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Drawn to the Shadows of Fate

Chapter 15

“He did say the bar on King Street… Right?” Cameron questioned to the group, he was certain he had the address right but he was beginning to second guess himself.

“Oh he definitely said King Street,” Kyle affirmed. “Give him a minute… he’s always a tad late.”

“For having such ridiculous cars and psychotic driving habits… he sure is late often,” Michael added with a sigh.

And as if on cue, a distant roar of a well tuned and taken care of V8 echoed in the distance. The car sang its song louder and louder as it got closer. Tires screeching and exhaust backfires rung out as a sparkle maroon C7 Corvette rounded a corner, tire smoke washing over the street behind it.

“Now who the hell could this clown be? That has to be Conner,” Confusion was etched across Connor’s face as he stepped closer to the street as the Corvette zipped into a nearby parking spot.

The car’s suspension lowered before the engine went silent, the sight of the door opening up made Connor even more confused. A Corvette with scissor doors was not common, and he didn’t recall hearing that Conner had installed scissor doors on his favourite car yet.

As the driver stepped out, he gave the group a tooth filled grin before closing the door. “The hell happened to the black Vette?!” Kyle called out in confusion.

Conner merely chuckled as he and Daniella joined their friends in front of the bar. “That is the black Vette,” Daniella remarked before giving Conner a firm shove with her right wing causing him to stumble. He gave the dragon a confused look which Daniella promptly responded with a glare, wordlessly communicating her displeasure at his driving.

“I’m gonna strangle him when we get home, Treena, I swear,” Daniella grumbled with a flick of her tail. The silver ‘ness snickered as Conner rolled his eyes.

“Hey Karyna, guess your boyfriend couldn’t make it?” Conner asked as he pushed the door open to the bar, holding it ajar for the group.

“No, unfortunately he couldn’t, his mother is in the hospital… broke her wing.”

“Naw, that sucks... Welp, tell him I send my wishes for his mother to make a speedy recovery.”

“I’ll be sure to let him know,” Karyna said with a smile.

After a quick chat with a server, everyone was seated and drinks had been ordered.

Conner let out a tired sigh as he leaned his back against Daniella’s front, thankfully this bar had mixed seating tables. While Cameron, Michael and Connor had taken seats for humanoids, Conner had plopped into a cushion with Daniella. Kyle had attempted to take a seat in one of the chairs but was dragged into a cushion with Treena, much to the group's amusement.

“So how do we want to do this?” Conner questioned as he handed Daniella her drink from the server.

“What do you mean?” Michael asked in confusion before he took a sip of his drink.

Conner shook his head with a slight smirk. “Get a round of drinks from different bars across the city or stay here a bit?”

“I think we shouldn’t get more than one drink, maybe get the most popular drinks from each bar and uhhmm…” Treena paused thinking briefly. She opened her mouth to continue but Kyle beat her to it.

“Make a list, could do a bar tier list for fun, rate them based on atmosphere, customer service and the drinks.” Kyle suggested.

Conner cocked his head slightly, his eyes distant as he thought over Kyle’s proposal. While he wouldn’t be indulging with the alcohol, he liked the idea. “I don’t see the harm… what do we think?” Conner said as he looked to regard everyone individually.

Daniella’s ears perked up as she nodded in agreement, nobody was opposed to Kyle’s suggestion and so the night began.

…

Conner yelped in surprise as he was nipped in the butt, spinning around he found Daniella giggling, her wings drooping slightly from her buzz. They had just left the third bar and Daniella was already pretty buzzed.

“Why do you always have to get the strongest drink you can…” Conner sighed, barely able to hide his own amusement.

“Oh lighten up bitch boy, let her have her fun!” Cameron teased with a laugh as he gave Conner a light shove.

Shaking his head, Conner turned away from the still giggling black ‘ness and continued walking towards the next bar. Hurried and slightly unsteady footsteps caught Conner’s attention, he stepped to the side last minute to see a streak of black and maroon skid past him.

A slight smirk played across his lips as he turned to face Daniella, she reared up on her hind legs, attempting to grab Conner but he ducked low and grappled her midsection. Daniella’s eyes widened in shock, her wings flaring out on instinct as she felt her feet leave the ground.

