Vices and Maces

Chapter 14: Not Exactly Home Alone Style Traps But it Still Works

CW: blood

The wind blew the night air through the leaves of trees and brush. Hidden by shadows were five figures, moving swiftly and quietly while following the river upstream. A clearing was up ahead where gravel and asphalt stopped the grass.

However before the figures reached the edge of the trees, a hole opened up and they all dived in. The hole closed up behind them, leaving only a disturbance in the dirt and plants.

They tunneled further in, dirt shifting around them, creating a bubble until finally they were underneath the building. The leader of the group stopped them, bracing her feet against the dirt and pushing her fists up.

The ground was pushed up, breaking through steel and concrete. The leader flattened her hands, palms facing the ground as she raised her hands, the ground raising them up.

"I'm sure they heard that, Daffodil," one of the group members said, pulling out an explosive. "We need to move fast."

Sal nodded as they climbed out of the hole. They seemed to be in a cellar or basement of some kind, wooden crates stacked in rows like a dark warehouse. Some were marked with "Explosives," others were marked with "Fragile."

"Meet back here in fifteen minutes," Sal told them, pulling out another explosive.

As the other four left, she planted the explosive on one of the crates labeled "Explosives." Once she was done, she followed the others upstairs. Each were given two explosives to plant around the whole building, all of them connected to a button that she just had to press.

Her four teammates split off in different directions, and she ran down the halls herself.

Two of the teammates, a human and a dwarf, went off together. Neither had powers, though dwarves are stronger than humans and had tougher skin. However both of them had weapons that they knew how to use well. Sal didn't pick just anyone for this mission, though it didn't seem to matter since there have been no sights of guards so far.

After a few moments of looking for a room to plant their bombs, there was a loud noise of what sounded like a metal can falling just around the corner of hallway. The human and dwarf looked at each other before carefully moving closer towards the sound.

A fire extinguisher rolled out. The dwarf frowned, putting the bomb they were holding under their arm and picking up the fire extinguisher. They looked at it in confusion before looking down the hall, freezing when they saw the line of fire extinguishers. A string tied to all the pins in them, their handles being held down but rubber bands.

The string was pulled, all the pins popping out and the pressure blasting the fire extinguishers at the dwarf. They covered their face, dropping the extinguisher and rushing out of the way. They felt something pull the bomb out of their hand, and the human gasped as a purple blur grabbed the bomb that they were holding.

Both of them turned to see a small purple dragon staring back at them, twice the size of a cat.

"A pet dragon?" the human asked.

The small dragon tilted their head.

"Definitely a pet dragon," the dwarf gruffed, wiping away the fire extinguisher goop.

The purple dragon turned and flew away, a bomb in their mouth and the other in their claws.

"Hey! Wait little fella! That's dangerous!" the human shouted, running after them with the dwarf at their heels.

The dragon flew up into a vent that was open. The two of them heard the pitters and clicks of the dragon's paws and claws running away. The human looked down at the dwarf, who noticed after a moment and glared at them.