Wings of Fire Ch. 10 - Teaser (Patreon)

“A pit full of snakes?” Nadine repeated quizzically.

“Yeah! Something about finding the pit, because they needed to,” the boy told her with a shrug.

He then hugged her and Nadine giggled, thinking the boy just wanted another hug and she hugged him back. Denton then hustled back to his father and clambered aboard the plane. Once everyone was on it and the hatch was sealed, the props of the plane picked up speed and it was launched into the night sky.

Nadine stood there, puzzling over what the boy had told her about. She was scratching her head, trying to make sense of what he was telling her. The Pathfinder wondered about why the leaders of the Flintlocks would be discussing a pit of snakes and why they’d want to go there. Not even a few moments later, it hit her and she gasped as she now had an idea of where the Flintlocks were heading.

Sprinting across the flight deck, the Pathfinder ran for the nearest portal and dashed inside. Once she was in, Nadine hurried along the corridors until she reached the bridge. It was then that she stopped, taking a moment to catch her breath while Michelle turned and looked at her strangely.

“Pathfinder? Are you all right?” Captain Greyheart questioned.

“Better than all right! I think I know where the Flintlocks are going!!” Nadine breathed as she found her voice.

“Well? Where are they going?” the busty redhead queried as excitement danced across her face.

“Have you ever heard of the Viper’s Den?” Nadine asked.

“Of course! The biggest collection of thieves, scoundrels and outlaws this side of the world! All of them for hire, if you can find where they are,” Michelle replied. “Where did you learn of this?”

“The boy, Denton, mentioned hearing the leaders of the Flintlocks talk about it when he was hiding in the mine. How they were talking about looking for some men,” Nadine told her.

“Hmm. That does make a certain kind of sense. We dealt them a pretty hard blow by shooting down some of their pilots and capturing a good portion of their ground crew as well,” Michell surmised.

“It’s also the place I would go, if I was an outlaw like them. Something like that where you can hire on trained and experienced scum like them? It would be the first place I’d go to replenish my ranks,” Nadine stated.

“The only question is, where do we start looking for such a gathering? I doubt they openly advertise with a large billboard saying, ‘Here is where you will find the worst of the worst, a true hive of scum and villainy for hire!’” Michelle chuckled with an edge of sarcasm in her voice.

“I don’t know, but I know where we can find people who do know!” Nadine stated with a smile.

“Oh? And who would these people be?” Captain Greyheart asked.

“Outlaws and mercenaries. Some of whom owe me a few favors, considering that I let them off on technicalities for things they were involved in. The place where we would find them is a few hours’ travel south of our current position,” Nadine informed the redhead.

“Well, Pathfinder? Lay in the course!” Michelle told her, allowing Nadine to direct the ship this once.

“Helm, please lay in a course for heading one-eight-zero, all ahead full!” Nadine said, smiling all the while. The helmsman did just that and turned the ship about for a heading of one-eight-zero.