Conner stumbled slightly as Daniella coiled her tail around his right leg and squeezed him tight with her legs.

Cameron watched from the sidelines as the couple continued their weird game of wrestling? He didn’t have a clue what this would even be called, a dragon using a human as a climbing post. The fact that Conner’s legs weren’t trembling under Daniella’s immense weight was impressive. He pulled out a blunt and lighter just as Daniella jumped down from Conner’s grasp.

“Wanna hit?” Cameron asked, offering the blunt to Kyle as weed smoke spilled from his mouth.

“Uhh, sure,” Kyle took the offered blunt and took a long drag, holding his breath as long as he could before he coughed out the smoke.

Conner watched as Kyle, Cameron, Michael and Connor passed around the blunt as the group rounded the corner onto the street where the next bar was located. Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, he turned, spotting a ground of dragons round the corner onto the street his group was just leaving. His brain quickly counted seven just before he lost view of them. He wanted to convince himself he was crazy, but deep down he knew it was the same group he had first seen at the restaurant while he and Daniella had their dinner date.

He tried to push back the uneasy feeling he got but it continued to linger, this was now the third time he had seen this group. Just as a precaution Conner curled his thumb inward and pressed it into the ring on his middle finger. He felt the sensation of tiny bugs crawling across his skin, the sensation crawled across his right forearm before something took shape under the sleeve of his black sweater. Conner squeezed his arm with his left hand, smiling inwardly as he felt the rigid firmness of something hard under his sleeve.

Clearing his mind, Conner focused, like clenching a muscle or moving a limb, he took control of the neural connection he used to control his Tek suit. Glancing down at his right arm, he watched the tip of a blade slip out from under the sleeve of his sweater over top of his wrist. Taking a breath, he retracted the blade, he didn’t care if people called him paranoid, better safe than sorry.

Daniella gave Conner a funny look as he focused his gaze straight, a distant look in his eyes. He looked tense and she could hear a barely audible soft beep coming from him every five seconds. She spotted the ring on his right hand and could see a red light blinking in time with the beep.

She went to ask but before she could she caught movement in the distance, a car with its lights killed parked in the parking lot across the street from the bar they were headed to, even though she couldn’t tell what colour it was, the shape was unmistakable.

The group didn’t linger long, Conner had said the vibe seemed off, in truth it was because that same group of dragons had arrived shortly after and then had gotten kicked out for starting a fight with the bouncers. He wanted to try and lose this group without telling his friends for fear of ridicule and dismissal.

Conner let out a long sigh, his breath misting the cool air. An abnormal cold front was approaching according to the weather report he got on the heads up display of his contact lenses. Contact lenses not for vision issues but to provide the convenience his Tek helm and sunglasses granted without making him look silly.

“The vibe was off, really?” Cameron teased, “That was your excuse to make us leave,” he added with a chuckle.

Cameron’s amusement was not reciprocated, merely receiving a glare from the uneasy Conner. Unfortunately everyone was too inebriated to notice his unease. Conner was about to make a sarcastic report before something in the parking lot across the street caught his attention. He pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh before marching his way towards a particularly flashy glitter maroon Corvette.

The group followed after Conner, matching his hurried steps upon realizing a group of people were hovering around Conner’s Corvette while one person leaned against it.

Conner bit back his anger and put on an act as he approached. “Who’s car is that?” he called out in faux intrigue as he made his way to the group.

“Oh yeah, it’s my car,” the dark haired light skinned male leaning against the car responded. He was young and clearly trying to impress a few girls. This group consisted of two guys and three girls and their focus switched from the alleged car owner to Conner as he stopped close to him. Once Conner got close, the guy leaning against the car straightened out and looked Conner in the eyes.

“It’s your car, eh?” Conner chuckled dryly, “Whatchu have done to ‘er?” he added, just barely holding back a snarl in his tone.

“Oh not much, just an exhaust and some cosmetics,” the guy responded. “You seem a tad jealous,” he added with a cocky smirk.

Anger flashed across Conner’s face, his act breaking with a sardonic laugh. “Me? Jealous!?” he sneered before leaning forward, inching into the man’s personal space. He watched as the smaller man seemed to shy away slightly before he decided to get brave.

