"Right cold, that is, to even threaten," the Halfling said. "Ya can't see it, ya blind git, but I'm givin' ya the finger right now."
"No, you're not," she said, a dark smile curling her lips.
Bit glared as he flopped back in his seat. "Dunno how you know that."
"I see better than any of you," she told him, easing down in a chair as well.
"If we could focus on why we're here," Rick cut in. "I'd remind you all this isn't the time for play."
"Of course," Leto replied, motioning for the other Blessed to proceed to the table.
"Come sit with me, Ramora," Izra cooed, waving her over. "If there's not room in the chair, there's plenty in my lap."
"Hey, now," Flick roared. "You were flirting with me just a bit ago, woman!"
"Yeah, then she showed up, and I stopped," the Deep Elf snickered.
Snorting, the dwarf fell into his seat. "Damn Elves."
Patting him on the head as she passed, Ramora sat between the towering Troll and the smirking Elf as Leto took a chair opposite her, giving her a wide grin. Rick joined them, sitting between the Blessed of Grannax and Sabra, who nodded in respect to Ramora, and got one back in return.
"If we're all done acting like children," the Blessed of Terakus said.
"I be just startin', so ya knows," Bit grinned.
"King Untar informed me a bit ago that one more will be joining us when we arrive in Ricmar," the human continued, ignoring the Halfling with deft skill. "Rumilla Descartes herself."
Everyone at the table sobered instantly.
"Seriously?" Sabra blurted.
Rick nodded. "Untar received word from her just this morning. She's on her way from Isnar as we speak, and will be awaiting our arrival."
"Bloody Hells," Bit muttered. "Might as well the rest of us stay home, if that she-devil be joinin' the fight. We be doin' nothin' but gettin' in her way."
"Even the strongest warrior requires assistance when the foe is great," Tanna intoned. "Our mission bodes well with this news. I see victory becoming a possibility."
"Bah," Sabra grunted as she thudded a fist to the table. "With that flame-haired glory hog at our side, our chances for slaughter will be thin."
"This isn't about getting our slaughter on," Izra reminded her. She rested a playful hand on Ramora's knee, making her jump. "This Draco guy has amassed entirely too much power for a Dark Blessed. We have to take him down before he gets any stronger."
"Indeed," Flick agreed, eyeballing the way the Elf stroked the warrior’s leg. "As much as my ax hungers to taste Demon blood, we should remember the larger goal in this."
"What says the daughter of Ramor?" Tanna asked, turning her blind gaze on Ramora.
Looking surprised, she met their stares around the table, and hesitantly gave a thumbs up.
"Perhaps I should explain," Leto said when the rest stared at her in confusion. "Ramora is mute, you see, and as such, doesn't communicate in the usual way."
"I believe she made her position most clear," Tanna replied.
"Creepy how as you know that," Bit muttered. "Even creepier that we have a blind Troll and a mute human on this team. The addition of Lady Descartes can only be to our advantage."
Tanna turned towards him, a slight smile in place. "I see all I must, and my sister soldier speaks with her blade. What more could you want?"
"More eyes and voices, if ye must know," the Halfling snorted.
"Don't worry about it so much," Izra said, fingers playing up Ramora's thigh to her growing discomfort. "We're gonna make a great team. I can tell already."
Grasping the woman's hand, Ramora politely returned it to her knee, offering the Elf a soft smile. She pouted a bit, but contended herself with that as Flick stared in adoration.
"We're so very doomed," Bit sighed.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
PUSHING OPEN THE DOOR, Chara eased into the shop, the light muffled and thin coming through the dirty windows. Blinking a few times to adjust her eyes to the gloom, she forged ahead, Esteban at her heels, sniffing the air cautiously.
Shelves met her gaze first, rows of them spread through the front of the building, stacked with things she could only describe as junk. Beyond them, bins lined the walls, piled high with more of the same. The dirty floor was covered with scrap, bits of toys, and other odds and ends she couldn't even guess at the purpose of.
Dust floated through the stream of light the door allowed, making Esteban sneeze. Glancing back at him, Chara stepped deeper in, looking over the odds things on the shelves. Farther back in the shop was cloaked in shadow, making it impossible for her to see anything at all.
