Chapter 24 Motivate to Dominate #2
Lark lifted her chin, her heart racing as she leaned in to meet him.
The wagon rocked as a shadow broke the light streaming in from the doorway.
Lark stopped herself by palming Venrick’s chest, catching herself before her balance tipped all the way into him.
She felt something other than the firm sculpted muscles under his armor.
Something at the end of the necklace that he kept tucked under his light armor
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were, um, having a moment,” Ezra said, shielding his gaze and backing out of the wagon.
“We weren’t having a moment,” Lark said awkwardly.
“We weren’t?” Venrick asked.
“Well, no, we were arming ourselves for the storm. Then we—”
“You’re right, we were about to agree on me taking the sword, you using the scale,” he said.
“You’ll need this,” Venrick added, picking a leather harness off the rack on the wall behind Lark.
“It holds the scale in place, allowing you to take the armor on and off in the blink of an eye. Clip this latch into place and the scale presses tight to your skin. Remove it and it’s suspended away from your body.
You’ll want to put the harness on under your shirt.
Any other weapon you might need is here, too, all at your disposal, obviously.
I’ll give you some privacy.” He started out of the wagon.
“Venrick,” she said, stopping him by grabbing his arm. “I didn’t mean for it to—”
“No, no need to make it clear to me, Lark. I thought I was… never mind. Let’s forget it happened.”
“But,” she said.
“You’re a rider, Lark. If you didn’t have amnesia, you wouldn’t be giving a no-name half-elf Squire any kind of attention,” he said.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, or…”
“I made a promise to you, and I intend to keep it. We’re going to get that Hyalite back and getting Yogos to pay for a tracking charm is the fastest way,” he said, taking a heavier suit of armor from the rack and putting it under his arm.
She frowned.
“We should be focusing on the firestorm. I’ll give you some privacy to get changed.” Venrick hauled the fresh set of armor out and closed the door behind him.
Lark slid out of her traveling attire, fitting the leather brismil harness on.
After several tries, she used the cloth in the scale’s case to secure it into place.
It hung a few inches away from her ribs.
A circular hole cut into the leather allowed it to press tight to her side when cinched down into place.
Every other piece of armor she tried on was too large.
Tel’s frame might’ve been close to Venrick’s but was much too broad in the chest and tall for her.
With the magically charged armor at her disposal, Lark returned into her shirt, fitted leather vest, and wool travel cloak.
She picked through the racks of weapons, finally settling on a sword.
It was smaller in size than that of the oversized brismil blade, but larger than the average broadsword.
With her brismil armor at the ready if the need arose, and the long sword strapped on her back, Lark felt as formidable as she ever had.
Emerging from the wagon, Lark stood before Ezra, Hardin, and Venrick, who had already managed to get Stormbreaker and the scabbard off Ingamar’s saddle.
“You didn’t put any of the armor on,” Hardin noted, folding his arms across his chest.
“Oh, she did,” Venrick said, cinching the brismil blade to his sword belt below his chest plate. The additional leash that attached midway down the scabbard up to his belt was the only way to keep the long sword from digging into the ground as he walked.
Lark couldn’t help but stare at him in the form-fitting armor. His broad chest was pronounced in the plate, his shoulders padded and large. The way he looked at her with those green eyes made her heart flutter.
“Go on, show them,” Venrick said with a grin.
Lark palmed the clip on her side. When she snapped it into place, the brismil scale surfaced snug against her skin. Instantly she felt a chilling sheet of energy that coated every inch of her body. It was buzzing with raw power, like the blade, but more direct. It vibrated through her core.
“Whoa!” Hardin shouted, stumbling back.
Lark saw them staring wide-eyed through a wide slot in the armor’s visor.
“You look like…” Ezra said.
“A bona fide dragonrider,” Hardin overrode him.
“The brismil armor fits to the shape of your body. It’s as light as normal clothing, strong as dragon scales, and fireproof. It supercharges all the abilities you already have,” Venrick said.
Lark examined herself, seeing the black brismil plate on her arms, legs, and torso. She squatted, jumping slightly as she rose. She lifted her legs, twisted and bent. “That’s wild,” she said. “It looks so strong, but I don’t feel any restraint. It’s as though I’m wearing nothing at all.”
“How do you feel?” Ezra asked.
“I feel,” Lark said, sensing power in her.
Magical energy flowed through the scale and into her.
She felt charged, like lightning was running through her veins.
“I feel amazing!” and moved to unclip the scale.
The lever was under the armor, the whole harness was under the armor, but her fingers somehow passed through the armor, unclipping the lever that held the scale down against her side.
The deep blue plate armor instantly disappeared.
She moved around now, feeling the same mobility but without enhancements.
“Are you ready to go find out what it’s like to fly a dragon into a firestorm?” Ezra asked.
Lark met Venrick’s eyes, locking in on them for a moment. He smiled, then gave her a nod.
“Motivate to dominate” she said, the phrase coming through from the fog of her past.
“Motivate to dominate?” Ezra replied.
“I like it,” Hardin said.
Venrick smiled. “Me, too. Motivate to dominate. Fitting for what we’re about to do.”