With our warning delivered and our mission all but complete, the only thing left was to get out of there without being caught.
The good news was we already had an escape plan sorted out. The bad news was, Cara and Yuki were the ones who came up with the idea. So it was a little more flashy and a lot more scary than anything I'd have come up with on my own.
Without another word the tall dark and beautiful raven girl started calmly but quickly stripping out of her expensive skirt suit. At the same time I opened the leather attaché we'd been carrying, and pulled out a folded bundle of dark green fabric. Then I quickly gathered up all of Cara's discarded clothes, which I tucked back into the now-empty leather case.
The oil exec was almost too out of it to even realize what we were doing, but he did notice when Cara's form shifted into her normal raven shape. The guy's eyes bulged and he let out a frightened yelp, but our bird friend ignored him completely.
Instead she focused on one of those large windows, with the great view overlooking Aberdeen harbour. Her feathers ruffled as she suddenly spread her wings, and a powerful gust of air from outside the building struck the window with just enough force to pop it out of its frame. The big sheet of glass toppled inwards, but was actually strong enough not to shatter when it fell across the small boardroom table.
Cara hopped up onto the ledge then glanced back at us and stated, "Come along now, this is no time to dawdle."
"Yes Ms. Campbell," I replied as I unfurled the folded up green sheet we'd brought with us. In the middle was a large crude drawing of planet Earth that we'd made with a big black marker. And surrounding the drawing we'd written 'Friends of Mother Earth'.
With my heart pounding a mile a minute Yuki and I joined the large black bird on the ledge. My common sense kept telling me this was a bad idea, but the raven and a certain adorable little arctic kitsune were both convinced it was going to be absolutely awesome.
I fought off a wave of dizziness when I accidentally looked down. Then after an audible gulp I asked, "Are we sure this is the best way out? I mean, couldn't we just take the lift? We could just go back out the same way we came in?"
"That'd mean going past all the security people down there," Yuki pointed out. "And by now they'll definitely know something's going on up here. The cameras are all out, the lifts aren't working, and there'll be no answer if they're trying to contact anyone on this floor since the phones up here are all out."
Our raven friend agreed, "This is the best and most expedient way to leave the premises. And it will certainly impress any humans who happen to observe us. So let's get a move on."
"Now!" she added as she launched herself out of the office window and into open air.
I grit my teeth and braced myself then jumped out after her. My stomach suddenly felt like it was caught in my throat as we began to plummet, but the sheet we were holding puffed up as it caught the wind. Normally it would have been far too small to slow our descent, but thanks to Cara we found ourselves in a strong and stable updraft.
Her magic filled our makeshift parachute, and instead of falling to our death we soared almost as gracefully as the large black bird. And rather than going straight down we sailed out over the River Dee, almost as far as the Victoria Docks before swinging back around towards the city. We finally set down next to some trees in a car park off Clyde Street, right by the north bank of the Dee.
Our Rebel was waiting for us there at the far end of the lot. We left the green bedsheet spread out on the asphalt for all to see, then I quickly tucked the attaché into our backpack before pulling on our helmet.
"That was perfect!" Yuki exclaimed in our head. Then she rolled over giggling, "Did you see the look on Stevenson's face when we jumped? Priceless! Oh my gosh Aster I wish we'd thought to get a picture of that!"
I grimaced as I started the engine, "I was way too scared to think about taking pictures Yuki. Plus I had to hold onto the sheet, remember? I didn't exactly have a spare hand to hold our phone."
"Oh right," she pouted.
Rather than join us on the bike right away, Cara remained in the air so she could act as a lookout. Just in case anyone thought to try and chase us or follow us.
As we pulled out of the lot and set off towards the A96 the little arctic kitsune suggested, "Maybe next time you could shape-shift us a pair of wings? Then we could hold the camera and fly at the same time! Or even if we can't fly then at least we could do another controlled fall with Cara's help. Then we wouldn't need to use a sheet."
I shook my head, "I really hope we don't have a next time Yuki. I do not want to make a habit of jumping out of tall buildings!"
That earned me some more giggling, but she left it at that. We made one stop as soon as we were outside the city, so we could get changed out of our nice clothes and into something more appropriate for riding. That's also when Cara joined us. She got herself safely tucked between our boobs under our favourite denim jacket again. And once we were all ready we got back on the road for the two hour drive out to Grantown-on-Spey, although our final destination for the day was Inverdruie.
That was a little village just outside Gaia's 'no tech zone', and only a half day's hike away from the magic mountain. Because yes, the cute little arctic kitsune and her raven accomplice convinced me we should go stock up on the most potent magically-charged water in the whole of the British Isles.
"You three are an entire day late," Shirley stated in an accusing tone as soon as I killed the bike's engine.
She was standing with her hands on her hips and her black fuzzy ears tilted forward, while her long black furry tail twitched back and forth behind her. She cocked her head and raised an eyebrow as she added, "What did you do, go sightseeing or something after you finished the job?"
Without waiting for a reply she continued, "Your stunt made the news you know? Three different people got video footage of your bedsheet parachute trick."
My fox ears returned as I slipped my helmet off, then Cara wriggled out from inside my jacket as soon as I got it halfway open. I grumbled as I got off the bike then set off towards the farmhouse, "I know Shirl, we saw the news Tuesday night. It's no big deal though. I was in disguise, nobody will recognize us."
"Anyways we've been on the road all day long, my butt's tired, and all three of us are hungry," I added as we let ourselves in the front door. "Is there anything to eat?"
