#4 - "Stalking the Dragon"

After spending over a week out in Los Angeles, I had finally come home. In my case, home being my apartment on the CII Main Plant. Unlike most hero teams, the Freedom League does not have a real headquarters. Then again, we were unlike most hero teams from the start. The idea of the Freedom League was more a public relations creation than a fact.

The truth of the matter is that we are just heroes and scientists who work for CII and were dubbed the Freedom League for convenience. We have no team organization of any type. Not even an official leader, although we tend to defer to the eldest member present should the need arise. Primarily we worked as soloists or in smaller groups. Every once in a while we would assist the Avengers in some endeavor should they need a hand. It was just easier to explain us as a group in the long run.

Each member of the Freedom League has their own work area on the plant and each area was not necessarily next to each other. For instance, the building that houses my lab and apartment also has areas for FIST, Radiance, and Microwave. Only FIST and myself live there as both Radiance and Microwave live in the city with their families. FIST rarely showed his armored face outside his quarters, so I enjoyed a great deal of privacy.

I awoke around eight on Monday morning. I hadn't slept much on the trip back from Los Angeles. The couch in the Situation Van may be comfortable, but there is nothing like waking up in your own bed. I only caught a few hours of sleep once back in New York on Sunday morning. There were pressing matters that demanded my attention, such as further investigating the robbery that occurred on Saturday night. I'll spare you the tedious details on my investigation of the crime scene and the filing of the various reports. They bored even me and turned up no new information anyway.

So, with that out of the way, I could turn my attention to other matters. An indirect benefit from my injuries last week was that it gave me time to fully concentrate on my projects. I'm actually several weeks ahead of schedule now. Meaning, I can relax and have some fun!

But first things first. In order to be the Scarlet Sabre, I have to keep my body in peak condition. That was one of the down sides of spending the better part of a week in bed. My conditioning had suffered and was only further aggravated by all the rich foods I had been eating. Time to hit the gym!

One of the perks I enjoy is my own private gym designed specifically to meet my needs. Over the years I've developed an exercise routine that keeps me in tiptop shape. I first start out with stretching exercises and yoga meditations. I've always been very agile and having been born double-jointed I can do a few things that most people can't.

After stretching, I do laps around the gym area and then hit the weights and exercise machines. From there I do some target practice drills to further hone my ability to reflect and redirect attacks using my lightsabre. The most demanding drill is saved for last.

Campbell Industries International is the leader when it comes to superhero training technology. We've designed and developed various combat simulators used by several hero teams, the crosstown Avengers included. Part of my private gym is one such combat simulator and the program is controlled by Jaime.

Jaime is always modifying and changing the program to keep me on my toes. I lovingly refer to this as 'The Gauntlet'. The purpose of the exercise is simple: just make your way to the other side of the simulator. That's also the hard part.

The path is barred by an ever-changing landscape of walls and obstacles. Plus, there are ramrods and low powered laser attacks to make things even more difficult. It usually takes all my skill to run the gauntlet successfully.

"Not your best time," Jaime telepathically informed me as I finished with my exercises. "In fact, not very good at all."

"Not surprising," I sent back as I toweled off and took a healthy drink of water. "I'm a little out of shape after that week out in LA and didn't want to push it just yet."

"Then you had a respectable time, given those factors."

"Gee thanks. That's awful nice of you to say. Anyway, I'm off to the shower."

"I'll have breakfast ready by the time you're done," Jaime informed me. "So, Jess, what do you want to do today? Go out patrolling in the Sky Sabre? Go shopping? Take in a movie?"

After gathering up my gear, I made my way back to my apartment. My sweaty exercise clothes were removed and thrown into the laundry. From there, it was a nice hot shower. "No, I don't think so. Maybe later on. I thought that we'd visit Helena this afternoon and see how she is doing."

The last time I had seen Helena was nearly two weeks ago when we assisted Muskateer in trying to get a line on the Hanged Man. Since that time, I had traveled out west and became involved in the trouble with the Crimson Claw while she had confronted her father's killer, lost her apartment and moved back to the family estate, and was reunited with her mother. We have been two very busy girls.

"I'll give her a call and find out if she is free today." Jaime made the call while I was showering. Through our connection, I was able to listen in. Unfortunately, Helena was out, but the call was answered by her mother, Felina. What a perfectly feline sounding name.

