Chapter 2

Sylvie scurried down the alleyways, slipping on the slick cobblestone road whenever she made a turn. She soon found herself at the edge of the city, which was enclosed within a massive wall that stood several stories tall.

The only way in and out of the city was through one of the four gates. They were heavily guarded, with city guards inspecting all people and cargo that entered and exited the city. Above the city was also a no-fly zone, stretching all the way up to the stratosphere. Anyone caught entering it would immediately draw attention to themselves. This forced her partner to park on the outskirts of the city, where he lay in wait for her.

Sylvie hesitated, unsure of whether to go through the gate or not. She had entered the city using a disguise with her android, pretending to be a father and daughter coming to the city to sightsee. There was no way they were going to let a supposed child exit the city on her own in the middle of the night without raising eyebrows, even if she had her paperwork in hand.

Scaling the wall was an option, albeit difficult. There was little for Sylvie to hold onto, not to mention it being just as slick and damp as the road. She pictured herself managing to get halfway up the wall, only to slip and fall, busting her head open.

“There’s got to be another way,” Sylvie pondered, tapping the envelope on her bottom lip.

“HEY!” shouted a voice.

Sylvie nearly jumped out of her skin in shock. “Don’t tell me…” she whimpered.

Popping out of an alley was Reina. When she spotted Sylvie, she pointed with a scowl. “Give me back that envelope!”

Sylvie decided scaling the wall was the best course of action after all. She leaped as high as she could to get a head start, only to slide back down to the ground, landing on her butt with a plop!

“Oh no, you don’t!” Reina shouted, running as fast as she could. She was not going to let Sylvie get away from her again.

Desperate, Sylvie opened her cloak, revealing dozens of knives she carried on her person. She threw the knife as hard as she could at the wall.

THUNK!

The knife buried itself into the side of the wall with only the handle protruding out.

Reina was mere steps away from reaching Sylvie, but before she could catch her, Sylvie jumped.

WHAM!

Reina crashed face-first into the wall as Sylvia landed on the protruding handle like a small step. She laughed as she watched Reina fall backward, slamming her head onto the cobblestone road with the imprint of a brick wall on her face.

“Pfftha ha ha!” Sylvie snorted. “That’s a nice look ya got going!”

She laughed some more until the knife popped out of the wall from under her. Before she could fall to the ground she quickly jammed another knife into the wall and pulled herself up, where she resumed laughing.

Reina groaned in pain as she stood up. She rubbed the back of her head and checked her hand for blood.

“Whatcha gonna do, huh?!” Sylvie taunted. “Try scaling the wall?”

That was exactly what Reina did, only for her hands and feet to slip off the slick wall and crash onto the cobblestone road.

This made Sylvie erupt in even more laughter.

Reina glared upward at Sylvie. If not for using most of her dark aether during her encounter with the android, she would have fired a couple of lances to spook Sylvie into falling. Instead, she did the next best thing.

CLANG!

Sylvie let out a shriek as Reina hurled her sword against the wall. It crashed just shy of Sylvie’s legs before falling to the ground.

“What’re ya?! Crazy?! What kind of moronic dragoon throws their sword like that?!” Sylvie yelled, shaking a fist.

Reina picked up her sword and chucked it again. “This one!”

The second toss landed too close for comfort for Sylvie, prompting her to pull out another knife, jam it into the wall, and hop upward. She then kneeled down and pulled out the first knife, jammed it higher up in the wall, and hopped atop it. She repeated this process to scale up the wall.

“No, you don’t!” Reina shouted, picking up her sword and throwing it against the wall again and again as Sylvie ascended the wall with her makeshift staircase.

A pair of city guards playing cards at the west gate heard the clanging and crashing of Reina’s sword. They ignored it at first, taking her for a typical drunkard. It wasn’t until the tenth time that the two played rock, paper, scissors to determine who would confront the obnoxious woman.

The cougar beastman guard lost against his dwarf comrade, sighed, then stood up from his crate and got to work.

“Miss?” he said, approaching Reina, who was still flinging her sword against the wall. “I need you to cease what you’re doing and come with me for a moment.”