"Hello?" she called.
After a moment, a soft, lilting voice echoed back to her, "Hello?"
Esteban glanced about, unable to tell where it'd come from. It wasn't an actual echo, he knew. Chara's slightly husky voice was nothing like the melodic one that'd reached back to them from the gloom. Flattening his ears, he rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Where are you?" Chara called out.
A brief moment, then, "I'm right here! Where are you?"
"In front of the door," Chara snapped. "Don't you even know when you have customers?"
Somewhere in the back, a door burst open, light flooding out as a shadowed form filled the frame. "Customers? Holy Tigers! Let me get some lights on!"
"I do not think this is the place for us, beloved," Esteban murmured.
"Let's see," she replied as half a dozen chandeliers sporting a dozen candles each flared to life, blinding her for a moment.
"Come on, come on," the lilting voice cried. "Come to the counter. I don't have all day here."
Scowling, Chara led the way, picking her path carefully through the strewn junk to reach the counter at the back. Esteban eased along behind her, wishing he'd brought his weapon. Something about the smell of the place was off, something he couldn't identify, but made him uneasy.
Finally reaching the counter, they found a woman sitting on the wooden top, grinning at them. With skin the color of a dark nutmeg and eyes like topaz, she sported twin ponytails from either side of her head, lush lavender hair falling around her shoulders. Her ears, slight tapers, sported multiple gold hoops in each, glittering as she cocked her head, grinning wildly. Clapping her hands, Chara saw they were clad in black, fingerless gloves, tiny tools for fine crafting tucked into pouches along the back. The green dress she wore left her shoulders bare, the skirt high and tight, with sandals on her feet as she swung them idly. In all, she wasn't more than an inch over five foot, but Chara knew a Half Elf when she saw one.
"Welcome, welcome," the tiny woman cried, clapping at them and giggling. "I bid you welcome to Rayne's Shop Of Sorcery! I'd be Rayne, by the way, in case you were wondering, and hey, that guy is a Were! Don't you know it's illegal to own them in the city? Even if you have a nice ass, which by the way, you certainly do, it's still illegal!"
Chara stared, fumbling for words for a moment. "I... what?"
"Ill... eag... al," Rayne replied, looking at her like she was mentally deficient. "It means you can't do it, so don't do it, or I'll call the Constables, and then maybe they'll let me strip search you, which would be tons of fun, I bet, and hey, that guy is a Cat!"
"Uh," Esteban managed. "Maybe we should be going."
"He's not my property," Chara barked. "He's my boyfriend."
Rayne lobbed her head over to the side as she reached up and tugged a pair of goggles down from somewhere inside her messy bangs. "Ohhhhh! I see that now! Sorry for the confusion. I thought you were a sorcerer, what with you being in my shop, and leading a Were around, but now I see he just likes your perky ass, which gives us something in common, so hi, and welcome to Rayne's Shop of Sorcery! I'm Rayne, and I'd be happy to do you till you screamed yourself hoarse, and hey, that guy is looking at me funny!”
"Beloved, maybe we should go elsewhere," Esteban encouraged, pulling her back from the clearly deranged Half Elf.
"Uh," Chara blin
ked. "Yeah, maybe."
For no reason she could name, she felt as if they should stay. It was odd, making her puzzle at it briefly, the compulsion she felt to remain. She felt drawn to the weird Half Elf.
"How rude," Rayne fumed, waving a finger at them. "Interrupting my work with claims of being customers and then running out on me without even waiting to see if I can get you what you need, which I bet is a clock, cause who doesn't love clocks, am I right?"
Esteban began to protest, but the Half Elf hopped off her counter and dove into a bin, rummaging about wildly, tossing things over her shoulder as Chara just stared, trying to relocate her sense of normalcy.
"Sorry to bother, but no, we'll be going," she said at last.
"Hold up, just hold up," Rayne squeaked, dragging a battered and dirty clock from the bin. "I got just what you need right here. Finer craftsmanship you won't find anywhere north of the Yestin Sea, or my name isn't Rayne, which it is, so I must be telling the truth, ya know what, just look at this smooth movement."
