87 Gone Fishing

Zeph looked at the lake. It was crystal clear and gave off a soft violet glow. Fish with crystalline scales were swimming underneath its surface, and multicolored coral sat on the floor. "Now this was worth the trip." After leaving the city limits, Zeph and the boys flew for over an hour and decided to land by a lake in the wilds.

"I'm glad you like it," Bernard said as he was digging into a duffle bag.

"The deep forests have the most beautiful views," Alex commented while raising chairs out of the ground.

"And crystal fish are delicious," Eli said while covering the chairs in soft moss.

"Wait, we're here to go fishing?" Zeph asked.

"Of course we are. It's a traditional guy's night out activity." Bernard said while pulling out some fishing rods and a tackle box. Then he pulled out a large cooler that contained snacks and drinks.

Zeph looked at Bernard bringing item after item out of his bag. "How the heck did all that fit in that duffle bag?"

"Well, we haven't been able to get that storage ring idea of yours to work, but we have made some progress with space magic." Bernard smiled. "While the bracer has a separate space enchanted into it so you can store and retrieve items, this bag has its space expanded."

"It's bigger on the inside," Zeph said and let out a small chuckle.

Eli's pendant let out a beep, and the elf opened up a text message. "Looks like Max and Miriah reported us. Their team captain just sent me a message. It's saying they've seen some unidentified flying objects but were unable to pursue them after they escaped the city limits. I should probably tell them that it was us." Then Eli started writing a reply.

Bernard attached his fishing rod and then sat down on one of the chairs. He used magic to toss the hook out far into the water. Then he reached into the cooler beside him and pulled out a cold drink. "Ah, that's the stuff," he said as he took a long refreshing drink. "Thanks for convincing me to come along."

"No problem. The countermeasures are almost finished anyway," Eli said.

"What's left?" Zeph asked.

"The new spells are done. They just have to be implemented. The other techs are putting them into the tracking device that Relina and I developed and they're also adjusting them to work with the portable detectors like the one Eli has. The only thing left is the grunt work. That's why I can take it easy today." Bernard answered.

"Yup. That means that we'll be busy tomorrow," Eli said as he sat down. "Then we can finally finish this and hunt the rest of those bastards down. I'm tired of running a valir task force." He sighed. "I miss my lazy afternoons and my hammock."

"Don't be like that. You're doing a great job. Outside of the first attack and the Avery estate, there hasn't been any big attack by the demon followers. All the others were taken care of by you guys or the police." Zeph said.

"Yes, Eli. You've done well," Alex said.

"Thanks, but I'm still ready for this all to be over," Eli said as he cast his own line out into the lake.

"Indeed. Once this is done, we can all go back to our peaceful lives and I can go back to inventing," Bernard said.

"It didn't really seem to slow you down," Zeph stated as he gestured towards the bikes and the duffle bag.

"I didn't make those. I just sent the ideas and the new spell script to some of the other engineers and they took care of it. I was busy this whole time dealing with the demons." Bernard frowned. "First I had to make a way to track them while improving the city's defensive barrier. Then after that was done, we could only track them when they use demonic energy. Thanks to Avery's betrayal, they were able to infiltrate the city as deeply as they did. At least he left his notes and we'll be able to hunt them down soon." Bernard was venting his frustration while glaring at the lake. Catching a fish would cheer him up a little, but the little buggers weren't biting.

"Wait, the city's defensive barrier is back up?" That was news to Zeph.

"Yeah, little dude. It's been back up for a while. That's why the attack on the Avery's was such a big surprise. The barrier and the detectors we had should have alerted us. It turns out that Avery already had a spell in place on his property to hide him from all manner of scrying spells. Makes sense really, since he was dealing with the demons for a long time," Eli explained.

"Bah, enough about that. I left the lab to relax. Let's talk about something else," Bernard said.

"Sure, what do you guys want to talk about?" Zeph asked as he grabbed a drink from the cooler.

Bernard, Eli, and Alex gave each other a look before Eli asked, "So, when are you gonna ask Semara on a date?" He timed it perfectly as Zeph was in the middle of drinking when he asked the question.

"Pfffft, keh keh… whA?" Zeph was caught completely off guard.

Alex looked at the flustered fox man and tried not to laugh. "We wanted to know when you planned on officially asking Semara on a date."

"Hold on, it's not like-" Zeph got interrupted.

"We've seen the way she looks at you, and you do flirt back. I'd like to know when I can expect grandchildren," Bernard said.

"You already have a grandchild, me!" Zeph shouted, desperate to change the subject.

"Yeah, but I've missed all the fun stuff. First words, first steps, yadda yadda yadda. So, get a girl and get crackin'," the old man laughed.

Zeph took a deep breath, 'It's okay. They're just messing with you. Calm down, relax,' he thought to himself.

Eli saw Zeph with closed eyes, in thought and decided to interrupt. "Are you thinking about a certain wolf girl in a bikini? We know you're into her, but we're trying to have a serious conversation here." He held in his laughter.

That brought up a memory that completely derailed Zeph's attempt to gather his wits. 'The image of a flirty wolf woman at the pool ran through his mind before he stopped himself from thinking on it any further. Gotta turn this around or I'm going to be teased for the rest of the night.' The young lord glared at his friends and started to talk about how he and Semara are just friends.

Eli leaned towards Bernard and Alex and whispered, "I can't believe how fun this is. No wonder Bianca loves messing with him."

"I know, it's great isn't it?" Bernard said.

"Oh, I know how to make this better," Alex whispered to them. Then he turned towards Zeph who was saying that he wasn't flirting, he was just teasing. "Then you're interested in Bianca. We understand," Alex interrupted him.

"Oh, maybe he's after both of them," Eli said with a smirk.

"That's fine, you are the next Lord of Asperitus, and Nobles are allowed more than one wife," Bernard added. "That should double my odds of getting a grandchild." He nodded in mock understanding.

"That's not- no- you guys… arrgh, quit it." Zeph whined. They did not quit. The old men were having too much fun teasing Zeph about his love life to stop. The evening continued with some yelling and laughter. They'd move on to other topics, only to bring the subject back around to Zeph's non-existent love life. 'Please, something happen, anything. Just make them talk about something else. Why in the hell aren't the fish biting? It's been forever," Zeph thought.

Then something did indeed happen. A loud roar in the distance interrupted the old men and their fun. It was followed by the sound of something running through the trees and underbrush. "Must be something big if it's making that much noise. Did it get through the barrier?" Eli asked.

"No, it's still outside. Whatever it is must be angry to cause that much ruckus," Bernard said.

"We should go check it out," Zeph said. Then he ran after the noise, not giving them a chance to say no.

"That's one way to escape," Eli said. "Guess we should follow him."

Zeph ran out into the trees and stopped at the edge of the barrier Bernard made. It would keep any wildlife from finding and approaching him. The sounds of fighting could be heard nearby. He could hear the sound of muffled voices. 'Seems like someone must have been hunting the creature.'

"Zeph, hold on," Eli called out to him.

Zeph turned around and waited for Eli, Bernard, and Alex. "What is it?"

Eli held up the small black device that was used to detect demonic energy. It was blinking. "It seems like we may have stumbled onto something interesting. We need to think about how we should approach this."