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"writing": "Warning: Occasional acts of violence, threats of violence, some profanity, and dragon fights. If you have made it this far, then you've made it past the point of no return.\n\nSo strap in and enjoy.\n\n-Vet\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n[b][center]Ch. 12 – A Ruined Path[/center][/b]\n\nThere was no gentle light at the very end.\n\nAs she followed the trail into the woods, Zikee resisted the urge to ever look back. To ever let the doubts overtake her. To hesitate. Staring ahead, she kept her mind squarely on that same image, purging all others from her brain.\n\nNow wasn’t the time for regrets. Now wasn’t the time to be worrying for anyone. There was only the blood that stained her hands. There was only the debt that the Silver Dragon owed her.\n\n“Vivica!” Zikee called out to the forests.\n\nHer response was a distant scattering of birds, but little else. \n\n“Vivica! Reveal yourself!”\n\nStill no response. \n\nZikee moved through the elder’s camp, finding it empty save for a fox rummaging through her belongings. It eyed Zikee a moment before darting off, disappearing into a nearby shrub. She didn’t chase it. Her attention instead fell on a note she spotted pinned to a leafless tree nearby.\n\n[center][b][i]Goodbye[/i][/b][/center]\n\nZikee tore it off.\n\nThe handwriting looked neat rather than hastily written. In fact, when she flipped to the other side, she found a delicately written set of coordinates. She pulled out her map, easily finding the location. Just what was Vivica planning?\n\nSeeing how untouched the camp was, she could have mistaken this as a kidnapping. But that wouldn’t explain the note. That wouldn’t explain why the coordinates were pointing to Breeding Facility X-10, a spot that the guilds should have already cleared out. Where she’d first encountered Ty.\n\nWhy would Vivica leave a note pointing there of all places? Zikee shoved the paper in her pocket, deciding to retrace her steps back to the lab. \n\nVivica was her greatest lead to the Silver Dragon at the moment. She had said they’d both been after the same prey. And now Qui Valentina was dead. But the Silver Dragon had yet to show his face. She had to know why. And the fact that Vivica would choose now of all times to disappear only made Zikee more assured in her reasoning.\n\nWhen Zikee finally reached the cave that marked X-10, she had her ears open for any signs of danger. What she hadn’t expected was to be assaulted by the scent of blood filling the air and drowning out all others. Zikee drew her sword, magic igniting as she listened for whoever was still inside. She was deep in the woods away from civilian life in a place quarantined by the guild. The lab should have been empty.\n\n“Vivica?” she called out inside.\n\nThere was no response. Not even a shuffling of feet within.\n\n“Vivica?” she asked even louder. When she got no response, her gaze hardened. “Silver?”\nStill no response. She cautiously stepped inside.\n\n[center]***[/center]\n\nThe smell of blood only grew as she found the wreckage of the lab from when she and Andiz had last given it a visit. \n\nShe’d been thorough in her destruction, leaving no stone unturned to gather the clues she needed. In her eyes, the Silver Dragon was only one step away. One interrogation. One elusive clue. She’d been so impatient back then, though as she thought about it, Zikee realized she hadn’t changed as much at all.\n\nThe savage woman who’d destroyed the lab was the same woman who’d killed Valentina. Who’d threatened Vivica. Who made Andiz cry. Looking over the ruins of the lab, Zikee remembered most of the damage she’d caused. Yet there were some parts she recognized as new.\n\nAlong the ground, she found indentations like claw marks. The lights were flickering overhead, some hanging more damaged than others. There was a hole in the ceiling allowing sunlight to spill in, a few crows cawing at her as she moved past their makeshift perch.\n\n“Vivica?” she asked more to herself than anyone. From the lab’s damage to the blood on the wind, it was doubtful there would be any survivors still around.\n\nMoving deeper into the lab, Zikee’s gaze fell upon a familiar-looking walkway. It was split in half and barely hanging on by its metallic threads. Zikee ran a hand over the broken railing, remembering how she’d thrown a man off it and nearly to his demise.\n\nAndiz chastised her at the time for being so rough.\n\n[i]Dammit.[/i]\n\nZikee pulled herself away, leaping the gorge with little effort.\n\nAs she ventured deeper and deeper, she found herself in the chambers where captives once resided. They’d been gone when she arrived before and they were still gone this time as well. Yet Zikee did remember the glass cylinders being intact. \n\nGiven they’d had no use for dragon parts, she’d left the many eyeballs, wings, and pieces of flesh for the guilds to collect as they saw fit. So when she looked around the room and saw broken containers full of empty air, she assumed it had been their doing. That was, until she saw the liquid stains along the ground. \n\nThey were still damp to the touch.\n\n“Vivica!” she called once again. “Silver!”\n\nNo response, but the bloody smell was getting stronger. \n\nZikee was about to call out again when an even more powerful scent assaulted her nostrils, nearly making the giant of a warrior gag as a reflex. It was an unforgettable stench. The smell of decay. Zikee ripped off the bottom of her shirt to make a mask for herself, tying it just over her mouth and nose.\n\n“Vivica. What have you done?”\n\nHer voice was barely above a whisper.\n\nThe lights stopped flickering, a pristinely lit hallway beckoning Zikee forward. She could see no further claw marks. Nor were there signs of her rampage. There was only a long-tiled floor and a steady trail of dried blood moving ahead.\n\nZikee stopped calling out to the lab.\n\nIt was a strange feeling, knowing you were walking into another person’s trap. Zikee could think of no other reason for what she saw. Her sword lowered, eyes instead staring blankly ahead as she reached the end of the bloody path.\n\nWithin the confines of a small office space, she found where the smells had been coming from. Sitting around a thick metallic table, she counted four humans with deep gashes running across their bodies. Pieces of flesh missing. Torn out, from the looks of it. Zikee stepped further in, noting that there was a fifth body lying flat at the center of the table. There was still heat resonating off her scales.\n\n“You damn fool,” Zikee whispered, staring down at the body of her elder contact.\n\nShe was without a head. Worse, Zikee could see from the scattered pieces along the walls that Vivica hadn’t gone out quietly. She doubted it had been a kind death for the dragon she’d grown to respect.\n\n“You poor damn fool.”\n\nZikee sheathed her sword, giving the woman a long look.\n\nThat’s when she noticed what was curled around her fingers. Zikee’s eyes flashed with recognition, though she was hesitant to reach out. She wondered if this was what the elder had died for.\n\nCuriosity won out in the end. Zikee pulled Vivica’s hands loose enough so she could snatch away her prize, her breath heavy as she expected some sort of trap. But nothing happened. She looked down at what Vivica had been protecting from beyond the grave.\n\nA small folded note. She opened it with cautious hands.\n\n[center][i]It was the only way.[/i][/center]\n\nZikee stared at the handwriting. \n\nThe style was vastly different than the note on the tree. In fact, when she pulled it out, she could see just how distinct the two truly were. It wasn’t the writing of the deceased elder. So then, why had Vivica been protecting it? Why die for such a measly message?\n\nWhen Zikee turned the newer paper over, she felt a cold chill run up her spine. Her gaze locked on the words as she realized all at once the truth of the matter. That Vivica had not simply gone through this trouble to protect important information.\n\nShe was a messenger. Zikee felt her breath rise as she stared at the neatly written words.\n\n[center][i]Look out for Andy.[/i][/center]\n\nThe note dropped from her hands as she sprinted for the exit.", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Warning: Occasional acts of violence, threats of violence, some profanity, and dragon fights. If you have made it this far, then you've made it past the point of no return.

