Red stepped out of the cell for the second time in a day.
"If you are actually here to rescue me, then Derrin's coming with us," Red held Ayjax's gaze despite the man towering over him by multiple feet.
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"Red, I have no need to come with…"
"You shut up," Red waved his hand at Derrin, "Your bloody flaming honor or something. I don't really care."
Ayjax stared at him for a long time. The entire boat shook again, and Red was forced to catch his balance against the remains of the cell door. Red was not sure how one ship could keep up against the Gearborn, especially when their most powerful warrior was galavanting in the enemy's basement.
"Alright, if you are that firm about rescuing him…" Ayjax turned to Derrin, " Then, I'll allow it. But it's up to you to free him. I have another matter to attend to before we can leave."
Red stared at the man. Behind all the layers of humor, he was definitely cold. Ayjax clearly didn't think he'd be able to rescue Derrin. He didn't really seem to care about him at all. Well, there wasn't much Red could say about that. The man was here to rescue him after all, even if the why was still unclear.
"Great. But uh, could you at least get my stuff while you're doing whatever you are doing? It'd be kind of difficult for me to get it behind that locked door down there," Red gestured to the end of the hallway.
Ayjax nodded and then took off down the hallway. Red blinked in startlement. It was less of a run and more of a storming teleport. Red shook his head. He didn't know how long this guy would be, but he knew there wasn't much time. It was time to get to work.
"You didn't need to do that," Derrin said, leaning against the bars as Red approached.
"I thought I already told you to shut your pipes," Red grunted as he bent down over the keyhole.
Another explosion ripped the side of the ship, and his head bounced off the bars with a thunk. Ugh. Red heard the distinct sound of tearing metal but focused on the keyhole. The Gearborn were lazy, so despite their unique inventions, they didn't bother to have a different key for each cell. They were all the same, and that meant someone like him could break into them much more easily. It would only take him a moment to unlock.
The spoon went into the lock just like before. It sucked that his mist levels would be drained from this. He would have had the chance to almost fully power one of his guns. Instead, he'd probably only be able to power it enough for one or two shots. Red grumbled to himself, but a short moment later, the door popped open with a click.
"See how easy that was. No problem at all," Red stuck the spoon into his pants pocket and glanced down the hall.
Ayjax seemed to have totally vanished. The door lay in a heap in front of the opening, and the hinges had been completely shattered. Red couldn't help but wonder how powerful Ayjax truly was. He could never have dreamt of doing something like that, but this man did it so effortlessly.
Red turned back to Derrin only to find the blasted man kneeling before him. He stumbled backwards in surprise…and then fell over as an explosion rocked the ship.
"What the hell are you doing?" Red yelped in an undignified heap.
"I owe you a blood debt, Redwynn." Derrin's voice was overwhelmingly sober.
"Yeah, that is not happening," Red quickly said, "I've got no idea what that means, but I simply owed you a favor. There is no bloody debt here."
He had no idea what a storming blood debt meant, but he had no interest in finding out. Knowing this blasted man, it was probably some ridiculous honor-filled rule. He would not be dealing with that.
"You have it wrong, Red. Saving a man's life is enough to constitute a blood debt. You have done more than that here."
Red gave him a flat stare, "Is that so?"
"It is indeed."
He glanced down the hall. Ayjax had not yet returned from wherever he went. Red wanted his weapons back, but it would be much faster to wait now that the hall was a jumbled mess of shattered metal.
"Fine. Say that I take your statement seriously for a moment. What exactly does that entail?"
"Why of course…I must save your life so I can repay the debt."
Derrin said all of this without the hint of a joke behind it. Red shook his head. He sure hoped not all Montrelans were like this because it was damn annoying. Why couldn't he just accept that his life was saved and go on with his day? This was not going to benefit anyone.
"That's great, pal. Uh, I'm sure you'll repay the debt one day."
"I have failed in the explanation…"
Oh great. There was more.
"...I must follow you until I have repaid my debt."
"Oh goddamn it," Red cursed, "Yeah, there is no way in hell that I'm going to…"
Before he could finish his statement, something crashed into the floor at the far end of the hall. Red and Derrin both whirled to the noise. It had not come from the way Ayjax had gone. Instead, at the bottom of the trapdoor, stood a figure that they definitely didn't want to see. The Herald rose slowly and glanced down the hallway at them.
A sudden wave of panic flashed through him. The herald didn't need to affect his emotions at all; just its arrival caused him to panic. Bloody hell. Where was Ayjax?
"Well, this is most unexpected," The Herald said, "I expected to find something else down here."
The wave of fear he had been anticipating finally crashed down on him. The entire room seemed to dim slightly, leaving the ominous figure of the Steelforged standing in the gloom. Derrin staggered to the floor and tried to push himself backwards. Red growled to himself as he forced his remaining mist to act as a barrier against the influence. He was far more successful this time because he still actually had some left over.
The Herald smiled an utterly inhuman grin. A new wave of horror attacked his mind, and he stumbled briefly. No…no…no…NO! He wasn't going to let this blasted thing do that to him again. So, he drove the back end of the spoon into his leg. He staggered slightly, suddenly overwhelmed by the pain. However, this time, his mind cleared, and he regained lucidity.
"That was quite smart of you, specimen. You are intelligent, just like I thought, and not just a talking animal." The Herald shook his head, "Unfortunately, I can not allow you to roam haphazardly around the ship at this time. This is going to hurt."
The panic that he had thought was gone exploded in his mind like an egg shattering. He crumbled to the floor under the staggering power of the steelforged. His mind refused to process the sensations, and he began to shut down. Red felt his vision blurring, and black spots began to appear.
Crack!
Everything stopped. Red blinked slowly for a few seconds, his breath ragged. All the increased emotions vanished, and he could see clearly again. His mind remained fogged over from the attack, but he managed to regain enough sense to look up. Where the Herald had been, there was now a massive hole in the side of the wall. Ayjax strolled up beside them and dropped a massive chest onto the floor with a loud crack.
"Make your way to the deck. He was supposed to be taken care of, so this is going to get much more difficult." He glanced back at the pair, "Derrin, you better defend this kid, 'cause your life depends on his. Get yourselves to the port side of the ship at all costs, I'll take care of the rest."
The herald rose back out of the hole and laughed cruelly, "Try not to die."
With that final word, Ayjax exploded forward, and the pair of combatants went hurtling back through the hole he had just made.