Legends of Ardonia 3: Color Balance

Chapter 15: Deeper Down

Emmilia was upstairs with her eyes closed, sitting in a meditative position. Blue Proteheal energy was flowing to her wound. It definitely looked better than before and didn't hurt as much than four days ago. She heard the rhythmic clopping of hooves coming down the road and knew that the time had come. She stopped using Proteheal and flexed her wound a little bit. By now it barely stung, even when she slowly stretched as far as she could go. Firdik was sitting in his chair asleep, an open book resting on his chest. She wrote a quick note saying she was leaving and set it down on the table next to him before securing Voltar and Peace Bringer to her back. When she looked out of the window, she saw that the cart seemed bulkier than last time and had more soldiers guarding it. As it turned to go through the outer district of Crown Peak, she left the house wearing a cloak to conceal most of her markings, and skirted around the farmland, laying low behind the hills and inside of divots to avoid being seen. When the cart crossed the bridge, Emmilia dove down into the river and emerged on the other side. She hurried after the cart as it started turning southwest, off the main path. She hid between the thick trees as the cart bumped down the rough dirt path. After a bit of travelling, the large, ruined building of Incatasia came into view and the cart came to a stop. Emmilia moved a bit away from the cart, finding a tree to climb up out of view. She watched as the guards took the covering off of the cart and opened the cage that was revealed underneath. She squinted her eyes as they took out a Nestoris who was knocked out. Her eyes widened in recognition of the markings: it was Enair. Killic emerged from the passenger area of the cart as she was dragged through a small hole in the wall of the building, but that was all Emmilia could see. However, the hissing and whirring of gears did not go unnoticed by her as she turned to go back to Firdik's house.

A Felina and a Magnorite were standing with their arms crossed in the main room as Killic approached them.

Killic: "Ah, so nice to see two capable warriors here to test the forefront of science. Tell me, what are your names?"

Magnorite: "Name's Bedrock, it's an honor to serve for your cause."

Killic shook the large, dark gray hand before turning to the Felina who had dark purple hair and eyes.
Felina: "I'm Jeeno, nice to meet you, sir."

Killic shook her hand as well before regarding both of them.
Killic: "Well, as you two may know, you have been chosen to wield the powerful Droug suits that the brilliant men of Ardonia have been working hard on for the past few months. Come, my friends, let me show you what power we are giving you."

Killic turned left and led them down another hallway into a large, arena-like room, where the two suits stood. Bedrock and Jeeno looked in awe. Sure, using Droug weapons were one thing, but to have the opportunity to pilot a Droug itself was an entirely different experience. Killic walked over to the suit with Sentinel shields.

Killic: "Bedrock, you will be piloting this suit, which we have appropriately named 'Diamond Sentinel', or DS for short. Like your typical way of fighting, any who stand in your way will yield to this suit's physical prowess. While DS is not equipped with any ranged capabilities, its shields are nearly indestructible."

Killic walked over to the other suit.

Killic: "And you, Jeeno, will be using this suit: 'Treehopper'. This suit may take some time getting used to, as the jetpack is experimental technology and has never been seen before at this scale. Treehopper is light, fast, and able to engage in air combat effectively. However, it is very easy to break as we needed to leave out some armor to allow flight capability. Be sure not to be hit too much by your enemies."