A bright flash of blue filled my eyes as I stepped from a grassy meadow and found hard concrete under my boots. After the short dizzy feeling of teleporting subsided, I took in the familiar surroundings. The portal chamber was a simple design, the only notable features being the circle of runes that took up the majority of the room. A single banner of a black eagle with its wingspread out and its' feet clutching a skull was the only color int he dull gray room.
Another flash of blue temporarily blinded me and a tall woman in what looked like a noble woman's dress appeared from the center of the runes. Piercing blue eyes peered at me from behind the long blonde hair that reached down past her shoulders. She flashed me a little smirk as she walked towards my side towards the edge of the runes. Another flash followed her and revealed a large man. He stood nearly seven feet tall and appeared to have dusty gray skin. The sides of his head were shaved and his long brown hair was dreaded down to the base of his neck. He joined me and the lady at the edge of the runes and waited. We didn't have to wait long until the last flash of light filled the room. A shorter man, or at least shorter than the rest of us, entered the room rotating his shoulder. He had wavy blonde hair that he regularly had cut in order to get it out of his eyes.
"Took your time Wilhelm. We've all been waiting for you," the woman said starting to rub the eyeshadow out of her eyes.
The man rotated his shoulder and worked on getting out of the chain mail armor that he and the gray-skinned man were both wearings. "Yeah, because you're not wearing this piece of shit armor that the Ledorians ship out on mass to their guards. It's as if they have tried to make it stiff and uncomfortable on purpose!"
I tried to suppress a laugh as Wilhelm continued to struggle out of the armor with haste. "Oh come on Wil. You don't hear Raph bitching about the armor."
Raphael, the large gray man, gave Wil a large smile. "Yeah, Wil, you don't hear me bitching."
Wil gave an exasperated sigh, "Raph, that's because you and Lennox wear plate armor like its a second skin. You two are fucking psychopaths and refuse to admit it."
I couldn't help but relent to a smile then. Wil wasn't wrong. Raphael and I went into most of our missions wearing plate armor or some other type of heavy armor while Wilhelm and Bethany went into most of their missions wearing lighter armor. Except this mission had need of a more subtle approach. Some noble in the Ledora kingdom had to get dirt on another for blackmailing purposes. Found out that the noble had dealings with some the Zephryn kingdom during the Crater war. By the dates and the signatures, it was to several higher officials in the Zephryn kingdom towards the end of the war, but without permission from the king, it could be held up as treason. I never got a look at what was exactly discussed, but having contact alone would make the charges messy and a conviction likely. The subtly of the mission required me and Bethany to pose as a noble couple escorted by household guards, from there it was a simple act of Wilhelm and Raphael sneaking off and grabbing the information.
A slow clap echoed throughout the halls and I almost immediately stood at attention. All smiles and jokes were immediately cast away. I turned towards the source of the clapping and saluted the tiefling that walked towards me. He walked out from the door connecting the portal room to the rest of the compound and had a large grin that made his bright teeth even more unsettling.
"Congratulations Lennox, you and your team have proved once again how resourceful you are in the field," he said with each word dripping with pride. "It is wonderful to know that my faith in you is not misplaced. Do you have the documents that were requested?"
I looked towards Raphael and he stepped forward and presented a set of scrolls from a leather bag at his side. Varidan took them in his hands and slowly unfurled one to read the contents. A low chuckle was the only noise he made as he rolled the scroll up again and pocketed them in his coat. At this point he walked back up in front of me, only standing a foot from me. He reeked of lavender perfume, mixed with some other sickly scents. Was that blood? The metallic scent was faint, but the augmentations did more than just make me stronger. Senses were heightened, and there was no misplacing that metallic smell.
