Oracle

Part 30

"I'm not sure John being fond of someone is a good thing," Tim muttered darkly, drinking some of the salt water. "Don't think I didn't notice how the assassins backed down after you got involved and started using yourself as a body shield. They kept trying but they were cautious to hurt you. Plus Jaspar's vision..." Tim trailed off and the two dragons thought over what Jaspar had seen and accidentally dragged them along for.

Maria took a silence swig of her beer, saying nothing for a moment. She knew where the vision was most likely taking place. The city border was covered in forests but there was a particular place along it where John could not walk. He could not walk out of the city limits but the boundary had shifted due to an earthquake and there was a place closer than any other which would free them all from John's control. The ruins of the Lynch shrine's cemetery.

"We set things in motion the moment we decided to contact Justice about a plan," she murmured, her voice darkly serious. "I would bet that dream is a warning. A warning we will follow but it does not change the plan."

"For one we don't have a full plan," Tim said dryly, swirling what was left of his drink. "I'd rather your brother not kill me for getting you killed Li Sying."

Maria laughed coldly at the thought. "Tim, it is well known I've basically sold out here. If my life goes to saving someone who hasn't been corrupted by the darkness that lurks here, my Gege would be happy. Anyway, Isaac is mostly protected because he suits Calder's type. You are not," she looked at him in the eyes. "We both know if you get killed, it won't just be your brother coming after me. I have to keep you alive Fu Fang." She used his Chinese name as he had used hers.

Isaac's skin was naturally paler than Maria's, though still distinctly beige just with blue tints than Maria's pink. His family had come from the east and many suspected Isaac's grandfathers had been Japanese or Korean. Calder had a thing for pale east Asians with slender bodies and big doe eyes.

Sad as it was, Maria mused, looking at Tim's considerably dark, russet, skin tone, if Calder was attractive to someone, he was more likely to keep them alive and forgive their faults. The lawyer Saito who had seemed to have made it his life's ambition to bring the mob boss down was a good example of this. Tim was also built strong like Calder, not slender and graceful. Tim was nowhere near as tall as the black man, but he was strong and his eyes were narrow and dark. Maria's only concern with Isaac was Calder trying to get him into bed, but it seemed at the moment Calder was a one 'man' man with his mysterious lover. She just hoped whoever his lover was had known what he was getting himself into.

"We are both fucked if either of us dies," Tim said almost mournfully, not quite agreeing with Maria's assessment that her older brother would be happy with her death if it was in the aide of someone else. Supposed corruption or not, family was family. "Though I suppose we are fucked if we abandon our posts as well so maybe it does not matter either way," he chuckled. The elders would not kill them, but their careers as wardens and guardians would most definitely be over. They would be bound to the land where they had been trained like so many others who had fled from their posts from cowardice. A true dragon died with his post, they didn't run from it because of danger.

"I'll take being confined to Utsang if it means not having to watch the things which happen here anymore," Maria said darkly. "All we need to do now is work out when we are going to be doing this, and how."

Tim hummed in agreement, standing up to look at the piece of paper which was charmed to send them Justice's reply. Words in red curled across them, making Isaac smiled. "Justice says to count him in and would it be possible to help Jaspar escape as well?" he looked at the woman who was lounging on the sofa.

Maria looked up and nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. "We can make it happen. I'm sure," she grinned. "We have time to plan it out."

"There is one more person we need to take in consideration here. I'm not talking about Jaspar or that demon bodyguard he is stuck with," Tim commented as he wrote the reply. "Isaac. Are we leaving him here without any warning or are we going to give him the option to join us?"

"Leaving him here," Maria said with no hesitation. "He will be fine, I'm sure. They won't hurt the final warden, not when they have to request two new ones. As long as he is in the dark to the plan, he will be safe. John won't hurt an innocent."

"If you're sure," Tim nodded slowly, believing her words but a bit uncomfortable with giving the younger dragon shifter no warning to the chaos they were sure to bring. That vision had been quite clear. John was going to chase them and chase them hard. If they weren't careful, he could kill them. They would have to drive through a forest because ignoring the seaport, the only way of the city was through woods and forests. There was no escaping that bit of the vision, they just had to find a way to make sure the other parts didn't come true.