Casey felt a slight delay in his muscles, and he saw the same delay in Crane's, so he pushed past the pain and focused.
Crane landed a solid sidekick to his stomach, he slid far in the gray sludge. His opponent followed with an overhand.
Casey ducked the blow, he feinted a jab and landed a solid right counter to Crane's chin. The man's eyes spun, just before he fell to his knees in the muck.
Casey kept his gaze as he gave the last blow that dropped him to his face.
Both of their breaths were ragged. It was silent below the bridge, he could only hear their breaths.
The lights on the bridge were a line of pearls in the night. He saw her standing nervously. He absorbed a little wind.
"Call dad!"
Casey heard a quieter 'Okay' respond.
He sat in front of Crane for maybe a half hour. His father just landed. There was no sound or disturbance.
John's eyes were green, and his smile was present, and Casey finally felt safe.
He hugged Casey.
"I'm sorry. I could only help if you were really in trouble, Case. I promise I'll show you what I've been busy with later."
The moon showed a perfect reflection on the pond.
Casey looked to the real thing and saw Kiana in the front of it. It made him smile. Her safety was worth the fight today.
Sirens were approaching them, and he knew they'd be here soon.
The police in Old Providence were pretty useless though.
"Dad, can you give me some money, or something for this fight?"
"And why does that make sense?" John raised an eyebrow.
Casey pointed. "Isn't that a terrorist. You told me that you got paid to stop them, right?"
"Let's get going."
...….
"You really can't stay away, can you Casey?"
"I don't know, it's really comfortable in here." He smiled. "I might move in?"
Malcolm smiled. "You should find some other comfortable places. Not my hospital."
He removed the stethoscope and allowed his shirt to fall.
The doctor had only worn black scrubs today. He seemed more relaxed and in his nature. Or element.
He poked and prodded Casey for so many things, honestly seeming too careful.
Casey felt fine, after all.
"Your father left you with me, you know? So I'm gonna be sure you're alright. Besides that, I'd like to ask you about something?"
Casey sat on the edge of the bed and rocked his legs.
"Go ahead."
"You need to consider taking combat more serious. You see you might think that the world outside of Old Providence is similar to this, but it isn't. This place is safer than you know. It's your father's doing."
Casey thought, that wasn't a question at all.
"I've been to a few cities and towns in Bimini. They were pretty peaceful, though."
"Probably places similar to here. But you won't be as safe when you're traveling by yourself, without any super dad's around."
A beat passed.
"Is that guy dangerous? Or do you recognize him?"
Malcolm chuckled. "Your father said that he's connected to The Carrions." He stared into Casey's eyes. "They hold grudges."
"A gang?"
"You can call them that, they commit crimes for hire. They are a relatively new group. But I'm mostly telling you to be careful. I understand you'll be traveling with Rico, headed to Altheia."
"Yes I will." Casey smiled. "Thank you, Mr Dean."
"It's nothing. Just looking out for a kid is all." Malcolm took his glasses off and cleaned them. "Speaking of kids, we should go have a look at the one you rescued."
"It was a kid?"
The hall ways were all cream colored. Each room in the building's third floor was painted gray, and dark. There were quite a few rooms too. Strips of lights lit their way forward.
Casey asked. "So what made you become a doctor?"
Malcolm glanced at him and smiled. "It's a little disturbing?"
Casey shrugged. "I'm a pretty calm person."
"Yeah, you are." He thought for a second. "I lost a niece to sickness. I couldn't really get over it. She was a sorcerer. She'd be my only family right now if she hadn't passed."
"Sorry for asking."
"It's life. I'm a praying man. I know what's expected." He swallowed. "A little while after that I took up medicine and never put it down. I intend to keep going until I die myself."
"You're a very good person."
Malcolm shook his head. "Everyone does some good."
Casey stayed quiet as they entered the room.
His eyes were steady and unblinking.
"You see giants can change their sizes. There are some tattoos that are out of sight right now." He pointed to the boys shoulders. "He just uses a little composite mana and he grows or shrinks."
"So he shrunk?" He stood in the front of the iron bed frame.
"I think this is actually his natural size."
He was a slim boy. With coppery skin, and rough looking hair.
That was actually the only thing that had looked familiar. But that had changed. His hair had been beyond his shoulders, and thick like dried vines, his height had to have been at least 16 feet.
Casey's eyes were troubling him. He'd never seen anything like this.
"How bad is he?"
"He'll be alright soon. Just minor injuries. I think the Carrion guy was just there to retrieve him." Malcolm stood besides Casey. "Another day or so and he should be up."
.....
"You're the guy from the bridge, right?" The boy shifted and winced. There were drips and electrodes connected to him.
"Casey Knowles." He had gotten up early and had made his way to the hospital room. Casey had actually met the little giant awake.
"What's your name?"
"I'm John Charles."
The young boy made a tense face, and looked away.
"The doctor said you might be able to help me to get my brothers back?"
Casey placed his hand behind his neck. "How? I will if I can."
He stared into Casey's eyes for a bit. Casey saw the tears stream down silently.
"Tell me what happened." He walked besides the bed and rubbed his shoulder.
"We came… came down from Port Au Prince for our hero's journey. That's our tradition to become a man."
"You and your brothers?"
He nodded. "We made our way through Ridge Mount, on Altheia's border, and to Rock Sound." He wiped his eyes and went on.
"People there hated us. We got treated badly as soon as we entered. And we didn't even have plans to stay there. It was hard for us to even find a hotel."
"It's hard for sorcerers, I can imagine it'd be harder for giants."
"It is. But it's been worse since we got to here. We got followed wherever we went, and we just thought it was the normal hate, but it wasn't. Some guys waited until night and just attacked us. They were strong, like really strong. My brother George helped me get away, but got caught. Please help me."