"I'm sorry, but Helena is not in right now. May I take a message?", was Felina's response to Jaime's call.

"When do you expect her back?" I told Jaime to tell Felina. "My name is Jessica and I was out of town when all the excitement happened to Helena."

"She has a meeting to attend this morning, but I do expect her back shortly."

"The Monday morning meeting at the Avengers Mansion," Jaime suggested to me telepathically.

"Most likely," I sent her back. It was a standard practice of the Avengers to have an informational meeting every Monday morning at nine. Helena, as the Huntress, was now a reserve member of the group her father had founded, so logically she should be at the meeting. I had Jaime make arrangements to go out to the Kirby Estate this afternoon and for Helena to give me a call if it was a problem. Felina was agreeable to our solution.

Once done with the shower and blow drying my hair, I made my way to the kitchen. My kitchen, as you might expect, is very unusual. It looks more like a laboratory than an actual cooking space. Everything can be computer operated, so there are numerous 'waldos' and other devices that allowed Jaime to grab and manipulate kitchen items.

Jaime actually does most of my cooking. Once she gets a particular recipe down, she can re-create it over and over and it will come out perfectly every time. That's the nice thing about her being a sentient computer. Once she has a particular task perfected, she'll be perfect every time afterwards. Unfortunately, working out the bugs in her culinary endeavors can be most unsettling to the stomach.

But on this morning, I could immediately tell that Jaime didn't spend a great deal of time on making breakfast. At my place setting was a bowl holding a grapefruit sliced in half.

"I was hoping for something a little more substantial," I informed Jaime. Especially after having spent the better part of a week eating Chef Blade's creations.

"Which is exactly why you need to diet a little bit," Jaime explained. "So that you can loose all those extra pounds that you gained from Blade's cooking.

Normally I don't really pay much attention to my weight. It's not like I'm that vain, after all. My activities as the Scarlet Sabre are usually enough to keep me slim and trim. Reluctantly and unenthusiastically, I dug into the fruit.

After spending the rest of the morning doing the mundane chores of keeping up my apartment, I was more than eager to get out. So it was off to the garage and my car. Another perk here at CII is that we have a staff mechanic to tend to our vehicles and do the mundane chores of making sure our gas tanks are filled, our windows cleaned, and the carpets swept. My red sports car is always clean and shiny whenever I go to use it. Hopping into the car, I peeled out and began my cross-town journey.

I first met Helena Kirby back when we were both in college, before either one of us had donned tights. I was an Olympic class gymnast while pursuing a computer degree at MIT. Helena was another Olympic class gymnast who was pursuing a law degree at Harvard. We weren't very friendly at first since we were rivals. It was hard to believe that she was that good at gymnastics as she didn't fit the standard profile of being a small wisp of a lass gymnast. No, Helena was very tall, lanky, and muscular.

Everything came to a head when the Olympic Trials rolled around. It came down to us competing for the last spot on the Olympic team. It was very close, but I'm proud to say that I did win. It was going to be such an honor competing for my country in the games. Helena didn't take it very well. She has this near obsession for perfection. It wasn't until years later I would come to understand why.

As for the Olympics, you can check the records but you will not find Jessica Flynn listed anywhere. You see, unfortunately, I never made it to the Games. The accident that created Jaime and changed me into the Scarlet Sabre also ruined my dreams of Olympic Gold. I spent that summer in the hospital recovering from being struck by lightning and trying to deal with the entity that shared my thoughts.

Time passed and I moved to New York City and became the Scarlet Sabre. I was a member of the Crusaders for a time, and then later the Freedom League. This was when I first encountered the legendary Hunter. Hunter, like American Eagle, was a hero whose origins reached all the way back to World War II. The first Hunter operated from the thirties to the fifties. His son, the second Hunter operated from the sixties until his untimely death a few months back.

Not long after his death, I encountered a heroine calling herself the Huntress, the daughter of the previous Hunter. Much to my surprise, that woman was Helena Kirby. My old rival was competing with me on the superhero level now. We teamed up to take on VIPER and stop the flow of the Retaliator weapons. (Editor's Note: As shown in Huntress #2-5)

We really are not rivals anymore and actually started to become friends. Both of us have been through so many similar circumstances, that it's it not surprising that we have a friendship. I could also understand her much better now knowing her background. Being the successor to a prominent hero like Hunter has got to be tough. Small wonder she was so obsessed about perfection. She has incredibly high standards to maintain. I could forgive some of the shortcomings from her youth and she was starting to settle into the role of heroine. She was going to be a worthy successor to the Hunter legacy.