“Fuck’s your problem man?” the man barked back causing Conner to laugh again, his laugh sounding more manic than scornful.

“I don’t really appreciate people touching my shit,” Conner snarled before he jumped onto the hood of the Corvette, his ribs landing directly on the raised middle of the induction hood causing him to wince. The car started with a throaty roar as Conner pulled out the keyfob from behind his back. Spotting the keyfob in Conner’s hand, the man’s eyes widened.

“Hit the road before I knock your lights out,” Conner threatened as he got up from the hood of his car. He watched as the man took off before pressing the keyfob into his left wrist, letting the nanotech separate and scurry up his arm.

“Ohh, I like your energy, maybe we should have dinner sometime?” one of the girls who had been standing around his car said in a flirty tone as she twirled a finger through her hair.

“Beat it whore! He’s mine!” Daniella snarled as she hurried over to Conner, wrapping him in a possessive hug.

“I appreciate the offer, but I think I like this one,” Conner stated coldly as he returned the dragon’s hug.

Daniella curled her neck around to glare at the human girl before snorting smoke from her nostrils. The girl got the message and made a hasty retreat.

…

Conner shook his head as Cameron and Connor began to drunkenly bicker over something utterly stupid that he hadn’t cared to pay attention to. He had started distancing himself mentally from his friends after that group of dragons got kicked out of the last bar and waited for them to leave before arriving at the next bar they walked into.

With how sloshed Daniella was now, he was in lookout mode, every slight movement from the corner of his eyes made him nervous. Normally Daniella would notice how alert Conner was, but she was unfortunately too drunk at that moment.

The hairs on the back of Conner’s neck stood up and all background noise went mute, it felt as if time slowed as he heard the subtle shuffle of footsteps and the sound of something being sung through the air. Conner tensed up and went to turn but before he could turn around, he was hit so hard in the back of the head that he was sent crashing through the table in front of him.

Conner gasped for breath and shot up before crying out in pain as shards of glass fell off of the back of his neck and head. His ears were ringing so loudly that he actually couldn’t hear anything else, he let his head fall back against the broken booth table. Conner went to close his eyes again before a scream made his eyes shoot open, that voice screamed again and he felt his adrenaline spike. Fighting back the debilitating nausea, he began to get up, ignoring the voices around him that urged him to stay down. He raised his arms as he sat back on his heels, feeling warmth course through his arms and into his hands, Conner brought his hands up and held his head as the energy surged through him. Bright white light blinded him temporarily before the nausea began to subside and he stood up. Part of the bottle he was hit with smacked into the ground, half of a Jack Daniel’s bottle label still clung to the broken shards.

“GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME YOU DISGUSTING PIG!”

Conner’s veins and eyes began glowing a neon purple as his adrenal glands went into overdrive, he turned to the large street view window and leapt through it. Tackling a large crimson red dragon into the street as shards of glass showered the sidewalk, Conner managed to get onto this dragon’s back, grabbing their left wing arm, he pulled back as hard as he could. The dragon screeched in agony after Conner heard a sickening pop. Conner was about to grab the dragon’s other wing but was knocked of by one of his friends, a grey and white dragon. Catching his fall with a roll, Conner squared up to the white dragon.

“Which one of you paint sniffing retards cracked me over the head with that fucking whiskey bottle!” Conner snarled, his voice mirroring a fraction of the anger and fury he was holding back.

“Surprised you survived a hit that hard!” the red dragon who was clearly the ringleader of this goon squad responded.

“Dodging my question… typical,” Conner sneered before lunging at this dragon, he didn’t care that this dragon was one of the larger subspecies, easily twice Daniella’s size. He had seen larger and had killed larger in his past lives.

Conner connected a strong blow to the side of the dragon's head before dodging their retaliation, he moved in for a second strike, landing a nasty uppercut to the underside of his jaw. The dragon lunged at Conner right after he recovered from the throat strike, using the dragon's momentum to his advantage, he avoided the head and drove his shoulder straight into the dragon’s chest.