Reina turned to the guard as her sword fell and pierced the road.

“Huh? What for?” she asked, puzzled by the request.

The guard could tell he wasn’t going to enjoy filling out the paperwork for this interaction. “Well, for repeatedly throwing a weapon against city property, for one.”

“But there’s a thief scaling the wall! I’m trying to knock them down!”

“A thief scaling the wall?” the guard said, looking up at the wall. “I don’t see anyone.”

Reina looked up at the wall. Sure enough, Sylvie had managed to climb over the wall. “Crap! Seriously! It was a small mouse girl! She broke into a bakery with a soulless android and stole an envelope that I was hired to protect!”

“Alright, alright. Come with me for a bit, and you can tell me all about it.”

“But she’s getting away! I gotta go after her!”

The guard grabbed Reina by the wrist and led her to the gate for questioning. “You can go after we have a little chat.”

Reina whined as the guard dragged her away.

Meanwhile, Sylvie carefully climbed down the city wall before dropping onto the ground. She quickly scampered across the field, hiding amidst the tall grass.

When the city was far in the distance she tripped onto the ground, where she sprawled out across the soft grass, panting. Her little heart pounded rapidly. Painful sores covered her palms while her arms and legs ached. Her clothes drenched in sweat.

Clasped in her hand was the envelope she was hired to procure. Though she still had to deliver the envelope to Giuliani Jr., she considered the job a success.

“I did it… I did it!” she cheered.

For any regular thief, this was nothing to celebrate. Stealing from an elderly couple was small potatoes. But for Sylvie, whose number of successful heists could be counted on one hand, this was a triumph.

A second wind brought Sylvie back to her feet, where she danced in place in excitement. Holding up the envelope into the moonlit sky, she stared in awe and disbelief.

“The Sylvie Gang’s back on top!”

With nothing to worry about, she started casually walking toward a nearby grove, where her partner was waiting with a DRAGON.

“HOOOOOOOOOLD IIIIIIIIIT!”

Sylvie nearly choked on her own saliva.

Dashing across the field, kicking up dirt and grass behind her, was Reina. Clasped in her hand was a wooden chair handcuffed to her wrist.

“No way… Just who is this weirdo?!” Sylvie cried, running in fear for her life

Reina held up the chair cuffed to her wrist in both hands, then crushed it to pieces. She then took a broken chair leg, did a wind-up, and threw it as hard as she could.

The broken chair leg zoomed through the air like an arrow, piercing through the tall grass.

Sylvie ran as fast as her little body could. Faster than she ever ran in her life. She turned and looked at the incoming leg, tears running down her face.

BONK!

The chair leg nailed her square in the forehead, sending her crashing into the dirt. Her eyes swirled in a daze.

“Finally!” Reina said, slowing her pace down as she approached Sylvie, catching her breath. “I thought you’d never stop running!”

She stood over the passed-out Sylvie as she pulled a hairpin out from behind her ear and quickly freed her wrist from the handcuffs, then tossed it aside. “I feel bad about hurting you, but you left me no choice.”

Noticing the swelling on Sylvie’s forehead, Reina reached into a small pouch on her belt and pulled out a bandage. “This is the least I could do,” she said, applying the bandage. She then grabbed the envelope still clutched in Sylvie’s hand. “I pray your next heist is a successful one,” she said with an honest smile.

Reina stood up to leave, only to almost fall backward. There was an unsuspecting weight on the envelope. When she turned to look she saw Sylvie awake with a glare. She held tight to the envelope with both hands.

“Oh, come on!” Reina said, tugging the envelope.

“I got this fair and square! It’s mine!” she yelled.

“Give it up! Have some humility and accept your loss!”

Sylvie planted a foot in Reina’s face. “Make me!”

What proceeded was a tug of war over the envelope, with neither side willing to let go. Reina was surprised by how much strength such a small mouse beastwoman could pack, while Sylvie was stunned by how Reina’s face was able to withstand all the force being pressed into it.

