemy crafts were after him. The 1st Sanctum's attacked for the first time ever on his very first visit [coincidence? I think not. I know, I know, there are probably a dozen other reasons for an attack, but it's my story dammit!].
Ryan's theory seemed to hold some truth though, as when he ran, although they still continued firing, they miraculously avoided hitting anywhere near him.
As the crafts went out of their way to avoid gunning Ryan down, they made their movements more predictable and one of the security torrent was able to down one of the crafts. Unfortunately, the hit craft was on a collision course with Ryan.
Ryan ran as fast as his adrenalin could take him, making his way to one of the suspension bridges that connected one section to another, the craft crashed behind him, flinging him forwards farther onto the bridge.
Thankfully, Ryan had used wind magik to buffer himself earlier, but he was not out of the woods yet, as the crashed craft had damaged that side of the bridges support, so the bridge was losing stability fast.
As the suspension cables started snapping, Ryan sprinted towards the other side of the bridge. He was nearing the other landing when he felt the bridge give out under his feet, as it collapsed, he poured all his power into his leg muscles and leapt forward with all his might, almost making it to safety, if not for the shockwave from a stray explosion that struck a building by the bridge plowing into him and reversed his momentum.
"Oh fu-," Ryan cursed, but before he could finish, stray debris from the explosion smashed into his head, rendering him unconscious as he plummeted far below the city before being swept up by the swirling clouds of the precipice.
… )]≥( …
Jasmine was under no delusions of her chances against these enemy crafts, she had joined up with security to try and fend off the crafts. She had even sniped at one with an explosive arrow, but it retaliated by firing at her location, and its weapons were bigger. She had dropped Mac off at a hastily assembled casualty collection point to get emergency first aid.
She was wandering how much longer she would have to wait here before she could go track down where that idiot had gone off to, when a noise attracted her attention.
She looks up and saw that reinforcements had arrived. Normally, warbirds are not allowed to fly within the city limits, so up until that point, the enemy forces had aerial superiority. Now though, they were being pushed back by a fleet of ARGUS warbirds and attack guardians, their heavier guns doing much more damage than the security turrets.
As it looked like the battle was turning in their favor. She ran from her cover, following the path she saw Ryan take until she came across a downed enemy craft. Evidently it looked like it was brought down by a lucky shot, so Jasmine approached the craft cautiously. Upon first inspection, she didn't see any identifying marks on the craft, the hull had lost its shimmering property and reverted to a dull black. With no signs of threat, she went in to investigate further. Opening the hatch into the cockpit pod, she finds it empty, except for a slimy green residue all over the seat and controls.
"Weird," Jasmine said, as she examines the inside of the craft, the goo smelled like burnt batteries and was sizzling and Jasmine recognized it as blank residue. Someone was in here… well, almost someone.
She decides to leave it for the city security and exits the pod, immediately getting herself arrested.
A team of Pawns had arrived to secure the area and just happened to spot her exiting the craft and assumed that she was one of the attackers. They would've probably killed her had they not been instructed to capture any enemies alive.
"I'm not the enemy," Jasmine said as she is slammed against a wall and her hands cuffed behind her back, "My name is Jasmine Sumner, I'm a Proctor with the forty-fifth Sanctum, I need to check in with my Keeper."
"Where are your credentials?" the guard in charge of this unit demanded, as he started patting her down.
"¡Oye, no seas tan manitas!" Jasmine snapped, "I lost it in the explosion. I was a little bit on fire at the time, and having my ID on me wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind."
"Right," the guard said sarcastically, "I swear it's always something with you wannabes, wanting to play at being ARGUS agents even in a crisis."
"I'm telling the truth, go to the Great Hall, ask for Keeper Stephanie Fairchylde, she'll vouch for me."
"Save your breath." He scoffed, "they'll sort you out at lockup."
And with that Jasmine was carried her off by the pawns.
… )]≥( …
The day had not gone the way Stephanie had planned at all. She has been sitting in her booth, tuning out the unnecessarily long welcoming address and opening ceremony given by one of the other Keepers, and contemplating whether or not she could leave a blank duplicate while she went off to explore the city. Suddenly, the entire chamber shook and dust rained down as the sound of muffled explosions rang from all over. Alarms started blaring,
"What is the meaning of this?" one Keeper said
"It sounds like we are under attack." Another Keeper said
"Impossible, the 1st Sanctum is heavily protected, no one has been able to launch an attack on this city since the Great War." Another said
As the Keepers started squabbling, order was restored when the Keeper king stamped his mighty cane on the ground, thundering the chamber, "Silence! This is a sacred place of discourse. I and all the other Kings before me will not stand for this bickering."
The way he spoke, the authority in his voice, his dominating presence, these were some of the reasons why she admired him so.
"I will get to the bottom of this," he said, then, from the roof, a cube the size of a van descended, on its different faces were projected surveillance footage from outside.