The impact sent a shockwave through the dragon’s nervous system, causing him to reel back, wheezing for air. Conner went to move in for another strike when he became distracted, he spotted Daniella being cornered by the five other dragon’s from this group. Conner watched her inhale deeply before blasting a dark grey dragon across the face with bright white and blue flame. The dragon’s scales sizzled and fell away as her breath made contact, the wing membranes of both wings melted away from the intense heat. Most dragons had fire resistant scales, but Daniella was a member of a subspecies known for their exceptionally hot fire breath. The Norwegian Mountain Wyrm had a fire breath capable of melting even the highest grade of steel, the Elemental variant had a breath hot enough to melt titanium.

One of the other dragons, a green one, grabbed Daniella by the horns and threw her to the ground. The three other dragons with them who hadn’t gotten their faces melted off, held her down, making sure she couldn’t open her mouth again.

Conner, practically vibrating with rage, picked up the largest shard of glass he spotted from the sidewalk and whipped it as hard as he could at the green dragon. The glass shard zipped through the air, carving through the green one’s right wing arm before shattering across the side of a building. Daniella, spotting an opportunity, broke free and scorched the green dragon across his chest. He attempted to block the flame with his right paw, this only caused the scales on his foreleg to fall away and spread the heat across his body, melting his eyes out of their sockets and causing his wing membranes to shrink and tear.

Conner went to rush to Daniella’s aid but was tackled by the white dragon, the two became locked in a deadly wrestling match. Conner held the dragon's jaws back as he repeatedly landed blows to the side of their head. Conner kicked the white drake off of him before rolling back onto his feet. His pulse thundered in his ear as he charged the white dragon, dodging a claw swipe before freeing the concealed blade on his right arm.

The blade slid free with a metallic shing, Conner glanced at the twelve inch weapon briefly before driving it into the dragon’s side, between a pair of ribs. The drake roared in agony, he tried to catch Conner with a tail strike but missed. Rounding his opponent with speed and agility that seemed to defy logic, Conner drove his fist into the dragon’s thigh, the shock of the massive blade driving straight into the muscle followed by a strong punch was enough to cause the dragon’s leg to give out.

The red dragon lunged for Conner, coming to his friend's aid, Conner jumped back before smashing the dragon across the snout with the flat of his blade. The red dragon crumpled to the ground in a daze, he watched as Conner advanced on his friend. The white drake attempted to open his mouth and breath fire but Conner drove his blade through the top of his snout and into the pavement below. He stomped his foot into the top of the drakes snout before yanking his blade free and stepped over the dragon’s neck, straddling it. His eyes were distant and devoid of emotion as he grabbed a horn and roughly jerked the dragon's head up. With a sickening shlick, the dragon’s throat was slashed, blood spraying across the ground with a splatter.

Conner let go of the dragon’s horn, stepping away as the dragon sputtered and gasped for air, his mind devoid of remorse and regret. Turning to look for the red drake, he found him gone from where he had landed, Conner cocked an eyebrow in confusion before he turned to the street at the sound of shuffling footsteps.

Conner had zero time to react as a tail slammed into his ribs with enough force to send him crashing into the outside brick wall of the bar. He cried out in pain as he crumpled to the ground, multiple ribs fractured, and his left arm was definitely broken.

“I will say, I am impressed with how well you two can fight,” the red dragon chuckled coldly, without even trying to aid his friend he grabbed Conner and dragged him to the curb, placing his face just on the edge of the curb. Conner attempted to squirm away but the dragon held him down firmly. “Once I’m done with you, I’ve got a few more buddies who should be here any minute… we will have fun with her.”

Conner felt his gut twist in disgust at the way this dragon spoke, he turned his head slightly and spat blood on the curb before opening his mouth. “Fuck you!” he snarled in anger. Conner spotted Cameron, bloodied and battered in the crowd of people watching, his eyes filled with worry. Conner could tell by the state of his friends that they had tried to help and were now being held down by people in the crowd so they didn’t try again.

“I had a feeling something was different with you, I just knew I wanted to fight you… and look at you, it just proves the myth that Elementals are in fact real!” the dragon laughed, his tone dripping with arrogance.

“You gonna fucking curb stomp me or what!?” Conner growled.

“Oh no, I think I’ll keep you alive just long enough to make you watch me fuck your girl senseless…” he responded with a twisted smile across his face.

