The stars across the evening sky were the only other light. Dark, sinister cackling could be heard from time to time pa.s.sing through the barrier. Prince Troeg was on the rooftop of the Castle with the Defense Shield, When the time came he and the other Elders would focus their power in a rotation to maintain the city"s inner perimeter from damage.

The Prince had sent a squad of guards to the Lab to a.s.sist Mike, and although he had been sulking earlier it was only because he was enjoying the company of a strong minded woman. The servants and even the Queen herself had rarely spoken to him clearly or without reserve. When Cara arrived, she was polite and quiet. It wasn"t until after he asked several questions concerning her allegiances did she profess about her feelings about Mike.

The words that came out of her mouth left Prince Troeg feeling a bit shortsighted.

"Prepare to deploy the Shield!" One of the guards could see the approaching force.

The Defense Shield was a one way shield, It kept things out. That left the prince and guards able to set up a defensible position and drive their attackers away. If they didn"t have one, their only option would be a direct confrontation.

"They are coming!"

Prince Troeg warned the others as he watched the incoming. When they were close to the Castle, he turned toward the formation and closed his eyes.

"NOW!"

The group of attackers were surprised to find themselves under an oppressive push back. The defense Shield was able to repel everything, magic, arrows, swords, and fists. Price Troeg had to depend on his guards to do the work while they concentrated on maintaining the barrier.

"AHHH!"

The screams of the attackers as their attacks were thwarted and returned in kind.

---------------------

Mike saw the scene outside of the Lab the moment it came into view, the Horizon was ablaze. Rushing to a nearby shelter, Mike put the girls somewhere safe. They could probably defend themselves if they were left alone, but If they were with the reinforcements it was possible they could be caught in the crossfire.

Keeping their safety in mind, Mike pulled out the Sap Crystal and pa.s.sed it to Cara.

"Hold this. Use it if you have to, but most of all you need to stay safe." Mike looked the girls over.

"Stay here." asking the others directly, he pulled his homemade Frost Cannon from the storage ring.

The hill was pretty easy to hide on, there were a lot of bushes and the evening sky was lit by fire. Most eyes were on the fire and trying to melt the ice that was blocking the door. Mike was wondering why it was still up, but didn"t care at the moment. The oils they had thrown on the wall where the ice was, had rolled down and destroyed the yard.

Mike got as close as he could and found some cover behind the Dragoons the Knights rode to the Laboratory. They were still startled by his approach, but they didn"t attack him. They could see he was about to hunt the people their riders were killed by. Mike motioned for the Dragoons to lay down and snuck quietly closer.

When the Dragoons saw him creeping they were all a bit excited and crawled alongside him. When one the Guards that had fallen was being paraded around like a trophy, the Dragoon that belonged to him lost its control. Its rage was immense as it lunged at the Poocha resident among the rioters.

Tearing the Arms of the Man from their socket, The Dragoon threw them into the dirt and crushed the man"s head inside its mouth. The alarming sounds of the others as they watched the Dragoon go b.a.l.l.s deep on the man"s face. The crushing sounds had several of them p.i.s.sing where they stood. Despite killing a guard, none of them had considered being something"s lunch.

Mike appeared right behind the Dragoon and started firing the Frost Cannon. Its spray rushed out for nearly 35 feet and anything caught in its blast was instantly frozen, cracked and crumbled under the pressure, then broke to a thousand pieces. Mike cleared the floor after the Dragoons were satisfied, the few that remained sniffed Mike with intensity and followed him to his next target.

"O_o! Okay." Mike wasn"t looking for his own mount, but those would definitely do the trick.

Mounting the larger of the Dragoons Mike flew into the Sky. He aimed the Frost Cannon and in a matter of minutes the remaining attackers outside the lab had been eliminated, frozen or otherwise.

Mike needed to get into the lab and see what was missing. He saw a ladder used to scale the walls and landed on the roof. Rushing down the stairs he could hear the Dragoons following him and crashing against the walls behind him.

When mike saw the inside of the Lab he was disheartened, The grow had been raided and whatever they couldn"t take with them was smashed.

"f.u.c.k!"

Mike was p.i.s.sed and he ran back to the roof. Re-mounting his Dragoon, Mike flew back to the house he left the girls in. When he saw them, they rushed up.

"Why do you have Dragoons?" The girls hadn"t been on one before. Mike told them to get on and follow him.

Rising into the air he told them what was going on. "Search the area, yell out when you find them, alert everyone." Mike took off at high speed in another direction.

