Colin's posts

"All right then." Dom replied with a nod.

He then got up and headed out of the room, reaching into his pocket to grab something. Once he was out of sight, they felt a pulse of mana, and he was gone.

"...right then." Jaden muttered.

"How was it?" he asked her.

"The meeting, that is." he clarified.

"...aside from the end where you were attacked."

Dom crossed his arms over his chest, and thought for a moment.

"Well, I should report this to my superiors." he said.

"....will you two both be okay?" he asked.

"We'll be fine." Jaden responded.

"We've dealt with situations tougher than this." he said with a small chuckle.

Dom just sighed, and smiled after a moment.

"All right." he replied.

"Desiree, sorry our meeting had to end as it did." he apologised to Desiree.

Dom was silent when he heard that, before sighing heavily.

"Oh, thank heavens." he said.

"That's a massive relief." he told her, as Jaden came back and got Desiree's attention.

"He'll be here in a couple of minutes." he informed his fiancee.

"Said it shouldn't take long to fix them at all." he added.

"In the meantime, we need a destination to head to." he then said, shaking his head slightly.

"Ah, that explains a lot." Dom replied.

"Passive mana can be VERY potent. Even a little bit of it imbued in something can make all the difference." he commented, thinking about it.

"..." he then paused for a moment, and looked at the broken pair of headphones.

"...ah." he muttered.

"My apologies, then..." he said quietly. "Thinking back on it, they were damaged when I harshly pulled you down." he realised.

"How much will they take to fix?" he asked her.

The voice and steps stopped for a moment, before the hastened.

"Eke!?" Ryker's voice called again, as the steps got more frantic, and closer.

"Eke, c'mon, throw me a bone here." he went on.

"...come on, bro." he then added.

"Gimme another sonar ping."

"Firstly, I can understand about wanting to use different terminology." Dom responded. "It's hard to come up with a term that pleases everyone, and everyone has their own beliefs and such." he went on.

"So go with whatever works for you, I've just never heard someone use the term 'debuff' for that." he admitted with a shrug and a smile.

"And a friend of yours made those for you?" he asked.

"That... is frighteningly impressive." he said. "He must be some sort of whiz with technology to craft such a multitasking device." he commented further.

"And considering all you've said they do, they must be real lifesavers on a daily basis." he then chuckled.

Eke made no progress getting up the hole, and each time he failed, his hope sank deeper and deeper.

Until he heard a whisper.

The faintest whisper he'd ever heard, but the cavernous nature of the cave made it echo just that little bit, to make it barely audible to him.

"...Eeeeeke." Ryker's voice whispered out.

"Heeey.... helloooooo?" it said further.

"Eeeeeke, you in here...?"

Dom looked ready to say something, but then paused.

"Right." he said.

"Three things." he told her.

"One: that sounds DAMN handy. Like a miracle product." he commented.

"Two: I didn't even know that MADE such a thing." he went on.

"And thee: "Debuff"? That's... an odd turn of phrase..." he added, a little on the confused side.

"I'll call Leo." Jaden said.

"See about getting them fixed." he added, before leaving the room to make a call.

"....." Dom was silent, and then sighed.

"...so you are deaf." he commented.

Desiree nodded in response.

"....then... what's with the headphones?" he then asked her.

Dom seemed to freeze for a moment, before shaking his head.

"I have so many questions about that." he said.

"But perhaps we should wait until you two are someplace safer." he suggested.

Jaden just nodded, before thinking, and then stepping up beside his father, so Desiree could see him, too.

"Desiree, do you feel you are safe here right now?" he asked her.

"Or should we find someplace else, post-haste?"

"...." Jaden was silent for a moment, before looking at his father.

"Dad, calm down. We both can't be freaked out." he told him.

"I think her hearing may have been damaged from the attack, son..." Dom replied.

"......." again, Jaden was silent, before sighing.

"Desiree, we'll find somewhere." he then told his fiancee.

"For now, explain to my Dad your hearing wasn't affected by this."

Dom adjusted himself to the change in scenery, before looking around as well.

"What is it!?" he heard Jaden call back.

But Desiree didn't respond.

"...Desiree?" he asked her, but she didn't respond back.

"....." he was then silent, before looking in the direction of the voice.

"SON, GET OUT HERE!" he called as well.

"....Dad!?" Jaden then responded, before he quickly showed up, coming into view.

"What happened!?" he exclaimed, as he saw Desiree, and appeared to be more freaked out than Dom would have expected.

Neither of them were hurt... so why did he seem so excited and anxious?

Her plan seemed to work, as a truck that was there started to back up rapidly as best it could, towards the other windstorm.

Well, as best it could. Their driving seemed to be a little off.

"...heh." Dom chuckled.

"Well done." he told her.

"They must think we're either trying to flee, or trying to use mana to deflect their projectiles." he reasoned.

"Quick thinking."

All he could hear was his own panting...

...until he heard footsteps.

Slow, deliberate footsteps.

Someone else was here, and it wasn't the undead dragon. The steps were too careful. They weren't as heavy. Someone else was definitely in this cave.

And they seemed to be making their way... somewhat closer.

But it seemed like they were also unsure of as to where to go.