Finally, I pulled into the driveway at the Kirby Mansion out in Westchester Hills. The estate and house spoke of wealth and luxury. I noted that Helena had landscaping done since the last time I was out here. But that was before she moved back home full time. I was admitted at the gate and drove up the long drive to the garages behind the main house.

Helena and her mother came out to greet me before I was even out of the car. There was no mistaking that the two were related. Imagine Helena about six inches shorter and twenty years older and you've got her mother. Felina had aged gracefully and could possibly be mistaken for an older sister. She looked very agile and lithe.

"It's good to see you in one piece," I noted as I emerged from my RX-7 and met the Kirby women.

"Hi, Jess," Helena greeted. "This is my mother, Felina."

"Hello," Felina smiled and waved. "It's a pleasure to meet my daughter's friends."

"Jessica Flynn," I said to Felina as we shook hands. "My condolences on the passing of your husband. He was a good man."

"Thank you, dear. Helena told me that you sometimes assisted Lane on his cases. Not to mention assisting her as well."

"It was my privilege. Now that we are both older, Helena and I have a great deal in common."

"Of course," Felina noted. "Most of Helena's friends are, shall we say-- in the same profession?"

"Why don't we go inside," Helena suggested. "We have prepared a light lunch."

"Sounds delightful," I told the Kirby women. "I think we have a lot to talk about."

The next few hours passed with girl talk. I found Helena to be the most relaxed I had ever seen her to be. Having avenged her father had helped to take some of the edge off of her. Felina returning also played a factor as well. I can't imagine not seeing my mother for twenty years. Clearly, Helena grew up very differently than I did.

While Felina seemed to have a calming influence on Helena, she was also something of an annoyance at the same time. Helena occasionally has tunnel vision, where she becomes so obsessed with solving one particular problem. Be it finding her father's killer or trying to weed out the Hanged Man, or make the Olympic team. Felina on the other hand is more outgoing, more willing to enjoy life. Very much like Night Owl. From what they told me about how they spent the weekend, those two got along splendidly. (Editor's Note: Shown in Huntress #20-21)

"Actually, I'm glad that you did come out here today," Helena informed me while Felina was out of the room. "There were a few things I've been meaning to discuss with you. And one thing I'm a little miffed about."

"Just one?"

Helena tried to suppress a grin, but didn't quite succeed. Clearly she was not as upset about whatever the situation was as she might have been. "About the robbery at CII Saturday night," Helena explained. "I just found out about it at the meeting this morning. You could have called and let me know. I might have been able to turn up a few clues."

"I appreciate your concern, but you're not an employee of CII. It was my responsibility to investigate and file my reports."

"Then why did you contact Muskateer about this and not me?"

Ah. I could see where Helena was going with this. She had been in a sort of competition with Muskateer during the Hanged Man investigation. Both were trying very hard to prove themselves and they stepped on the other's toes in the process. I had hoped that Helena was over that, but maybe she wasn't.

"For one thing, I didn't contact Muskateer. I relayed the facts to Black Diamond as a courtesy between the Freedom League and the Avengers. As for what happened after that you'll have to ask Di."

That seemed to satisfy Helena for the moment. After a moment's consideration, she stated, "Have you been downstairs before?"

I took downstairs to mean the Hunter's Lair, his secret base located underneath the mansion. "A few times. If you don't mind, there is something I need to do down there." That got me a puzzled look from Helena. "Your father has been storing something for me for safekeeping."

Helena led the way into the basement and then into the secret sub-basement. It had been over a year since the last time I was down here. It was much the way I remembered it. Hunter never had time to clean.

"What was dad storing for you?", Helena inquired.

I didn't answer her immediately. Instead, I slipped into one of the side chambers where Hunter stored his spare gadgets. I touched several bricks in sequence causing another brick to pop out. Behind the brick was a small compartment. Helena was even more puzzled as she watched this go on. It was obvious that she was unaware of this hiding place. Reaching inside the hidy-hole, I pulled out a CD-Rom in a jewel case and showed it to Helena. "This."

"And that is? If you say it's a disk, I'll slug you."