So strap in and enjoy.

-Vet
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ch. 12 – A Ruined Path


There was no gentle light at the very end.

As she followed the trail into the woods, Zikee resisted the urge to ever look back. To ever let the doubts overtake her. To hesitate. Staring ahead, she kept her mind squarely on that same image, purging all others from her brain.

Now wasn’t the time for regrets. Now wasn’t the time to be worrying for anyone. There was only the blood that stained her hands. There was only the debt that the Silver Dragon owed her.

“Vivica!” Zikee called out to the forests.

Her response was a distant scattering of birds, but little else.

“Vivica! Reveal yourself!”

Still no response.

Zikee moved through the elder’s camp, finding it empty save for a fox rummaging through her belongings. It eyed Zikee a moment before darting off, disappearing into a nearby shrub. She didn’t chase it. Her attention instead fell on a note she spotted pinned to a leafless tree nearby.

Goodbye


Zikee tore it off.

The handwriting looked neat rather than hastily written. In fact, when she flipped to the other side, she found a delicately written set of coordinates. She pulled out her map, easily finding the location. Just what was Vivica planning?

Seeing how untouched the camp was, she could have mistaken this as a kidnapping. But that wouldn’t explain the note. That wouldn’t explain why the coordinates were pointing to Breeding Facility X-10, a spot that the guilds should have already cleared out. Where she’d first encountered Ty.

Why would Vivica leave a note pointing there of all places? Zikee shoved the paper in her pocket, deciding to retrace her steps back to the lab.

Vivica was her greatest lead to the Silver Dragon at the moment. She had said they’d both been after the same prey. And now Qui Valentina was dead. But the Silver Dragon had yet to show his face. She had to know why. And the fact that Vivica would choose now of all times to disappear only made Zikee more assured in her reasoning.