"We are under attack!" one Keeper said
The unease quickly swept over the other keepers, turning them against each other at the drop of a hat.
It was unnaturally infectious. Stephanie knew this. She was in a room among men and women so skilled and experienced they were trusted to oversee entire zones spanning swathes of territory, and they were fighting like scared children. Something was not right.
Then, Crowley spoke, "Keepers, stay your fears. Within this room are the most powerful individuals in the worlds, individually we have conquered daemons and worse, together, we are unstoppable.
"Crowley is right," King Havran said, "We need to rally."
"I think we should—" Crowley started, then Stephanie spoke up
"First we should shut off that damned siren," Stephanie said, it was making it impossible for her to think. She looked up at the surveillance cube, "That is troubling, true, but it is not what I would call a crisis. Outside these walls are the best that ARGUS has to offer, our comrades and subordinates are out there fighting to protect this city. Let's get out there and show these invaders why we earned the title Keeper."
Her words seemed to cure the Keepers one-by-one of their unease.
"Yes, Keeper Fairchylde." King Havran said, "Brave words. Let's get out there and 'bust some skulls', as the kids say."
"Thank you, my king." Stephanie said trying to comport herself, but inside, she was as giddy as a schoolgirl.
After they undid the sealing formula and open the doors, the Keepers flooded out ready to take action; they dispersed, contacting their surviving escorts to get appraised of the situation then they went to work. Some Keepers took charge from the command stations; some Keepers organized ground response and guardian controllers. Stephanie found herself by a balcony with a platoon of guards facing down a group of enemy crafts.
Deciding to help, Stephanie rolled up her sleeves and revealed her arms were completely covered in sleeve tattoos. Complex magik glyph formula had been engraved onto her skin –from her shoulders down to her fingertips— specially designed and drawn by her late sister in her own blood; earth-type on her right arm, flame-type on her left arm. As her magik channeled down her arms, the glyphs lit up, glowing against her skin and ready to unleash their power.
She slammed her fist into the wall beside her,
Advanced Arts. Molten-Forge style; Dragon Rage Cannons!
A surge of power pulsed from her arms into the wall, spreading to the whole structure around her, that concrete then started to heat up and turn to slag, from that slag, giant cannons formed, they were shaped like dragon skulls with complex mechanisms and barrels coming out of the jaws and an angry red glow coming from within the eye sockets and barrels. The cannons radiated immense heat as they aimed themselves at the enemy crafts before releasing salvos of flaming projectiles at the crafts, shredding them on impact.
This was Stephanie's specialty; the molten-forge style, an advanced art unique only to her that combined high level advanced earth and flame type magik to create and manipulate magik metallurgy. It was the reason she earned the title, 'Lady Vulcana'.
Soon after the Keepers got into the fray, the enemy began its retreat under fire.
As Stephanie made her way back to the Main hall, Amanda and William were with her, but she had no idea where Ryan, Jasmine, or Mac were, if they were even still alive. Pushing that morbid thought from her mind, Stephanie went on the hunt for her missing escorts. First she managed to track down Mac at the casualty collection point; she was recovering from some serious injuries, but was conscious. She was eventually called by the city guard, who had been holding Jasmine, for impersonating ARGUS personnel. The poor guard who had arrested her went white as a sheet when Stephanie showed up demanding for her immediate release.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Jasmine asked Mac for the third time.
"Yes, I'll be fine, I just need a couple of minutes." Mac said, her head was covered in bandages and was still weak from the blood loss, "Hard to focus on healing yourself when you have a concussion."
"So where's Ryan?" Stephanie asked, "Knowing him, he's probably in some sort of trouble."
"I don't know." Jasmine said, "He said that he had a plan and ran off, I haven't seen him since."
"Jasmine, find my nephew, please." Stephanie ordered
"Right away," Jasmine said.
She closed her eyes and focused, releasing magik energy in waves, not only enhancing her senses but also allowing her to pick up on fading magikal residue. With her high sensitivity to magik, she should be able to pick up any magikal energy used within her vicinity. Her training with the Aurum Oculus also allowed her to widen her reach, in minutes, she had scanned everywhere within several blocks of her current location. She found a lot, but was able to isolate Ryan's magik signature. Following the trail, she mapped out Ryan's movements, right up to a collapsed bridge.
She opened her eyes, "you have got to be kidding me," she sighed, "of course it'll only happen to him,"
"What? What happened?" Stephanie asked
"Ryan was knocked off a bridge."
"So where is he now?" Stephanie demanded, "is he injured?"
"He should be fine," Jasmine said, "that jacket of his can take a hit. The problem is where he went,"
"Jasmine, this isn't the damn time to keep me in suspense," Stephanie snapped, "Where has that boy gone?"
"Out there." she said with all seriousness, pointing out into the swirling void of the Precipice.
"Dammit," Stephanie cursed,