The girls were a bit lost on what to do, but all of them split up into a different direction. Each took a Dragoon and flew into the darkness looking for a running thief or a force.

Mike and the girls looked for the entire night but nothing was found. When they returned to the Lab Prince Troeg was standing outside of it with his guard contingent.

"I"m glad to see you"re alive, and with our Royal Dragoons.." Prince Troeg was wondering how the attackers managed to take the Dragoons, they themselves were quite proud and never allowed themselves to be captured.

"Yes.. they insisted on following me." Mike said it outright, It left Price Troeg and the other guards at a loss.

"All of them?" Again, Prince Troeg asked but Mike could only shrug.

"Your Majesty, The Lab was raided. The plants that we had just started and the entire interior of the Lab will be of little use, they"ve destroyed everything." Mike was preparing to be scolded by the Prince but then he remembered.

"I do have more seeds put away that were for the next harvest, however we if cannot produce more seeds there won"t be a Cannabis Industry, let alone plants."

"Jodi, March. You two go get the seed packs I had you stash. Take the Dragoon with you, they will protect you."

Mike nodded to the girls and they rushed off for a few minutes before they returned with the seeds in hand. "that wasn"t far away, how safe could it be"

"Very good." Price Troeg looked like a sigh of relief had made it across his face and then he continued speaking.

"We can send out scouts and spies to our likely suspects and discover where they have hidden the plants, We cannot allow the enemy to take control of this as well." Prince Troeg felt like he had a good point, but Mike had a better idea.

"f.u.c.k those guys. Desperate little s.h.i.ts will probably kill the plant in transit and transplant. What I"m worried about are your plans for the Plant. I"ve been pretty patient, understanding and forthcoming with you and yet you kept my woman at the palace when you knew I would come to find her. And then, while I"m gone the Lab gets raided. I"m not suggesting you"re to blame, but the coincidence is just too d.a.m.ned uncanny."

"Plus, We have more seeds." Mike took the seeds from March and Jodi. Kissing them on the cheek, he turned to pa.s.s the seeds to the prince.

"Take them." Mike looked at the girls as if to tell them to be quiet.

Mike was p.i.s.sed off, he had considered wiping this smug prince out. He had just allowed or contributed to the loss of everything Mike had worked for over the past few months.

"You keep them, have your "Elders" Figure out how to grow. Your enemies have my notes, my materials and now they have my plants."

Mike looked Prince Troeg in the eyes directly, pulled his frost cannon out of storage and stood with pride.

"We"re leaving."

Mike got back on the Dragoon, he motioned to the girls to do the same.

"Since you haven"t paid me yet, only built the building.. I"ll take these Dragoons as payment."

"You and I... Are done."

Scolding the prince once again before he left to the skies with the girls, Mike felt like a King. He hadn"t even waited for the Prince to say another word, he had just left. Just like that, The Kingdom had lost its Alchemist.

--------------------------------

Flying through the night, Mike and the girls headed to a Cave locals would spend the night at when hunting for food after dark. There wasn"t a lot of room, but the Dragoons piled up near the cave entrance and the Girls slept on top of Mike.

The Sun rose and the sounds of birds signaled everyone to rise. The Dragoons let themselves out to p.i.s.s while the girls did the same. Mike laid there trying to figure out what he had to do for a moment and then joined them.

He had two s.p.a.cial rings, his truck, all the supplies that were all somewhat rightfully his and his girls. Mike pulled the Radio out and put it on one the spare Dragoons. They only needed 6, but for whatever reason the entire squadron of Dragoons had decided to follow Mike.

Cranking the Radio, "Motorhead" was playing. Mike hadn"t heard his radio much and it was a welcome reprieve from the worries of flight. They traveled to the next town and bought some water, meat and clothes. The Girls had abandoned their things, as usual, in the rooms at the lab.

"Okay. Until we get more of the, you"re all going to have to share." Mike pa.s.sed the s.p.a.cial Ring to Cara. She had spent the most time pining after him anyway, the others didn"t even frown for long. When they saw the ring on her finger they were all excited and got back onto the Dragoons.

The mounts were scaring the locals. Usually the only reason someone would see a Dragoon would be if the Royal Family had sent out enforcers or guards. With a running start, Mike and the girls flew onto the next few towns until they reached a large span of water. Mike flew in circles to rise higher, but the higher he went, the more tired the Dragoon was getting. Looking out over the water, Mike couldn"t see the edge and a.s.sumed it must be the Ocean.

On their descent, Mike linked back up with the girls and they headed to a town just up the sh.o.r.eline.

"A Port!" Mike yelled out and had the girls follow him.