When Zikee finally reached the cave that marked X-10, she had her ears open for any signs of danger. What she hadn’t expected was to be assaulted by the scent of blood filling the air and drowning out all others. Zikee drew her sword, magic igniting as she listened for whoever was still inside. She was deep in the woods away from civilian life in a place quarantined by the guild. The lab should have been empty.

“Vivica?” she called out inside.

There was no response. Not even a shuffling of feet within.

“Vivica?” she asked even louder. When she got no response, her gaze hardened. “Silver?”
Still no response. She cautiously stepped inside.

***


The smell of blood only grew as she found the wreckage of the lab from when she and Andiz had last given it a visit.

She’d been thorough in her destruction, leaving no stone unturned to gather the clues she needed. In her eyes, the Silver Dragon was only one step away. One interrogation. One elusive clue. She’d been so impatient back then, though as she thought about it, Zikee realized she hadn’t changed as much at all.

The savage woman who’d destroyed the lab was the same woman who’d killed Valentina. Who’d threatened Vivica. Who made Andiz cry. Looking over the ruins of the lab, Zikee remembered most of the damage she’d caused. Yet there were some parts she recognized as new.

Along the ground, she found indentations like claw marks. The lights were flickering overhead, some hanging more damaged than others. There was a hole in the ceiling allowing sunlight to spill in, a few crows cawing at her as she moved past their makeshift perch.

“Vivica?” she asked more to herself than anyone. From the lab’s damage to the blood on the wind, it was doubtful there would be any survivors still around.

Moving deeper into the lab, Zikee’s gaze fell upon a familiar-looking walkway. It was split in half and barely hanging on by its metallic threads. Zikee ran a hand over the broken railing, remembering how she’d thrown a man off it and nearly to his demise.

Andiz chastised her at the time for being so rough.

Dammit.

Zikee pulled herself away, leaping the gorge with little effort.

As she ventured deeper and deeper, she found herself in the chambers where captives once resided. They’d been gone when she arrived before and they were still gone this time as well. Yet Zikee did remember the glass cylinders being intact.

Given they’d had no use for dragon parts, she’d left the many eyeballs, wings, and pieces of flesh for the guilds to collect as they saw fit. So when she looked around the room and saw broken containers full of empty air, she assumed it had been their doing. That was, until she saw the liquid stains along the ground.

They were still damp to the touch.

“Vivica!” she called once again. “Silver!”

No response, but the bloody smell was getting stronger.

Zikee was about to call out again when an even more powerful scent assaulted her nostrils, nearly making the giant of a warrior gag as a reflex. It was an unforgettable stench. The smell of decay. Zikee ripped off the bottom of her shirt to make a mask for herself, tying it just over her mouth and nose.

“Vivica. What have you done?”

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

The lights stopped flickering, a pristinely lit hallway beckoning Zikee forward. She could see no further claw marks. Nor were there signs of her rampage. There was only a long-tiled floor and a steady trail of dried blood moving ahead.

Zikee stopped calling out to the lab.

It was a strange feeling, knowing you were walking into another person’s trap. Zikee could think of no other reason for what she saw. Her sword lowered, eyes instead staring blankly ahead as she reached the end of the bloody path.

Within the confines of a small office space, she found where the smells had been coming from. Sitting around a thick metallic table, she counted four humans with deep gashes running across their bodies. Pieces of flesh missing. Torn out, from the looks of it. Zikee stepped further in, noting that there was a fifth body lying flat at the center of the table. There was still heat resonating off her scales.

“You damn fool,” Zikee whispered, staring down at the body of her elder contact.

She was without a head. Worse, Zikee could see from the scattered pieces along the walls that Vivica hadn’t gone out quietly. She doubted it had been a kind death for the dragon she’d grown to respect.

“You poor damn fool.”

Zikee sheathed her sword, giving the woman a long look.

That’s when she noticed what was curled around her fingers. Zikee’s eyes flashed with recognition, though she was hesitant to reach out. She wondered if this was what the elder had died for.

Curiosity won out in the end. Zikee pulled Vivica’s hands loose enough so she could snatch away her prize, her breath heavy as she expected some sort of trap. But nothing happened. She looked down at what Vivica had been protecting from beyond the grave.

A small folded note. She opened it with cautious hands.

It was the only way.


Zikee stared at the handwriting.

The style was vastly different than the note on the tree. In fact, when she pulled it out, she could see just how distinct the two truly were. It wasn’t the writing of the deceased elder. So then, why had Vivica been protecting it? Why die for such a measly message?

When Zikee turned the newer paper over, she felt a cold chill run up her spine. Her gaze locked on the words as she realized all at once the truth of the matter. That Vivica had not simply gone through this trouble to protect important information.

She was a messenger. Zikee felt her breath rise as she stared at the neatly written words.

Look out for Andy.


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