I chuckled at Helena's comment. She probably meant it to. The Huntress was much more physical than I was, far stronger. "It's a back up copy," I explained. Reaching into my purse, I pulled out a matching case and inserted it into the hidden compartment and replaced the brick.

"You're going to make me do this the hard way, aren't you?", Helena muttered irritatedly. "A back up copy of what?"

"You tell me. You're the detective." The look of annoyance on Helena's face was priceless.

But that look quickly faded as her mind turned to the problem at hand. From the look of amazement that came to her face, I could tell that she had solved this particular mystery. "It's a copy of Jaime? Can she do that?"

"Not an actual copy. Rather, a back up of her memories and data files. Just in case something bad happens to her and some of her memory gets erased. Every once in a while, I'd give Hunter a new disk to store. I hope you don't mind."

"Well, if dad went along with it, I suppose I can as well," was Helena's answer.

"You said you had some things to ask me about?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure how much you know about this."

"I won't know anything until you tell me about it," I teased.

"You're a real smart alec at times," Helena complained.

"As a mutual acquaintance of ours would say, 'I gotta be me'." I did a very poor imitation of Muskateer on the last part of that.

"If you start calling me Ralph, I really will slug you." I wasn't quite sure what Helena was getting at, but it must be something between her and Muskateer. "Anyway, how much do you know about Hunter's gadgets?"

"I can find out a great deal," I answered, not sure where Helena was going with all of this. "What do you want to know?"

"I'm running low on some of the stuff and wondered if you knew how Dad went about replacing them."

"Oh," I said, realizing where this line of questioning was going. "Actually, it's pretty simple to restock your supplies. What do you need?"

Helena spent the next few minutes rummaging through the bins and compiling a list. "You still haven't explained how and where I can get this stuff. It's not like I can go down to the corner store for thermite pellets."

"In the past, your father used to make his own gadgets and tricks. But it was extremely time consuming. As you know, CII makes the Combat Simulators that the Avengers use, as well as a few other teams. It's not exactly public knowledge, but we also make and design gadgets."

"That's handy," Helena opined. "A sort of 'Gadgets R Us'?"

"Something like that. Sheryl bought a small company called Tyler Labs out on Long Island. They handle such things as this. In fact, they are currently putting the finishing touches on a flying scooter for Muskateer."

"Okay, how do I put an order in and how does it get paid?"

"Jaime can place your order since you've already made your list. The goods will be delivered to the Avengers Mansion in a few days and payment will be made by the Maria Kirby Foundation." The Maria Kirby Foundation was named after the wife of the first Hunter, Helena's grandmother. The Foundation also handled the financial concerns of the Avengers.

Helena seemed surprised that so simple a solution existed for her problem. "That seems to take care of everything. So, if I wish to come up with a new gadget, all I have to do is approach you about it?"

"Pretty much. We'll take care of the rest."

From there we puttered around the Hunter's Lair for a time. Helena asked me to check out Hunter's computer system and determine just how up to date the system was. Hunter had an advanced HE-3000 system and it was top of the line when it was installed. "What you have here will be serviceable for the next few years. However, I've just turned in a design for the next generation of computer chips and it's scheduled to be an exclusive for the HE-4000 series. I'll get you a deal on one when they become available."

Helena was agreeable. She was comfortable with computers, but was no expert like myself. From there we exchanged stories of our latest adventures.

"Vampires in New York City!?", I cried out in a surprised voice. Helena's tale was very shocking. It seems that a vampire arrived with the idea of offering his service as an assassin to the local underworld. To assist him in his endeavors he turned several police officers into his vampiric minions. As if that wasn't bad enough, he now wanted to convert superheroes into his undead legions. "This is definitely something that we need to take care of."

"I know," Helena lamented. "Unfortunately, finding Gratz in a city this large is going to be tough. I talked to the Enchantress about this earlier and she was going to get the Circled involved. Apparently, Moonsilver is sensitive to such creatures and has been hunting them for the last month or so."

"Maybe he'll turn up something. Did you try to contact Photon? This is right up his alley." Photon was a professional monster hunter, if you can imagine such a thing.

"I found his 800 number in dad's files and called him yesterday. I guess he's down in Texas right now, but should be in town by the end of the week. Then there was this Jack O' Lantern character. I haven't been able to turn up much about him, but it seems he also hunts down monsters. I never knew that they were such a menace to have so many people out to get them."

