Aurelius silently considered Ruby's amendments, not really caring for her tone. But, his dark smile never left his face once.
Aye, I'll show 'er another world. Bitch never said nothin' about bringin' 'er back, he thought with an inward chuckle. His mohawk rattled quietly as an icy breeze stirred the bloody-red quills, and carried away another stream of smoke from the tiefling's mouth.
He looked around the debris-riddled square, completely oblivious to the beauty of the moonlight shimmering gently on the waves in the small fountain. He was keeping his ears parked for any sign of pursuing guards, his senses picking up sounds of the riot he had started spilling out onto the streets. He could also hear the guards trying to instill order, and the clash of improvised weapons hammering against their shields.
Time to get the 'ell out of 'ere, he surmised. The warlock shooed the familiar from his shoulder with a small wave of his hand, sheathing the knife at the small of his back again - if the chit tried to play dirty, Aurelius knew he was quick enough to get his blade back out in a heartbeat. Junior kept close, lazy flaps of his crow wings holding him aloft with barely any effort; the little monster kept its sutured eyes on the woman, not liking the way she smelled. She meant its master harm, the foetus could tell. The half-demon turned his eyes down to his attire though, realising his anarchist garb was not exactly suited to a fight with the spellsinger before him.
"Tell you what, luv," he said cheerily, clapping his hands before him, "I'll do you a good turn, seein' as I'm in a good mood."
He nodded back towards the shadows he'd first lurked in when he realised Ruby was chasing him. "You let me get my proper gear on, and I'll show you another world for free. After that, we'll go with your deal, if only to indulge my curiosity."
His smile could cut glass.
Ruby, while clearly only barely managing to hold back her impulses to gut the fiend, would not risk her victory being diminished by the tiefling claiming she hadn't played fair.
"Get on with it!" she snapped, pointing her sword at him yet again.
"tsk tsk," Aurelius smirked, strolling away to the hidey-hole where he'd stashed his gear, "anyone'd think you didn't like me, luv."
***
Ten minutes later, Aurelius was back in his trademark attire; his battered leather coat trailed down to his knees, the dozens of straps and buckles jingling in the breeze stirring the Salvaran night; under this was his unique, bladed and barbed leather armour, every black plate and strap covered in a dizzying array of hooks, blades, and spikes. His weapons, too, were back in their usual places - Baatorian blades at the small of his back, Herzaa's blade hanging from a leather cord at his waist, his heavy cleaver strapped to the warlock's right shin and under his left arm sat the holster of serrated shurikens.
In short, he was as ready as he was ever going to be.
The half-breed stretched his neck, eliciting audible cracks as he loosened up for the fight to come. He nodded to Ruby as he re-emerged from where he'd changed (though he hadn't hidden himself away when he changed, really - the guttersnipe had never been shy about his body), and waved her toward a fallen archway leading out of the small crossroads they currently inhabited. Junior flapped behind them, the tiny, winged foetus snapping malevolently at the back of Ruby.
All the while, the planewalker was flipping through a small, leather-bound book (at least, it looked like leather), muttering away to himself as he pored over page after page of his spidery hand-writing. The malcontent stopped before the crumbling stone arch, looking up from his book finally with a small grunt of triumph.
"Alrighty then," he said quietly, glancing to the slender chit next to him. She was practically vibrating with the need to hurt her opponent. Ain't she the little flatterer, he thought with a chuckle to himself. With one last check, Drak'shal tucked the notebook away inside his coat and turned his attention fully to the arch. With as much concentration as he could bring to bear, the warlock whistled an odd, lilting tune.
Almost instantly, an ethereal blue glow swirled to life inside the confines of the stone, moving slowly like a whirlpool in treacle. He raised his eyebrow at Ruby, the obsidian rings glinting in the sharp moonlight. He waved her towards the now active astral conduit.
"As if," she sneered, glaring at Aurelius. "You go first."
"Fine," he chirped, his lips turned up in a wry grin. "'ave it your way, luv. It's perfectly safe," he added, strolling toward the portal. He decided not to mention the first time he'd stumbled across this gate, he'd been blind drunk and accidentally whistled the tune that acted as its key, and he deigned to leave out where the portal would take them...
Without a backward glance, the planewalker stepped through the arch, instantly disappearing from the Salvar, and Althanas itself--
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