Suddenly, a large, glowing, purple orb of dark aether fired off from the distance. The orb crashed between Sylvie and Reina and exploded, sending them flying in opposite directions with trails of smoke following behind.

“Oof!” Sylvie uttered as she crashed atop a small Standard-Class DRAGON painted deep blue with yellow stripes running across its hull. Though saved, she was far from happy.

“What was that for, Dodson! You almost blew up me and the–”

She stopped mid-sentence when she saw that the envelope in her hand was on fire. Quickly, she started blowing on it, followed by stomping the fire away. A small portion of the envelope was reduced to cinders.

A booming voice let out a boisterous laughter over the DRAGON’s intercom. “Sorry ‘bout that, lil’ miss!” said Dodson from the cockpit. He was a middle-aged, overweight daemon whose large stomach would bounce whenever he laughed. His pepper-colored hair was held back by a leather headband. A dark aether mask strapped tight across his face, with his bushy beard poking out from the sides.

Sylvie was unamused. “Don’t call me little!” she barked. “Also, you almost blew up the goods! How do ya think Giuliani Jr. would react if we presented him with a pile of ash!”

The DRAGON moved its arm above its head, scratching the top with a claw. “I didn’t mean to. I was just tryin’ to stop that elf girly from snatchin’ ya.”

Dodson zoomed in his camera onto Reina, who managed to crash head-first into the ground and remain standing upside down.

“She’s sure an odd one. Never seen an elf with dark skin like that before.”

“Who cares what the elf looks like!” Sylvie shouted. “Let’s get going!”

“Gotcha,” Dodson replied.

The DRAGON spread its large wings. With one flap, its frame lifted into the air.

Sylvie fell backward, still on the top of the hull. “Hey! Wait a sec! I’m still outside the–”

Before she could finish her sentence, the DRAGON picked her up and tossed her in its mouth where the hatch to get inside was located. With Sylvie safely secured, the DRAGON’s appendages folded into itself and soared into the air, leaving behind a trail of sparkling dark aether sparks that quickly dissipated.

Reina finally regained consciousness. She lifted herself up from her headstand and jumped back to her feet.

“Huh! The strain in my neck’s gone,” she commented as she rolled her head.

She watched as Dodson and Sylvie blasted away into the night sky.

“They got themselves a DRAGON, eh? Daemon pilot, too,” she said as she dusted herself off. “They just don’t know when to quit. Admirable, in a way. If only they put that effort into helping those in need instead of thievery.”

She reached behind her hip, pulling out a small wooden flute from her belt. It twirled around her fingers before she placed it against her lips. With a deep breath, she played a loud, short tune that echoed into the distance.

A red star twinkled in the sky before shooting outward. Soon, the star turned and fell toward the planet where Reina stood. She watched the red comet as she placed the flute back onto her belt.

The speeding red comet crashed into the ground in front of Reina, kicking up dirt and debris. Despite nearly getting hit by the impact, Reina did not flinch as her hair and cape flew wildly behind her.

In the cloud of dust was a towering shadow; much taller than the DRAGON that belonged to The Sylvie Gang. A pair of yellow menacing eyes shone brightly through the thick cloud like lights from a lighthouse. Once the dust settled the shadow revealed itself to be a DRAGON.

Unlike The Sylvie Gang’s quadruped DRAGON this one was bipedal and wore armor similar to a knight’s. Its armor was painted crimson while its long neck and tail were gold. A large tattered cloak similar to Reina’s fell down from its neck to the ground. Two massive wings jutted out of its back through a pair of holes cut in the back of the cloak.

This Knight-Class DRAGON, which appeared as a red-clad wandering knight of the cosmos, was Reina’s DRAGON. The Crimson Comet.

Kneeling down on one knee, it lowered its massive hand to the ground for Reina to hop on.

“You should really consider changing the summoning beacon to something more conventional!” yelled a cute yet worried voice.