"Nor did I." I never did cross-reference superheroes by the category of monster-hunter. "Jaime doesn't have a whole lot of information on Jack O'Lantern either. But when he does appear, a supernatural element does seem to be often present."

"I thought I might find you down here," Felina suddenly announced, startling both of us. Helena's mother had entered the Hunter's Lair without either of us noticing. "Talking shop?"

"Do you have to keep sneaking up on me?", Helena complained. "You're going to make me paranoid."

"Good," Felina just smiled. "I did say I was going to keep you on your toes."

"Helena was asking me about a few things," I told Felina. Her arrival was pretty impressive as I didn't notice it either. "Like you said, shop talk."

"I was wondering if you girls had made any plans for dinner? Or are you planning on going out tonight?"

"Actually, I hadn't even thought about dinner," Helena answered. "Nor any other plans. I really do need to concentrate on the Dragon Lords."

"The enforcer division of the Golden Dragon Tong?", I added rhetorically. They were a gang of thugs, led by the White Dragon, who did the Tong's dirty work.

"You've gone up against them before?"

"No, not really. I've heard of them, however. What's the story?"

Helena proceeded to tell me about her dealings with the Dragon Lords. How she and Night Owl stopped them from burning a tenement to the ground with the tenants still inside. The revenge that idiot Copperhead extracted from them by gunning down several gang members in the street. Copperhead had been an old Crusader teammate. Idiot pretty much sums up my feeling about Copperhead. He's a vigilante and cold-blooded killer. Later on, Helena and Night Owl had a rematch with this criminal gang. (Editor's Note: Back in Huntress #7, 8, & 16)

A few days ago she planted one of Hunter's spider-spies inside the Golden Lotus Club, the main hangout for the Dragon Lords. In this instance, Hunter based his gadget on something we had developed at CII. The robot was like our monitor drones, but it wasn't as sophisticated and had to crawl while ours flew. Although his was a lot smaller and designed for stealth.

"So you've been spying on them?", I noted. It seemed like a good idea based on her reasoning, giving her the ability to find out what the Dragon Lords were up to before they did it. "Anything juicy so far?"

"I missed Saturday Night's activities," Helena explained as she shot a glance at Felina. Apparently, Felina had something to do with Helena being otherwise occupied on Saturday evening. "And they took Sunday night off. So, I'm hoping that something will go down tonight. Once it does, I can tip off the police for smaller things and personally deal with major crimes."

"Sounds like a suitable plan of action. I can help you out with the 'phoning in tips' part. Jaime can tap into the phone company and call in the tips from different parts of the city. That way they won't be traced back to you."

"I like that idea," Helena stated excitedly. "Interested in a little excitement tonight, Jess?"

"I'm always looking for some excitement," I answered with a grin. "Count me in."

The Dragon Lords didn't normally gather at the Golden Lotus Club until later in the evening, giving us several hours to wait. At Felina's suggestion we drove into the city for dinner at Zephyr Grill. We casually ate and chatted, catching up on many things. I found it to be a very enjoyable and relaxing time. I was even invited to a pool party they were throwing next Saturday. That could be an interesting experience!

I learned a great many things about Felina. Up until a few days ago, I never even knew that she existed. Helena never spoke about her mother when we were younger and I never asked any personal questions about Hunter. I just assumed that she had already passed on. From what I could gather, Felina and Lane had some falling out when Helena was very young and they split up. Felina spent the most part of the last twenty years traveling Europe.

Jaime had taken the liberty of digging up what information she could about Felina Kirby. She's a naturally curious sort and had been investigating all afternoon, adding any new facts to the search parameters as they were discovered. As near as we could tell, Felina had been a thief in her past. Small wonder she and Hunter had broken up.

While my physical body was with the Kirby women, Jaime kept me up to date on what else was happening in the world. A mysterious vortex appeared over Central Park Wildlife Conservation Center. Several Avengers were dispatched to the scene to investigate. Their findings were passed on to the Freedom League as part of the courtesy we shared with the Avengers. (Editor's Note: This was shown in Avengers #23)

After dinner, we parted company for a few hours. I returned the CII plant to change into my Scarlet Sabre garb. At the agreed upon time, I returned to the Kirby Estate, but this time in the Sky Sabre, my personal mini-jet. While Hunter used a modified Corvette to get about New York, I used the Sky Sabre. I never had to deal with traffic jams!

