Paragons 1.4.3

This is the third chapter of the Paragons episode The Magic Emporium. Savannah’s Quest takes an unexpected turn when the Rebels arrive on the scene.

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I wasn’t sure if Eris was planning to acquiesce to the bandits, and I never found out. Because the next moment, three armored fighters swooped down from the mall’s upper levels, bows drawn back. Despite all the armor, they moved with inhuman grace, like angels dancing on air.

“The Knights are here!” Asher said, grinning.

“Those aren’t Knights,” Bronte told him. “Knights don’t wear black.”

Whoever these people were, they made quick work of the bandits. Arrows sliced through the air. Ropes burst out of those arrows, pinning the bandits to pillars, walls, and even the floor. Eris shook her sword, and it transformed into a huge fishing net, floating above our heads. She inhaled deeply. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she directed the net toward a trio of fleeing bandits. It gobbled them up and dropped them into a very large crate of used coffee capsules.

Then she spun around to face the armored angel walking toward her. “What in the spirits’ name are you doing here?” she sighed.

“Helping,” he said, his voice heavily distorted by his helmet. And maybe some kind of voice-modulating device.

Meanwhile, his fellow armored angels were reenforcing the bindings holding the bandits.

“Helping?” Eris repeated, incredulous.

He shrugged. “You looked like you needed it.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” she said, then frowned.

I guess the truth magic in the air hadn’t dissipated yet.

The armored angel chuckled. “It’s good to see you, Eris.”

When Eris snapped her fingers, her magic net zipped back into her hands. It transformed into a small metal disc, and she inserted it into an open slot in her wristguard.

“You shouldn’t be here.” She popped her helmet closed, and when she spoke again, her voice was distorted too. “The General won’t like it.”

“The General doesn’t like anything.”

Eris snorted.

The armored angel turned to face the crowd that had gathered around us. “Sorry about the disturbance, folks.”

His friends were wrapping up the bandits’ leader in a big red bow, like a present. Then they hung a tag around his neck. It read ‘for the Iron Wolf’ and was signed ‘your rebellious friends’.

A bunch of supernaturals in the crowd pulled out their phones and started snapping pictures.

“Have a nice day,” the armored angel who’d talked to Eris declared with an elegant bow, then he and his comrades vanished in a cloud of smoke, like ninjas.

The crowd exploded with applause.

“Who were those guys?” I asked Eris.

“Rebels.”

“Rebels?”

“Former Knights who had a difference of opinion with the Government and left the Castle,” she clarified.

“I’ve never heard of them.”

“Of course not. The General wouldn’t want anyone to know he doesn’t have complete control over every single Knight.” Eris extracted a disc from her armor, and it transformed into a phone. “The General calls them Rebels, vigilantes who exist outside the law.”

“These people obviously disagree.” I indicated the chatting, cheering crowd.

She nodded. “Most people here see the Rebels as Robin-Hood-like figures.”

“What do you think?” I asked her.

“I think we’ve lost enough time today already, and we’re behind schedule.” Eris waved her hand over the phone in her hand, and text appeared on the screen. “The General’s soldiers will be along shortly to collect his…present.”

Kylie giggled.

“In the meantime, we should check on the civilians,” Eris said. “A number of them were knocked over in the skirmish.” She popped another disc out of her armor and it turned into a first-aid kit.

We spent the next ten minutes checking on everyone—and posing for a few photos. By then, the Watchers had arrived. They gathered around the bandits, debating how to extract them from the gigantic red ribbon.

“Are there always so many thieves in the Magic Emporium?” I asked Eris.

She shrugged. “Not always. But often. The first few weeks of the year are especially bad.”

“Why?”

“It’s when the naive new Apprentices come to town, acting all starstruck and distracted. You make for easy targets.”

“So you think those guys were here for us?”

Eris shrugged. “Perhaps.” She waved the other Apprentices over. “Let’s go.”

So we continued deeper into the mall, passing shops both interesting and bizarre. The magic bookstore, in particular, caught my eye. And so did the magic pet store, which was running a special on talking kittens. The cute little fluff balls had drawn the interest of most of my teammates too. Eris was trying to coax Bronte, Asher, and even Dutch away from the display window, but she wasn’t having much success. The kittens were way too cute.

“Oooh, look at that!”

Something else entirely had caught Kylie’s eye. Banners hung from the high ceiling, on either side of the passageway. Each banner featured a different Knight, and it cycled through a series of dramatic hero shots of that Knight.

“That’s him! The White Knight!” Kylie squealed, pointing at the banner of Kato. She’d stopped directly under it. “The Knight from the Garden yesterday!” She slanted a look my way. “Tell me all about him.”

“Uh, he’s pretty good at magic.”

“What happened when you two disappeared for a few seconds?”

How could she possibly know so much? She’d been on the complete opposite side of the Garden when Kato and I had disappeared into Shadow Fall.

“People talk,” she said, guessing my thoughts. “But apparently you don’t.” She frowned. “Come on, Savannah! Tell me everything! I heard he walked you home.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “Alone.”

“It was no big deal.”

“No big deal?” she repeated, gasping. Her voice grew louder. People turned to stare at us. “No big deal? A Knight escorted you home, Savannah. That is a very big deal!”

I shrugged. “He was just being chivalrous. Knights are like that, you know.”

“Chivalrous.” Her knees seemed to melt as she said the word. She had to grip on to my arm to stay standing. “How romantic.” A calculating gleam lit up her eyes. “So, do you think he likes you? As in likes you?”

I snorted. “No.”

Her lips pinched together. “Why not?”

“Because he’s a Knight.”

“And what is a Knight? They might have all this magic, Savannah, but at their core, they’re human. They’re teenagers, just like us. And they have feelings, just like us,” Kylie pointed out.

“Ok, maybe, but that doesn’t mean he likes me,” I replied sensibly.

“Well, I’m going to pretend that he does. It makes for a better story.”

I laughed. “Ok, you do that.”

She batted her eyelashes at me. “So you don’t mind if I tell our teammates about your new boyfriend?”

My hands started to sweat. “Umm…”

“Kidding!” Kylie said lightly, winking.

“Funny,” I muttered. “You know, enduring your teasing feels an awful lot like surviving a heart attack.”

Kylie linked her arm in mine.

“What are you two gossiping about?” Bronte asked as she joined us.

The rest of the team was right behind her.

“Nothing.” I tried not to look at the larger-than-life banner of Kato.

But Bronte wasn’t fooled. “Who could forget him?” She smiled at the banner. “He saved us all in the Garden. He’s a true hero.”

“Just don’t tell him that. It will make his head grow even bigger.” Eris nudged us forward. “Now, getting moving, Apprentices. Remember: this Quest is being scored!”