Chapter 15:

Draven 2: Ready

Draven and Timothy sat wordless in the carrier plane. Draven looked at Tim who was sitting across from him. He noticed the boy's clenched fists in his lap. "That feeling in your gut is normal," Draven assured.

"I feel like vomiting," Tim said helplessly.

"That's normal too," Draven said with a chuckle. "Don't worry, everything'll be fine." He smiled. Right then a red light flashed and the cabin went frigid as the cargo door opened. "You ready?!" Draven said over the roar of the plane engines and winds.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Tim returned with a smile.

"That's my boy!" Draven said as he checked Tim's parachute and guided him to the jump. The only protection the pair had from the frigid Inannian air was thick leather jackets and pairs of goggles. They fell to the ground at incredible speeds, and it wasn't before long that they had to pull their parachutes. Draven gestured to Tim, and they pulled their chords together.

Draven jerked as his parachute caught the air. His stomach Tim continue his fall. The chord must have snapped! "Tim! Shit!" he said as he undid his buckles and fell free of his chute. He straightened his body in an effort to catch up to Tim and was relieved that Tim had done the opposite—stretched out his arms and legs to slow his fall. Draven grabbed Tim when he flew into the boy.

He opened his pouch filled with soot but closed it scattered into the night. "Shit," he said again. He looked back at Tim and for the first time in a long time lost his cool, Tim, however, did not. He clasped his hands out in front of himself and parted them slowly. He formed a broad dagger of ice—more of a board—and gripped it.

Draven understood when he saw the steep slope that approached. The boy is mad. He let go of Tim and gripped the ice board with both hands, helping his protégé guide. Then, at a break-neck speed, they touched on the edge of the slope at just the right angle and skidded along the snow. After a half-minute of laser focus dodging all obstacles, they splashed to a stop in a river.

They leapt up and scrambled for land, shivering. After taking off their soaked clothes they took a seat on a fallen tree, the brief moment of inactivity allowed what had just happened to sink in. And after moments of silence, the pair laughed.

"We almost died," Tim said.

"I thought that was it, good to know you're cool under pressure," Draven said with a grin.

Tim rolled his eyes at the pun.

"We should get a fire going," Draven after his blood stopped racing. "You find the tinder, I'll build the pit."

Tim followed his instructions. Draven leaned back in disbelief, at no point did he consider Timothy being the one to save them. Maybe he is ready.

The pair waited around the flame until their clothes were dried and they felt warm enough to brave the cold. "Judging by where we fell, the site should to the southwest from here, a small hike, but in this snow it may be difficult."

Tim nodded with conviction.

The pair trudged through the night, Draven touched his lips as they cracked from the cold. Tim, however, seemed fine with it.

It wasn't long before they crested a hill and saw a small base in the distance. It was hidden in snow, but there nonetheless. Draven grabbed and pulled Tim down to the ground with him. "That's it," he said. "Are you ready?"

"How many times are you going to ask me that? of course I'm ready," Tim replied.

"That's not what I mean. If all goes well it's shouldn't be a problem, but if the time comes, are you ready to kill?"

Tim swallowed hard.

"Y-Yes."

Draven narrowed his eyes at him. In his lifetime he's found that words don't always match with actions...but he had to trust his ward.

"Good," he said as he pulled a hand full of soot from his pouch, he opened his palm and a small bird emerged from it, as black as the soot. It flew into the darkness of the night, out of sight. Draven laid silently, focusing on the bird, and then went up to his knees. "Alright listen, the back gate only has two guys, we should be able to take them out."

Tim nodded.

"After that, we stick close to the walls of the first building to the right, we should be able to enter the base. We'll wing it from there. Sound good?"

"Sounds good."

They approached the back gate, and just as Draven had said, only there were only two guards. He pulled out a fist of soot ready to manifest some beast when a truck pulled up. "Isn't that one of hours?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, it is."

"But...aren't we against these guys?"

"Not on paper—that's why this mission is covert."

The two guards checked the truck and let it through. Draven waited until he was sure the area was clear before he manifested two wolves out of the soot. The wolves sped across the snow and pounced on each guard simultaneously. "Come on," he said to Tim. The pair quickly cleared the distance and entered the gate. Just like Draven instructed, they stayed close to the wall and eventually approached an entrance that led underground.

It was warmer inside the corridor, and it was well lit by white lights. Draven crept forward. Peered around the corner, and saw no one. He moved when he decided it was safe to, but just then a guard exited a room and saw him. Draven whipped a fist of soot as the guard aimed his gun. It was clear who would pull first. Just then, a streak of cold whipped past Draven's face and the guard fell to the floor, clutching at the dagger of ice that jutting from his neck.

Draven turned to Tim who was pale and wide-eyed. Draven moved towards him and gripped his shoulder firmly. "You alright?"

Tim shook the shock off and nodded.

"Good...Great shot, by the way." The pair continued throughout the corridors without incident. Eventually, they came upon a room that had multitudes of monitors with different areas of the facility on display.

"We can see everything from here," Tim said.

Draven examined the screens. "There." he pointed to a screen with a bearded man in a lab-coat.

"Hey, that's the guy in the folder."

"He is, and I'm guessing that's where they're keeping the weapon." Draven pointed to another screen. "Listen, you get the weapon, I get the scientist."

"Sounds like a plan." Tim said in agreement.

"Freeze!" a voice shouted. Draven turned in a split second throwing out a plume of soot which formed into a snake that bit unto the guard's neck. The guard fell to the ground. The walky-talky he had was still on. A frantic voice in a language that neither Tim nor Draven knew seemed to be calling out a name, and then went silent.

"Maybe he didn't notice," Tim said with a wobbly grin. Just then the white lights began flashing red and a siren blared. Draven turned back to the screen and saw that the scientist was evacuating.

"Shit!" he said.

"Stick to the plan?" Tim asked.

"Yes," Draven said after a moment of hesitation. They ran in opposite directions once back in the corridor. Draven reached into his pouch and pulled out fist-fulls of soot and formed them into wolves. Every time a guard appeared, a wolf would pounce, take him out, and re-join the group.

Eventually, Draven made it to an underground road. There he saw the scientist entering a truck. Without hesitation, he ran and grabbed the back just as it started picking up speed. By the time he had crawled over the top and above the driver's seat, he was already out of the base. He reached down and knocked on the window. The driver of the truck pulled out a gun and shot at through it. Draven smashed the glass and banged his head on the steering knocking him out.

The truck swerved off the road and crashed into the snow, throwing him off the top. The snow cushioned his fall, and he got up without a scratch. He looked at the scientist who trudged through the snow, clutching his head. Draven didn't give chase, instead, he stood and watched as one of his wolves finally caught up with him and tackled the scientist.

"Hey smart-guy," Draven said as he lifted the man out of the snow by his shirt.

"What!? You!? What are you doing!? Our countries are at peace!" He said in a heavy accent.

"Yeah right. 'Peace'. Good cover for when you're making weapons."

"Weapons?"

"Are you denying that?" Draven asked.

"No! We have weapons...from your country!"

"What? That's not possible. That would be against -" At that moment he put it all together, he figured it out, what the Colonel wanted, what they wanted, and what was in the truck. They were covering their tracks. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a walky-talky. "Tim!"

At that moment the night sky was lit, and for a brief moment, the cold gave way to an explosive heat. It was over in an instant. The base was in flames. Draven dropped the scientist and ran back. Only a single word touched his lips. "Tim."