The Crimson Comet opened its mouth, revealing Bo, an android with the appearance of a young teenager. She wore the religious garb of a Holy Era Church priestess, consisting of a white tabard with gold trim and the symbol of the Holy Era Church shown prominently on the front. Priestesses of the church normally wore a long robe that nearly touched the ground, Bo instead opted to wear a purple tunic that stopped just above her knees so as to make it easier for her to walk. She wore a pair of white stockings covered her legs.

Her long, unnatural neon blue hair was tied into two twin puff ball braids, which gently bounced down her back to her hip. Two triangular-shaped antennas, styled after elvish ears, were located where her ears would be if she had any. Her bright yellow eyes, whose pupils appeared like a power symbol to indicate her being an android, had a soft glow to them that could be seen easily in dark spaces.

“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?” Reina shouted with a shrug.

The girl puffed her cheeks in frustration as she fixed her displaced hair. “One of these days it’s not gonna register you playing your flute, you know! You’ll be moments away from dying, playing as loud as you can, and it won’t show up! What will you do then?”

“It will always show up, for I have faith in the Crimson Comet. And even if that were to fail, I have faith you will get her to me,” she winked.

Bo let out a sigh, wondering where Reina gets her relentless optimism from. A question she’s had ever since she first met Reina as a child fifteen years ago, when she still worked at the orphanage. How she went from being a priestess at the orphanage to becoming the partner of one of her kids turned dragoon, something far removed from her original programming, eluded her to the day.

Reina hopped onto the Crimson Comet’s hand and was lifted up to its mouth.

“Did you put a tracker on that DRAGON?” Reina asked as she jumped into the mouth.

“Yes,” Bo replied, following close behind. “It’s heading towards a small abandoned outpost in orbit of the planet’s moon.”

“I see. Probably their drop-off point.” Reina turned and smiled, giving a thumbs-up. “Let’s hurry and catch them before they get there!”

Bo nodded. “Right!”

Reina walked into the hatch in the back of the Crimson Comet’s mouth and entered the cockpit. The inside was spacious, with plenty of room for it to double as Reina’s living space. Because of this it was unkempt with loose garbage and dirty laundry strewn all around. Large screens lined the walls of the front half of the cockpit, displaying a view of the city she had just left.

Reina hopped into the pilot seat and tossed aside a spare black leotard that laid across the control panel, having landed there when she haphazardly threw it before getting ready for bed the night before.

“I really need to clean up the place,” she noted to herself. A note she had told herself many times before and promptly ignored.

She flipped a few switches and tapped away on the console, switching the Crimson Comet’s control from AI-cruise mode to manual. Reina gripped the two control sticks on either side of the pilot seat.

The Crimson Comet stood up from the ground and extended its wings.

“Crimson Comet ready for take-off!” she shouted with a smile as she slammed her foot onto a pedal.

With one flap of its wings the Crimson Comet blasted upward into the sky. It shook as it forced its way out of the planet’s gravitational grip, sending more of the clutter Reina left on the control panel to the floor. Once free from the atmosphere and amidst the dark aether-filled realm of outer space, the Crimson Comet’s artificial gravity system activated, allowing for everyone on board to move around as if they were on the ground.

Bo sat in a chair behind Reina. She placed her hands on a nearby terminal, allowing her to connect to the Crimson Comet’s computer.

It took less than half a minute before they escaped the small planet’s atmosphere and entered space. Reina looked at the overlay displayed before the Crimson Comet’s view of space, displaying current DRAGON conditions, outside temperature, dark aether readings, and the distance of current targets.

In the center of the screen was a small window, showing the location of the abandoned outpost they suspected Sylvie and Dodson were headed to. At their current speed, it would take them only a few minutes to reach it.

“Bo, scan for their DRAGON,” Reina said.

“Okay,” Bo replied.

Reina watched as a series of lines swiped across the display screen. They moved to form a cross, centering on a tiny speck on the screen. The cross then formed into a small window, displaying a close-up shot of a DRAGON speeding away.

“Found it,” Bo said. “Locking onto target.”

A small, orange dot locked onto The Sylvie Gang’s DRAGON with a distance reading next to it. It remained consistent.

“Can’t have that now, can we?” Reina said as she floored it.