🐲 Dragon and Phoenix (Path of Light and Fire Book #2) (Completed) 🐲

Chapter 51

"Where'd you get that from?" Sabin yelled.

The ganero tucked his arm back into the folds of his cloak and squinted his eyes. "I stole it fair and square."

Sabin placed the tip of his katana on the ganero's throat. "I'm done playing."

"I thought your kind hated the Guan," the ganero said, raising its chin. "Why would you care if I stole from them?"

"Stole it from the Guan?"

"Pilfer?" the ganero asked. "Ransack? Purloin?"

"Purloin?" Sabin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, purloin," the ganero said. "Good. I thought it would be obscure, but I'm glad you understand now."

"I know what steal means," Sabin snapped. He took the katana from the ganero's throat and after switching it to god-spear form, he tucked it into the sheath on his hip. "My confusion is that you have 'a Wade'. It doesn't make any sense. There's only Wade."

The ganero shrugged. "I said you were over your head-."

He bit off the rest of his words as Sabin glared at him.

"Alright," the ganero said. "Let's start again. You'll never be able to pronounce my name, even if I told you, so call me Steven."

"Steven," Sabin said, not liking the name on his tongue. Whatever this thing was, it was not a Steven.

"Lina, Beth, whatever." Steven pulled up the hood on his cloak. "Whatever works for you."

"Steven's fine," Sabin said. "Sabin."

"Alright, Sabin, nice to meet you," Steven said, walking past him. "Now, can we walk and talk instead of standing here? We're wasting precious time before the Guan come." His voice dropped low. "You don't want to be here when they do."

Sabin turned and followed him, paying close attention to his left arm. This was the last moment he planned on dropping his guard. As much as the man claimed he wasn't a Guan, he wasn't human. He looked like a bull given human form, his stocky form and thick fingers and wide face. It was a full head taller than Sabin and he realized without his powers, this would have been a very unfair fight in Steven's favor.

Steven's skin reminded him more of a spotted cat's. This close, the bluish tones in its gray skin, combined with its black spots to form an interesting image.

"Let's start with something simple," Steven said. "If I told you everything I knew, you wouldn't believe me. So, I'm going to dance around some things if I see you can't handle it. I don't want to be skewered for telling the truth."

"Okay," Sabin said. He tossed forward the hood of his own cloak, Steven's prior action reminding him of his father's words.

"First, there are only three W.A.I.D.s –Weaponized Artificial Intelligence Devices– left in existence."

Sabin scratched his head. "Weapon I understand, but artificial what now?"

"First dance it is," Steven said, turning to face Sabin and walking backwards. "The Guan had two W.A.I.D.s. Are you still with me?"

If I believe him that means Wade is not what we think he is. But if they have two Wades to our one why are we not dead?

That gives me an idea. He can't possibly know where Wade is at this moment.

Sabin swallowed and nodded. "There are three Wades. And the Guan have two. Got it. Where's the third?"

"Had two." Steven snickered and nodded to his left arm. "They only have one now. The third is with you humans." Steven glanced back at the tower. "This one was in a museum and the other they use to create these things they call Sentients. This albino worm-looking creations that need to be connected directly to the brain to work. On the other hand, these W.A.I.D.s process information so fast they can work by connecting to any nerve..."