She spun the hands on the clock while making spluttering sounds. Chara stared in abject confusion. A bird popped out of the top of the clock and made the saddest warble she'd ever heard.
"See, what did I tell you," Rayne declared with glee, waving the clock about. "Just look at that, a real piece of art, and you know your kitty here is going to love it every hour, on the hour, and that's a guarantee you can take to the bank!"
She waved the clock at them. Esteban pawed at the bird as it jostled around. Chara stared at him in wonder. He hung his head and mumbled an apology.
"We're not looking for a clock," Chara grated out at the madwoman.
"Yeah, I don't blame you," Rayne sighed. She tossed the clock over her shoulder, where it exploded into a million pieces. "Piece of crap that. I thought chirping clocks would really catch on, but it turns out, people really don't like the sounds of birds chirping as much as I thought they did, which makes a kind of sense, cause it's pretty annoying to me, too, but then again, what do I know, and wow, you have a nice rack, can I touch them, and oh, hey don't touch that, Mr. Cat, it might explode if you jostle it too hard, I can't be certain, it's probably harmless, but better safe than sorry, and why are you here anyway?"
Esteban jerked his hand back from what he'd thought to be a doll. Chara swayed a bit under the Half Elf's endless barrage of words. Rayne shook a finger at Esteban and then grabbed Chara's breasts, squeezing with a giggle of joy.
"Hey!" Chara yelped.
"Hey!" Esteban growled.
"Hey!" Rayne whooped.
"What in all the Hells is wrong with you?" Chara demanded.
Rayne cocked her head to the side and thought about that a moment. "I really don't know," she answered with a wide grin, giving them a thumbs up for no reason that was apparent.
"Let's go," Esteban said, moving between Chara and the clearly insane Half Elf. "Now."
"I agree," Chara said, clutching her chest.
"You never did tell me what you came in for," Rayne stated, still smiling.
"Nothing, forget it," the Werecat muttered.
"Looking for a mystic crystal charger," Chara answered. "We'll find one who's sane."
"No, you won't," Rayne snickered.
"Yes, we will," Esteban snapped.
"No, you really won't," the Half Elf told them again, falling against the counter and laughing hysterically, then wheezing, coughing, and fiddling with her tongue for a moment in outrage.
Agitated by the woman’s antics, Chara glared at her. "Really? And why not?"
"Cause, I'm the only one in town," Rayne told her, shaking a finger at her tongue. "Which isn't entirely the truth, but I'm the only one who's going to give you two the time of day. All the others have booked deals for weeks in advance, some of them for months, and aren't taking any new clients without a referral from a current client, which I'm betting you two don't have, since you look new to town and all, so I'm the only person who can help you, which is why you should stop looking at me like I'm crazy, cause I'm not, and wow, your ass is really firm, can I squeeze it?"
"Back off," Esteban roared.
Rayne stared up at him in wonder, her goggles catching the light. "You have really white teeth."
"I... wait... what?" he stammered
Chara squealed as Rayne pinched her butt then slid around them, deceptively fast. "Yup, firm as a pumpkin in the patch, which is pretty firm if you think about it, and hey, I'm wondering now what it is you need recharged, cause usually it's household stuff, and I don't see you carting anything that big, which reminds me, you are seriously tall Mr. Cat, did you drink lots of milk as a child, AHAHA, I said milk after grabbing her boobs, I crack myself up!"
"Inappropriate touching!" Esteban roared, swinging at the Half Elf and hitting only air.
"Over here," she intoned from behind him, giving him a mad smile as she bobbled her head, goggles making the light dance.
"What the hells?" he fumbled.
"So, whatcha need recharged, anyway, is it this?" She held up one of the mystic handguns that had been in Chara's satchel. "Cause I dunno what this is, but holy Tigers, look at those enchantments! The lattice work is amazing, I've never seen anything this complex before, and damn, but the mystic crystal is all kinds of dead, so what does it do exactly, and hey, did you know you're showing a hell of a lot of cleavage, especially for Mr. Cat there, I bet he can see right down your top, and mine now that I think about it, how's my cleavage, Mr. Cat?"