The dragon began talking, going into great detail about what he and his friends would do to Daniella, but Conner wasn’t listening, what he was paying attention to was the faint vibrations he could feel with his face pressed to the ground. Conner gave Cameron a twisted grin as the vibrations grew stronger. A distant roar shook the glass windows of nearby shops, its call echoing through the streets accompanied by screeching tires and exhaust backfires growing louder.

Conner spotted a pair of bright headlights approaching fast. “Oh now who is this asshole?” The dragon above him grumbled in annoyance just before Conner’s earbuds took shape in his ears.

Everything became muffled as a streak of black and red flew past them, the red dragon was sent flying following an almighty crash as tire smoke washed over Conner. Rolling over, he spotted headlights bleeding through the thick tire smoke, more specifically, headlights from a C7 Corvette. The car rolled back into a burnout from its high speed drift. He could have sworn he saw something else hidden in the cloud of smoke, a figure holding a large scythe, he blinked and the figure was gone.

“Thanks for the assist, Computer,” Conner groaned as he channeled his mana into healing his injuries. He decided to ignore that odd shape, his mind focusing on something much more important.

“No problem at all sir, Daniella might strangle you though for this,” the AI chuckled as the Corvette rolled forward and stopped spinning its tires.

He had no idea how many people were watching this fight nor did he know when police would arrive but he didn’t care. Memory altering magic was a thing… nobody around him would remember his face in a few seconds.

“Hey asshole! Whatchu think of my car!” Conner called out with a smirk as the red dragon began getting up slowly. Conner’s smirk faded as he watched the red dragon do something that made his stomach drop, the dragon had just used a healing spell… this one knew magic.

“You seem shocked…” the red dragon mocked with a sinister smile.

Conner gritted his teeth and jumped to his feet, his arm snapping back into place with a sickening crack. He looked to his Corvette and clenched his right fist. Right as he clenched his fist, the Corvette’s headlights turned red and the underglow lighting kicked on, red light spilling out across the ground. The car revved once before its roof shifted with a metallic click, the windows lowered as the windshield lifted up with the roof and folded back, similar to a convertible just without a windshield. Once the interior of the car was completely open, objects shot out from between the car’s seats.

Like a scene straight out of Iron Man three, Conner’s Tek suit connected with his body and spread out. The last parts of Conner’s armour formed into his helmet which promptly closed with a clang.

“All Systems: Online!” the AI confirmed as Conner’s heads up display booted up. The red dragon became outlined in a glowing red border as he charged Conner.

Conner planted his feet, waiting for the dragon to get close before launching into the dragon’s chest, his armour’s thrusters aiding his leap. The dragon wheezed for air as he skidded back, Conner was on him again in an instant. Launching through the air, catching the dragon’s horns as he went and tossing him through one of the unbroken windows, back into the bar that this entire altercation started in.

Conner glanced over to Daniella, she now had partial armour covering her to conceal her defining features, her face and provide protection to vital areas. He didn’t care how mad she might be at him for designing this without her permission or throwing it at her from the car without her permission either. He checked to make sure she didn’t need his help before diving into the bar after the red dragon.

Conner found him in a mess of chairs, tables and shards of glass. When the dragon spotted Conner, he inhaled deeply before breathing fire in Conner’s direction. “Such disregard for the safety of others!” Conner thought with a scoff as he advanced forward, even as the light from the fire temporarily blinded him. Once the drake stopped breathing fire, Conner snatched one of the many chairs from the ground and struck him over the head. Conner looked at the one chair leg still held in his hand after the rest of the chair splintered apart, he shrugged before clobbering the dragon again with just the leg.

Tossing the now half a chair leg aside, Conner grabbed the dragon by the horns and lifted his head up, he dropped the dragon's head down hard as he brought his knee up. A sickening crack echoed as the dragon yelped in pain from his lower jaw being smashed. Still gripping the dragon by the horns, Conner dragged him to the window and tossed him out over the shards of glass that still remained in the window frame.

Conner stepped through the broken window, his movements cold and robotic as he channeled his rage, he watched the red dragon scramble to his feet and dart over to his buddies. Conner froze, there were now six more new dragons and they had Daniella restrained and one had their claw pressed to her now exposed neck.

“Take that fucking helmet off and walk away or we kill her!” the red dragon threatened.