Once darkness had fallen, I landed the Sky Sabre in stealth mode out behind the Estate where no one would notice. Under cover of the night, I crept back to the main house. Felina was waiting for me at the back door.

"Welcome back," she announced. "Helena is already down in the lair. Please be careful out there tonight. I worry about her."

"Don't be concerned," I reassured her. "I'm an old pro at this. We'll come back in one piece."

Felina looked grateful, but her eyes seemed troubled. I was beginning to suspect that she didn't approve of Helena being the Huntress. Then again, my own mother isn't that thrilled about me being the Scarlet Sabre either. It's understandable. I don't know if I'd let my own children, when I have them, follow in my footsteps either.

With Felina leading the way, we descended into the Hunter's Lair. Helena, already dressed as the Huntress was seated at the computer station working the controls. On the monitor was what I surmised to be the scene inside the Golden Lotus Club.

"Glad you could make it," the Huntress announced once she was aware of my presence. "The show's about to begin." I moved beside the Huntress while Felina stayed back to one side.

"Looks like you've tuned into the Bad Guys Network. Anything good on?"

"Not yet. But, I think this guy here hands out the assignments," Helena stated as she pointed towards one of the men on the screen. "Probably one of the White Dragon's top aides. Now if I can get the spy to focus in on him and drown out the background noise.... Then we'll be able to hear what he's got to say."

Helena worked the controls as the man on the screen came into clearer focus, visually and audibly. He appeared to be handing out assignments to several other Chinese men gathered around him. "I think I've found the one fatal flaw in your plan," I informed the Huntress.

"They're speaking in Chinese!", the Huntress cried out in annoyance. "How are we supposed to figure out what they are saying?"

"I don't speak the language at the moment," I quietly added. Jaime had the ability to temporarily program in other languages and act as an interpreter, but obviously I saw no need to speak the Chinese at the moment.

"Shush!", Felina scolded as she approached the computer station, giving the appearance of listening intently. "Write this down," she instructed Helena and then started to translate what the men were discussing. This went on for the next several minutes. Finally, the Dragon Lords had their instructions and departed the Golden Lotus Club.

"Very interesting," the Huntress stated as she scanned the sheet. "I had no idea you could speak Chinese, Mom."

"You don't spend as much time in Europe and Asia as I have and not pick up the languages," Felina explained. "I can hold my own in eight or nine different tongues."

"Lucky for me that you're such a linguist," the Huntress gratefully said. "Now let's see what these creeps are up to."

The job assignment list seemed fairly straightforward. There the typical shakedowns on clients refusing to pay protection money which the Golden Dragon Tong extorted. Things that the police could deal with that would not require our personal attention. Jaime was already tipping off the authorities. However, the last item on the list did set off a few alarms.

"What's this about the Ming Dynasty Exhibition?", the Huntress wondered out loud.

"It's a traveling art exhibition that is opening at the Met later in the week according to the Times," Felina casually explained. "I saw it when it was in London. A few very beautiful treasures there." That brought a skeptical look from the Huntress towards her mother. "Yes, dear, I did think about it, but never actually did. Fencing such distinguished works of art is a difficult task and the type of security present was most daunting."

"Isn't it part of the private art collection of Henrietta Von Drotte?", I added. As a high level employee of CII, I was well aware of Ms. Von Drotte as she was the head of a competitor company, Duchess Industries: the largest industrial corporation in the world. They've even tried to lure me away from CII in the past with very, very generous salary offers. That kind of money was not easy to turn down.

But there was always something fishy about Duchess Industries. Rumors and innuendo about Duchess Industries ran rampant. Things such as RAVEN being the dark side of Duchess Industries to Henrietta really being Iron Maiden and so on. Von Drotte made her home in Bonn, Germany.

"That is correct. As one of the wealthiest women in the world, I learned as much as I could about the Duchess." As an ex-burglar, I guess Felina would do her homework about the rich and powerful. "This exhibition will be heavily guarded if I know the Duchess. These gentlemen may well be in over their heads."

"Perhaps," I countered. "But the delivery route was supposed to be a secret and yet they know it. Far easier to set up an ambush that way. The Golden Dragon Tong has always been involved in the arts and antiquities black market."

"Regardless, we better check it out." The Huntress rose from her seat and headed towards the exit.

"Right you are," I added as I quickly followed. "The Sky Sabre is waiting out back. If the Dragon Lords try something, we'll be there to take them down!"