She struck a seductive pose that didn't look terribly good with the goggles over her eyes. Chara couldn't help but think she had little to show for cleavage anyway, though her small breasts looked very pert. She immediately wondered why she thought that, then remembered, blushed and tried to think of anything else. Like how the Half Elf had stolen her mystic handgun.
"Give that back," Chara cried after a long moment of confused silence, making a snatch for the weapon.
"What? This?" Rayne asked, as it suddenly appeared in her other hand, then in her hair, between her knees, and finally, sticking out of the top of her dress, Chara missing with each grab.
"Yes! Give it back!" the young woman demanded.
"What is it anyway?" Rayne asked, wandering around in a circle, holding it up to the light. "A party favor? I was a party favor once, but it wasn't as much fun as it sounds, so I decided not to hang around, which reminds me, you're still hanging around in my shop, and not leaving like you said you were, and hey, you have pretty hair, what color is that anyway, let me guess, not green, tell me I'm right, Mr. Cat, and high five!"
Esteban stared at her as she held a hand out to him. Blinking several times, he slid backwards away from her. Chara stormed forward and snatched the mystic weapon from her as she waited for the palm slap that would never come.
"Enough," Chara growled. "I'm not interested in your help. I'll find someone else. Have a nice day, and goodbye."
Rayne lowered her arm as they turned to go, saying, "I expected more understanding from you, of all people, Chara."
Chara froze, slowly turning back to the Half Elf, wide-eyed. "How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot of things," Rayne grinned, looking maniacal with the goggles still on. "About you, why you're here, and what you really want."
"I want these recharged," Chara said, voice trembling a bit. There was no way this insane Half Elf could know what was in her heart. It wasn't possible. Was it?
Shoving the goggles up, Rayne gave her a toothy smile. "Relax. I'm just saying, I figure somebody like you would know better than to let appearances deceive them."
"I don't... what?" Chara stammered.
Rayne rolled her eyes and tugged the glove off her left hand, holding it up so they could see the mark in the shape of a Cow on the back of it. "Us Blessed have a way of seeing things normal people wouldn't."
Chara felt like her jaw was going to hit the floor.
The group of Blessed spent the remainder of the morning listening to Leto explain Ramor
a's history as Chara had explained it to him. She rarely interrupted, except to straighten out a detail or two her young friend had overstated in her retelling during their journey to Lansing.
She really kind of wished Chara would stop elaborating things so much. Still, she couldn't deny she found it endearing the way the young woman threw herself into recounting her best friend’s near-miraculous survival against a hoard of Demon Seed at such a tender age. In a way, listening to her tell the story made it all seem slightly less horrific.
With a soft sigh, Ramora lifted Izra's hand off her thigh and moved it for the hundredth time. It wasn't that she didn't find the woman very attractive, but there was a time and a place.
Here and now are a time and a place, her Rabbit sang, making her groan internally.
The Deep Elf grinned and winked at her, to which Ramora smiled patiently. Adorable as she was, the Blessed of Hepheron was laying it on a bit thick, especially with Flick watching in such rapt attention.
Where had Untar found this bunch, anyway?
"So, as I said before, Ramora here is the only one who has ever seen Draco and lived to talk about it," Leto finished, then caught himself. "As it were."
"The scum," Sabra snarled. "What kind of man puts his hands upon a child?"
"The evil kind, my friend," Tanna intoned softly. "All the more reason to kill him."
"In slow, painful, bloody ways," Izra added, turning angry as she left off toying with Ramora's leg to grip her shoulder. "He'll pay, in pieces, I swear it to Hepheron."
"Aye," Bit nodded. "I knew he be a foul sort, but I never imagined him this black of heart. In pieces it is, say I, as well."
Startled by the obnoxious Halfling's sudden anger, Ramora nodded to him, offering her wordless thanks. He nodded back, fire in his eye, making her wonder what it was about her tale that enraged him so.
"I think Izra has spoken the desire of us all, then," Tanna murmured. "Sister, you have found allies who are eager to avenge your family, and the wrongs done to you."
Ramora nodded to her as well, receiving one in return. She wasn't sure how the blind Troll could know, but she was thankful. To her surprise, the Blessed of Neglis chuckled.
Rise (War Witch Book 1) Page 33