Conner stumbled, his vision tunneling and his ears began ringing, he felt his muscles tense as his vision turned red. His head began to spin as the fury and rage consumed his mind, he barely registered the hiss from his armour's airtight seal breaking.

“Biological Energy Surge: Detected, unable to contain pilot!” an automated voice broadcasted from the armour. “May God be with you all…” the AI added in warning as the street lights overhead exploded, darkness washing over everything as the Tek suit clattered to the ground, empty.

Daniella’s vision became enveloped in darkness, shrieks and wails of terror stung her ears as she felt herself be tossed to the side, out of harm's way. She watched from the sidelines as some of the dragons were dragged into a cloud of black mist. The Tek suit broke apart before darting into the cloud of shadows, a deep boom thumped in her chest as one of the dragons fell from the shadowy cloud, half of his head sent spraying across the street. The cloud of darkness began to shrink as another dragon tried to scramble away before a muzzle flash lit up the dark street, blood and gore sprayed across the ground as buckshot ripped through their side.

Conner stepped from the shadows holding a Remington 870 Express, the buttstock firmly in the crook of his arm as he pulled a few shells from the side saddle mounted to the side of the weapon. He racked the slide back, slipping a fresh shell into the chamber before shoving the slide forward. Conner shoved three new shells into the magtube before advancing on the now gasping red drake on the ground.

“YOU REALLY THOUGHT I’D LET THAT SLIDE!?” Conner roared, his voice echoing through the streets, its deep and guttural accent indicating Conner was losing control, his features twisting. “ANSWER ME!!” Conner screamed, oily black smoke seeping out of his Tek helmet as the seal broke.

“Go to hell, demon!” the red drake spat in defiance. “You disgusting creature, believing you are worthy of a dragoness' affection… YOU THINK YOU DESERVE HER!?” he roared, his voice filled with anger and disgust.

Conner growled deeply as he jammed the barrel of his shotgun into the side of the dragon’s head. “What makes you think I chose her?” He snarled in anger.

“So you’ve corrupted her with your disgu- *BOOM!*

Brain matter, blood and skull fragments splattered against Conner’s Tek suit and shotgun, he let out a deep sigh before racking the slide of his shotgun back. The spent casing bounced off the ground as he lowered the matte black weapon. He put the shotgun over his shoulder, letting it lock to his back before he turned away from the dragon's corpse. His thoughts began to swirl, doubt, fear, who was he to think he deserved Daniella? She deserved better, someone who could give her a clutch… and unfortunately he didn’t want kids at all. His mind continued to swirl with thoughts of self doubt. He dropped to his knees with a clang as he tried to hold back tears, he had nearly failed in protecting her, Daniella deserved better, No! Needed better.

“Activating Clean up Protocol…” the AI’s monotone voice said calmly into his helmet before the Tek suit became enveloped in flames, bloody gore burning away from the armour’s surface. After the inferno died down, a mist of decontaminating chemicals sprayed out of ports on the armour, thoroughly coating the surface before it was scorched in an inferno again to burn away the excess.

Conner roared in anger before bringing his fist down into the asphalt with full strength behind the strike.

*CLANG!*

His fist made contact with so much force, cracks formed spider webbing away a few feet from the impact while the spot he hit directly was almost turned to dust. He felt tears slowly trickling down his face as he braced his hands on the ground.

“Conner?” a feminine voice whispered his name quietly, the voice was filled with concern. He felt a weight on his back, someone had placed a hand there.

“Conner, are you okay?” the same voice asked, filled with worry, he knew who it was.

“I think we should go home,” Conner muttered as he got up.

Daniella frowned under her face covering, she followed after Conner, glancing over to their friends to see them getting into two of Conner’s other cars. The AI had likely driven them here to take the group away from police and to a hospital that wouldn’t ask questions.

The sound of three V8 engines echoed in the distance growing more faint as law enforcement finally arrived, the carnage left behind was jaw dropping. Eight dead dragons and five severely wounded and not a single wounded dragon or witness could give a description of the suspects. Just a suit of matte black armour, a black Corvette and a black dragoness with bright red eyes… clearly the work of Blackout, even after all this time, they have yet to come close to figuring out who is wearing that armour.