Cara landed on Shirley's head and added, "Any new developments with our castle? This quaint little dwelling is acceptable in the interim, but you're supposed to be putting that magic of yours to work and fixing up our new home."
The wolfgirl shooed our raven friend away then followed us into the house as she answered, "Wes is fixing us all some supper right now. And yes Cara, I've been practicing my magic at the castle. You're welcome to go roost there with the bats any time you like."
Cara flew into the house after us, then perched on the back of a chair in the kitchen and ruffled her feathers as she responded with a "Hmph."
"Hello Aster, Yuki, Cara, welcome back!" Wes greeted the three of us. "Sounds like you three had a bit of an adventure in Aberdeen? That was an amazing getaway you pulled off. What were you up to yesterday though? Shirley and I figured you'd be back here last night."
I pulled our heavy backpack off and dumped both it and our helmet ontop of the kitchen table. Then after helping myself to a bottle of juice from the fridge I slumped into one of the chairs and began the story.
"Honestly we probably could have come straight home on Tuesday," I told them. "We could have just got on the A92 and headed south right after our daring escape? But Yuki and Cara both insisted on getting more of that magic water, since we were practically at the Cairngorms already."
I paused there for a gulp of juice, so Yuki took over the story.
"We drove from Aberdeen to Grantown-on-Spey where we stopped for a nice lunch," the little arctic kitsune explained. "Then we continued on to a little village just outside the no-tech zone. We got a room there at a cute little bed and breakfast place."
Cara summed up the rest of our trip, "We spent the rest of the day there, and yesterday morning we were up with the sun. We easily avoided the human soldiers patrolling the area, hiked all the way to the base of Gaia's mountain, and filled up several bottles with magically charged water. Then we hiked back out to Inverdruie and spent last night in the same B&B. And this morning we got on the bike and came back here."
"Now I believe there was some mention of dinner?" the large black bird asked as she tilted her head towards Wes.
The cute little dogkin was in fact busy at the stove, where he had a couple pots on the go. He replied, "It'll just be a few more minutes Cara. I'm making chicken curry with rice. And I've got some naan warming in the oven."
"Sounds good," I smiled. "Thanks Wes."
His tail began to wag as he smiled back. Then he asked, "So you brought more of that magic water? What are you planning to do with it?"
"Yeah! We got six litres," Yuki announced.
My ears folded back and my tails all hung down low as I complained, "Try carrying that on your back for nine hours on the bike. Not to mention lugging it for a seven kilometre hike yesterday afternoon."
"Yes Aster dear we know it was a chore," Cara teased in a condescending tone.
Then Yuki spoke up again to answer Wes's question, "If you and Shirley want to share another bottle you're welcome to it. Aster and Cara and I drank a litre or so while we were stopped at the base of the mountain, but I think we'd like to keep at least a few bottles for us incase we want more later."
"And I suggested we should pour one into the moat around our castle," Cara stated. "From there it will spread into the River Rother, and begin to propagate throughout southern England."
I rolled my eyes, "We haven't agreed on any of that yet. But like Yuki said, if you and Shirl want to try and boost your magic you're welcome to share another bottle."
The cute little dogkin looked at our sister and smiled, while his tail wagged even faster. "What do you think Shirl? Shall we have some water with our dinner?"
"Alright," the tall strong wolfgirl agreed after only a moment's thought. She looked like she was trying keep her tail from wagging too as she added, "Aster, Yuki, Cara, thanks for sharing it with us."
Then as she picked up my backpack and bike helmet off the kitchen table she asked, "Are you serious about pouring some into the moat, or the river?"
"That was Cara's idea," I shook my head. I gave Cara a look as I said, "We haven't made any decisions yet, and we certainly haven't agreed to do that."
The raven just huffed and ruffled her feathers, but she didn't argue because she knew I was right. Meanwhile Shirley found somewhere else to put my bike helmet, then she opened my backpack and began pulling out the one-litre bottles of water.
As she started loading them into the fridge she asked, "Do you want some of this water with dinner Aster, Yuki, Cara?"
"I'll stick with my juice thanks," I replied.
Cara declined as well, so five of the bottles went into the fridge. Shirl opened the last one and divided it between two glasses for herself and her boyfriend. Then when the food was ready she and Wes served it up for us. Three plates of rice and curry for us, a platter of warm naan to share, and a small bowl with some curried chicken and rice for Cara.
"Thanks Shirl, thanks Wes," I smiled as we all got started. Then after the first bite I added, "This is really good! I didn't know you were that good a cook."
The little dogkin's tail started wagging up a storm as he grinned happily, "Thanks Aster, I'm glad you like it. And yeah, Shirley used to do most of the cooking. I almost got the feeling she didn't want me in the kitchen."
"I didn't think you liked to cook," my sister protested, while her ears folded back and her tail hung down low. "I didn't even think you knew how. I assumed you'd dismiss it as women's work or something."
Wes just smiled and shook his head as he had another forkful of curry. After washing that down with a big gulp of the magic water he changed the subject, "Anyways Shirl's spent the last four days working on her magic in the old castle."
"It's got a ways to go yet," he continued, "And even after she's fixed up all the stonework it'll take time to properly furnish the place. Still, it's coming along. I reckon we ought to be able to move in there in another couple weeks."
"Excellent news," Cara stated.
I nodded in agreement, "That sounds great. Thanks you two!"