a sad look. She reached over and patted my hand. "I'm sorry, babe. I know how much it means to you."
"I'm even gonna miss out on the bachelor party."
Her sympathetic expression faded. "Oh, really? What, pray tell, did you have in mind for him?"
I shrugged. "Cinder was planning it."
"Cinder?" A full-blown snort erupted. "Please tell me you're kidding. How would an emotionally challenged golem know what to plan for a bachelor party?"
"Adam and Ryland were helping him, I think." My voice sounded a bit defensive, but she was right. Cinder might be a sentient golem that looked human, but he didn't have a handle on emotions just yet. "It's not like we planned to go to a strip club or anything."
"If Ryland is helping him plan, you'll probably end up at a shifter strip club."
I wrinkled my nose. "You mean, lycans and felycans stripping?"
"You haven't seen anything until you've seen a naked woman with a wolf head."
I shuddered. "Eww, are you serious? Have you actually seen that before?"
Elyssa finished peeling her glurk and regarded me with a serious arch of her eyebrow. "Babe, I'm a Templar. I've seen it all."
"I can only imagine." I popped a quinto in my mouth and savored the sour bite. "I've witnessed a lot of awful stuff, but I've rarely seen the seedy underbelly of the Overworld."
"Maybe when this is over I'll give you the grand tour." She winked and took a sip of juice.
"When this is all over," I muttered. "It's never all over. There's always another bad guy climbing out of a toilet to rain poop on our parade."
"Despite the crystoid-induced tsunami, I still enjoyed our time in Thailand," Elyssa said. "Cephus might think he's a badass, but we've been through worse."
"Except it's not just Cephus," I said. "Frankenberg said Serena is involved, and you know how shifty she can be."
"I can be shifty too." Elyssa spooned glurk paste in her mouth. "And you also have that aether pack so you can use your abilities."
"True." I didn't know how much power it held, but it was better than nothing.
Elyssa recalled everyone after lunch for status updates. Nailan reported that his people had finished placing the crucibles and the route to the western crystoid had been scouted.
Elyssa's comment during brunch about the aether pack had given me food for thought, so once everyone finished their status reports, I brought up an idea I expected to get shot down immediately. "We have three aether packs," I said. "That means three of us with magic versus any of their fliers and ground troops who remain behind to guard the crystoid during the diversion. I think we should track down another of their patrols and steal their aether packs. Not only is that fewer soldiers we have to worry about, but more magic for us."
"How large are their patrols?" Elyssa asked.
Nailan responded. "They usually fly in packs of four."
"Justin has aether," Flava said. "He could surely bring a squad of fliers to their knees."
Elyssa tapped a finger to her chin. "Four more with aether on our side would be a big help."
It took a moment for me to realize they were seriously considering my proposal. "My idea is pretty straightforward," I said. "So long as their patrols aren't larger than four or five, we can easily handle them."
Elyssa checked the time. "We have ten hours before mission go. That means seven hours before we need to report back here and move into position."
"Plenty of time for what we need to do." Flava looked at me. "What is your plan?"
"Just walk around until a flier squad finds us," I said.
"We'll need an ambush," Elyssa said. "Nailan, can you show me some good places to do that?"
The seraph nodded. "Of course."
With our simple plan fleshed out, our small group set off to the northeast. Lanaeia wore one of the three aether packs. Flava and I wore the other two.
The scout leader vanished ahead into the empty streets for minutes at a time, reappearing to let us know what lay ahead, and scaring the crap out of me each time he
"I'm even gonna miss out on the bachelor party."
Her sympathetic expression faded. "Oh, really? What, pray tell, did you have in mind for him?"
I shrugged. "Cinder was planning it."
"Cinder?" A full-blown snort erupted. "Please tell me you're kidding. How would an emotionally challenged golem know what to plan for a bachelor party?"
"Adam and Ryland were helping him, I think." My voice sounded a bit defensive, but she was right. Cinder might be a sentient golem that looked human, but he didn't have a handle on emotions just yet. "It's not like we planned to go to a strip club or anything."
"If Ryland is helping him plan, you'll probably end up at a shifter strip club."
I wrinkled my nose. "You mean, lycans and felycans stripping?"
"You haven't seen anything until you've seen a naked woman with a wolf head."
I shuddered. "Eww, are you serious? Have you actually seen that before?"
Elyssa finished peeling her glurk and regarded me with a serious arch of her eyebrow. "Babe, I'm a Templar. I've seen it all."
"I can only imagine." I popped a quinto in my mouth and savored the sour bite. "I've witnessed a lot of awful stuff, but I've rarely seen the seedy underbelly of the Overworld."
"Maybe when this is over I'll give you the grand tour." She winked and took a sip of juice.
"When this is all over," I muttered. "It's never all over. There's always another bad guy climbing out of a toilet to rain poop on our parade."
"Despite the crystoid-induced tsunami, I still enjoyed our time in Thailand," Elyssa said. "Cephus might think he's a badass, but we've been through worse."
"Except it's not just Cephus," I said. "Frankenberg said Serena is involved, and you know how shifty she can be."
"I can be shifty too." Elyssa spooned glurk paste in her mouth. "And you also have that aether pack so you can use your abilities."
"True." I didn't know how much power it held, but it was better than nothing.
Elyssa recalled everyone after lunch for status updates. Nailan reported that his people had finished placing the crucibles and the route to the western crystoid had been scouted.
Elyssa's comment during brunch about the aether pack had given me food for thought, so once everyone finished their status reports, I brought up an idea I expected to get shot down immediately. "We have three aether packs," I said. "That means three of us with magic versus any of their fliers and ground troops who remain behind to guard the crystoid during the diversion. I think we should track down another of their patrols and steal their aether packs. Not only is that fewer soldiers we have to worry about, but more magic for us."
"How large are their patrols?" Elyssa asked.
Nailan responded. "They usually fly in packs of four."
"Justin has aether," Flava said. "He could surely bring a squad of fliers to their knees."
Elyssa tapped a finger to her chin. "Four more with aether on our side would be a big help."
It took a moment for me to realize they were seriously considering my proposal. "My idea is pretty straightforward," I said. "So long as their patrols aren't larger than four or five, we can easily handle them."
Elyssa checked the time. "We have ten hours before mission go. That means seven hours before we need to report back here and move into position."
"Plenty of time for what we need to do." Flava looked at me. "What is your plan?"
"Just walk around until a flier squad finds us," I said.
"We'll need an ambush," Elyssa said. "Nailan, can you show me some good places to do that?"
The seraph nodded. "Of course."
With our simple plan fleshed out, our small group set off to the northeast. Lanaeia wore one of the three aether packs. Flava and I wore the other two.
The scout leader vanished ahead into the empty streets for minutes at a time, reappearing to let us know what lay ahead, and scaring the crap out of me each time he
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